Fukami H, Imahori K
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1971 Mar;68(3):570-3. doi: 10.1073/pnas.68.3.570.
This study concerns the question of whether protein biosynthesis is controlled by the conformation of messenger RNA. When R17 bacteriophage RNA was first incubated in the presence of Mg(++) before being used as messenger in a cell-free system from Escherichia coli, significant changes in the incorporation of phenylalanine and histidine into protein were seen. The amounts of proteins synthesized were also altered. The changes were not due to degradation of R17 RNA nor to denaturation of a contaminating repressor; they could be reversed by appropriate treatment of the RNA. There forms of R17 RNA are therefore postulated for the control mechanism and characterized by their translational behavior. The significance of these forms with respect to their conformation is discussed.
本研究关注的问题是蛋白质生物合成是否受信使核糖核酸（mRNA）构象的控制。当R17噬菌体核糖核酸（RNA）在用作来自大肠杆菌的无细胞系统中的信使之前，首先在镁离子（Mg(++)）存在的情况下进行孵育时，可以看到苯丙氨酸和组氨酸掺入蛋白质的过程发生了显著变化。合成的蛋白质数量也发生了改变。这些变化并非由于R17 RNA的降解，也不是由于污染的阻遏物的变性；通过对RNA进行适当处理，这些变化可以逆转。因此，推测R17 RNA的这些形式参与了控制机制，并以其翻译行为为特征。讨论了这些形式在构象方面的意义。
