title: The secondary structure of the regulatory region of the transferrin receptor mRNA deduced by enzymatic cleavage.
abstract: The secondary structure of the portion of the transferrin receptor mRNA responsible for the regulation of the transcript's half-life has been deduced by ribonuclease H cleavage directed by antisense oligodeoxyribonucleotides as well as with other ribonucleases sensitive to RNA secondary structure. The data indicate that both a synthetic 252-nucleotide RNA and the comparable portion of a 2.7-kb cellular mRNA contain three stem-loops referred to as iron-responsive elements (IREs). This secondary structure appears to be relatively static, with little interconversion with another possible structure having a similar calculated free energy but involving longer-range base pairing. Deletion of a selected cytosine residue from each of the IRE loops has been shown to yield an unregulated, unstable mRNA. This altered RNA has a secondary structure similar, if not identical, to that of the RNA that is competent in regulation.
authors.affiliation: Cell Biology and Metabolism Branch, NICHD, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Horowitz
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Harford
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D005809:Genes, Regulator; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D011990:Receptors, Transferrin / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D016914:Ribonuclease H; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011990:Receptors, Transferrin; D007501:Iron; D016914:Ribonuclease H