Eukaryotic initiation factor 4A-III is a
protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...
that in humans is encoded by the ''EIF4A3''
gene
In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...
.
Function
This gene encodes a member of the
DEAD box
DEAD box proteins are involved in an assortment of metabolic processes that typically involve RNAs, but in some cases also other nucleic acids. They are highly conserved in nine motifs and can be found in most prokaryotes and eukaryotes, but not ...
protein family. DEAD box proteins, characterized by the conserved motif
Asp-
Glu-
Ala-Asp (DEAD), are putative
RNA helicases. They are implicated in a number of cellular processes involving alteration of
RNA secondary structure, such as
translation initiation, nuclear and mitochondrial
splicing, and
ribosome
Ribosomes () are molecular machine, macromolecular machines, found within all cell (biology), cells, that perform Translation (biology), biological protein synthesis (messenger RNA translation). Ribosomes link amino acids together in the order s ...
and
spliceosome
A spliceosome is a large ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex found primarily within the nucleus of eukaryotic cells. The spliceosome is assembled from small nuclear RNAs ( snRNA) and numerous proteins. Small nuclear RNA (snRNA) molecules bind to sp ...
assembly. Based on their distribution patterns, some members of this family are believed to be involved in
embryogenesis
An embryo ( ) is the initial stage of development for a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male ...
,
spermatogenesis
Spermatogenesis is the process by which haploid spermatozoa develop from germ cells in the seminiferous tubules of the testicle. This process starts with the Mitosis, mitotic division of the stem cells located close to the basement membrane of ...
, and
cellular growth and division. The protein encoded by this gene is a
nuclear matrix
In biology, the nuclear matrix is the network of fibres found throughout the inside of a cell nucleus after a specific method of chemical extraction. According to some it is somewhat analogous to the cell cytoskeleton. In contrast to the cytoskele ...
protein. Its amino acid sequence is highly similar to the amino acid sequences of the
translation initiation factor
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...
s
eIF4A-I and
eIF4A-II, two other members of the DEAD box protein family.
References
Further reading
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{{Initiation factors