Molecular Cell
Volume 72, Issue 1, 4 October 2018, Pages 10-17
Journal home page for Molecular Cell

Perspective
Transcript Buffering: A Balancing Act between mRNA Synthesis and mRNA Degradation

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2018.08.023Get rights and content
Under an Elsevier user license
open archive

Transcript buffering involves reciprocal adjustments between overall rates in mRNA synthesis and degradation to maintain similar cellular concentrations of mRNAs. This phenomenon was first discovered in yeast and encompasses coordination between the nuclear and cytoplasmic compartments. Transcript buffering was revealed by novel methods for pulse labeling of RNA to determine in vivo synthesis and degradation rates. In this Perspective, we discuss the current knowledge of transcript buffering. Emphasis is placed on the future challenges to determine the nature and directionality of the buffering signals, the generality of transcript buffering beyond yeast, and the molecular mechanisms responsible for this balancing.

Keywords

pol II transcription
mRNA synthesis
mRNA degradation
TFIID
SAGA
CCR4-NOT
decapping
deadenylation
transcript buffering
XRN1

Cited by (0)