Translation initiation regulation on polycistronic eukaryotic mRNAs

控制细胞如何从编码这些蛋白质的信使rna （mrna）合成蛋白质，这一过程被称为蛋白质翻译，对正常细胞功能至关重要。特定mrna翻译的数量或质量差异影响诸如发育和细胞复制控制等多种事件。调节翻译起始的其他机制也可能导致从单一种类的mRNA中翻译出多种蛋白质，这对理解细胞蛋白质组的复杂性（即细胞可以产生多少种不同的蛋白质）具有重要意义。改变翻译起始控制的突变也与几种疾病状态有关。因此，理解调控翻译起始的机制具有广泛的意义。虽然已经描述了许多调节翻译起始的机制，但我们对这些过程的理解仍远未完成。我的研究小组正在通过分析一组不同寻常的病毒mRNA来探索这个领域，这些病毒mRNA从一个mRNA中编码三种不同的蛋白质。这些研究有望定义调节细胞蛋白质合成的新机制。

Controlling how cells synthesize proteins from the messenger RNAs (mRNAs) that encode these proteins, a process referred to as protein translation, is essential to normal cell function. Quantitative or qualitative differences in the translation of specific mRNAs influence such diverse events as development and control of cell replication. Alternate mechanisms that regulate the initiation of translation can also result in more than one protein being translated from a single species of mRNA, which has major implications on understanding the complexity of cellular proteomes (i.e. how many different proteins your cells can produce). Mutations that alter the control of translation initiation are also associated with several disease states. Understanding the mechanisms that regulate translation initiation, therefore, has broad implications. Although numerous mechanisms for regulating translation initiation have been described, our understanding of these processes remains far from complete. My research group is exploring this area by analyzing an unusual group of viral mRNAs that encode three different proteins from a single mRNA. These studies hold the promise of defining novel mechanisms that regulate cellular protein synthesis.