Inducible Cytoplasmic Factor (AU-B) Binds Selectively to AUUUA Multimers in the3' Untranslated Region of Lymphokine mRNA

摘要

Although the primary control of eukaryotic gene expression occurs at thetranscriptional level, it has become clear that posttranscriptional mechanisms also play important roles in gene regulation. For instance, the efficiency of nuclear RNA splicing and processing has been suggested to play a regulatory role in the expression of some genes (21). Within the cytoplasm, selective mRNA compartmentalization, translation, and degradation can each influence the final level of gene expression. In order for gene expression to be regulated selectively at any level, the cell must have a means to discriminate between genes or their products. For example, selective gene expression is regulated at the transcriptional level in part by interactions between sequence-specific nuclear DNA-binding proteins (transcription factors) and sequence motifs within promoter/enhancer regions. This study was undertaken to determine whether similar sequence-specific cytoplasmic RNA-binding factors are involved in regulating cytoplasmic mRNA metabolism.