Fulltext

Useful ‘junk': Alu RNAs in the human transcriptome

Häsler, J. ; Samuelsson, T. ; Strub, K.

In: Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, 2007, vol. 64, no. 14, p. 1793-1800

Ajouter à la liste personnelle
    Titre
    • Useful ‘junk': Alu RNAs in the human transcriptome
    Auteur
    • Häsler, J.. Département de Biologie Cellulaire, Université de Genève, 30 quai Ernest Ansermet, 1211, Genève-4, Switzerland
    • Samuelsson, T.. Institute of Biomedicine, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Göteborg University, Box 440, 405 30, Göteborg, Sweden
    • Strub, K.. Département de Biologie Cellulaire, Université de Genève, 30 quai Ernest Ansermet, 1211, Genève-4, Switzerland
    Type de document
    • Postprint
    Langue
    • Anglais
    Publié dans
    • Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, 2007, vol. 64, no. 14, p. 1793-1800. Birkhäuser-Verlag; www.birkhäuser.ch
    Autre version électronique
    Identifiant OAI-PMH
    • oai:doc.rero.ch:315458
    Summary
    Abstract.: Alu elements are the most abundant repetitive elements in the human genome; they have amplified by retrotransposition to reach the present number of more than one million copies. Alu elements can be transcribed in two different ways, by two independent polymerases. ‘Free Alu RNAs' are transcribed by Pol III from their own promoter, while ‘embedded Alu RNAs' are transcribed by Pol II as part of protein- and non-protein-coding RNAs. Recent studies have demonstrated that both free and embedded Alu RNAs play a major role in post transcriptional regulation of gene expression, for example by affecting protein translation, alternative splicing and mRNA stability. These discoveries illustrate how a part of the ‘junk DNA' content of the human genome has been recruited to important functions in regulation of gene expression