The path that RNA takes from the nucleus to the cytoplasm: a trip with some surprises
1Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3RE, UK. fiborra@molbiol.ox.ac.uk
Abstract:
It is now clear that nuclear context is playing an essential role in gene expression. For this reason we have developed methods to study gene expression in situ. Transcription takes place in discrete foci in the nucleoplasm of mammalian cells. These sites concentrate several RNA polymerases II and factors involved in the production of mRNA. Moreover, these sites also contain the active machinery to carry out protein synthesis. Once the mRNA leaves the transcription site, it interacts with the nuclear pore complex and the mRNA is exported using the filaments of the nuclear pore complex in to the middle part of the nuclear pore complex and finally is released in the cytoplasm.
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