CODONS AND ANTICODONS: THE LANGUAGE OF PROTEIN SYNTHESIS

"𝓒𝓸𝓻𝓻𝓮𝓬𝓽 𝓬𝓸𝓭𝓸𝓷 𝓻𝓮𝓬𝓸𝓰𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓫𝔂 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓽𝓡𝓝𝓐 𝓪𝓷𝓽𝓲𝓬𝓸𝓭𝓸𝓷 𝓲𝓼 𝓮𝓼𝓼𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓲𝓪𝓵 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓪𝓬𝓬𝓾𝓻𝓪𝓬𝔂 𝓸𝓯 𝓹𝓻𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓲𝓷 𝓼𝔂𝓷𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓼𝓲𝓼." - Prof. Marina V. Rodnina

🧬 Every protein in our body (from enzymes and hormones to antibodies) begins with a remarkable molecular conversation between codons and anticodons.

       🔹 A codon is a sequence of three nucleotides on messenger RNA (mRNA). Each codon specifies a particular amino acid or a translation stop signal. For example, AUG encodes methionine and serves as the universal start codon, initiating protein synthesis.

       🔹 An anticodon is a complementary three-nucleotide sequence on transfer RNA (tRNA). Each tRNA carries a specific amino acid, and its anticodon recognizes the matching mRNA codon, ensuring the correct amino acid is incorporated into the growing polypeptide chain.

       🔹 Inside the ribosome, codons on mRNA are decoded by complementary tRNA anticodons through precise base pairing (A-U and G-C). This high-fidelity interaction safeguards the accuracy of translation, producing proteins with the correct amino acid sequence, structure, and biological function.

        ➡ An important nuance is that while codon-anticodon pairing is highly specific, the wobble position allows certain tRNAs to recognize more than one synonymous codon. This increases the efficiency of translation without substantially compromising accuracy.

 ⚠ In an Oystershell, codons provide the genetic instructions, while anticodons interpret those instructions. Their coordinated interaction ensures faithful gene expression; a significant fundament of life and molecular biology.

Abubakar Abubakar ✍

• Rodnina, M. V. (2018). Translation in prokaryotes. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology, 10(9), a032664. 

• Rodnina, M. V., & Wintermeyer, W. (2001). Fidelity of aminoacyl-tRNA selection on the ribosome. Annual Review of Biochemistry, 70, 415-435.

• Crick, F. H. C. (1966). Codon–anticodon pairing: The wobble hypothesis. Journal of Molecular Biology, 19(2), 548-555.

• Schmeing, T. M., & Ramakrishnan, V. (2009). What recent ribosome structures have revealed about the mechanism of translation. Nature, 461, 1234-1242.

#MolecularBiology #Genetics #ProteinSynthesis #GeneExpression #Biochemistry #CellBiology #LifeSciences #BiomedicalScience #PrecisionMedicine #STEM #CRISPR #NGS #PGT #DNA #IVF #RNA #ART ⚕️

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