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Visualization of Endoplasmic Reticulum Localized mRNAs in Mammalian Cells
10:24

Visualization of Endoplasmic Reticulum Localized mRNAs in Mammalian Cells

Published on: December 17, 2012

The 3'-UTR mediates the cellular localization of an mRNA encoding a short plasma membrane protein

Adi Loya1, Lilach Pnueli, Yahav Yosefzon

  • 1Department of Biology, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel.

RNA (New York, N.Y.)
|May 22, 2008
PubMed

Insights

The 3'-untranslated region (UTR) of mRNA is crucial for localizing transcripts to cellular membranes, even without a signal peptide. This finding reveals a novel mechanism for mRNA targeting in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Area of Science:

  • Molecular Biology
  • Cell Biology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Protein synthesis and targeting to the endoplasmic reticulum typically rely on signal peptides.
  • Many messenger RNAs (mRNAs) lack signal peptides or are too short for standard signal recognition particle (SRP) targeting.
  • Alternative mRNA localization mechanisms are therefore necessary.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of the 3 eal-untranslated region (UTR) in the membrane localization of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Pmp1 mRNA.
  • To determine if the 3 eal-UTR can confer membrane association to other mRNAs.

Main Methods:

  • Ribosome density mapping
  • Sedimentation analysis
  • Differential centrifugation
  • Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH)
  • Mutation analysis of the 3 eal-UTR

Main Results:

  • The 3 eal-UTR of Pmp1 mRNA is essential for its association with membrane compartments.
  • Fusion of the Pmp1 3 eal-UTR to heterologous open reading frames induced similar localization patterns.
  • A UG-rich sequence within the 3 eal-UTR is critical for membrane association.

Conclusions:

  • The 3 eal-UTR plays a vital role in targeting specific mRNAs to cellular membranes.
  • This mechanism operates independently of the canonical signal peptide-dependent pathway.
  • UG-rich elements within the 3 eal-UTR are key determinants of mRNA membrane localization.

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