RIBOSOMES

TEAM 4
B A Z A N S A L A Z A R J O R G E

U R B A N O L O P E Z L E S LY VA N E S S A
Is a complex cellular mechanism used
to t r a n s l a t e   g e n e t i c c o d e  i n t o chains

o f   a m i n o a c i d s.
Higher subunit of ribosome. In blue ribosomal
proteins and in other colors 2 or 3 molecules of
ribosomal RNA.
1) Translate encoded information from the
cell nucleus provided by messenger
ribonucleic acid (mRNA)

2)Link together amino acids selected and

collected from the cytoplasm by transfer
ribonucleic acid (tRNA)

3) Export the polypeptide produced to the

cytoplasm where it will form a functional
protein.
Ribosomes are found ‘free’ in the cytoplasm or
bound to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to form
rough ER. In a mammalian cell there can be as
many as 10 million ribosomes. 
A eukaryotic ribosome is composed of nucleic
acids and about 80 proteins and has a
molecular mass of about 4,200,000 Da.  About
two-thirds of this mass is composed of
ribosomal RNA and one third of about 50+
different ribosomal proteins.
Ribosomes are small cellular structures (from 29 to 32
nm, depending on the group of organism), rounded and
dense, composed of ribosomal RNA and protein
molecules, which are associated with each other.

The most studied ribosomes are those of eubacteria,

archaea and eukaryotes.
Ribosomes are either 'free' in the cytoplasm or join the
endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to form an acute ER. In a
mammalian cell there can be up to 10 million ribosomes. Several
ribosomes can be attached to the same mRNA chain, this
structure is called a polysome. Ribosomes only have a temporary
existence. When they have synthesized a polypeptide, the two
subunits are separated and reused or broken.
Typically ribosomes are composed of two subunits: a
large subunit and a small subunit.
The ribosome subunits are synthesized by the
nucleolus.
Ribosome subunits bind when ribosomes attach to
messenger RNA during the process of protein synthesis.
Ribosomes, together with a transfer RNA molecule
(tRNA), help translate the genes that code for protein in
mRNA into proteins.
The structures of the bacterial ribosome have provided a
framework for understanding the universal mechanisms
of protein synthesis. However, the eukaryotic ribosome is
much larger than in bacteria, and its activity is
fundamentally different in many key ways. Recent
cryoelectron microscopy reconstructions and X-ray
crystal structures of eukaryotic ribosomes and ribosomal
subunits now provide an unprecedented opportunity to
explore mechanisms of eukaryotic translation and their
regulation in atomic detail.