RNA PROCESSING AFTER TRANSCRIPTION

GENE EXPRESSION

Gene expression is the process by which information is derived from a gene and is used in the
synthesis of a functional gene product. The functional gene product are often proteins but in
non-protein coding genes such as transfer RNA (tRNA) and small nuclear RNA (snRNA) genes,
the final product is functional.

Gene expression occurs by two processes namely; transcription and translation

Transcription is a process carried out by the RNA polymerase to produce RNA using DNA as a
template.

Translation is the process in which ribosomes in the cytoplasm or ER synthesize proteins

after the process transcription of DNA to RNA in the cell's nucleus.

RNA PROCESSING

RNA processing occurs after transcription; after the single strand of mRNA has been copied and
sent out of the nucleus. While transcription of prokaryotic protein-coding genes
creates messenger RNA (mRNA) that is ready for translation into protein, transcription of
eukaryotic genes leaves a primary transcript of RNA (pre-mRNA), which first has to undergo a
series of modifications to become a mature mRNA.
In eukaryotes, the first transcript of DNA by the RNA polymerase II is the pre-mRNA. The pre-
mRNA is composed of exons that contain genetic information needed for protein synthesis. The
exons are mixed with the introns which are the lengths of the DNA the introns are remnants of
gene building during evolution. The introns are separated from the exons in order to get a
mature RNA. Before the exons can be translated for protein synthesis, the introns must be
removed and the remaining exons spliced together to make a mature mRNA.
Some of the processes that the primary transcript undergoes are discussed below;
These include 5' capping, which is set of enzymatic reactions that add 7-methylguanosine (m7G)
to the 5' end of pre-mRNA and thus protect the RNA from degradation by exonucleases. The
m7G cap is then bound by cap binding complex heterodimer (CBC20/CBC80), which aids in
mRNA export to cytoplasm and also protect the RNA from decapping.
Another modification is 3' cleavage and polyadenylation. They occur if polyadenylation signal
sequence (5'- AAUAAA-3') is present in pre-mRNA, which is usually between protein-coding
sequence and terminator. The pre-mRNA is first cleaved and then a series of ~200 adenines (A)
are added to form poly(A) tail, which protects the RNA from degradation. Poly(A) tail is bound
by multiple poly(A)-binding proteins (PABP) necessary for mRNA export and translation re-
initiation.

Simple illustration of exons and introns in pre-mRNA and the formation of mature mRNA by
splicing. The UTRs are non-coding parts of exons at the ends of the mRNA.