Nascent Chain Biology: Translation Dynamics and Cotranslational Protein Folding

Proteins do not instantaneously finish the synthesis and folding into functioning products, but experience the nascent peptidyl-tRNAs, defined as “nascent chains”, during the translation. So far, nascent chains are regarded as transient intermediates during the protein synthesis. However, recent advances have revealed that nascent chains are directly involved in a variety of cellular processes including self-maturation and the quality control system of protein and mRNA. In this review, we summarize recent progress on noncanonical translation dynamics and co-translational folding.