3'-untranslated regions of mRNAs

Patent Pending In molecular genetics, the three prime untranslated region (3'-UTR) is the section of messenger RNA (mRNA) that immediately follows the translation termination codon. An mRNA molecule is transcribed from the DNA sequence and is later translated into protein. Several regions of the mRNA molecule are not translated into protein including the 5' cap, 5' untranslated region, 3' untranslated region, and the poly(A) tail. The 3'-UTR often contains regulatory regions that influence post-transcriptional gene expression.