AAUAAA signal sequence

Identifies poly-A site. Eukaryotic primary transcripts are cleaved* by a specific endonuclease (CPSF) that recognizes the AAUAAA signal sequence. After cleavage, a poly[A]polymerase adds about 250 A residues to the 3' end of the mRNA to create a poly A tail. * An additional 20 nucleotides 3' to the AAUAAA signal sequence is necessary for cleavage to occur. Since some mature mRNA molecules contain internal AAUAAA sequences, other features of the poly-A site are important

Related

messenger RNA poly-A site poly-A tail

References

Biochemistry, L. Stryer, WH Freeman & Co, New York, 1988 pg 721