INTERNAL INITIATION OF PICORNAVIRUS RNA TRANSLATION

Translation of picornavirus RNA occurs by internal binding of ribosomes to a sequence within the mRNA 5′ untranslated region. A growing list of other mRNAs of cellular and viral origin also initiate translation by a similar mechanism. Recent studies with picornaviruses identified important features that are required for internal initiation. These features include cis-acting elements in the long 5′ UTRs which consist of conserved primary sequence and higher order structure, and trans-acting factors that have been previously implicated in splicing and transcription termination. © 1993 Academic Press. All rights reserved.