Interactions between the 5′ UTR mRNA of the spe2 gene and spermidine regulate translation in S. pombe
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Xuhui Zhang; Wenxia Sun; Dongrong Chen; Alastair I.H. Murchie
- Source
- RNA. 26:137-149
- Subject
- Regulation of gene expression
Untranslated region
0303 health sciences
Messenger RNA
Spermidine binding
Five prime untranslated region
030302 biochemistry & molecular biology
Biology
Cell biology
03 medical and health sciences
Eukaryotic translation
Translational regulation
Molecular Biology
Gene
030304 developmental biology
- Language
- ISSN
- 1469-9001
1355-8382
The 5′ untranslated regions (5′ UTR) of mRNAs play an important role in the eukaryotic translation initiation process. Additional levels of translational regulation may be mediated through interactions between structured mRNAs that can adopt interchangeable secondary or tertiary structures and the regulatory protein/RNA factors or components of the translational apparatus. Here we report a regulatory function of the 5′ UTR mRNA of the spe2 gene (SAM decarboxylase) in polyamine metabolism of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Reporter assays, biochemical experiments, and mutational analysis demonstrate that this 5′ UTR mRNA of spe2 can bind to spermidine to regulate translation. A tertiary structure transition in the 5′ UTR RNA upon spermidine binding is essential for translation regulation. This study provides biochemical evidence for spermidine binding to regulate translation of the spe2 gene through interactions with the 5′ UTR mRNA. The identification of such a regulatory RNA that is directly associated with an essential eukaryotic metabolic process suggests that other ligand-binding RNAs may also contribute to eukaryotic gene regulation.