CiteULike is a free online bibliography manager. Register and you can start organising your references online.

The role of the 5′ untranslated region of an mRNA in translation regulation during development Export

The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology, Vol. 31, No. 1. (January 1999), pp. 87-106.

Citation Format

[Posts]

View FullText article


X Reviews [Write a review of this article]

X Find related articles from these CiteULike users

X Find related articles with these CiteULike tags

X Posting History

X Abstract

Cap-dependent ribosomal scanning occurs on the majority of cellular 5′ UTRs. This process is severely hampered on long 5′ UTRs, containing AUGs and secondary structure. These characteristics are often found in mRNAs encoding regulatory proteins like proto-oncogenes, growth factors, their receptors, and homeodomain proteins. A number of these mRNAs use an alternative mechanism of translation initiation, involving an internal ribosomal entry site (IRES). Cellular mRNAs containing a complex 5′ UTR or an IRES share an intriguing characteristic: their translational efficiency can be very specifically regulated by their 5′ UTR, providing post-transcriptional regulation. During embryonic development, the 5′ UTRs of Antp, Ubx, RARβ2, c-mos and c-myc regulate protein expression in a spatio-temporal manner. Translation initiation on a number of growth factor RNAs (IGFII, PDGF2, TGFβ, FGF-2, and VEGF) is specifically regulated during differentiation, growth, and stress. Furthermore, 5′ UTR activity, mutations in the 5′ UTR, or the occurrence of alternative 5′ UTRs have been implicated in the progression of various forms of cancer. The mechanisms involved in 5′ UTR mediated control are not well understood. Binding of trans -acting factors could mediate translation stimulation or repression. Furthermore, the precise localization of upstream AUGs and the activity of the cap-binding initiation factor 4E are suggested to be important for translation regulation of these mRNAs. This review focuses on 5′ UTRs whose activity is regulated, the processes during which this regulation occurs, and as far as known the mechanisms involved.


X BibTeX record

X RIS record


Privacy Statement | Terms & Conditions
CiteULike organises scholarly (or academic) papers or literature and provides bibliographic (which means it makes bibliographies) for universities and higher education establishments. It helps undergraduates and postgraduates. People studying for PhDs or in postdoctoral (postdoc) positions. The service is similar in scope to EndNote or RefWorks or any other reference manager like BibTeX, but it is a social bookmarking service for scientists and humanities researchers.