Abstract
This chapter focuses on 5′-capping and eukaryotic mRNA function. Studies of mRNA structure and synthesis have revealed unanticipated complexities in the organization and expression of eukaryotic genes. In contrast to their prokaryotic counterparts, most eukaryotic mRNAs share several distinctive structural features. In cellular mRNAs and mRNAs of viruses that replicate in the nucleus of infected cells, caps are present on nuclear messenger precursors but not on ribosomal or tRNA transcripts. In some mRNAs, caps may be synthesized as part of the initiation of transcription and involved in its regulation. The chapter highlights that capped mRNAs are degraded more slowly than the corresponding uncapped mRNAs in HeLa cell nuclear and cytoplasmic fractions, in cell-free protein synthesizing systems from wheat germ and mouse L cells, and in microinjected Xenopus oocytes. The chapter also discusses in detail about aspects of cap structure, distribution among eukaryotic mRNAs, mechanisms of synthesis and functional effects on mRNA stability, and initiation of translation. Recent experimental results concerning the influence of cap on the initiation of eukaryotic transcription and translation have also been presented.
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