Exon array analysis of resting and activated primary murine CD4+ T-cells

The stability, localization and translation of mammalian mRNAs are largely determined by sequences in the 3' untranslated region (UTR). Here, we describe a conserved program of increased upstream polyadenylation site usage following activation of primary murine CD4+ T lymphocytes. This program, resulting in shorter 3' UTRs, is a characteristic of immune cell activation and strongly correlates with proliferation across diverse cell types and tissues. Enforced expression of full-length 3' UTRs confers differences in protein expression that can in some cases be eliminated by deletion of predicted microRNA target sites in the variably included region. Together, our data indicate that polyadenylation site usage is coordinately regulated such that states of increased proliferation are associated with widespread reduction of 3' UTR-based regulation. Keywords: activation, exon array, time course Two or three biological replicates per time point