SURVEY OF INHIBITORS IN DIFFERENT STEPS OF PROTEIN SYNTHESIS BY MAMMALIAN RIBOSOMES

Abstract

An increasing number of antibiotics has been reported in the last few years to be active on 80S type ribosomes^{1, 2, 3, 4)}. However taking into account the scarcity of data concerning the site and mode of action of these antibiotics and the enormous heterogeneity of the biological sources of 80S type ribosomes in which they were tested we have considered of interest surveying a number of inhibitors in different steps of protein synthesis using in all cases the same mammalian cell-free system. We summarize in this contribution suitable methods to study the individual steps of protein synthesis by human tonsil ribosomes and present the results obtained in these systems in the presence of a number of protein synthesis inhibitors.