Ribosome remodeling drives translation adaptation during viral infection and cellular stress.

Viral infection and cellular stress induce ribosome remodeling that enhances specific mRNA translation, with rpL40 recruited to specialized ribosomes during infection.

• Why it matters: Understanding how ribosomes adapt to cellular perturbations reveals mechanisms behind pathogen replication and cell survival, filling a gap in knowledge about translational regulation under stress.
• What they did: The study used human cell infection models and identified that viral entry recruits rpL40 to a non-canonical site on 80S ribosomes, creating specialized ribosomes that preferentially bind viral mRNAs, and found that metabolic stress triggers endogenous ribosome remodeling.
• The result: Ribosome remodeling is a conserved process that enables dynamic protein synthesis during pathogen invasion and cellular stress, potentially offering targets for therapeutic intervention.