Translation is the process where amino acid residues are assembled into polypeptides on ribosomes. This process is generally divided into three stages: initiation, elongation and termination. During elongation, mRNA and tRNA pair at the two active sites (A and P sites) on the ribosome. A number of eukaryotic elongation factors (eEFs) are involved in this process in mammalian cells (1). eEF1A, also called elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu), binds GTP and interacts with amino acyl-tRNAs to promote recruitment of amino acyl-tRNAs to the A-site of the ribosome (1). After GTP hydrolysis, GDP-eEF1A leaves the ribosome and is later converted back to the GTP-eEF1A by eEF1B (1). Studies have shown that eEF1A is phosphorylated under certain conditions, indicating that its activity is regulated at the post-translational level (2,3).
