In neurons, mRNA localization is crucial for enabling protein synthesis to occur at specific subcellular compartments. One of the mechanisms guiding the localization of mRNAs and thereby spatial regulation of the resulting protein has been identified by the group of SFB 1381 PI Valerie Hilgers (B02) with support of project B04 (Nora Vögtle): The protein Pumilio binds to long, neuron-specific 3′ UTRs leading to accumulation of these longer variants in the cell body of the neuron and inhibiting their interaction with the translation machinery, whereas shorter variants are transported to the synapses and translated.
The study was performed in Drosophila neurons, however, conservation of the targets bound by Pumilio proteins in mouse suggests that the mechanism might be relevant for mammalian neurons as well.
The original publication was published in EMBO reports.
Illustration: “Model of 3′ UTR-dependent localization of Pum target mRNAs” by Anton Hess (graphic 6 in original publication), under CC BY 4.0
