Recent advances in prokaryote genetics have highlighted the important and complex roles of small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs). Although blocking mRNA translation is often the main function of sRNAs, these molecules can also induce the degradation of target mRNAs using a mechanism that drastically differs from eukaryotic RNA interference (RNAi). Whereas RNAi relies on RNase III-like machinery that is...

Genetic variation in ABCB1, encoding P-glycoprotein (P-gp), is a potential cause of interindividual variation in drug response. Numerous studies have focused on the effects of coding region variants on P-gp expression and function, whereas few noncoding region variants have been investigated. The 3'-untranslated region (UTR) regulates mRNA levels or stability via RNA-protein interactions with m...

UNLABELLED microRibonucleic acid (miRNAs) are small regulatory molecules that act by mRNA degradation or via translational repression. Although many miRNAs are ubiquitously expressed, a small subset have differential expression patterns that may give rise to tissue-specific complexes. MOTIVATION This work studies gene targeting patterns amongst miRNAs with differential expression profiles, an...

A key aspect of understanding eukaryotic gene regulation will be the identification and analysis of proteins that bind mRNAs and control their function. Recently, a complex of seven Lsm proteins and the Pat1p have been shown to interact with yeast mRNAs and promote mRNA decapping. In this study we present several observations to indicate that the LsmI/Pat1 complex has a second distinct function...

We have identified possible mechanisms for the degradation of oat phytochrome A (PHYA) mRNA. The majority of PHYA mRNA molecules appeared to be degraded prior to removal of the poly(A) tail, a pathway that differs from that reported for the degradation of other eukaryotic mRNAs. Polyadenylated PHYA mRNA contained a pattern of putative degradation products that is consistent with a 5'-->3' exori...

The total CYP3A5 mRNA level is significantly greater in carriers of the CYP3A5*1 allele than in CYP3A5*3 homozygotes. Most of the CYP3A5*3 mRNA includes an intronic sequence (exon 3B) containing premature termination codons (PTCs) between exons 3 and 4. Two models were used to investigate the degradation of CYP3A5 mRNA: a CYP3A5 minigene consisting of CYP3A5 exons and introns 3 to 6 transfected...

Discovered just over a decade ago, microRNA (miRNA) is now recognized as one of the major regulatory gene families in eukaryotic cells. Hundreds of miRNAs have been found in animals, plants and viruses, and there are certainly more to come. Through specific base-pairing with mRNAs, these tiny approximately 22-nt RNAs induce mRNA degradation or translational repression, or both. Because a miRNA ...

The use of cryopreserved human embryos in gene expression studies provides an additional source to the scarce embryos available for research. To validate their use we have implemented a quantitative RT-PCR to characterize the levels of the tuberous sclerosis, TSC2 gene in fresh and frozen-thawed human embryos. Frozen embryos were thawed using two different clinical protocols. In fresh embryos 9...

Gene expression is a fundamental cellular process by which proteins are eventually synthesized based on the information coded in the genes. This process includes four major steps: transcription of the DNA segment corresponding to a gene to mRNA molecules, the degradation of the mRNA molecules, the translation of mRNA molecules to proteins by the ribosome and the degradation of the proteins. We ...

RNA localization contributes to cell polarity and synaptic plasticity. Evidence will be discussed that RNA transport and local translation in neurons may be more intimately linked than originally thought. Second, neuronal RNA granules, originally defined as intermediates involved in mRNA transport, are much more diverse in their composition and functions than previously anticipated. We focus on...