Figure 4.

Representative roles of messenger rG4 on diverse biological processes in cells. Messenger RNAs rG4 on the 5′UTRs of mRNAs can primarily impair eukaryotic cap-dependent translation, while they promote the cap-independent translation. Meanwhile, rG4s in the uORF affect the downstream gene translation through the regulation of ribosome initiation complex formation and the ORF rG4s can regulate translational elongation and ribosomal frameshifting progression. The pre-mRNA intron rG4s in ORF can either enhance or silence RNA alternative splicing, while the pre-mRNA exon rG4s act as exon splicing enhancers. rG4s on the 3′UTR affect translation, alternative polyadenylation, alternative splicing, and RNA localization.