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. 2019 Aug;35(8):553–564. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2019.05.005

Figure 2.

Figure 2

Fate and Function of Prematurely Terminated Transcripts.

Most transcription start site (TSS)-linked, exonic, and some intronic prematurely terminated transcripts are unstable, and likely lack cellular function. Stable prematurely terminated transcripts generated as a result of intronic polyadenylation (IPA) form either a noncoding (nc) RNA or protein-coding mRNA. Contrary to their name, ncRNA sometimes contain small open reading frames (ORFs), which may be translated into micropeptides. Other ncRNA can serve cellular functions, for example as scaffolds for RNA-binding proteins (RBP) [48]. Many ncRNA have no clear function determined to date. Protein-coding mRNA isoforms generated by PTT diversify the proteome. They lack the C-terminal domain(s) present in the full-length protein and may have different properties. These include membrane binding versus soluble 43., 44., 45., 48., 57., altered specificity or affinity for binding to nucleic acid or protein partners [48], and, in some cases, dominant negative functions 59., 60., 61., 62., 63.. Abbreviation: (A)n, polyadenylation.