Srivastava R A, Srivastava N
Department of Internal Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO 63110, USA.
Indian J Biochem Biophys. 1996 Aug;33(4):253-60.
Ribonuclease III was initially characterized as an endoribonuclease specific for double stranded RNA. Subsequently RNase III was found to be involved in the processing and maturation of ribosomal and tRNAs. Recent studies demonstrate that RNase III also participates in the processing of small stable RNAs. A number of other biological processes in which RNase III participates are: (a), conversion of polycistronic transcript of the bacteriophage T7 early region into discrete monocistronic mRNAs, (b), controlling expression of a variety of genes by processing of gene transcripts, (c), autoregulation of its own gene and (d), regulation of mRNA stability and stimulation of translation. No single processing enzyme displays such a wide variety of roles in RNA metabolism and gene expression as RNA processing enzyme ribonuclease III. This review provides an account of the various roles of RNase III in regulating gene expression and RNA metabolism.
核糖核酸酶III最初被鉴定为一种对双链RNA具有特异性的内切核糖核酸酶。随后发现核糖核酸酶III参与核糖体RNA和转运RNA的加工与成熟。最近的研究表明，核糖核酸酶III也参与小稳定RNA的加工。核糖核酸酶III参与的其他一些生物学过程包括：（a）将噬菌体T7早期区域的多顺反子转录本转化为离散的单顺反子信使核糖核酸；（b）通过加工基因转录本控制多种基因的表达；（c）对其自身基因进行自我调节；以及（d）调节信使核糖核酸的稳定性并刺激翻译。没有一种单一的加工酶在RNA代谢和基因表达中能像RNA加工酶核糖核酸酶III那样发挥如此广泛的作用。本综述阐述了核糖核酸酶III在调节基因表达和RNA代谢中的各种作用。
