Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-ph5wq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T09:59:10.654Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Identification of two cis-acting elements that independently regulate the length of poly(A) on Xenopus albumin pre-mRNA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 1998

JAYDIP DAS GUPTA
Affiliation:
Department of Pharmacology and Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio 43210-1239, USA
HAIDONG GU
Affiliation:
Department of Pharmacology and Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio 43210-1239, USA
ELENA CHERNOKALSKAYA
Affiliation:
Department of Pharmacology and Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio 43210-1239, USA Present address: ESA, Inc., 22 Alpha Road, Chelmsford, Massachusetts 01824, USA.
XIAOPING GAO
Affiliation:
Department of Pharmacology and Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio 43210-1239, USA Present address: Genpower Inc., 6106 Hana Road, Edison, New Jersey, New Jersey 08817, USA.
DANIEL R. SCHOENBERG
Affiliation:
Department of Pharmacology and Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio 43210-1239, USA
Get access

Abstract

Unlike most eukaryotic mRNAs studied to date, Xenopus serum albumin mRNA has a short (17-residue), discrete poly(A) tail. We recently reported that this short poly(A) tail results from regulation of the length of poly(A) on albumin pre-mRNA. The purpose of the present study was to locate the cis-acting element responsible for this, the poly(A)-limiting element or PLE. An albumin minigene consisting of albumin cDNA joined in exon 13 to the 3′ end of the albumin gene produced mRNA with <20 nt poly(A) when transfected into mouse fibroblasts. This result indicates both that cis-acting sequences that regulate poly(A) length are within this construct, and that nuclear regulation of poly(A) length is conserved between vertebrates. Poly(A) length regulation was retained after replacing the terminal 53 bp and 3′ flanking region of the albumin gene with a synthetic polyadenylation element (SPA). Conversely, fusing albumin gene sequence spanning the terminal 53 bp of the albumin gene and 3′ flanking sequence onto the human β-globin gene yielded globin mRNA with a 200-residue poly(A)tail. These data indicate that the PLE resides upstream of the sequence elements involved in albumin pre-mRNA 3′ processing. Poly(A) length regulation was restored upon fusing a segment bearing albumin intron 14, exon 15, and 3′ flanking sequence onto the β-globin gene. We demonstrate that exon 15 contains two PLEs that can act independently to regulate the length of poly(A).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1998 RNA Society

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)