Translational initiation factor eIF5 replaces eIF1 on the 40S ribosomal subunit to promote start-codon recognition
- Elife. 2018 Nov 30:7:e39273. doi: 10.7554/eLife.39273.
- 1. MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
- 2. Instituto de Biomedicina de Valencia (IBV-CSIC), Valencia, Spain.
- 3. Department of Molecular Reproduction, Development and Genetics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India.
- 4. Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences, Himachal Pradesh, India.
- 5. Laboratory on the Mechanism and Regulation of Protein Synthesis, Eunice K Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States.
- 6. Laboratory of Gene Regulation and Development, Eunice K Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, United States.
- # Contributed equally.
In eukaryotic translation initiation, AUG recognition of the mRNA requires accommodation of Met-tRNAi in a 'PIN' state, which is antagonized by the factor eIF1. eIF5 is a GTPase activating protein (GAP) of eIF2 that additionally promotes stringent AUG selection, but the molecular basis of its dual function was unknown. We present a cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) reconstruction of a yeast 48S pre-initiation complex (PIC), at an overall resolution of 3.0 Å, featuring the N-terminal domain (NTD) of eIF5 bound to the 40S subunit at the location vacated by eIF1. eIF5 interacts with and allows a more accommodated orientation of Met-tRNAi. Substitutions of eIF5 residues involved in the eIF5-NTD/tRNAi interaction influenced initiation at near-cognate UUG codonsin vivo, and the closed/open PIC conformation in vitro, consistent with direct stabilization of the codon:anticodon duplex by the wild-type eIF5-NTD. The present structure reveals the basis for a key role of eIF5 in start-codon selection.