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RNA thermometers

2005; Oxford University Press; Volume: 30; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/j.1574-6976.2005.004.x

1574-6976

Franz Narberhaus, Torsten Waldminghaus, Saheli Chowdhury,

RNA modifications and cancer

Temperature is an important parameter that free-living cells monitor constantly. The expression of heat-shock, cold-shock and some virulence genes is coordinated in response to temperature changes. Apart from protein-mediated transcriptional control mechanisms, translational control by RNA thermometers is a widely used regulatory strategy. RNA thermometers are complex RNA structures that change their conformation in response to temperature. Most, but not all, RNA thermometers are located in the 5'-untranslated region and mask ribosome-binding sites by base pairing at low temperatures. Melting of the structure at increasing temperature permits ribosome access and translation initiation. Different cis-acting RNA thermometers and a trans-acting thermometer will be presented.