Drosophila eIF4E paralogs: a paradigm of functional divergence
6 affiliations
- 1MRNA and Cancer Laboratory, Subdirección de Investigación Básica, Instituto Nacional de Cancerología (INCan; National Institute of Cancer), Mexico City, Mexico
- 2Institut für Biochemie und Molekulare Medizin (IBMM), University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- 3Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- 4Cell & Systems Biology Program, Sickkids Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
- 5Department of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- 6Department of Biochemistry and Goodman Cancer Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Abstract
A cardinal factor in the regulation of mRNA life and function is the cap-binding protein eIF4E. eIF4E promotes the recruitment of mRNA to the ribosome during the initiation step of translation, but other activities have been described, including mRNA processing, export, and storage. To perform these functions, eIF4E must associate with the mRNA cap and a number of different eIF4E-interacting proteins (4E-IPs). Thus, eIF4E has evolved as a key interface between RNA metabolism, gene expression, and development. In Drosophila melanogaster, seven genes encode eight eIF4E cognate proteins that have functionally diverged to perform different activities. We review the structure, interactors, biochemistry, and activities of the Drosophila eIF4E paralogs, which represent a paradigm of divergence during metazoan development.
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BibTeX
@article{hernandez2026drosophila,
title = {{Drosophila eIF4E paralogs: a paradigm of functional divergence}},
author = {Greco Hernández and Daniela Ross-Kaschitza and Julie A. Brill and Brook L. Falk and Paul Lasko and Nahum Sonenberg},
journal = {RNA Biology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1080/15476286.2026.2753988},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/15476286.2026.2753988},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Drosophila eIF4E paralogs: a paradigm of functional divergence
AU - Greco Hernández
AU - Daniela Ross-Kaschitza
AU - Julie A. Brill
AU - Brook L. Falk
AU - Paul Lasko
AU - Nahum Sonenberg
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/28
JO - RNA Biology
DO - 10.1080/15476286.2026.2753988
UR - https://doi.org/10.1080/15476286.2026.2753988
AB - A cardinal factor in the regulation of mRNA life and function is the cap-binding protein eIF4E. eIF4E promotes the recruitment of mRNA to the ribosome during the initiation step of translation, but other activities have been described, including mRNA processing, export, and storage. To perform these functions, eIF4E must associate with the mRNA cap and a number of different eIF4E-interacting proteins (4E-IPs). Thus, eIF4E has evolved as a key interface between RNA metabolism, gene expression, and development. In Drosophila melanogaster, seven genes encode eight eIF4E cognate proteins that have functionally diverged to perform different activities. We review the structure, interactors, biochemistry, and activities of the Drosophila eIF4E paralogs, which represent a paradigm of divergence during metazoan development.
SN - 1547-6286
SN - 1555-8584
ER -