Self-Regulation

I came across a blog of interest. Here is a sample blog. The following paragraph and more can be accessed at the link.

"Viruses like the Mason-Pfizer monkey virus can exploit our mRNA export pathway by having their transcripts bind directly to export factors such as Tap. The RNA elements that bind Tap are called constitutive export elements (CTEs). In a hunt for CTEs in transcripts endogenous to the mammalian genome, the authors came up with a CTE in Tap's own transcript. Turns out that this CTE is only present in an alternatively spliced (and shorter) form of Tap. This small Tap has a RNA binding domain but lacks a domain that interacts with the nuclear pore complex thus disabling the protein's nuclear export capability."