Interaction sites of ribosome-bound eukaryotic elongation factor 2 in 18S and 28S rRNA.

The involvement of ribosomal RNA in the binding of eukaryotic elongation factor eEF-2 to the ribosome was investigated. eEF-2 was complexed to empty reassociated 80S ribosomes in the presence of the nonhydrolyzable GTP analogue GuoPP[CH2]P. The formed complex was treated with dimethyl sulfate, 1-cyclohexyl-3-(2-morpholinoethyl)carbodiimide metho-p-toluenesulfonate, and micrococcus nuclease to allow specific modification at single-stranded regions of the rRNAs. The sites of modification were localized by primer extension using complementary deoxynucleotide primers and reverse transcriptase. The modification pattern was compared to that obtained from 80S ribosomes lacking bound eEF-2. Binding of the factor to the ribosome resulted in the protection of specific sites in both 18S and 28S rRNA, while the reactivity of 5.8S rRNA was unchanged. In 18S rRNA, the affected nucleotides were localized to the 5'- and 3'-domains, and in 28S rRNA the protected nucleotides were seen in domains II, IV, and V. The alpha-sarcin/ricin loop in domain VI of 28S rRNA was inaccessible for chemical modification even in the absence of bound eEF-2. However, the bound factor protected A4256, located in the alpha-sarcin/ricin loop, from ricin-induced depurination.