Eukaryotic Translational/Post-Translational Regulation

Translational and Post-Translational Regulation

• Translational regulation includes controlling how well the translational machinery is able to bind to the mRNA by phosphorylation of certain proteins.
• Post-translational regulation largely involves chemical modification of translated proteins that can impact how well they work and how long they remain in the cell.
• Modifications can include methylation, acetylation, phosphorylation, etc.
• Another well known modification is addition of ubiquitin (ubiquitination) which tags the protein for degradation by the proteasome.
• The proteasome is a large protein complex shaped like a barrel.
• It degrades proteins to regulate the level of proteins in the cell.
• A protein destined for degradation will have a ubiquitin/degron signal attached to it.
• Recognin is a chaperone that recognizes the degron signal and brings the protein to the proteasome to be broken down and recycled.