Structural features of the 5' noncoding region of the rabbit globin messenger RNAs engaged in translation.

Accessible sites in the 5' noncoding region of the rabbit alpha- and beta-globin mRNAs were identified and compared in deproteinized RNA and in the mRNAs engaged in translation in the reticulocyte lysate. Preparations of RNA and lysate were subjected to limited nuclease digestion by RNase T1 and Neurospora endonuclease, and the cleavage sites were analyzed by a nuclease S1 mapping procedure. The free alpha-globin mRNA contained few nuclease-sensitive sites and its initiation codon AUG was masked. The free beta-globin mRNA contained a larger number of accessible sites and its AUG was highly exposed. The distribution of sensitive sites differed considerably in the lysate. In both mRNA species, a site near the 5' terminus became the one most accessible to Neurospora endonuclease. Also the accessibility of the AUG in beta-globin mRNA decreased considerably. The distribution of accessible sites in the lysate was the same when the mRNAs were undergoing rapid initiation and when initiation became limited after prolonged incubation. Inhibition of initiation by the cap analogue 7-methylguanosine 5'-triphosphate was accompanied by increased sensitivity of some of the sites in both mRNA species. One of the accessible sites in each mRNA species had a sequence complementary to the 3'-terminal portion of the 18S ribosomal RNA.