Polyadenylation of mRNAs by canonical poly(A) polymerases is an important step during the mRNA maturation process. During the last years a new family of proteins related to the canonical poly(A) polymerase was discovered. Members of this family of Cid1-like proteins are involved in the activation of dormant mRNAs in oocytes by cytoplasmic polyadenylation or in the addition of poly(A) tails to aberrant RNA molecules that are subsequently degraded, and some even do not polyadenylate but polyuridylate their RNA substrates. For several Cid1-like proteins in humans, evidence accumulates that the same protein can act as a poly(A) as well as poly(U) polymerase. We will analyse one likely candidate for such a “dual use” nucleotidyltransferase in humans to identify in vivo RNA targets, determine the nature of the added nucleotides and investigate whether other protein factors influence the specificity of the nucleotidyltransferase for RNA and/or nucleotide substrates.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
