User:JamesFConley/EIF4A1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eukaryotic initiation factor 4A-I is a 46 kDa cytosolic protein that in humans is encoded by the EIF4A1 gene, which is located on chromosome 17.[1][2][3] It is the most prevalent member of the eIF4A family of ATP-dependant RNA helicases, and plays a critical role in the initiation of cap-dependent eukaryotic protein translation as a component of the eIF4F translation initiation complex.[4] eIF4a1 unwinds the secondary structure of RNA within the 5'-UTR of mRNA, a critical step necessary for the recruitment of the 43S preinitiation complex, and thus the translation of protein in eukaryotes.[4] It was first characterized in 1982 by Grifo, et al., who purified it from rabbit reticulocyte lysate.[5]