The role of eIF4G in translation initiation and cell cycle progression

储存在遗传物质(DNA)的基因序列中的关键信息必须由细胞破译，以便在需要时产生各种必要的蛋白质。每个基因的序列指定了特定蛋白质的序列，而许多蛋白质本身又负责细胞中其他类型结构的合成。从DNA到蛋白质的一般信息传输是由信使RNA(信使RNA)执行的，信使RNA是DNA序列的副本，必须由称为核糖体的复杂、高度调控的机器在一个称为翻译的过程中进行解码。为了高效、准确地工作，并使核糖体发挥最大的细胞利益，这种机制需要其他相互作用的蛋白质(翻译启动因子)，以高度调控的方式，信使核糖体和信使核糖体。其中一种是eIF4G，作为支架蛋白，核糖体和其他几种启动因子在其上组装。在哺乳动物细胞中，两个略有不同的基因包含eIF4G序列，这两个基因也表达最终蛋白的不同变体。我们希望确定这些不同的蛋白质如何导致核糖体和其他启动因子在细胞生长和分裂过程中如何组装到不同的mRNAs上并调节不同mRNAs的翻译。这项研究将提高我们对基因表达不同阶段的理解，并可能导致对某些在疾病(包括癌症)期间放松调控的mRNAs的特定控制。

Critical information stored in the gene sequences of the genetic material (DNA) has to be decoded by the cell to produce a wide variety of essential proteins, as and when they are required. The sequence of each gene specifies the sequence of a given protein, with many proteins themselves in turn responsible for the synthesis of other types of structures in the cell. The general transfer of information from DNA to protein is carried out by the messenger RNA (mRNA), which is a copy of the DNA sequence and has to be decoded by a complex, highly regulated machine termed a ribosome, in a process known as translation. To work efficiently, accurately, and to allow the ribosome to function in the best interests of the cell, this machinery requires other proteins (translation initiation factors) that interact with each other, the mRNA and the ribosome in a highly regulated manner. One of these, eIF4G, acts as a scaffold protein, onto which the ribosome and several other initiation factors assemble. In mammalian cells, two slightly different genes contain the sequence for eIF4G, and the two genes also express different variants of the final protein. We wish to determine how these distinct proteins cause differences in how the ribosome and other initiation factors assemble onto and regulate the translation of different mRNAs during cell growth and division. This study will improve our understanding of the different stages of gene expression, and may also lead to the specific control of certain mRNAs that are deregulated during diseases, including cancer.