mRNA translation and turnover: a cellular perspective on their relationship

The rate at which a protein is synthesized is influenced by the stability of its mRNA and the efficiency of translation. mRNA degradation is associated with translation, but the link between these processes is unclear. In this article, Alistair Brown discusses this relationship in the light of a model of translation that involves three distinct cellular phases: a primary phase in which the translation of an mRNA molecule starts before its export from the nucleus is complete, a secondary phase that begins when nuclear export is complete and that may involve circular polyribosomal complexes, and a terminal phase involving residual translation once mRNA degradation is initiated.