Assembly Line

This intricate assembly of coloured shapes, reminiscent of origami, is actually the early stages of ribosome formation. Known as the construction workers of cells, ribosomes build chains of amino acids that form larger proteins, essential for life. But before these molecular machines get to work, they need to be put together themselves. Ribosome assembly takes place in the depths of the cell’s nucleus, in a structure called the nucleolus. Fragments of ribosomal proteins and RNA combine together in precise steps to form the small and large subunits that make up each ribosome. Using a novel combination of procedures and data, researchers were able to unpack the process by which 70 proteins known as assembly factors slot together to form a human’s small ribosomal subunit. Ultimately, this will advance our understanding of diseases brought about by differences in assembly factors and other ribosomal proteins.

Written by Katy Pallister

Katy Pallister

Writer

Katy is a freelance science educator, presenter, writer and producer based in London. She is a former Engagement and Events Officer at the MRC LMS.

• Video by Arnaud Vanden Broeck
• Laboratory of Protein and Nucleic Acid Chemistry, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
• Video copyright held by the original authors
• Research by Sameer Singh and Arnaud Vanden Broeck, and colleagues published in Science, September 2021