Translation and Cancer Laboratory, Unit of Biomedical Research on Cancer, National Institute of Cancer (Instituto Nacional de Cancerología, INCan), 22 San Fernando Avenue, Tlalpan, 14080 Mexico City, Mexico.
Translation and Cancer Laboratory, Unit of Biomedical Research on Cancer, National Institute of Cancer (Instituto Nacional de Cancerología, INCan), 22 San Fernando Avenue, Tlalpan, 14080 Mexico City, Mexico.
Trends Biochem Sci. 2019 Dec;44(12):1009-1021. doi: 10.1016/j.tibs.2019.07.001. Epub 2019 Jul 25.
Selection of the translation initiation site (TIS) is a crucial step during translation. In the 1980s Marylin Kozak performed key studies on vertebrate mRNAs to characterize the optimal TIS consensus sequence, the Kozak motif. Within this motif, conservation of nucleotides in crucial positions, namely a purine at -3 and a G at +4 (where the A of the AUG is numbered +1), is essential for TIS recognition. Ever since its characterization the Kozak motif has been regarded as the optimal sequence to initiate translation in all eukaryotes. We revisit here published in silico data on TIS consensus sequences, as well as experimental studies from diverse eukaryotic lineages, and propose that, while the -3A/G position is universally conserved, the remaining variability of the consensus sequences enables their classification as optimal, strong, and moderate TIS sequences.
翻译起始位点（TIS）的选择是翻译过程中的关键步骤。20 世纪 80 年代，Marylin Kozak 对脊椎动物 mRNA 进行了关键性研究，以确定最优的 TIS 共识序列，即 Kozak 基序。在这个基序中，关键位置的核苷酸（即在-3 位的嘌呤和+4 位的 G（AUG 的 A 编号为+1））的保守性对于 TIS 的识别至关重要。自从其特征被确定以来，Kozak 基序一直被认为是所有真核生物中启动翻译的最佳序列。我们重新审视了已发表的 TIS 共识序列的计算机数据，以及来自不同真核生物谱系的实验研究，并提出，虽然-3A/G 位置是普遍保守的，但共识序列的其余变异性使其能够被分类为最优、强和中等 TIS 序列。
