Protein Synthesis

Proteins are made by ribosomes with the sequence of amino acids controlled by the sequence of bases
contained in DNA.

Protein synthesis occurs in two stages:

1. Transcription (DNA  mRNA ; occurs in nucleus)

2. Translation (mRNA  amino acids ; occurs on ribosomes in the cytoplasm)

Transcription
 DNA cannot travel out of the nucleus to the ribosomes so the base code is transcribed onto an RNA
molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA)
 Before the mRNA leaves the nucleus, unnecessary base sequences called introns are spliced
(removed) from the mRNA. This modified mRNA is called the mature transcript.
Translation
 mRNA then moves out of the nucleus and attaches to a ribosome
 The ribosome ‘reads’ the code on the mRNA in groups of three (known as a codon)
 There is a specific triplet of bases in mRNA known as a ‘start codon’ which indicates to the ribosome
that following this, the code for amino acids for this protein will begin
 Each codon following the start codon codes for a specific amino acid
o In this way the ribosome translates the sequence of bases into a sequence of amino acids
that make up a protein
 As each codon moves into the ribosome to be translated, a second type of RNA called transfer RNA
(tRNA) moves in to match its complementary base pairs to the codon on the mRNA
o The site on tRNA that matches to the mRNA codon is known as the anticodon
 If the anticodon contains three complementary bases to the codon, the tRNA remains in place and the
amino acid attached to it at the other end forms a peptide bond with the next amino acid in line
o In this way, the chain of amino acids that make up the protein is formed
 As each tRNA molecule releases its amino acid after bonding, it exits the ribosome and moves off to
pick up another amino acid
 The last codon of the mRNA contains a triplet of bases in a sequence known as a ‘stop codon’
o This indicates to the ribosome that the amino acid chain is now complete and can be released
to fold and form the final structure of the protein