Translation Movie Movie, based on structural work in many laboratories, shows the process of mRNA-to-protein translation, including initiation, protein chain elongation, and termination.

http://pubs.acs.org/cen/multimedia/85/ribosome/translation_bacterial.html



Molecular Spring Movie When tRNA enters the ribosome's A site, it acts like a molecular spring, first distorting to fit into the available space and then returning to its native shape.

http://pubs.acs.org/cen/multimedia/85/ribosome/mikel_tRNA.html



Molecular Ratchet Motion Movie shows how the small subunit of the ribosome rotates with respect to the large subunit and how both subunits reorganize structurally during translocation, the process in which tRNAs move to adjacent sites and mRNA progresses by the length of one codon.

http://pubs.acs.org/cen/multimedia/85/ribosome/ratchet.html



Elongation Cycle of Protein Biosynthesis Movie of the ribosome's elongation cycle, in which a growing peptide chain is elongated by addition of one amino acid, is based in part on cryo-electron microscopy studies of ribosome-ligand complexes. The ribosome (with P-site tRNA in green) is shown rotating and then stationary, with its large subunit on top and its small subunit on bottom. The ribosome surface is peeled away to reveal the intersubunit space and a P-site tRNA. mRNA is added as a string of colored beads, where each set of three beads represents a codon. A tRNA with an amino acid (bead) arrives as part of a complex with elongation factor Tu (red). The growing peptide on the P-site tRNA is elongated by peptide transfer. The tRNAs then move together with mRNA by one codon to the adjacent sites, a process called translocation, which is catalyzed by EF-G (gray).

http://pubs.acs.org/cen/multimedia/85/ribosome/elongationcycle.html