SUMMARY Translation factor eIF5A, containing the unique amino acid hypusine, was originally shown to stimulate methionyl-puromycin synthesis, a model assay for peptide bond formation. More recently, eIF5A was shown to promote translation elongation; however, its precise requirement in protein synthesis has remained elusive. Here we use in vivo assays in yeast and in vitro reconstituted translation assays to reveal a specific requirement for eIF5A to promote peptide-bond formation between consecutive proline residues. Addition of eIF5A relieves ribosomal stalling during translation of three consecutive proline residues in vitro, and loss of eIF5A function impairs translation of polyproline-containing proteins in vivo. Hydroxyl radical probing experiments localized eIF5A near the E site of the ribosome with its hypusine residue adjacent to the acceptor stem of the P-site tRNA. Thus, eIF5A, like its bacterial ortholog EFP, is proposed to stimulate the peptidyl-transferase activity of the ribosome and facilitate the reactivity of poor substrates like proline.

. These results suggest that eIF3 binds to the solvent side of the 40S subunit in a way that provides access to the interface side for the two eIF3 segments (NIP1-NTD and TIF32-CTD) that interact with eIF1, eIF5, and the eIF2/GTP/Met-tRNA i Met ternary complex.[Keywords: Eukaryotic translation initiation factor (eIF); multifactor complex (MFC); translational control; protein synthesis; 40S ribosome binding; TIF32/NIP1] Supplemental material is available at http://www.genesdev.org.