What is the function of the 5’ cap and 3’ poly-A tail in mRNA?

Posted June 22, 2020

Answer

The 5’ cap protests the newly-synthesized mRNA from degradation. It also assists in ribosome binding to help initiating translation.

3’ poly-A tail protects mRNA from degradation, aids in exporting the mature mRNA to the cytoplasm, and is also involved in binding proteins to initiate translation.

Additional resources

6-ROX glycine *25 uM fluorescence reference solution for PCR reactions*

Perdew, G. H., Heuvel, J. P. V., & Peters, J. M. (2008). Regulation of gene expression. Springer Science & Business Media.

Lodish, H., Berk, A., Kaiser, C. A., Krieger, M., Scott, M. P., Bretscher, A., ... & Matsudaira, P. (2008). Molecular cell biology. Macmillan.

Helixyte™ Green *10,000X Aqueous PCR Solution*