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Little but Loud. The Diversity of Functions of Small Proteins and Peptides – Translational Products of Short Reading Frames

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Abstract

Cell functioning is tightly regulated process. For many years, research in the fields of proteomics and functional genomics has been focused on the role of proteins in cell functioning. The advances in science have led to the uncovering that short open reading frames, previously considered non-functional, serve a variety of functions. Short reading frames in polycistronic mRNAs often regulate their stability and translational efficiency of the main reading frame. The improvement of proteomic analysis methods has made it possible to identify the products of translation of short open reading frames in quantities that suggest the existence of functional role of those peptides and short proteins. Studies demonstrating their role unravel a new level of the regulation of cell functioning and its adaptation to changing conditions. This review is devoted to the analysis of functions of recently discovered peptides and short proteins.

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Abbreviations

ORF:

open reading frame

UTR:

untranslated region

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Funding

This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (project no. 21‑64‑00006).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Chemistry, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991, Moscow, Russia

    Petr V. Sergiev & Maria P. Rubtsova

  2. Skoltech Center of Life Sciences, Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, 143025, Skolkovo, Russia

    Petr V. Sergiev

  3. Institute of Functional Genomics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991, Moscow, Russia

    Petr V. Sergiev

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Correspondence to Petr V. Sergiev or Maria P. Rubtsova.

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Sergiev, P.V., Rubtsova, M.P. Little but Loud. The Diversity of Functions of Small Proteins and Peptides – Translational Products of Short Reading Frames. Biochemistry Moscow 86, 1139–1150 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0006297921090091

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