Mammalian RNA switches: Molecular rheostats in gene regulation, disease, and medicine.

ABSTRACT: Alteration of RNA structure by environmental signals is a fundamental mechanism of gene regulation. For example, the riboswitch is a noncoding RNA regulatory element that binds a small molecule and causes a structural change in the RNA, thereby regulating transcription, splicing, or translation of an mRNA. The role of riboswitches in metabolite sensing and gene regulation in bacteria and other lower species was reported almost two decades ago, but riboswitches have not yet been discovered in mammals. An analog of the riboswitch, the protein-directed RNA switch (PDRS), has been identified as an important regulatory mechanism of gene expression in mammalian cells. RNA-binding proteins and microRNAs are two major executors of PDRS via their interaction with target transcripts in mammals. Thes

SUBMITTER: Venkata Subbaiah KC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6849081 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature