Translation initiation at a non-AUG start codon for mouse and human NELF-B
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Negative elongation factor (NELF), a four-subunit protein complex in metazoan, plays an important role in regulating promoter-proximal pausing of RNA polymerase II (RNAPII). Genetic studies demonstrate that the B subunit of mouse NELF (NELF-B) is critical for embryonic development and homeostasis in adult tissue. We report here that both human and mouse NELF-B proteins are translated from a non-AUG codon upstream of the annotated AUG. This non-AUG codon sequence is conserved in mammalian NELF-B but not NELF-B orthologs of lower metazoan. The full-length and a truncated NELF-B that starts at the first AUG codon interact with the other three NELF subunits with comparable efficiency. Furthermore, these two forms of NELF-B have a similar impact on the transcriptomics and proliferation of mouse embryonic fibroblasts. These results strongly suggest that additional amino acid sequence upstream of the annotated AUG is dispensable for the essential function of NELF in supporting cell growth in vitro. While the majority of mouse adult tissues surveyed exclusively express the full-length NELF-B protein, mouse kidney only contains a truncated NELF-B protein with the same apparent size as the AUG-initiated version. This result raises the distinct possibility that translational initiation of mouse NELF-B is regulated in a tissue-dependent manner.
ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus
PROVIDER: GSE62248 | GEO | 2014/10/11
SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA263581
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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