Tschudi Christian, Ullut Elisabetta
Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520-8022, USA.
Gene Expr. 2002;10(1-2):3-16.
This review focuses on the spliced leader (SL) RNA and uridylic acid-rich small nuclear RNAs (U-snRNAs) involved in pre-mRNA processing in trypanosomatid protozoa, with particular emphasis on the mechanism of transcription and cap formation. The SL RNA plays a central role in mRNA biogenesis by providing the unique cap 4 structure to the 5' end of all mRNAs by trans-splicing. The trimethylguanosine capped U-snRNAs, on the other hand, represent an unusual example among eukaryotic snRNAs in that they are transcribed by RNA polymerase III. This implies the existence of a distinctive mechanism for capping enzyme selection by the transcriptional machinery. Furthermore, the transcription units of U-snRNA genes offer yet another example of the variety of choices that have been established during eukaryotic evolution, namely that an upstream tRNA gene or tRNA-like gene provides extragenic promoter elements for a downstream small RNA gene.
本综述聚焦于参与锥虫原生动物前体信使核糖核酸(pre-mRNA)加工的剪接前导序列(SL)RNA和富含尿苷酸的小核RNA(U-snRNA),尤其着重于转录和帽形成机制。SL RNA通过转剪接为所有mRNA的5'端提供独特的帽4结构,在mRNA生物合成中发挥核心作用。另一方面,三甲基鸟苷帽化的U-snRNA在真核小核RNA中是一个不同寻常的例子,因为它们由RNA聚合酶III转录。这意味着转录机制存在一种独特的帽化酶选择机制。此外,U-snRNA基因的转录单位为真核生物进化过程中已确立的多种选择提供了另一个例子,即上游的转运RNA(tRNA)基因或类tRNA基因可为下游的小RNA基因提供基因外启动子元件。