Characterization and mapping of the 5' portion of von Willebrand factor pseudogene

Only genes that are transcribed into messenger RNA (mRNA) are active, or expressed. Scientists can, therefore, extract the mRNA from cells to study gene expression in different cells and tissues. The scientist converts mRNA into complementary DNA (cDNA) via reverse transcription. Because mRNA does not contain introns (non-coding regions) and other regulatory sequences, cDNA—unlike genomic DNA—also allows researchers to directly determine the amino acid sequence of the peptide encoded by the...

During most eukaryotic translation processes, the small 40S ribosome subunit scans an mRNA from its 5' end until it encounters the first start AUG codon. The large 60S ribosomal subunit then joins the smaller one to initiate protein synthesis. The location of the translation initiation is largely determined by the nucleotides near the start codon as there may be multiple translation initiation sites present on the mRNA.  Marilyn Kozak discovered that the sequence RCCAUGG (where R stands for...

Rapid Amplification of cDNA Ends, or RACE, is one of the most effective methods to obtain a full-length cDNA from an mRNA sequence between a known internal region to the unknown sequence at the 5’ or 3’ end. The unknown region is cloned in the cDNA by a gene-specific primer that binds the known end, and a hybrid primer that attaches a predefined anchor sequence to the unknown end of the cDNA. The sequence in between is amplified by PCR with an anchor primer and a gene-specific primer.
Since the...