Quality control of mRNP in the nucleus

Formation of functional mRNA-protein particles requires a plethora of nuclear cotranscriptional and posttranscriptional RNA processing and packaging steps. Faithful execution of these events is closely monitored by surveillance systems that prevent nuclear export of, and/or rapidly degrade, faulty transcripts. Parts of this quality control also serve to eliminate a large number of noncoding RNAs produced by RNA polymerase II. Here, we discuss which aberrant features trigger messenger ribonucleoprotein quality control, how the process is executed, and how it is connected to the transcription machinery and the nuclear pore complex.