Eukaryotic mRNAs were long thought to only translate a single protein product, but it is now recognized that many mRNAs can also encode small open reading frames (ORFs). In this issue of The EMBO Journal, Wu et al characterized small ORFs in the 3′ untranslated regions (3′ UTRs) of human and zebrafish mRNAs and found that many are indeed translated. The peptides encoded by these downstream ORFs (dORFs) are often poorly conserved across evolution, but many dORFs are nonetheless functional, as the act of their translation can promote translation of the canonical ORF.

中文翻译：

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高调结束：下游 ORF 增强了 mRNA 的翻译输出。

长期以来，人们一直认为真核 mRNA 只能翻译一种蛋白质产物，但现在人们认识到许多 mRNA 也可以编码小的开放阅读框 (ORF)。在本期The EMBO Journal 中，Wu等人对人类和斑马鱼 mRNA 的 3' 非翻译区 (3' UTR) 中的小 ORF 进行了表征，并发现许多确实被翻译了。由这些下游 ORF (dORF) 编码的肽在整个进化过程中通常保守性较差，但许多 dORF 仍然具有功能，因为它们的翻译行为可以促进规范 ORF 的翻译。