what does "a cell-free system" mean?

Question

context: "it was observed that curcin was toxic to animals and inhibited protein synthesis in a cell-free system"

i'm trying to understand a microbiological research about curcin as an some chemical that inhibits protein synthesis.... i need help in interpreting the methodology and results. if there's anyone out there who is a microbiology (proteins, cells, etc.) major or expert, please leave a message (or email me at [e-mail])!

thanks!

Answer 1

This means that the compound was added to a test-tube system consisting, most likely, of partially purified preparations of ribosomes, supplemented with an energy source, a messenger RNA template(s), etc. The system is optimized in such a way that protein synthesis can occur and the amount of synthesized product is measured. After the addition of the compound, the amount of protein product decreased. It is possible that the mechniasm of inhibition was studied in more detail, e.g. binding to specific proteins or inhibition of specific steps of protein synthesis.

Answer 2

2