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. 1992 Feb;12(2):856–864. doi: 10.1128/mcb.12.2.856

raf regulates the postnatal repression of the mouse alpha-fetoprotein gene at the posttranscriptional level.

J Vacher 1, S A Camper 1, R Krumlauf 1, R S Compton 1, S M Tilghman 1
PMCID: PMC364319  PMID: 1370712

Abstract

The mouse alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) gene is transcribed at a high rate in liver during the second half of gestation. Its steady-state mRNA levels decrease 10(4)-fold shortly after birth, at least in part as the consequence of a dramatic decrease in its transcription rate. The final basal level of AFP mRNA in adult liver is influenced by a trans-acting locus on chromosome 15 termed raf. Two strategies were used to demonstrate that the raf gene acts posttranscriptionally to affect the processing and/or stability of AFP transcripts. Transgenic mouse studies demonstrated that raf gene action is independent of both positive and negative transcription control elements of the AFP gene. Nuclear run-on analysis was used to confirm that transcriptions of both AFP transgenes and another endogenous raf-responsive gene, H19, are invariant with respect to the raf genotype. Thus, the postnatal repression of the AFP gene is mediated by both transcriptional and posttranscriptional mechanisms.

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Selected References

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