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ALREX ‐elements and introns: two identity elements that promote mRNA nuclear export
Author(s) -
Palazzo Alexander F.,
Mahadevan Kohila,
Tarnawsky Stefan P.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
wiley interdisciplinary reviews: rna
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.225
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1757-7012
pISSN - 1757-7004
DOI - 10.1002/wrna.1176
Subject(s) - nuclear export signal , rna splicing , biology , intron , messenger rna , rna , genetics , ribonucleoprotein , au rich element , microbiology and biotechnology , computational biology , gene , rna binding protein
The mechanisms that dictate whether a particular mRNA is exported from the nucleus are still poorly defined. However, it has become increasingly clear that these mechanisms act to promote the expression of protein‐coding mRNAs over the high levels of spurious transcription that is endemic to most eukaryotic genomes. For example, mRNA processing events that are associated with protein‐coding transcripts, such as splicing, act as mRNA identity elements that promote nuclear export of these transcripts. Six years ago, we made the serendipitous discovery that regions within the open reading frame of an mRNA that encode short secretory or mitochondrial‐targeting peptides can also act as an mRNA identity element which promotes an al ternative m R NA nuclear ex port ( ALREX ) pathway. These regions are enriched in protein coding genes and have particular features that can be used to identify this class of protein‐coding mRNA . In this article we review our current knowledge of how mRNA export evolved in response to particular events that occurred at the base of the eukaryotic tree. We will then focus on our current understanding of ALREX and compare its features to splicing‐dependent export, the main mRNA export pathway in metazoans. WIREs RNA 2013, 4:523–533. 10.1002/wrna.1176 This article is categorized under: RNA Evolution and Genomics > RNA and Ribonucleoprotein Evolution RNA Export and Localization > Nuclear Export/Import