Alternative polyadenylation: Some pre-mRNA transcripts have more than one site for cleavage and polyadenylation. Alternative polyadenylation (APA) generates mRNA with different 3′-ends, altering the untranslated region (UTR) or the coding (translated) sequence. [Note: APA is involved in the production of the membrane-bound and secreted forms of immunoglobulin M.]
The use of alternative splicing and polyadenylation sites, as well as alternative transcription start sites explains, at least in part, how the ~20,000 to 25,000 genes in the human genome can give rise to well over 100,000 proteins.
3. Messenger RNA editing: Even after mRNA has been fully processed, it may undergo an additional posttranscriptional modification in which a base in the mRNA is altered. This is known as RNA editing. An important example in humans occurs with the transcript for apolipoprotein (apo) B, an essential component of chylomicrons (see p.
228) and very-low-density lipoproteins ([VLDL] see p. 230). Apo B mRNA is made in the liver and the small intestine. However, in the intestine only, the cytosine (C) base in the CAA codon for glutamine is enzymatically deaminated to uracil (U), changing the sense codon to the nonsense or stop codon UAA, as shown in Figure 33.13. This results in a shorter protein (apo B-48, representing 48% of the message) being made in the intestine (and incorporated into chylomicrons) than is made in the liver (apo B-100, full-length, incorporated into VLDL).
U = uracil.
4. Messenger RNA stability: How long an mRNA remains in the cytosol before it is degraded influences how much protein product can be produced from it. Regulation of iron metabolism and the gene-silencing process of RNA interference (RNAi) illustrate the importance of mRNA stability in the regulation of gene expression.