Regulation of human sphingomyelin synthase 1 translation through its 5'-untranslated region.

Bcr-abl1 oncogene causes a shift in the transcription start site of the SMS1 gene (SGMS1) encoding the sphingomyelin (SM) synthesizing enzyme, sphingomyelin synthase 1 (SMS1). This results in an mRNA with a significantly shorter 5'-UTR, called 7-SGMS1, which is translated more efficiently than another transcript (IIb-SGMS1) with a longer 5'UTR in Bcr-abl1-positive cells. Here, we determine the effects of these alternative 5'UTRs on SMS1 translation and investigate the key features underlying such regulation.