Abstract

Autoregulation of gene expression is a common control mechanism for a large number of transcriptional units. Cases of self-regulation of the stability of various messenger RNAs (mRNAs) are re-evaluated here, and a general hypothesis for the origins and the mechanism of this process is presented. It is proposed that post-transcriptional autoregulation and mRNA stability are closely associated processes that might represent a general class of gene regulation mechanisms, with special regard to mRNA-protein cognate interactions. Generalizing from known examples, autoregulation is here considered to induce the decay of certain messenger RNAs through a yet undiscovered mechanism. Autoregulation via cognate interactions might be the vestigial process of a primitive world, where protein-nucleic acid interactions originated. The model can therefore serve as a framework to study the origins of the genetic code in particular, and gene expression in general. "False facts are highly injurious to the progress of science for they often endure long; but false views, even if supported by some evidence, do little harm for everyone takes a salutary pleasure in proving their falseness". Charles Darwin (1859).

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