Figure 9.7. Cotranslational targeting of secretory proteins to the ER Step 1: As the signal sequence emerges from the ribosome, it is recognized and bound by the signal recognition particle (SRP). Step 2: The SRP escorts the complex to the ER membrane, where it binds to the SRP receptor. Step 3: The SRP is released, the ribosome binds to a membrane translocation complex of Sec61 proteins, and the signal sequence is inserted into a membrane channel. Step 4: Translation resumes, and the growing polypeptide chain is translocated across the membrane. Step 5: Cleavage of the signal sequence by signal peptidase releases the polypeptide into the lumen of the ER.
Binding to the receptor releases the SRP from both the ribosome and the signal sequence of the growing polypeptide chain. The ribosome then binds to a protein translocation complex in the ER membrane, and the signal sequence is inserted into a membrane channel. In both yeast and mammalian cells, the translocation channels through the ER membrane are complexes of three transmembrane proteins, called the Sec61 proteins. The yeast and mammalian Sec61 proteins are closely related to the plasma membrane proteins that translocate secreted polypeptides in bacteria, demonstrating a striking conservation of the protein secretion machinery in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Transfer of the ribosome from the SRP to the Sec61 complex allows translation to resume, and the growing polypeptide chain is transferred directly into the Sec61 channel and across the ER membrane as translation proceeds. Thus, the process of protein synthesis directly drives the transfer of growing polypeptide chains through the Sec61 channel and into the ER. As translocation proceeds, the signal sequence is cleaved by signal peptidase and the polypeptide is released into the lumen of the ER.
Many proteins in yeast, as well as a few proteins in mammalian cells, are targeted to the ER after their translation is complete (posttranslational translocation), rather than being transferred into the ER during synthesis on membrane-bound ribosomes. These proteins are synthesized on free cytosolic ribosomes, and their posttranslational incorporation into the ER does not require SRP. Instead, their signal sequences are recognized by distinct receptor proteins (the Sec62/63 complex) associated with the Sec61 complex in the ER membrane (Figure 9.8).