title: Tricks an IRES uses to enslave ribosomes.
abstract: In eukaryotes, mRNAs are primarily translated through a cap-dependent mechanism whereby initiation factors recruit the 40S ribosomal subunit to a cap structure at the 5' end of the mRNA. However, some viral and cellular messages initiate protein synthesis without a cap. They use a structured RNA element termed an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) to recruit the 40S ribosomal subunit. IRESs were discovered over 20 years ago, but only recently have studies using a model IRES from dicistroviruses expanded our understanding of how a 3D RNA structure can capture and manipulate the ribosome to initiate translation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. sunnie@uab.edu
authors.forename: Sunnie R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Thompson
mesh_terms: D001665:Binding Sites; D056890:Eukaryota / Q000235:genetics; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D012270:Ribosomes / Q000378:metabolism*; D014780:Viruses / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger