tRNA mimicry in translation termination and beyond

The mechanism of translation termination has long been a puzzle. The release factor (RF) class of translation factors plays a key role in terminating protein synthesis. Bacteria have two RFs, RF1 and RF2, with high specificity to decipher three stop codons. Decades ago, an idea was formulated that RFs may be protein analogs of tRNA. This idea gained substantial support 10 years ago by the identification of two classes of crucial RF peptide...