dictyNews Electronic Edition Volume 41, number 22 October 23, 2015 Please submit abstracts of your papers as soon as they have been accepted for publication by sending them to dicty@northwestern.edu or by using the form at http://dictybase.org/db/cgi-bin/dictyBase/abstract_submit. Back issues of dictyNews, the Dicty Reference database and other useful information is available at dictyBase - http://dictybase.org. Follow dictyBase on twitter: http://twitter.com/dictybase ========= Abstracts ========= Mechanism of eIF6 release from the nascent 60S ribosomal subunit Félix Weis1,2,3,4, Emmanuel Giudice5, Mark Churcher2,3,4, Li Jin2,3,4,6, Christine Hilcenko1,2,3,4, Chi C. Wong7, David Traynor6, Robert R. Kay6, Alan J. Warren1,2,3,4 1Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, Cambridge, UK. 2Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, University of Cambridge Research Unit, Cambridge, UK 3The Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. 4Wellcome Trust-Medical Research Council Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. 5Université de Rennes 1, Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Recherche 6290, Institut de Génétique et Développement de Rennes, Rennes, France. 6Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK. 7Experimental Cancer Genetics, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK. Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, in press SBDS (deficient in the inherited leukemia predisposition disorder Shwachman- Diamond syndrome) and the GTPase EFL1 (an EF-G homolog) activate nascent 60S ribosomal subunits for translation by catalyzing eviction of the anti-association factor eIF6 from nascent 60S ribosomal subunits. However, the mechanism is completely unknown. Here, we present cryo-electron microscopy structures of human SBDS and SBDS-EFL1 bound to Dictyostelium discoideum 60S ribosomal subunits with and without endogenous eIF6. SBDS assesses the integrity of the P-site, bridging uL16 (mutated in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia) with uL11 at the P-stalk base and the sarcin-ricin loop. Upon EFL1 binding, SBDS is repositioned around helix 69, promoting a conformational switch in EFL1 that displaces eIF6 by competing for an overlapping binding site on the 60S ribosomal subunit. Our data reveal the conserved mechanism of eIF6 release that is corrupted in both inherited and sporadic leukemias. Submitted by Rob Kay [rrk@mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk] ============================================================== [End dictyNews, volume 41, number 22]