mRNA nuclear export: how mRNA identity features distinguish functional RNAs from junk transcripts

ABSTRACT

The division of the cellular space into nucleoplasm and cytoplasm promotes quality control mechanisms that prevent misprocessed mRNAs and junk RNAs from gaining access to the translational machinery. Here, we explore how properly processed mRNAs are distinguished from both misprocessed mRNAs and junk RNAs by the presence or absence of various ‘identity features’.

KEYWORDS:

• mRNA nuclear export
• nuclear retention
• splicing
• GC-content
• mRNA quality control

Acknowledgments

We thank E.S. Lee for comments on the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a grant to AFP from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (FN 492860).