Answer:
One of the most fundamental biological processes by which individual cells build their specific proteins is protein synthesis.
Involved in the process are both DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and ribonucleic acids (RNA) . The process started in the cell’s nucleus. The unique structure of DNA is important for the specific enzymes to unwind the needed section of DNA, which makes the DNA in this region accessible and a RNA copy can be made.
This RNA molecule then moves from the nucleus to the cytoplasm of the cell where the actual the process of protein synthesis take place.
Explanation:
Protein synthesis comprises two major parts - transcription and translation.
The process involves ribonucleic acid (RNA), deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), and a set of enzymes. All types of ribonucleic acids, namely messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA), ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA), and transfer ribonucleic acid (tRNA) are required for protein synthesis.
Transcription
The first part in the process of protein synthesis is transcription. It takes place in the nucleus of the cell where deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is housed in the chromosomes. Because DNA is a double helix structure, one the two parallel strands acts as a template to produce mRNA. As an initiation step of transcription, RNA polymerase binds itself to a particular site (promoter region) in one of the DNA strands that will act as a template.
Following its attachment to a DNA template strand, the polymerase enzyme synthesizes a mRNA polymer under the direction of the template DNA. The mRNA strand continues to elongate until the polymerase reaches a 'terminator region' in the template.
Therefore, the transcription part is composed of three steps - 1) initiation, 2) elongation, and the last is 3) termination. The newly transcribed mRNA is released by the polymerase enzyme, which then migrates to the cytoplasm to complete the process of protein synthesis.
Translation
The second part in the process of synthesis of proteins is translation. Different from transcription that occurs in the nucleus, translation happens in the cell cytoplasm. This process starts as soon as the transcribed mRNA enters the cytoplasm.
During initiation, the ribosomes present in the cytoplasm immediately attach to the mRNA at a specific site, called the start codon. An amino acyl tRNA also binds at the mRNA strand.
As the ribosomes move along the mRNA strand, the amino acyl tRNA brings amino acid molecules, one by one. This phase is called elongation. The termination phase occurs when the ribosomes read the last codon of the mRNA strand. This ends the translation part, and the polypeptide chain is released.
In this part, the ribosomes and tRNA get attached to the mRNA, which reads the coded information present in the strand. Accordingly, protein synthesis of a specific amino acid sequence takes place.
Generally, the protein synthesis process involves transcription of DNA to mRNA, which is then translated into proteins. This process requires proper coordination of RNA, DNA, enzymes, and ribosomes.
