The dynamics of the ribosome as inferred by cryo-EM: induced and
self-organized motions

Joachim Frank, Ph.D.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Wadsworth Center, Empire State Plaza,
Albany, New York 12201-0509

Evidence of dynamic motions accompanying translation is accumulating.
Snapshots obtained by cryo-EM show a flexible architecture, which switches
conformation in response to ligand binding.  The trajectories of the global
conformational changes are similar to those predicted by normal mode
analysis, suggesting that translation may be accomplished by an interplay
between locally induced conformational changes and "system" responses of
the entire mechanical network formed by RNA and proteins.