MESSENGER RNA

KEY TERMS:

• Messenger RNA (mRNA) is the intermediate that represents one strand of a gene coding for protein. Its coding region is related to the protein sequence by the triplet genetic code.
• Transfer RNA (tRNA) is the intermediate in protein synthesis that interprets the genetic code. Each tRNA can be linked to an amino acid. The tRNA has an anticodon sequence that complementary to a triplet codon representing the amino acid.
• Ribosomal RNA (rRNA) is a major component of the ribosome. Each of the two subunits of the ribosome has a major rRNA as well as many proteins.

RNA is a central player in gene expression. It was first characterized as an intermediate in protein synthesis, but since then many other RNAs have been discovered that play structural or functional roles at other stages of gene expression. The involvement of RNA in many functions concerned with gene expression supports the general view that the entire process may have evolved in an "RNA world" in which RNA was originally the active component in maintaining and expressing genetic information. Many of these functions were subsequently assisted or taken over by proteins, with a consequent increase in versatility and probably efficiency.

As summarized in Figure 5.1, three major classes of RNA are directly involved in the production of proteins:

• Messenger RNA (mRNA) provides an intermediate that carries the copy of a DNA sequence that represents protein.
• Transfer RNAs (tRNA) are small RNAs that are used to provide amino acids corresponding to each particular codon in mRNA.
• Ribosomal RNAs (rRNA) are components of the ribosome, a large ribonucleoprotein complex that contains many proteins as well as its RNA components, and which provides the apparatus for actually polymerizing amino acids into a polypeptide chain.

The type of role that RNA plays in each of these cases is distinct. For messenger RNA, its sequence is the important feature: each nucleotide triplet within the coding region of the mRNA represents an amino acid in the corresponding protein. However, the structure of the mRNA, in particular the sequences on either side of the coding region, can play an important role in controlling its activity, and therefore the amount of protein that is produced from it.

In tRNA, we see two of the common themes governing the use of RNA: its three dimensional structure is important; and it has the ability to base pair with another RNA (mRNA). The three dimensional structure is recognized first by an enzyme as providing a target that is appropriate for linkage to a specific amino acid. The linkage creates an aminoacyl-tRNA, which is recognized as the structure that is used for protein synthesis. The specificity with which an aminoacyl-tRNA is used is controlled by base pairing, when a short triplet sequence (the anticodon) pairs with the nucleotide triplet representing its amino acid.

With rRNA, we see another type of activity. One role of RNA is structural, in providing a framework to which ribosomal proteins attach. But it also participates directly in the activities of the ribosome. One of the crucial activities of the ribosome is the ability to catalyze the formation of a peptide bond by which an amino acid is incorporated into protein. This activity resides in one of the rRNAs.

The important thing about this background is that, as we consider the role of RNA in protein synthesis, we have to view it as a component that plays an active role and that can be a target for regulation by either proteins or by other RNAs, and we should remember that the RNAs may have been the basis for the original apparatus. The theme that runs through all of the activities of RNA, in both protein synthesis and elsewhere, is that its functions depend critically upon base pairing, both to form its secondary structure, and to interact specifically with other RNA molecules. The coding function of mRNA is unique, but tRNA and rRNA are examples of a much broader class of noncoding RNAs with a variety of functions in gene expression.