A cell's rhythm of protein production may be regulated by the addition and removal of tails at the end of the messenger RNA molecules that carry the protein recipes.
The cellular circadian clock yields rhythmic patterns in the expression of many genes and the synthesis of their protein products. Carla Green and her colleagues at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas found 237 mouse-liver mRNAs that show circadian rhythmicity in the number of adenosine molecules added to the end of mRNAs. The length of this 'poly(A) tail' can affect the stability of the mRNA and, ultimately, the amount of cognate protein produced.
Further analysis of five of these mRNAs showed that peak poly(A) tail length preceded a peak in protein accumulation by 4–8 hours, even when the amount of those mRNAs remained constant.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
RNA tails time protein production. Nature 492, 315 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/492315a
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/492315a
