See Also: poly A tail(medicine)
poly(dictionary)
poly a-u(medicine)
poly-(dictionary)
poly I(medicine)
poly A(medicine)
poly(1)(dictionary)
poly(2)(dictionary)
poly-(dictionary)
poly(dictionary)

Juvenal (iou) and poly A tail (medicine)


Juvenal (iou)



Juvenal noun2. L16.
[Decimus Junius Juvenalis (see below).]
A writer whose work can be likened to that of the Roman satirist Juvenal (AD c 60-c 130); a satirist.
Juve'nalian adjective resembling or characteristic of Juvenal M19.

poly A tail (medicine)


poly A tail
<molecular biology> A sequence of adenine nucleotides that get added to the 3' end of some primary transcript messenger RNA molecules in eukaryotes during post-transcriptional processing. The added tail is believed to confer stability to the molecule.

Histone mRNA do not have poly A tail. The poly A tail is added post transcriptionally to the primary transcript as part of the nuclear processing of RNA yielding hnRNAs with 60-200 adenylate residues in the tail. In the cytoplasm the poly A tail on mRNAs is gradually reduced in length.

The function of the poly A tail is not clear but it is the basis of a useful technique for the isolation of eukaryotic mRNAs. The technique uses an affinity column with oligo(u) or oligo(dT) immobilised on a solid support. If cytoplasmic RNA is applied to such a column, poly A rich RNA (mRNA) will be retained.