Control of mRNA translation and stability in haematopoietic cells: The function of hnRNPs K and E1/E2

Studies on the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression in haematopoietic cells have uncovered that a subfamily of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins (hnRNPs) is involved in cytoplasmic gene regulation. HnRNP K and hnRNP E1/E2 share a common structural motif, the hnRNP K homology (KH) domain, which provides a structural basis for mRNA binding. The KH-domains are components of a modular system, which enables these proteins to engage in both, protein/nucleic acid and protein/protein interactions, the latter generating connectivity to cell signalling events. As components of different mRNA-protein complexes, hnRNP K and hnRNP E1/E2 function in the control of mRNA translation and mRNA stability in haematopoietic cell differentiation.