W. Scheper et al., LONG-RANGE RNA INTERACTION OF 2 SEQUENCE ELEMENTS REQUIRED FOR ENDONUCLEOLYTIC CLEAVAGE OF HUMAN INSULIN-LIKE GROWTH-FACTOR-II MESSENGER-RNAS, Molecular and cellular biology, 15(1), 1995, pp. 235-245
Human insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) mRNAs are subject to site
-specific endonucleolytic cleavage in the 3' untranslated region, lead
ing to an unstable 5' cleavage product containing the IGF-II coding re
gion and a very stable 3' cleavage product of 1.8 kb. This endonucleol
ytic cleavage is most probably the first and rate-limiting step in deg
radation of IGF-II mRNAs. Two sequence elements within the 3' untransl
ated region are required for cleavage: element I, located approximatel
y 2 kb upstream of the cleavage site, and element II, encompassing the
cleavage site itself. We have identified a stable double-stranded RNA
stem structure (Delta G = -100 kcal/mol [-418.4 kJ/mol]) that can be
formed between element I and a region downstream of the cleavage site
in element II. This structure is conserved among human, rat, and mouse
mRNAs. Detailed analysis of the requirements for cleavage shows that
the relative position of the elements is not essential for cleavage. F
urthermore, the distance between the coding region and the cleavage si
te does not affect the cleavage reaction. Mutational analysis of the l
ong-range RNA-RNA interaction shows that not only the double-stranded
character but also the sequence of the stable RNA stem is important fo
r cleavage.