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Updated: Jul 19, 2026

Assessment of Selective mRNA Translation in Mammalian Cells by Polysome Profiling
Published on: October 28, 2014
Identification and characterisation of a developmentally regulated mammalian gene that utilises -1 programmed
K Shigemoto1, J Brennan, E Walls
1Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, 91 Riding House Street, London W1P 8BT, UK. shigemoto@m.ehime-u.ac.jp
Abstract:
Translational recoding of mRNA through a -1 ribosomal slippage mechanism has been observed in RNA viruses and retrotransposons of both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Whilst this provides a potentially powerful mechanism of gene regulation, the utilization of -1 translational frameshifting in regulating mammalian gene expression has remained obscure. Here we report a mammalian gene, Edr, which provides the first example of -1 translational recoding in a eukaryotic cellular gene. In addition to bearing functional frameshift elements that mediate expression of distinct polypeptides, Edr bears both CCHC zinc-finger and putative aspartyl protease catalytic site retroviral-like motifs, indicative of a relic retroviral-like origin for Edr. These features, coupled with conservation of Edr as a single copy gene in mouse and man and striking spatio-temporal regulation of expression during embryogenesis, suggest that Edr plays a functionally important role in mammalian development.
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