Laboratory of RNA Cell Biology, Department of Bioconvergence Engineering, Dankook University Graduate School, Yongin 16892, Korea.
Mol Cells. 2023 Jan 31;46(1):48-56. doi: 10.14348/molcells.2023.0003. Epub 2023 Jan 20.
Genomic information stored in the DNA is transcribed to the mRNA and translated to proteins. The 3' untranslated regions (3'UTRs) of the mRNA serve pivotal roles in posttranscriptional gene expression, regulating mRNA stability, translation, and localization. Similar to DNA mutations producing aberrant proteins, RNA alterations expand the transcriptome landscape and change the cellular proteome. Recent global analyses reveal that many genes express various forms of altered RNAs, including 3'UTR length variants. Alternative polyadenylation and alternative splicing are involved in diversifying 3'UTRs, which could act as a hidden layer of eukaryotic gene expression control. In this review, we summarize the functions and regulations of 3'UTRs and elaborate on the generation and functional consequences of 3'UTR diversity. Given that dynamic 3'UTR length control contributes to phenotypic complexity, dysregulated 3'UTR diversity might be relevant to disease development, including cancers. Thus, 3'UTR diversity in cancer could open exciting new research areas and provide avenues for novel cancer theragnostics.
储存在 DNA 中的基因组信息被转录到 mRNA 并翻译成蛋白质。mRNA 的 3'非翻译区（3'UTR）在转录后基因表达中起着关键作用，调节 mRNA 的稳定性、翻译和定位。与产生异常蛋白质的 DNA 突变类似，RNA 改变扩展了转录组景观并改变了细胞蛋白质组。最近的全球分析表明，许多基因表达各种形式的改变的 RNA，包括 3'UTR 长度变体。可变多聚腺苷酸化和可变剪接参与多样化 3'UTR，它可以作为真核基因表达控制的隐藏层。在这篇综述中，我们总结了 3'UTR 的功能和调节，并详细阐述了 3'UTR 多样性的产生和功能后果。鉴于动态 3'UTR 长度控制有助于表型复杂性，失调的 3'UTR 多样性可能与疾病发展有关，包括癌症。因此，癌症中的 3'UTR 多样性可能开辟令人兴奋的新研究领域，并为新型癌症治疗提供途径。
