Abstract
The major late 16S mRNA species of simian virus 40 encodes both a 61-amino-acid protein, LP1, and the major virion protein, VP1. Although the initiation signal GCCAUGG is usually utilized at high efficiency, at least one-third of 40S ribosomal subunits bypass it when it is present on the major 16S mRNA of simian virus 40 (S. A. Sedman, P. J. Good, and J. E. Mertz, J. Virol. 63:3884-3893, 1989). The LP1 translation initiation codon is situated 10 bases from the 5' end of this mRNA. To determine whether the short length of the untranslated leader of this mRNA affects the efficiency of translation initiation at the LP1 initiation signal, monkey cells were transfected with plasmids which encode major late 16S-like mRNAs with 5' untranslated regions (UTRs) of 6 or 44 bases. Decreasing the length of the 5' UTR from 44 to 6 bases resulted in a 30% decrease in translation initiation at the LP1 AUG and a threefold increase in synthesis of VP1. When the VP1 open reading frame was replaced with the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase open reading frame, the reduction in 5' UTR length resulted in a 70% decrease in translation initiation at the LP1 AUG and a 30% increase in chloramphenicol acetyltransferase synthesis. Therefore, ribosomes bypass an AUG codon more efficiently when it is located very close to the 5' end of the mRNA.
Full text
PDF




Images in this article
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Bos J. L., Polder L. J., Bernards R., Schrier P. I., van den Elsen P. J., van der Eb A. J., van Ormondt H. The 2.2 kb E1b mRNA of human Ad12 and Ad5 codes for two tumor antigens starting at different AUG triplets. Cell. 1981 Nov;27(1 Pt 2):121–131. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(81)90366-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Browning K. S., Lax S. R., Humphreys J., Ravel J. M., Jobling S. A., Gehrke L. Evidence that the 5'-untranslated leader of mRNA affects the requirement for wheat germ initiation factors 4A, 4F, and 4G. J Biol Chem. 1988 Jul 15;263(20):9630–9634. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Celma M. L., Dhar R., Pan J., Weissman S. M. Comparison of the nucleotide sequence of the messenger RNA for the major structural protein of SV40 with the DNA sequence encoding the amino acids of the protein. Nucleic Acids Res. 1977 Aug;4(8):2549–2550. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Czernilofsky A. P., DeLorbe W., Swanstrom R., Varmus H. E., Bishop J. M., Tischer E., Goodman H. M. The nucleotide sequence of an untranslated but conserved domain at the 3' end of the avian sarcoma virus genome. Nucleic Acids Res. 1980 Jul 11;8(13):2967–2984. doi: 10.1093/nar/8.13.2967. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gallie D. R., Sleat D. E., Watts J. W., Turner P. C., Wilson T. M. A comparison of eukaryotic viral 5'-leader sequences as enhancers of mRNA expression in vivo. Nucleic Acids Res. 1987 Nov 11;15(21):8693–8711. doi: 10.1093/nar/15.21.8693. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gallie D. R., Sleat D. E., Watts J. W., Turner P. C., Wilson T. M. The 5'-leader sequence of tobacco mosaic virus RNA enhances the expression of foreign gene transcripts in vitro and in vivo. Nucleic Acids Res. 1987 Apr 24;15(8):3257–3273. doi: 10.1093/nar/15.8.3257. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ghosh P. K., Reddy V. B., Swinscoe J., Lebowitz P., Weissman S. M. Heterogeneity and 5'-terminal structures of the late RNAs of simian virus 40. J Mol Biol. 1978 Dec 25;126(4):813–846. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(78)90022-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Grass D. S., Manley J. L. Selective translation initiation on bicistronic simian virus 40 late mRNA. J Virol. 1987 Jul;61(7):2331–2335. doi: 10.1128/jvi.61.7.2331-2335.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Jobling S. A., Gehrke L. Enhanced translation of chimaeric messenger RNAs containing a plant viral untranslated leader sequence. Nature. 1987 Feb 12;325(6105):622–625. doi: 10.1038/325622a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kelley D. E., Coleclough C., Perry R. P. Functional significance and evolutionary development of the 5'-terminal regions of immunoglobulin variable-region genes. Cell. 1982 Jun;29(2):681–689. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(82)90184-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kozak M. An analysis of 5'-noncoding sequences from 699 vertebrate messenger RNAs. Nucleic Acids Res. 1987 Oct 26;15(20):8125–8148. doi: 10.1093/nar/15.20.8125. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kozak M. Compilation and analysis of sequences upstream from the translational start site in eukaryotic mRNAs. Nucleic Acids Res. 1984 Jan 25;12(2):857–872. doi: 10.1093/nar/12.2.857. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kozak M. Mechanism of mRNA recognition by eukaryotic ribosomes during initiation of protein synthesis. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol. 1981;93:81–123. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-68123-3_5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kozak M. Point mutations define a sequence flanking the AUG initiator codon that modulates translation by eukaryotic ribosomes. Cell. 1986 Jan 31;44(2):283–292. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90762-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kozak M., Shatkin A. J. Migration of 40 S ribosomal subunits on messenger RNA in the presence of edeine. J Biol Chem. 1978 Sep 25;253(18):6568–6577. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Peterson C. A., Piatigorsky J. Preferential conservation of the globular domains of the beta A3/A1-crystallin polypeptide of the chicken eye lens. Gene. 1986;45(2):139–147. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(86)90248-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Roner M. R., Gaillard R. K., Jr, Joklik W. K. Control of reovirus messenger RNA translation efficiency by the regions upstream of initiation codons. Virology. 1989 Feb;168(2):292–301. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(89)90269-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Sedman S. A., Good P. J., Mertz J. E. Leader-encoded open reading frames modulate both the absolute and relative rates of synthesis of the virion proteins of simian virus 40. J Virol. 1989 Sep;63(9):3884–3893. doi: 10.1128/jvi.63.9.3884-3893.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Sedman S. A., Mertz J. E. Mechanisms of synthesis of virion proteins from the functionally bigenic late mRNAs of simian virus 40. J Virol. 1988 Mar;62(3):954–961. doi: 10.1128/jvi.62.3.954-961.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Somasekhar M. B., Mertz J. E. Sequences involved in determining the locations of the 5' ends of the late RNAs of simian virus 40. J Virol. 1985 Dec;56(3):1002–1013. doi: 10.1128/jvi.56.3.1002-1013.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Spena A., Krause E., Dobberstein B. Translation efficiency of zein mRNA is reduced by hybrid formation between the 5'- and 3'-untranslated region. EMBO J. 1985 Sep;4(9):2153–2158. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1985.tb03909.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Strubin M., Long E. O., Mach B. Two forms of the Ia antigen-associated invariant chain result from alternative initiations at two in-phase AUGs. Cell. 1986 Nov 21;47(4):619–625. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90626-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- van den Heuvel J. J., Bergkamp R. J., Planta R. J., Raué H. A. Effect of deletions in the 5'-noncoding region on the translational efficiency of phosphoglycerate kinase mRNA in yeast. Gene. 1989 Jun 30;79(1):83–95. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(89)90094-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]