3'UTR and Gene expression in expression construct - (Jul/10/2006 )

What I am tring to do is overexpression of one candidate gene. We have gotten full-lenth gene by using RACE. However, the 3 terminal parts of sequence have different length although the 5' ends of the sequence are same. The coding regions are also same. Based on the prediction of this gene, the different parts of 3 'end are probably 3 'UTR. These regions are completely same at base pairs but with different length. All of these regions match with genomic sequences. My question is if the fragment with the longest 3'UTR is better for construct than others in overexpression of this gene. I am not sure what role of 3'UTR is in gene expression, any suggestion or papers are very welcome. Thanks a lot!

hi!
sounds like you have something interesting there!!!!

i suggest that you put the sequences through a couple of programs to see if there are any interesting regulatory elements which may effect the transcripts stability and translatability and localisation - UTRScan is a good place to start (http://www.ba.itb.cnr.it/BIG/UTRScan/)

there are some good reviews on the roles of different 3'utrs-
grzybowska biochem biophys res comm 288; 291-5 2001
mazumder trends biochem sci 28;91-8 2003
and the refs associated with the site are really good

sorry they're a bit old - i finished my phd on this topic (i found 21 variant transcripts with different 3'UTRs!) about 2 years ago! message if you need any experimental ideas!!!

Thanks a lot! Your information is really helpful. May I wirte to you if possible?