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Medical Definition of Initiation factors
1. The set of catalytic proteins required, in addition to mRNA and ribosomes, for protein synthesis to begin. In bacteria three distinct proteins have been identified: if 1 (8 kD), IF 2 (75 kD) and IF 3 (30 kD). at least 6-8 proteins have been identified in eukaryotes. IFs 1 and 2 enhance the binding of initiator tRNA to the initiation complex. This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology (11 Mar 2008)