Abstract
Upstream open reading frames (uORFs) in 5′ UTRs of eukaryotic mRNAs are increasingly recognized as important elements that regulate cellular protein synthesis. Since uORFs can start from non-AUG codons, an enormous number of potential uORF initiation sites exists in 5′UTRs. However, only a subset of these sites is used and it has been unclear how actual start sites are selected. Studies of the DEAD-box helicase Ded1p from S. cerevisiae show that translation of uORFs with non-AUG initiation codons occurs upstream of mRNA structures that emerge with defective Ded1p. The data designate mRNA structure as important determinant for non-AUG initiation sites of uORFs. Ded1p can control this RNA structure and thereby regulate uORF translation.
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Work in our laboratory is supported by the NIH (GM118088 to E.J.).
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Communicated by M. Kupiec.
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Jankowsky, E., Guenther, UP. A helicase links upstream ORFs and RNA structure. Curr Genet 65, 453–456 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00294-018-0911-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00294-018-0911-z