INTERNAL 6-METHYLADENINE RESIDUES INCREASE THE IN-VITRO TRANSLATION EFFICIENCY OF DIHYDROFOLATE-REDUCTASE MESSENGER-RNA

N-6-Methyladenosine (m6A) is found internally in a number of mRNA mole cules from higher eucaryotic cells. In these investigations, it was fo und that the presence of m6A residues increase the in vitro translatio n efficiency of capped T7 transcripts of mouse dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) mRNA. Using an in vitro rabbit reticulocyte translation system , the formation of internal m6A residues in the DHFR transcripts resul ted in a 1.5-fold increase in translated DHFR compared to transcripts void of internal m6A residues. Translation in a wheat germ system, how ever, resulted in no increase in translation efficiency upon m6A forma tion, suggesting that the mechanism may be species-specific. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.