The central dogma of biology describes the transfer of biological information from DNA through to protein (1). In the first phase, known as transcription, DNA is converted into a complementary sequence of messenger RNA (mRNA). This mRNA allows the genetic message to be communicated outside of the cell nucleus, to other areas of the cell, where it is then translated into protein by ribosomes. Po...

Introduction In Nature, the vast majority of polypeptides are synthesized through translation of the messenger RNA (mRNA) by the joint action of the ribosome and the transfer RNA (tRNA). The mRNA is a transcribed copy of the gene that carries genetic information in the form of series of three-nucleotide sequences referred as ‘codon’. Each codon corresponds to a specific amino acid or a terminat...

A large proportion of newly synthesized polyribosomal RNA of sea urchin blastulae is not polyadenylylated. The size distributions of the polyadenylylated and nonpolyadenylylated RNA are indistinguishable (mean size of 26 S). Upon translation of sea urchin polyribosomal RNA containing poly(A) and that without poly(A) in a wheat embryo cell-free protein-synthesizing system, where polypeptide synt...

antisense RNA, aRNA (complementary RNA) → sense RNA ARN antimensajero, ARN complementario An RNA sequence that is complementary to all or part of a functional mRNA molecule, to which it binds, blocking its translation3. Nota: los ARN complementarios pueden ser sintéticos o naturales. Cuando son sintéticos suelen llamarse micRNA, por messenger-RNA-interfering complementary RNA4, una molécula de ...

Pre-mRNA splicing in plants, while generally similar to the processes in vertebrates and yeast, is thought to involve plant specific cis-acting elements. Both monocot and dicot introns are typically strongly enriched in U nucleotides, and AU- or U-rich segments are thought to be involved in intron recognition, splice site selection, and splicing efficiency. We have applied logitlinear models to...

MicroRNAs are small (22 nucleotide) regulatory molecules that play important roles in a wide variety of biological processes. These RNAs, which bind to targeted mRNAs via limited base pairing interactions, act to reduce protein production from those mRNAs. Considerable evidence indicates that miRNAs destabilize targeted mRNAs by recruiting enzymes that function in normal mRNA decay and mRNA deg...

Among more than 140 naturally occurring RNA modifications have been identified, N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most abundant messenger RNA (mRNA) modification in eukaryotic organisms. A group of demethylases, methyltransferase and m6A-specific binding proteins in mammals, plants as well as yeast are in support of the regulatory functions of this RNA modification. Recent years, with the fast de...

The central dogma of molecular biology states that information is stored in DNA, transcribed to messenger RNA (mRNA) and then translated into proteins. This picture is significantly augmentated when we consider the action of certain proteins in regulating transcription. These transcription factors provide a feedback pathway by which genes can regulate one another’s expression as mRNA and then a...

Stress-induced Hfq-binding small RNAs of Escherichia coli, SgrS and RyhB, down-regulate the expression of target mRNAs through base-pairing. These small RNAs form ribonucleoprotein complexes with Hfq and RNase E. The regulatory outcomes of the RNase E/Hfq/small RNA-containing ribonucleoprotein complex (sRNP) are rapid degradation of target mRNAs and translational inhibition. Here, we ask to wha...

Conversion of pre-mRNAs into mature mRNAs includes several consecutive enzymatic modification steps that are carried out in the spliceosomes. Helicases have been shown to contribute to these catalytic processes both in yeast and in mammalian cells. Our results identify the mammalian protein MAH (matrix-associated helicase) as a new helicase present in the spliceosome complex. Sequence compariso...