Beta-globin co-transcriptional cleavage ribozyme

The Beta-globin co-transcriptional cleavage ribozyme (CotC ribozyme) is an RNA enzyme known as a ribozyme.

Transcription termination of RNA polymerase II transcripts is proposed to occur by a two stage process. [cite journal |author= Dye MJ, Proudfoot NJ; |title= Multiple transcript cleavage precedes polymerase release intermination by RNA polymerase II. |journal= Cell |volume= 105 |issue= |pages= 669–681 |year= 2001 |pmid=11389836 |doi= 10.1016/S0092-8674(01)00372-5] The first stage involves pre-termination cleavage (PTC) of the nascent transcript downstream of the poly(A) site. This process is also referred to as co-transcriptional cleavage (CoTC). The CoTC process in the human beta-globin gene has been shown to involve an RNA self-cleaving activity located in the 3' flanking region of the beta-globin gene. The CoTC core is highly conserved in the 3' UTR of other primate beta-globin genes. [cite journal |author= Teixeira A, Tahiri-Alaoui A, West S, Thomas B, Ramadass A, MartianovI, Dye M, James W, Proudfoot NJ, Akoulitchev A; |title= Autocatalytic RNA cleavage in the human beta-globin pre-mRNA promotestranscription termination. |journal= Nature |volume= 432 |issue= |pages= 526–530 |year= 2004 |pmid=15565159 |doi= 10.1038/nature03032] Functionally, this CoTC ribozyme resembles the 3' processive, self-cleaving ribozymes described for the protein-encoding genes from the myxomycetes "Didymium iridis" and "Physarum polycephalum".

There has been no independent confirmation of these findings.

References

External links

*