Related Experiment Videos
Connexin43 mRNA contains a functional internal ribosome entry site
A Schiavi1, A Hudder, R Werner
1Department of Biochemistry, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA.
FEBS Letters
|January 5, 2000
Abstract:
A reporter gene construct was used to study the regulation of connexin43 (Cx43) expression, the major gap junction protein found in heart and uterus, in transfected cell lines. The construct had the firefly luciferase gene under the control of the Cx43 promoter. Inclusion of the 5'-untranslated region (UTR) of the mRNA in the construct increased luciferase expression by 70%. A bicistronic vector assay demonstrated that the Cx43 5'-UTR contains a strong internal ribosome entry site (IRES). Deletion analysis localized the IRES element to the upstream portion of the 5'-UTR.