Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins (hnRNPs) in cellular processes: Focus on hnRNP E1's multifunctional regulatory roles
Abstract
Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins (hnRNPs) comprise a family of RNA-binding proteins. The complexity and diversity associated with the hnRNPs render them multifunctional, involved not only in processing heterogeneous nuclear RNAs (hnRNAs) into mature mRNAs, but also acting as trans-factors in regulating gene expression. Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein E1 (hnRNP E1), a subgroup of hnRNPs, is a KH-triple repeat containing RNA-binding protein. It is encoded by an intronless gene arising from hnRNP E2 through a retrotransposition event. hnRNP E1 is ubiquitously expressed and functions in regulating major steps of gene expression, including pre-mRNA processing, mRNA stability, and translation. Given its wide-ranging functions in the nucleus and cytoplasm and interaction with multiple proteins, we propose a post-transcriptional regulon model that explains hnRNP E1's widespread functional diversity.
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Reprint requests to: Philip H. Howe, Department of Cancer Biology, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, 9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA; e-mail: howep{at}ccf.org; fax: (216) 445-6269.
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Article published online ahead of print. Article and publication date are at http://www.rnajournal.org/cgi/doi/10.1261/rna.2254110.
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