Abstract
Selenium is an essential trace element that is incorporated into 25 human proteins as the amino acid selenocysteine (Sec). The incorporation of this amino acid turns out to be a fascinating problem in molecular biology because Sec is encoded by a stop codon, UGA. Layered on top of the canonical translation elongation machinery is a set of factors that exist solely to incorporate this important amino acid. The mechanism by which this process occurs, put into the context of selenoprotein biology, is the focus of this review.
Publication types
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Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
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Review
MeSH terms
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3' Untranslated Regions
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Animals
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Conserved Sequence
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Gene Expression Regulation
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Humans
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Nucleotide Motifs
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Peptide Elongation Factors / metabolism
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Protein Biosynthesis
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Protein Interaction Domains and Motifs
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RNA-Binding Proteins / chemistry
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RNA-Binding Proteins / genetics
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RNA-Binding Proteins / metabolism
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Selenocysteine / genetics*
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Selenoproteins / chemistry
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Selenoproteins / genetics
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Selenoproteins / metabolism
Substances
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3' Untranslated Regions
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Peptide Elongation Factors
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RNA-Binding Proteins
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Selenoproteins
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selenocysteine insertion sequence binding protein, mammalian
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Selenocysteine