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Updated: May 4, 2026

Determining Genome-wide Transcript Decay Rates in Proliferating and Quiescent Human Fibroblasts
Published on: January 2, 2018
Post-transcriptional control of gene expression: bacterial mRNA degradation
1Instituto de Tecnologia Quimica e Biológica (ITQB), Apt 127, 2780, Oeiras, Portugal.
Abstract:
Many biological processes cannot be fully understood without detailed knowledge of RNA metabolism. The continuous breakdown and resynthesis of prokaryotic mRNA permit rapid production of new kinds of proteins. In this way, mRNA levels can regulate protein synthesis and cellular growth. Analysing mRNA degradation in prokaryotes has been particularly difficult because most mRNA undergo rapid exponential decay. Prokaryotic mRNAs differ in their susceptibility to degradation by endonucleases and exonucleases, possibly because of variation in their sequencing and structure. In spite of numerous studies, details of mRNA degradation are still largely unknown. This review highlights those aspects of mRNA metabolism which seem most influential in the regulation of gene expression.
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