Dynamics of translation can determine the spatial organization of membrane-bound proteins and their mRNA

Elgin Korkmazhan, Hamid Teimouri, Neil Peterman, Erel Levine, William Bialek

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

Unlike most macromolecules that are homogeneously distributed in the bacterial cell, mRNAs that encode inner-membrane proteins can be concentrated near the inner membrane. Cotranslational insertion of the nascent peptide into the membrane brings the translating ribosome and the mRNA close to the membrane. This suggests that kinetic properties of translation can determine the spatial organization of these mRNAs and proteins, which can be modulated through posttranscriptional regulation. Here we use a simple stochastic model of translation to characterize the effect of mRNA properties on the dynamics and statistics of its spatial distribution. We show that a combination of the rate of translation initiation, the availability of secretory apparatuses, and the composition of the coding region determinestheabundanceofmRNAs near the membrane, aswellastheir residence time. We propose that the spatiotemporaldynamicsofmRNAs can give risetoprotein clusters on the membrane and determine their size distribution.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)13424-13429
Number of pages6
JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume114
Issue number51
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 19 2017

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General

Keywords

  • Membrane proteins
  • Protein clusters
  • Spatial organization
  • Translation

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