title: Endonucleolysis in the turnover of insulin-like growth factor II mRNA.
abstract: The overlapping transcription units constituting the rat insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) locus generate multiple mRNAs by using different promoters. Three promoters have been identified, giving rise to 4.6-, 3.8-, and 3.6-kilobase mRNAs. The latter, originating from promoter P3, is the most abundant IGF-II mRNA in the rat liver cell-line BRL-3A. Moreover, a non-polyadenylated 1.2-kilobase (kb) transcript and a 1.8-kb tail fragment are prominent transcripts at steady-state. In this study, we show that the 1.8-kb tail fragment is uncapped and sediments as a 30 S ribonucleoprotein particle, and is thus not actively engaged in protein synthesis. In contrast, both the 3.6-kb mRNA and the 1.2-kb transcript cosediment with polysomes. In the presence of cytoplasmic extracts, the full-length 3.6-kb mRNA is cleaved into the 1.8-kb tail fragment and a similar-sized upstream fragment. The cleavage occurs between a putative hairpin and a phylogenetically conserved guanosine-rich region which forms a stable higher order RNA structure in the presence of K+. We suggest that endonucleolysis is the initial step in IGF-II mRNA decay and that this event may participate in the post-transcriptional regulation of IGF-II production.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Biochemistry, University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: F C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Christiansen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002451:Cell Compartmentation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D006860:Hydrogen Bonding; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007335:Insulin-Like Growth Factor II / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008970:Molecular Weight; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D009694:Nucleic Acid Precursors / Q000378:metabolism; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry; D012315:RNA Caps / Q000378:metabolism; D012323:RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D006163:Ribonuclease T1 / Q000494:pharmacology; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D009694:Nucleic Acid Precursors; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D012315:RNA Caps; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D007335:Insulin-Like Growth Factor II; D006163:Ribonuclease T1