Rho Protein Motor (VIDEO)

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Caption

This movie shows a side view of the Rho protein motor in action. To clarify the mechanism, two of the six subunits have been removed. As ATP is released from binding sites (D, E, T and T*), the subunits (green, purple, blue and gray structures) spiral around the RNA (orange) strand, pulling the strand through the hole in the hexamer ring. This rotatory action enables the Rho motor to "walk" in one direction along the RNA strand.

Credit

James Berger and Nathan Thomsen, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

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