Is the Proteasome Involved in Elc1 Mediated Degradation of Polyadenylation Factors? (2022)

Messenger RNA is a polymer created by RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) in humans. It is assembled according to specific DNA sequences and used by the ribosome to synthesize proteins from amino acids. Prior to being translated into amino acids, cleavage and polyadenylation factors modify pre-mRNA to add a tail structure that makes it stable and ready for translation. Aberrant mRNA processing can lead to diseases such as cancer. ElcI is a protein involved in degrading proteins such as RNAPII. ElcI helps tag proteins with ubiquitin to signal their readiness for degradation. Our hypothesis is that following DNA damage, ElcI is involved in tagging cleavage and polyadenylation factors for degradation, to prevent the formation of aberrant mRNA. Using western blots, we have observed that cell extracts lacking Elc1 do not show reduced levels of cleavage and polyadenylation factors after DNA damage as do wild type cell extracts.