Modeling the highly specific ribotoxin recognition of ribosomes

The three-dimensional structures of the α-sarcin ribotoxin and its Δ(7–22) deletion mutant, both complexed with a 20-mer oligonucleotide mimicking the sarcin/ricin loop (SRL) of the ribosome, have been docked into the structure of the Halobacterium marismortui ribosome by fitting the nucleotide atomic coordinates into those of the ribosomal SRL. This study has revealed that two regions of the ribotoxin, residues 11–16 and 84–85, contact the ribosomal proteins L14 (residues 99–105) and L6 (residues 88–92), respectively. The first of these two ribotoxin regions appears to be crucial for its specific ribosome recognition.