Structural insights into YheS-mediated release of SecM-arrested ribosome

ATPase-binding cassette subfamily F (ABCF) proteins interact with the ribosome to resolve translation defects near the peptidyl-transferase center, induced by ribosome-targeting antibiotics or “hard-to-translate” nascent peptides. In Escherichia coli , four ABCF proteins resolve the translation of distinct problematic sequences, but their molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we present a 2.8-Å cryo-EM structure of the SecM-stalled ribosome in complex with an ATPase-deficient mutant of YheS, an ABCF protein that releases ribosomes stalled during the translation of SecM, a representative ribosome-arresting peptide. YheS is bound to the E-site and relocates the P-site tRNA (P-tRNA) by displacing its CCA-end. Notably, the density of the SecM nascent chain mostly disappeared upon YheS binding. Molecular dynamics simulations support that the P-tRNA relocation generates a pulling force that disrupts key intratunnel interactions essential for arrest. This mechanism is functionally analogous to, yet mechanistically distinct from, the translocon-mediated external pulling force for SecM release.