International Mammalian Genome Society

The 15th International Mouse Genome Conference (2001)

Table of Contents * Complex Genetics * Developmental Genetics * Gene Annotation * Gene Discovery * Genome Sequencing * Functional Genomics * Mutagenesis * Presentations * Verne Chapman Memorial Lecture

Dr. Kazuhiro Shigemoto
Ehime University School of Medicine
Department of Hygiene
454-Shitsukawa
Shigenobucho, Onsengun
Ehime
Japan

Co-Authors: 1)Brennan J, 2)Walls E, 3)Watson C, 4)Stott D, 5)Rigby P, 6)Reith A
Institutions: 1) Department Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, 2) Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, 3) Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, 4) Department of Biological Sciences, University of Warwick, 5) 8Section of Gene Function and Regulation, The Institute of Cancer Research, Chester Beatty Laboratories, 6) GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals

Translational recoding of mRNA through a -1 ribosomal slippage mechanism has been observed in RNA viruses and retrotransposons of both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Whilst this provides a potentially powerful mechanism of gene regulation, the utilization of -1 translational frameshifting in regulating mammalian gene expression has remained obscure. Here we report a mammalian gene, Edr, that provides the first example of -1 translational recoding in a eukaryotic cellular gene. In addition to bearing functional frameshift elements that mediate expression of distinct polypeptides, Edr bears both CCHC zinc-finger and a putative aspartyl protease catalytic site retroviral-like motifs, indicative of a relic retroviral-like origin for Edr. These features, coupled with conservation of Edr as a single copy gene in mouse and man and striking spatio-temporal regulation of expression during embryogenesis, suggest that Edr plays a functionally important role in mammalian development.