Globally monitoring protein synthesis in time and space through ribosome profiling

Abstract

The ability to sequence genomes has far outstripped approaches for deciphering the information they encode. We have developed a suite of techniques based on ribosome profiling (deep sequencing of ribosome protected fragments) that dramatically expand our ability to follow translation in vivo. I will present recent applications of our ribosome profiling approach including the following: (1) Development of ribosome profiling protocols for a wide variety of eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms. (2) Uses of ribosome profiling to globally monitor when chaperones, targeting factors or processing enzymes engage nascent chains. (3) Using ribosome profiling to define the protein coding potential of complex genomes. (4) Monitoring localized translation including translation on the surface of the endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria.