How do bicistronic (IRES) vectors express two proteins simultaneously?

Bicistronic lentiviral vectors contain an optimized internal ribosome entry site (IRES) that permits your gene of interest and a second gene (This is often the gene for a fluorescent protein or drug selection marker) to be coexpressed from a single mRNA transcript. Although translation initiation occurs almost exclusively at the 5' cap of eukaryotic mRNAs, the IRES attracts ribosomes to begin translation at a second, internal location. The result is that two proteins are expressed simultaneously from a single bicistronic mRNA transcript.

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