Aminoacyl Site (A site)

Definition

The Aminoacyl Site, or A site, is one of three binding sites for tRNA during protein synthesis in the ribosome. It's where each new amino acid is added to the growing peptide chain.

Related terms

Ribosome:

This is like the construction site itself, where all the action happens. Ribosomes are complex molecular machines that synthesize proteins by translating messenger RNA.

Polypeptide Chain:

This is like the building being constructed at our analogy's construction site. It's a linear sequence of amino acids that will fold into a functional protein.

Codon:

These are like specific instructions on where each brick should go in our building. In biology, codons are sequences of three nucleotides in mRNA that specify which amino acid will be added next during protein synthesis.