Proteins synthesis from gene

As noted, the viral RNA is of the plus (+) sense. Replicase synthesizes RNA of minus (-) sense using the infecting RNA as template. After minus RNA has been synthesized, plus RNA is made from this minus RNA. The newly made plus RNA strands now serve as messengers for virus protein synthesis. The gene for the maturation protein is at the 5 end of the RNA. Translation of the gene coding for the maturation protein (needed in only one copy per virus particle), occurs only from the newly formed plus-strand RNA as... 

Protein phosphatases 544, 646 Protein S 634 Protein sequenators 118 Protein sequences from genes 119 Protein synthesis 3, 538, 539 Protein tyrosine kinases 544 Protein-disulfide isomerase 83 Protein-DNA interactions 266 Proteinase. See Protease Proteoglycan(s) 181,182. See also Glycosami-noglycans... 

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of mature protein synthesis from the corresponding gene.

Fig. 7. Hypothesis for the action of ACTH in increasing the level of steroidogenic enzymes, in this case 17a-hydroxylase. In this model, cyclic AMP activates cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase which by a series of unknown steps results in the accumulation of mRNA coding for a regulatory protein (17a-RP). After translation of this mRNA, the 17a-RP is hypothesized to translocate to the nucleus, where it activates the transcription of the cytochrome /M50,7 gene. This is one of several hypotheses which account for the sensitivity of cytochrome P-450 gene expression to inhibition of protein synthesis. From Ref. 27.

A number of differences between eukaryotes and prokaryotes affect the processes of replication, transcription, and translation, in addition to the content of their DNA. Eukaryotic DNA is complexed with histones, and prokaryotic DNA is not. In eukaryotic cells, the process of transcription, which occurs in the nucleus, is separated by the nuclear envelope from the process of translation (protein synthesis from the mRNA template), which occurs in the cytoplasm. Because prokaryotes lack nuclei, the processes of transcription and translation occur simultaneously. Transcription of bacterial DNA requires only one promoter per operon. In contrast, human DNA requires one promoter for each gene. 

A ribosome is a cytoplasmic nucleoprotein stmcture that acts as the machinery for the synthesis of proteins from the mRNA templates. On the ribosomes, the mRNA and tRNA molecules interact to translate into a specific protein molecule information transcribed from the gene. In active protein synthesis, many ribosomes are associated with an mRNA molecule in an assembly called the polysome. 

These proteins are called acute phase proteins (or reactants) and include C-reactive protein (CRP, so-named because it reacts with the C polysaccharide of pneumococci), ai-antitrypsin, haptoglobin, aj-acid glycoprotein, and fibrinogen. The elevations of the levels of these proteins vary from as little as 50% to as much as 1000-fold in the case of CRP. Their levels are also usually elevated during chronic inflammatory states and in patients with cancer. These proteins are believed to play a role in the body s response to inflammation. For example, C-reactive protein can stimulate the classic complement pathway, and ai-antitrypsin can neutralize certain proteases released during the acute inflammatory state. CRP is used as a marker of tissue injury, infection, and inflammation, and there is considerable interest in its use as a predictor of certain types of cardiovascular conditions secondary to atherosclerosis. Interleukin-1 (IL-1), a polypeptide released from mononuclear phagocytic cells, is the principal—but not the sole—stimulator of the synthesis of the majority of acute phase reactants by hepatocytes. Additional molecules such as IL-6 are involved, and they as well as IL-1 appear to work at the level of gene transcription. 

Not all the cellular DNA is in the nucleus some is found in the mitochondria. In addition, mitochondria contain RNA as well as several enzymes used for protein synthesis. Interestingly, mitochond-rial RNA and DNA bear a closer resemblance to the nucleic acid of bacterial cells than they do to animal cells. For example, the rather small DNA molecule of the mitochondrion is circular and does not form nucleosomes. Its information is contained in approximately 16,500 nucleotides that func-tion in the synthesis of two ribosomal and 22 transfer RNAs (tRNAs). In addition, mitochondrial DNA codes for the synthesis of 13 proteins, all components of the respiratory chain and the oxidative phosphorylation system. Still, mitochondrial DNA does not contain sufficient information for the synthesis of all mitochondrial proteins most are coded by nuclear genes. Most mitochondrial proteins are synthesized in the cytosol from nuclear-derived messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and then transported into the mito-chondria, where they contribute to both the structural and the functional elements of this organelle. Because mitochondria are inherited cytoplasmically, an individual does not necessarily receive mitochondrial nucleic acid equally from each parent. In fact, mito-chondria are inherited maternally. 

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