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Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Toeprinting Analysis of Translation Initiation Complex Formation on Mammalian mRNAs
Published on: May 10, 2018
Translational control of GCN4: an in vivo barometer of initiation-factor activity
1Section on Molecular Genetics of Lower Eukaryotes, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD 20892.
Abstract:
Phosphorylation of translation initiation factor-2 (eIF-2) is an adaptive mechanism for downregulating protein synthesis under conditions of starvation and stress. The yeast Saccharomyces has evolved a sophisticated means of increasing translation of GCN4 mRNA when eIF-2 is phosphorylated, allowing the induction of an important stress-response protein when expression of most other genes is decreasing. Because translation of GCN4 mRNA is so tightly coupled to eIF-2 activity, genetic analysis of this system has provided unexpected insights into the regulation of eIF-2 and its guanine nucleotide exchange factor, eIF-2B.
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