PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Lucas Dias Fernandes
AU  - Alessandro de Moura
AU  - Luca Ciandrini
TI  - Gene length as a regulator for ribosome recruitment and protein synthesis: theoretical insights
AID  - 10.1101/105296
DP  - 2017 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 105296
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/07/03/105296.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/07/03/105296.full
AB  - Protein synthesis rates are determined, at the translational level, by properties of the transcript’s sequence. The efficiency of an mRNA can be tuned by varying the ribosome binding sites controlling the recruitment of the ribosomes, or the codon usage establishing the speed of protein elongation. In this work we propose transcript length as a further key determinant of translation efficiency. Based on a physical model that considers the kinetics of ribosomes advancing on the mRNA and diffusing in its surrounding, as well as mRNA circularisation and ribosome drop-off, we explain how the transcript length may play a central role in establishing ribosome recruitment and the overall translation rate of an mRNA. We also demonstrate how this process may be involved in shaping the experimental ribosome density-gene length dependence. Finally, we argue that cells could exploit this mechanism to adjust and balance the usage of its ribosomal resources.