title: Mapping and functional analysis of an instability element in phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase mRNA.
abstract: Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) is a key regulatory enzyme of renal gluconeogenesis. The 3'-nontranslated region of the PEPCK mRNA contains an instability element that facilitates its rapid turnover and contributes to the regulation of PEPCK gene expression. Such processes are mediated by specific protein-binding elements. Thus RNA gel shift analysis was used to identify proteins in rat renal cortical cytosolic extracts that bind to the 3'-nontranslated region of the PEPCK mRNA. Deletion constructs were then used to map the binding interactions to two adjacent RNA segments (PEPCK-6 and PEPCK-7). However, competition experiments established that only the binding to PEPCK-7 was specific. Functional studies were performed by cloning similar segments in a luciferase reporter construct, pLuc/Zeo. This analysis indicated that both PEPCK-6 and PEPCK-7 segments were necessary to produce a decrease in luciferase activity equivalent to that observed with the full-length 3'-nontranslated region. Thus the PEPCK-7 segment binds a specific protein that may recruit one or more proteins to form a complex that mediates the rapid decay of the PEPCK mRNA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins 80523-1870, Colorado, USA.
authors.forename: O F
authors.initials: OF
authors.lastname: Laterza
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Unnithan
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: N P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Curthoys
mesh_terms: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites / Q000235:genetics; D001667:Binding, Competitive / Q000235:genetics; D002474:Cell-Free System / Q000378:metabolism; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D003600:Cytosol / Q000201:enzymology; D007672:Kidney Cortex / Q000737:chemistry / Q000201:enzymology; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D010729:Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxykinase (GTP) / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D010957:Plasmids; D012323:RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional / Q000235:genetics; D020871:RNA Stability / Q000235:genetics*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid / Q000235:genetics; D013379:Substrate Specificity / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D010729:Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxykinase (GTP)