mRNA and Cancer Laboratory, Unit of Biomedical Research on Cancer, National Institute of Cancer (Instituto Nacional de Cancerología, INCan), 22 San Fernando Ave., Tlalpan, Mexico City, 14080, Mexico.
Institute of Cell Biology, University of Bern, Baltzerstrasse 4, Berne, 3012, Switzerland.
Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc. 2023 Dec;98(6):2284-2306. doi: 10.1111/brv.13005. Epub 2023 Aug 8.
The evolutionary origin of eukaryotes spurred the transition from prokaryotic-like translation to a more sophisticated, eukaryotic translation. During this process, successive gene duplication of a single, primordial eIF4E gene encoding the mRNA cap-binding protein eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) gave rise to a plethora of paralog genes across eukaryotes that underwent further functional diversification in RNA metabolism. The ability to take different roles is due to eIF4E promiscuity in binding many partner proteins, rendering eIF4E a highly versatile and multifunctional player that functions as a molecular wildcard. Thus, in metazoans, eIF4E paralogs are involved in various processes, including messenger RNA (mRNA) processing, export, translation, storage, and decay. Moreover, some paralogs display differential expression in tissues and developmental stages and show variable biochemical properties. In this review, we discuss recent advances shedding light on the functional diversification of eIF4E in metazoans. We emphasise humans and two phylogenetically distant species which have become paradigms for studies on development, namely the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans.
真核生物的进化起源促使从原核样翻译向更复杂的真核翻译的转变。在这个过程中，编码 mRNA 帽结合蛋白真核翻译起始因子 4E(eIF4E)的单个原始 eIF4E 基因的连续基因复制导致了真核生物中大量的基因家族成员的产生，这些基因家族成员在 RNA 代谢中经历了进一步的功能多样化。能够发挥不同作用是由于 eIF4E 在与许多伴侣蛋白结合方面的混杂性，使 eIF4E 成为一种高度多功能和多功能的分子，具有分子通配性。因此，在后生动物中，eIF4E 基因家族成员参与了多种过程，包括信使 RNA(mRNA)加工、输出、翻译、储存和降解。此外，一些基因家族成员在组织和发育阶段表现出不同的表达水平，并表现出不同的生化特性。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了最近的进展，这些进展揭示了 eIF4E 在后生动物中的功能多样化。我们强调了人类和两个在进化上相距甚远的物种，它们已成为发育研究的典范，即黑腹果蝇(Drosophila melanogaster)和秀丽隐杆线虫(Caenorhabditis elegans)。
