(7) You work at a company that is using nanotechnology to build small machines.
ID: 270164 • Letter: #
Question
(7) You work at a company that is using nanotechnology to build small machines. Your group's project is to build a tiny machine that can carry out translation of a protein without a ribosome. It seems to work! Your colleagues mix an mRNA and an abundance of charged tRNAs in a test tube full of the wee tiny translation machine. A protein product is generated. The correct amino acids are joined together in the correct order for this protein product, but the protein product is nonfunctional. At the ext meeting of he research roup, your bos tums to you. She says, You're our geneticist. What might be missing in our system that is preventing the synthesized proteins from having an activity?" You have at least 5 ideas. You say... (5 points)Explanation / Answer
Ans 7- the most probable reason for this is that the nascent polypeptide synthesized by translation folds properly and then only it's activity begins.
1. So after translation the protein folding enzymes/ molecular chaperones must be added to the mixture so that proper folding can be done.
2. Post translational modifications such as acetylation, methylation, phosphorylation, hydroxylation etc. are required for protein functioning, so based on the type of protein synthesized these modifications must be done after the synthesis to make protein functional. Hence post translation machinery must be added to the test tube to fulfill these requirements.
3. Polypeptide may require addition of some signal sequences to get translocated till site of action where it can show activity. So the signal sequence must be added at the end of nascent polypeptide.
4. Golgi like system must be present in test tube along with translation machinery so that addition of oligosaccharides can be done for proteins that work in glycopeptide form.
5. The immediate environment is also crucial for the functionality of protein like pH of the medium etc. So that conditions must be fulfilled for protein to become functional.
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