Trapping the ribosome to control gene expression.

Protein synthesis is often regulated by structured mRNAs that interact with ribosomes. In this issue of Cell, Marzi et al. (2007) provide insights into the autoregulation of protein S15 by visualizing the folded repressor mRNA on the ribosome stalled in the preinitiation state. These results have implications for our understanding of the mechanism of translation initiation in general.