Identification of a quality-control mechanism for mRNA 5'-end capping.

ABSTRACT: The 7-methylguanosine cap structure at the 5' end of eukaryotic messenger RNAs is a critical determinant of their stability and translational efficiency. It is generally believed that 5'-end capping is a constitutive process that occurs during mRNA maturation and lacks the need for a quality-control mechanism to ensure its fidelity. We recently reported that the yeast Rai1 protein has pyrophosphohydrolase activity towards mRNAs lacking a 5'-end cap. Here we show that, in vitro as well as in yeast cells, Rai1 possesses a novel decapping endonuclease activity that can also remove the entire cap structure dinucleotide from an mRNA. This activity is targeted preferentially towards mRNAs with unmethylated caps in contrast to the canonical decapping enzyme, Dcp2, which targets mRNAs with a methy

SUBMITTER: Jiao X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2948066 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature