Translation initiation in eukaryotes is a complex and highly regulated process during which several initiation factors cooperate to recruit an initiator tRNA to the small ribosomal subunit, where the mRNA is scanned for an AUG start codon. Two recent reports provide new structural insights into this process and reveal key functions of initiation factors 1 (eIF1) and 1A (eIF1A) in start-codon selection in atomic detail.
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Liljas, A. Zooming in on eukaryotic translation initiation. Nat Struct Mol Biol 20, 1141–1142 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb.2684
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb.2684