Advances of functional consequences and regulation mechanisms of alternative cleavage and polyadenylation

During the maturation of pre-mRNAs and some lncRNAs, their 3'ends are cleaved and polyadenylated. The cleavage and polyadenylation (C/P) require the presence of a polyadenylation signal (PAS) at the RNA 3?end. Most eukaryotic genes have multiple PASs, resulting in alternative cleavage and polyadenylation (APA). APA leads to transcript isoforms with different coding potentials and/or variable 3?UTRs. The 3'UTR affects mRNA stability, translation, transportation, and cellular localization. Therefore, APA is an important mechanism of posttranscriptional gene regulation in eukaryotes. In recent years, whole genome sequencing of animals, plants and yeast has revealed that APA is pervasive in eukaryotes, and the functional consequences and regulation of APA have been studied. To date, many cis-acting regulatory elements and trans-acting factors for APA regulation have been identified. In this review, we summarize the recent advances in the functional consequences and regulation of APA and discuss the future directions, aiming to provide clues and references for future APA study.