Novel 3′ ends that support translation

Abstract

The 3′ ends of two large noncoding RNAs, MALAT1 (metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1) and MEN β, are formed by cleavage by RNase P and are capped but not polyadenylated. In the November 1, 2012, issue of Genes & Development, Wilusz and colleagues (pp. 2392–2407) show that when these 3′ ends are formed on a GFP reporter, the resulting mRNA is exported to the cytoplasm and translated. The 3′ end forms a novel triple-helical structure that supports export and translation as well as a poly(A) tail does.