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The Mitochondrial Ribomotor Hypothesis
Author(s) -
MartínezAzorín Francisco
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
iubmb life
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.132
H-Index - 113
eISSN - 1521-6551
pISSN - 1521-6543
DOI - 10.1080/15216540500088755
Subject(s) - transcription (linguistics) , mitochondrial dna , biology , genetics , polymerase , termination factor , microbiology and biotechnology , physics , dna , gene , philosophy , rna dependent rna polymerase , linguistics
The mitochondrial ribomotor model has been proposed to explain how the balance between rRNA and mRNA in mammalian mitochondria is regulated. In this model, the interaction of the mitochondrial transcription termination factor (mTERF) with some unknown component(s), causes a loop to form in the mtDNA chain that brings the initiation and termination regions together at its base. By bringing these sites into closer proximity, the mtRNA polymerase molecules can be directly transferred from the termination site to the IH1 initiation site of the H‐strand once transcription terminates. This process occurs when mTERF is phosphorylated. When unphosphorylated, transcription is initiated from the IH2 site and the polymerase reads through the mTERF‐dependent termination site, resulting in the transcription of almost the entire H‐strand.IUBMB Life, 57: 27‐30, 2005