Identification and characterisation of a developmentally regulated mammalian gene that utilises –1 programmed ribosomal frameshifting

Translational recoding of mRNA through a –1 ribosomal slippage mechanism has been observed in RNA viruses and retrotransposons of both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Whilst this provides a potentially powerful mechanism of gene regulation, the utilization of –1 translational frameshifting in regulating mammalian gene expression has remained obscure. Here we report a mammalian gene, Edr, which provides the first example of –1 translational recoding in a eukaryotic cellular gene. In addition to bearing functional frameshift elements that mediate expression of distinct polypeptides, Edr bears both CCHC zinc-finger and putative aspartyl protease catalytic site retroviral-like motifs, indicative of a relic retroviral-like origin for Edr. These features, coupled with conservation of Edr as a single copy gene in mouse and man and striking spatio-temporal regulation of expression during embryogenesis, suggest that Edr plays a functionally important role in mammalian development.