Control of Gene Expression 2: Post-Transcriptional Control Flashcards
What are the types of alternative RNA processing?
Optional exon: not all exons are needed to be used.
Optional intron: In some cases, leave the intron in
Mutually exclusive exons: Use one exon or the other
Internal splice site: sometimes the region acts as a true intron and gets spliced out and sometimes part of it is kept in.
What can produce different forms of proteins from the same gene?
Alternative splicing
Splice RNA transcripts differently
____% of genes in humans undergo alternative RNA processing
75
RNA splicing can be regulated negatively by a _______ molecule that prevents splicing machinery access to splice site
Repressor
** Negative control-primary transcript will go on with splicing if no repressor is present
RNA splicing can be regulated positively by activating a molecule that does what?
Recruits and helps direct splicing machinery
**Positive control: primary transcript will not go on to splice unless an activator is present
How do mRNAs leave nucleus?
Through pores
How do mRNAs travel to destination?
Use cytoskeletal motors, random movement, and random movement + degeneration (RNA not trapped is degrade)
What are anchor proteins?
Proteins that hold mRNA in place and when acted on by ribosomes, proteins can be made in the area
This is a way we can control protein expression, gene expression because we localized rna where proteins are needed.
What confers stability of a mRNA?
poly-A tail
Gradual shortening of poly-A tail is done by what enzyme?
exonuclease
What does the shortening of poly-A tail act as?
a timer
Once poly-A tail is reduced to 25 nucleotides, what happens?
Two pathways converge to degrade mRNA
What is the half life of globin mRNA?
10 hours
what is the half life of most mRNAs?
30 min
When mRNA poly-A tail is down to 25 nucelotides, what happens to the 5’ cap and the rest of the poly-A tail?
Decapping: exposed mRNA degraded from 5’ end
** the cap serves to protect RNA from RNA degrading enzymes
mRNA degraded from 3’ end through poly-A tail and into coding region
mRNA regulation by repression of translation and RNA degradation can be seen in what?
What does it involve?
Iron metabolism
Involves iron responsive elements (IREs) and IRP (iron responsive regulatory protein)
Iron transport from intestine to bone marrow involves what?
many proteins that have been recently discovered
Transferrin
What will help bring iron into a cell that needs it?
Transferring receptors
Transferrin-mediated endocytosis
Erythroid precursors in bone marrow have how many TfRs per cell?
800,000
What causes the transferrin receptors to let go of iron in the endosome?
The H ATPase pumps hydrogen into the endosome causing the pH to be 5.5. This acidic environment makes the TfR let go.
However at this pH the transferring can keep hold of the iron and return to the membrane and at 7.2 pH the transferrin receptor will let go and this give a chance for the iron to bind again. This is a cyclic process
What is the iron cycle?
Iron enters the gut lumen-> intestinal absorbtion-> plasma transferrin iron-> marrow erythroid precursors in bone marrow (TfR) -> Circulating erythrocytes->old and taken up by macrophages->plasma transferring iron
Iron can be stored in liver as ferritin
Describe ferritin
Intracellular protein
Binds thousands of Fe3+/molecule
Found in most cells
If you obtain enough ferritin then they make up what?
Hemosiderin: granules of ferritin
Where is excess iron mainly stored by?
Liver, lung, pancreas
If cells are in iron starvation the what must happen?
Cells dont need to store iron and so there is a decrease of ferritin mRNA
Must transport iron into cells
Make more transferring receptor (TfR) mRNA
If there is iron excess what needs to happen?
Excess needs to be stored and transport less iron into cells
So more ferritin mRNA and less TfR mRNA
During iron starvation, what binds to ferritin mRNA that causes no ferritin to be made?
Cytosolic aconitase: an IRP (iron responsive regulatory protein)
It binds to the 5’ ferritin mRNA
During iron starvation, IRP bound to 3’ transferring receptor mRNA causes what?
transferrin receptor to be made, this protects the poly - a tail from degradation
Aconitase
What alters the aconitase 3D shape that causes it to fall off?
Excess iron molecules
Ferritin made
No transferrin receptor made
What are microRNAs?
Regulatory RNAs that regulate messenger RNAs
Noncoding RNAs; 22 nucleotides long - that silence expression of specific mRNA targets
End up degrading RNA or block translation
What do miRNAs bind to?
Complementary sequence in the 3’ UT end of mRNA
Describe the maturation of microRNAs?
again, micro RNAs are repressors of gene activity
Originate as 100 nucleotide precursors
Made as primary miRNA: pri-miRNA - RNA with hairpin loop
Cut down in size to pre-miRNA
Then processed further to mature miRNA
Precursor miRNA is cropped where?
In the nucleus
What does the cropped precursor miRNA form?
Double stranded loop structure