SECIS element

SECIS element

In biology, the SECIS element (SECIS: "selenocysteine insertion sequence") is an RNA element around 60 nucleotides in length that adopts a stem-loop structure. [cite journal | last = Walczak | first = R | coauthors = Westhof E, Carbon P, Krol A | year = 1996 | title = A novel RNA structural motif in the selenocysteine insertion element of eukaryotic selenoprotein mRNAs | journal = RNA | volume = 2 | pages = 367–379 | pmid = 8634917] This structural motif (pattern of nucleotides) directs the cell to translate UGA codons as selenocysteines. (UGA is normally a stop codon.) SECIS elements are thus a fundamental aspect of selenoproteins, which are proteins that include one or more selenocysteine residues.

In bacteria the SECIS element appears soon after the UGA codon it affects. In archaea and eukaryotes, it occurs in the 3' UTR of an mRNA, and can cause multiple UGA codons within the mRNA to code for selenocysteine. One archaeal SECIS element, in "Methanococcus," is located in the 5' UTR.

The SECIS element appears defined by sequence characteristics, i.e. particular nucleotides tend to be at particular positions in it, and a characteristic secondary structure. The secondary structure is the result of base-pairing of complementary RNA nucleotides, and causes a hairpin-like structure. The eukaryotic SECIS element includes non-canonical A-G base pairs, which are uncommon in nature, but are critically important to correct SECIS element function. Although the eukaryotic, archaeal and bacterial SECIS elements each share a general hairpin structure, they are not alignable, e.g. a scheme to recognize eukaryotic SECIS elements will not be able to recognize archaeal SECIS elements.

In bioinformatics, several computer programs have been created that search for SECIS elements within a genome sequence, based on the sequence and secondary structure characteristics of SECIS elements. These programs have been used in searches for novel selenoproteins. [cite journal | last = Lambert | first = A | coauthors = Lescure A, Gautheret D | year = 2002 | title = A survey of metazoan selenocysteine insertion sequences | journal = Biochimie | volume = 84 | pages = 953–959 | pmid = 12458087 | doi = 10.1016/S0300-9084(02)01441-4]

pecies distribution

The SECIS element is found in a wide variety of eukaryotes, prokaryotes and viruses.cite journal | author = Mix H, Lobanov AV, Gladyshev VN | title = SECIS elements in the coding regions of selenoprotein transcripts are functional in higher eukaryotes | journal = Nucleic Acids Res. | volume = 35 | issue = 2 | pages = 414–23 | year = 2007 | pmid = 17169995 | doi = 10.1093/nar/gkl1060 | issn = ] cite journal | author = Cassago A, Rodrigues EM, Prieto EL, "et al" | title = Identification of Leishmania selenoproteins and SECIS element | journal = Mol. Biochem. Parasitol. | volume = 149 | issue = 2 | pages = 128–34 | year = 2006 | pmid = 16766053 | doi = 10.1016/j.molbiopara.2006.05.002 | issn = ] cite journal | author = Mourier T, Pain A, Barrell B, Griffiths-Jones S | title = A selenocysteine tRNA and SECIS element in Plasmodium falciparum | journal = RNA | volume = 11 | issue = 2 | pages = 119–22 | year = 2005 | pmid = 15659354 | doi = 10.1261/rna.7185605 | issn = ] cite journal | author = Lambert A, Lescure A, Gautheret D | title = A survey of metazoan selenocysteine insertion sequences | journal = Biochimie | volume = 84 | issue = 9 | pages = 953–9 | year = 2002 | pmid = 12458087| doi = 10.1016/S0300-9084(02)01441-4| issn = ]

References

*
*
*

External links

*
* [http://mrna.otago.ac.nz/cgi-bin/tt_data_browse/RNAMotif?PatID=T0103 Transterm page for SECIS Element]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Élément SECIS — Variabilité des bases nucléiques sur l élément SECIS. Un élément SECIS, de l anglais selenocysteine insertion structure, est un élément cis régulateur d ARN messager long d une soixantaine de nucléotides caractérisé par sa forme en épingle à… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Élément PYLIS — Un élément PYLIS, de l anglais pyrrolysine insertion sequence, est un élément cis régulateur d ARN messager affectant l expression du codon STOP Ambre AUG, qui est alors traduit par un acide aminé, la pyrrolysine, présent chez certaines archées… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Negative regulatory element — (NRE) is a regulatory sequence for the insulin gene [1] References ^ Melloul et al., Diabetologica, 45, 309 326, year 2002. Regulation of insulin gene transcription …   Wikipedia

  • Cis-regulatory element — A cis regulatory element or cis element is a region of DNA or RNA that regulates the expression of genes located on that same molecule of DNA (often a chromosome). This term is constructed from the Latin word cis, which means on the same side as …   Wikipedia

  • Selenocysteine — chembox ImageFile = L selenocysteine 2D skeletal.png ImageFile1 = Selenocysteine 3D vdW.png IUPACName = L Selenocysteine OtherNames = Section1 = Chembox Identifiers CASNo = 10236 58 5 PubChem = SMILES = N [C@@H] (C [SeH] )C(O)=O Section2 =… …   Wikipedia

  • Messenger RNA — The life cycle of an mRNA in a eukaryotic cell. RNA is transcribed in the nucleus; processed, it is transported to the cytoplasm and translated by the ribosome. At the end of its life, the mRNA is degraded. Messenger RNA (mRNA) is a molecule of… …   Wikipedia

  • Regulatory sequence — A regulatory sequence (also called a regulatory region or a regulatory area ) is a segment of DNA where regulatory proteins such as transcription factors bind preferentially. These regulatory proteins bind to short stretches of DNA called… …   Wikipedia

  • Amino acid — This article is about the class of chemicals. For the structures and properties of the standard proteinogenic amino acids, see Proteinogenic amino acid. The generic structure of an alpha amino acid in its unionized form …   Wikipedia

  • Three prime untranslated region — The three prime untranslated region (3 UTR) is a particular section of messenger RNA (mRNA). It follows the coding region.An mRNA molecule codes for a protein through translation. The mRNA also contains regions that are not translated. In… …   Wikipedia

  • Proteinogenic amino acid — Proteinogenic amino acids are those amino acids that can be found in proteins and require cellular machinery coded for in the genetic code [1] of any organism for their isolated production. There are 22 standard amino acids, but only 21 are found …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”