A Single Internal Ribosome Entry Site Containing a G Quartet RNA Structure Drives Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 Gene Expression at Four Alternative Translation Initiation Codons

The 484-nucleotide (nt) alternatively translated region (ATR) of the human fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF-2) mRNA contains four CUG and one AUG translation initiation codons. Although the 5′-end proximal CUG codon is initiated by a cap-dependent translation process, the other four initiation codons are initiated by a mechanism of internal entry of ribosomes. We undertook here a detailed analysis of the cis-acting elements defining the FGF-2 internal ribosome entry site (IRES). A thorough deletion analysis study within the 5′-ATR led us to define a 176-nt region as being necessary and sufficient for IRES function at four codons present in a downstream 308-nt RNA segment. Unexpectedly, a single IRES module is therefore responsible for translation initiation at four distantly localized codons. The determination of the FGF-2 5′-ATR RNA secondary structure by enzymatic and chemical probing experiments showed that the FGF-2 IRES contained two stem-loop regions and a G quartet motif that constitute novel structural determinants of IRES function.