Bidirectional RNA helicase activity of eucaryotic translation initiation factors 4A and 4F

Autor: Rozen, F, Edery, I, Meerovitch, K, Dever, T E, Merrick, W C, Sonenberg, N
Zdroj: Molecular and Cellular Biology; March 1990, Vol. 10 Issue: 3 p1134-1144, 11p
Abstrakt: The mechanism of ribosome binding to eucaryotic mRNAs is not well understood, but it requires the participation of eucaryotic initiation factors eIF-4A, eIF-4B, and eIF-4F and the hydrolysis of ATP. Evidence has accumulated in support of a model in which these initiation factors function to unwind the 5'-proximal secondary structure in mRNA to facilitate ribosome binding. To obtain direct evidence for initiation factor-mediated RNA unwinding, we developed a simple assay to determine RNA helicase activity, and we show that eIF-4A or eIF-4F, in combination with eIF-4B, exhibits helicase activity. A striking and unprecedented feature of this activity is that it functions in a bidirectional manner. Thus, unwinding can occur either in the 5'-to-3' or 3'-to-5' direction. Unwinding in the 5'-to-3' direction by eIF-4F (the cap-binding protein complex), in conjunction with eIF-4B, was stimulated by the presence of the RNA 5' cap structure, whereas unwinding in the 3'-to-5' direction was completely cap independent. These results are discussed with respect to cap-dependent versus cap-independent mechanisms of ribosome binding to eucaryotic mRNAs.
Databáze: Supplemental Index