Coupling Between Messenger RNA Synthesis and Degradation during Genome Expression

Abstract

Genome expression involves the synthesis of messenger RNA (mRNA), a short lived molecule whose translation directs the synthesis of cellular proteins and that is subject to degradation after the translation process. Up to the date, mRNA synthesis and degradation has been considered as a linear phenomenon in which the above steps occur subsequently without a regulatory interconnection. However, gene expression can be studied as a global system in which all their stages are coupled and interconnected by regulatory mechanisms. We have contributed to demonstrate that the machineries of mRNA synthesis and degradation physically and functionally interact in the cell nucleus. We have proposed that it allows the cross-regulation of transcription with mRNA degradation and vice versa, giving rise to a circular system, which would explain the large robustness observed in gene expression (Haimovich et al, 2013).