Dynamics of tRNA translocation, mRNA translocation and tRNA dissociation during ribosome translation through mRNA secondary structures.

The ribosome can translate through the duplex region or secondary structure of mRNA. Recent single-molecule experimental data showed that downstream mRNA secondary structures have more sensitive effects on deacylated tRNA dissociation from the E site than on tRNA translocation in the 50S subunit. However, it is unclear how the downstream mRNA secondary structure can affect the tRNA dissociation from the E site, which is distant from the secondary structure. Here, based on our proposed ribosomal translocation model, we theoretically study the dynamics of tRNA translocation in the 50S subunit, mRNA translocation and tRNA dissociation, giving quantitative explanations of the single-molecule experimental data. It is shown that the effect of the downstream mRNA secondary structure on tRNA dissociation is via the effect on mRNA translocation, while the mRNA secondary structure has no effect on the rate of deacylated tRNA dissociation from the posttranslocation state. The slow mRNA translocation, which results in slow tRNA dissociation, derives from the occurrence of the futile transition, which is induced by the energy barrier from base pair unwinding to resist the forward translocation. The reduced translation rate through the mRNA secondary structure is induced by the slow mRNA translocation rather than the slow tRNA dissociation.