RNA binding protein/RNA element interactions and the control of translation.
A growing body of work demonstrates the importance of post-transcriptional control, in particular translation initiation, in the overall regulation of gene expression. Here we focus on the contribution of regulatory elements within the 5' and 3' untranslated regions of mRNA to gene expression in eukaryotic cells including terminal oligopyrimidine tracts, internal ribosome entry segments, upstream open reading frames and cytoplasmic polyadenylation elements. These mRNA regulatory elements may adopt complex secondary structures and/or contain sequence motifs that allow their interaction with a variety of regulatory proteins, RNAs and RNA binding proteins, particularly hnRNPs. The resulting interactions are context-sensitive, and provide cells with a sensitive and fast response to cellular signals such as hormone exposure or cytotoxic stress. Importantly, an increasing number of diseases have been identified, particularly cancers and those associated with neurodegeneration, which originate either from mutation of these regulatory motifs, or from deregulation of their cognate binding partners.
Medical Research Council Toxicology Unit, Leicester, UK.
Xavier
X
Pichon
Lindsay A
LA
Wilson
Mark
M
Stoneley
Amandine
A
Bastide
Helen A
HA
King
Joanna
J
Somers
Anne E E
AE
Willis
D000818:Animals; D004194:Disease / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D011485:Protein Binding / Q000235:genetics; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D038621:Regulatory Sequences, Ribonucleic Acid / Q000235:genetics*; D012270:Ribosomes / Q000378:metabolism
D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D038621:Regulatory Sequences, Ribonucleic Acid