Researchers Find a Eukaryotic mRNA Policing System

摘要

Genes might grab headlines, and proteins might do the actual work of cells, but without messenger RNA (mRNA) both of them would be powerless. mRNA is the key intermediary in gene expression, translating the DNA's genetic code into the amino acids that make up proteins. But critical as mRNAs are, cells have reasons to destroy them. For example, cells sometimes make errors when producing mRNAs and they need ways to purge the aberrant messages. "The whole process, like many biological reactions, is a balance in terms of how fast you can do it, and how many mistakes you can make; just like a normal factory," explains Roy Parker, associate investigator, department of molecular and cellular biology and biochemistry and molecular biophysics, University of Arizona, and an author on two papers recently highlighted by F1000. "So, if you look at the whole process of making and using mRNAs, there are lots of ways the cell recognizes and degrades mistakes.... The cell has quality control," he says.