In molecular biology, the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E family (eIF-4E) is a family of proteins that bind to the cap structure of

eukaryotic Eukaryotes () are organisms whose cells have a nucleus. All animals, plants, fungi, and many unicellular organisms, are Eukaryotes. They belong to the group of organisms Eukaryota or Eukarya, which is one of the three domains of life. Bact ...

cellular Cellular may refer to: *Cellular automaton, a model in discrete mathematics *Cell biology, the evaluation of cells work and more *Cellular (film), ''Cellular'' (film), a 2004 movie *Cellular frequencies, assigned to networks operating in cellular ...

mRNA In molecular biology, messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) is a single-stranded molecule of RNA that corresponds to the genetic sequence of a gene, and is read by a ribosome in the process of synthesizing a protein. mRNA is created during the ...

s. Members of this family recognise and bind the 7-methyl-

guanosine Guanosine (symbol G or Guo) is a purine nucleoside comprising guanine attached to a ribose ( ribofuranose) ring via a β-N9-glycosidic bond. Guanosine can be phosphorylated to become guanosine monophosphate (GMP), cyclic guanosine monophosphat ...

-containing (m7Gppp) cap during an early step in the initiation of

protein synthesis Protein biosynthesis (or protein synthesis) is a core biological process, occurring inside cells, balancing the loss of cellular proteins (via degradation or export) through the production of new proteins. Proteins perform a number of critical ...

and facilitate ribosome binding to an mRNA by inducing the unwinding of its

secondary structure Protein secondary structure is the three dimensional form of ''local segments'' of proteins. The two most common secondary structural elements are alpha helices and beta sheets, though beta turns and omega loops occur as well. Secondary struct ...

s. A

tryptophan Tryptophan (symbol Trp or W) is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. Tryptophan contains an α-amino group, an α-carboxylic acid group, and a side chain indole, making it a polar molecule with a non-polar aromati ...

in the central part of the

sequence In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is called ...

of human eIF-4E seems to be implicated in cap-binding. Members of this family include

EIF4E Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E, also known as eIF4E, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''EIF4E'' gene. Structure and function Most eukaryotic cellular mRNAs are blocked at their 5'-ends with the 7-methyl- guanosine ...

EIF4E2 Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E type 2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''EIF4E2'' gene. It belongs to the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E family. Interactions EIF4E2 has been shown to interact with ARIH ...

EIF4E3 Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E family member 3 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the EIF4E3 gene. EIF4E3 belongs to the EIF4E family of translational initiation factors that interact with the 5-prime cap structure of mRNA an ...

and EIF4E1B.

References

External links

* * {{ELM, LIG_eIF4E_2 Protein domains