Possible Relationship of Poly(A) Shortening to mRNA Turnover

Whereas the original size of poly(A) in HeLa cells is about 200 nucleotides, at steady state most of the poly(A) in mRNA contains less than 50 nucleotides. An endonucleolytic attack on poly(A) is suggested as the most likely method to accumulate short pieces of poly(A). Both poly(A) shortening and m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 1975-03, Vol.72 (3), p.1077-1081
Main Authors: Sheiness, Diana, Puckett, Larry, Darnell, James E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Actinomycin
Adenine - metabolism
Adenine Nucleotides - analysis
Adenine Nucleotides - metabolism
Adenosine - metabolism
Base Sequence
Dactinomycin - pharmacology
Emetine - pharmacology
Female
Gels
Half lives
HeLa cells
HeLa Cells - metabolism
Humans
Messenger RNA
Molecular Weight
Molecules
Nucleotides
Polynucleotides - analysis
Polynucleotides - metabolism
Protein synthesis
Radioactive decay
RNA
RNA, Messenger - metabolism
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Summary:Whereas the original size of poly(A) in HeLa cells is about 200 nucleotides, at steady state most of the poly(A) in mRNA contains less than 50 nucleotides. An endonucleolytic attack on poly(A) is suggested as the most likely method to accumulate short pieces of poly(A). Both poly(A) shortening and mRNA turnover appear to be inhibited by emetine, a drug that stops translation. It is possible that a random endonucleolytic attack leads to scission of poly(A) to a size below which the mRNA is unstable.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.72.3.1077