Secondary structure and expression in vivo and in vitro of messenger RNAs into which upstream AUG codons have been inserted.
We wanted to discover whether the conformation of the mRNA leader sequence is involved in translational fidelity. For this purpose we constructed several mutants of Semliki Forest virus 26S mRNA and inserted AUG codons into the leader sequence. We then analyzed the results of in vitro and in vivo translation of these mRNAs, probed enzymatically the secondary structure and performed minimal energy folding of the transcripts. Our results indicate that the position of a hairpin in the leader sequence determines at which AUG codon downstream from that hairpin translation is initiated.
van Duijn
L P
LP
Department of Molecular Cell Biology, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Holsappel
S
S
Kasperaitis
M
M
Bunschoten
H
H
Konings
D
D
Voorma
H O
HO
D001483:Base Sequence; D003062:Codon; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D009154:Mutation; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D009875:Operator Regions, Genetic; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis*; D012672:Semliki forest virus / Q000235:genetics; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D003062:Codon; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D004247:DNA