Work

A perspective on mammalian upstream open reading frame function

Year: 2013

Type: review

Abstract: Post-transcriptional control makes a major contribution to the overall regulation of gene expression pathway. Within the cytoplasm this is mediated by a combination of regulatory RNA motifs within the 5' and 3' untranslated regions of mRNAs and their interacting protein/RNA partners. One of the most common regulatory RNA elements in mammalian transcripts (present in approximately 40% of all mRNAs) are upstream open reading frames (uORFs). However, despite the prevalence of these RNA elements how they function is not well understood. In general, they act to repress translation of the physiological ORF under control conditions, and under certain pathophysiological stresses this repression can be alleviated. It is known that re-initiation following the translation of an uORF is utilised in some situations however there are numerous alternative mechanisms that control the synthesis of a protein whose mRNA contains uORFs. Moreover, the trans-acting factors that are also involved in this process are not well defined. In this review we summarise our current understanding of this area and highlight some common features of these RNA motifs that have been discovered to date.

Source: The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology

DOI: 10.1016/j.biocel.2013.04.020

Authors: Joanna Somers, Tuija Pöyry, Anne E. Willis

Institution: Medical Research Council

Language: English

Topic: RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,840

Funders: Cancer Research UK, Medical Research Council, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council