A proposed mechanism for Vibrio export monitoring polypeptide folding in the ribosome exit tunnel

The ribosome is a fundamental biomolecular complex that produces proteins in cells. The nascent polypeptide chains of newly synthesized proteins are produced deep within the ribosome at the peptidyl-transferase center (PTC) and pass through the ribosomal exit tunnel before they fold into their functional conformations. The Vibrio export monitoring polypeptide (VemP) is a mechano-sensitive regulatory peptide that folds into a helix-loop-helix structure in the ribosome tunnel near the PTC, which causes elongation arrest.