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Abstract

This extract was created in the absence of an abstract: In 1968 the Nomura lab in Madison made an astonishing observation: when ribosomal proteins were mixed under appropriate conditions with 16S rRNA, fully functional ribosomal 30S subunits were formed. Along with the subsequent total reconstitution of 50S subunits, it was established that even entire ribosomes could be assembled in vitro from their constituents. Neither energy in the form of nucleoside triphosphates, nor other “helping factors,” were required for this reaction. It was thus concluded that the structural information required for the formation of even complex macromolecules lies within its individual components itself and hence allows “self assembly.” This notion was soon supported by many other labs, which managed to assemble macromolecular RNPs in spontaneous reactions, including the signal recognition particle (SRP), spliceosomal subcomplexes (U snRNPs) and nucleolar RNPs (snoRNPs), to name just a few. These findings were in full accordance with the observations of the Anfinsen lab in the 1950s …