Overview of Ribosome Profiling

Posted by Catalina Garcia on June 29th, 2024

To determine which mRNAs are actively translated, a technique known as ribosome profiling, or Ribo-Seq (ribosome sequencing), mainly uses mRNA sequencing. The technology works on a fairly straightforward principle. Every ribosome encapsulates a brief mRNA segment. Because of ribosome protection, these brief segments of overlaid mRNA are shielded from exogenous RNase digestion. Thus, by creating these fragments and examining their sequence, the location of the ribosome can be ascertained for organisms for which we know the transcriptome sequence. It's important to remember that RNA-Seq sequences every mRNA of a particular sequence found in a sample, whereas Ribo-Seq mainly targets mRNA sequences shielded by ribosomes during translation.