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Updated: Jan 27, 2026

Analysis of mRNA Nuclear Export Kinetics in Mammalian Cells by Microinjection
Published on: December 4, 2010
Visualizing mRNA in live mammalian cells
Zejun Wang1, Wenhan Liu2, Chunhai Fan2
1Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China; Division of Physical Biology, Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, China.
Abstract:
mRNAs play essential role in gene expression and regulation. Direct visualization of specific intracellular mRNAs can provide key information about mRNA distribution and dynamics that accelerating study of their functionality. This highlights the necessity of characterizing mRNA in mammalian cells with good spatial and temporal resolution. Live cell imaging and tracking of mRNA remains a challenge due to their relatively short half-life and lack of versatile imaging probes. This review provides an overview of current methods of live-cell mRNA imaging, including exogenous hybridization probes and genetically encoded strategies. It then focuses on the development and application of aptamer initiated fluorescence complementation (AiFC) method for real-time imaging of mammalian mRNAs and includes a detailed protocol for observing β-actin mRNA in HeLa cells.
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Once about 20-40 ribonucleotides have been joined together by RNA polymerase, a group of enzymes adds a “cap” to the 5’ end of the growing transcript. In this process, a 5’ phosphate is replaced by modified guanosine that has a methyl group attached to it (7-Methyl...

