Bicoid associates with the 5'-cap-bound complex of caudal mRNA and represses translation.
Translational control plays a key role in many biological processes including pattern formation during early Drosophila embryogenesis. In this process, the anterior determinant Bicoid (BCD) acts not only as a transcriptional activator of segmentation genes but also causes specific translational repression of ubiquitously distributed caudal (cad) mRNA in the anterior region of the embryo. We show that translational repression of cad mRNA is dependent on a functional eIF4E-binding motif. The results suggest a novel mode of translational repression, which combines the strategy of target-specific binding to 3'-untranslated sequences and interference with 5'-cap-dependent translation initiation in one protein.
D020121:5' Untranslated Regions / Q000378:metabolism*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster; D039561:Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-4E / Q000378:metabolism; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D012315:RNA Caps / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014157:Transcription Factors
D020121:5' Untranslated Regions; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D039561:Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-4E; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D019476:Insect Proteins; D012315:RNA Caps; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors; C056478:bcd protein, Drosophila; C084564:cad protein, Drosophila