The highways and byways of mRNA decay
Abstract
When considering the control of gene expression, the focus has traditionally been on transcriptional regulation. Recently, however, the large contribution made by mRNA decay has become difficult to ignore. Large-scale analyses indicate that as many as half of all changes in the amounts of mRNA in some responses can be attributed to altered rates of decay. In this article, we discuss some of the mechanisms that are used by the cell to mediate and regulate this intriguing process.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
mRNA therapeutics require optimization of mRNA sequences because their effectiveness primarily depends on the rate of degradation and the rate of translation initiation.
“Nevertheless, mRNA therapeutics require the optimization of mRNA sequences because their effectiveness primarily depends on the rate of degradation (and the rate of translation initiation) of mRNA [1,2].”
From Untranslated Region Sequences and the Efficacy of mRNA Vaccines against Tuberculosis (2024) · cites this paper as [1]
3′UTR AU-rich elements can determine the rate of mRNA decay under various conditions.
“3′UTR AU-rich elements can determine the rate of mRNA decay under various conditions [1,8].”
From Untranslated Region Sequences and the Efficacy of mRNA Vaccines against Tuberculosis (2024) · cites this paper as [1]
Cited by
Sorted by citations
mRNA-based therapeutics--developing a new class of drugs
Sahin, U., Karikó, K., & Türeci, Ö. (2014) · Nature Reviews Drug Discovery · doi:10.1038/nrd4278 · Cited by 2,474 · see citing works
RNA targeting with CRISPR–Cas13
Abudayyeh, O. O., Gootenberg, J. S., Essletzbichler, P., Han, S., Joung, J., Belanto, J. J., Verdine, V., Cox, D. B. T., Kellner, M. J., Regev, A., et al. (2017) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature24049 · Cited by 2,093 · see citing works
Sharova, L. V., Sharov, A. A., Nedorezov, T., Piao, Y., Shaik, N., & Ko, M. S. H. (2009) · DNA Research · doi:10.1093/dnares/dsn030 · Cited by 591 · see citing works
Molecular pathology of age-related macular degeneration
Ding, X., Patel, M., & Chan, C.-C. (2009) · Progress in Retinal and Eye Research · doi:10.1016/j.preteyeres.2008.10.001 · Cited by 582 · see citing works
“The insertion introduces a 54-bp AU-rich element, known for its properties to control mRNA decay in many transcripts that encode a wide variety of proteins involved in transient biological processes (Barreau et al., 2005; Garneau et al., 2007; Khabar, 2005).”
BackgroundNMD: a multifaceted response to premature translational termination
Kervestin, S., & Jacobson, A. (2012) · Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology · doi:10.1038/nrm3454 · Cited by 572 · see citing works
The regulation of matrix metalloproteinases and their inhibitors
Clark, I. M., Swingler, T. E., Sampieri, C. L., & Edwards, D. R. (2008) · The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology · doi:10.1016/j.biocel.2007.12.006 · Cited by 555 · see citing works
RNA-sequencing from single nuclei
Grindberg, R. V., Yee-Greenbaum, J. L., McConnell, M. J., Novotny, M., O’Shaughnessy, A. L., Lambert, G. M., Araúzo-Bravo, M. J., Lee, J., Fishman, M., Robbins, G. E., et al. (2013) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1319700110 · Cited by 422 · see citing works
Age-related macular degeneration is associated with an unstable ARMS2 (LOC387715) mRNA
Fritsche, L. G., Loenhardt, T., Janssen, A., Fisher, S. A., Rivera, A., Keilhauer, C. N., & Weber, B. H. F. (2008) · Nature Genetics · doi:10.1038/ng.170 · Cited by 400 · see citing works
Combinatorial optimization of mRNA structure, stability, and translation for RNA-based therapeutics
Leppek, K., Byeon, G. W., Kladwang, W., Wayment-Steele, H. K., Kerr, C. H., Xu, A. F., Kim, D. S., Topkar, V. V., Choe, C., Rothschild, D., et al. (2022) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-022-28776-w · Cited by 399 · see citing works
Combinatorial optimization of mRNA structure, stability, and translation for RNA-based therapeutics
Leppek, K., Byeon, G. W., Kladwang, W., Wayment-Steele, H. K., Kerr, C. H., Xu, A. F., Kim, D. S., Topkar, V. V., Choe, C., Rothschild, D., et al. (2021) · doi:10.1101/2021.03.29.437587 · Cited by 399 · see citing works
Multifunctional deadenylase complexes diversify mRNA control
Goldstrohm, A. C., & Wickens, M. (2008) · Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology · doi:10.1038/nrm2370 · Cited by 377 · see citing works
Nuclear Retention of mRNA in Mammalian Tissues
Bahar Halpern, K., Caspi, I., Lemze, D., Levy, M., Landen, S., Elinav, E., Ulitsky, I., & Itzkovitz, S. (2015) · Cell Reports · doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2015.11.036 · Cited by 258 · see citing works
Single-molecule analysis of gene expression using two-color RNA labeling in live yeast
Hocine, S., Raymond, P., Zenklusen, D., Chao, J. A., & Singer, R. H. (2013) · Nature Methods · doi:10.1038/nmeth.2305 · Cited by 297 · see citing works
Ji, Z., & Tian, B. (2009) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008419 · Cited by 264 · see citing works
The regulation of mRNA stability in mammalian cells: 2.0
Wu, X., & Brewer, G. (2012) · Gene · doi:10.1016/j.gene.2012.03.021 · Cited by 239 · see citing works
Sun, D., Novotny, M., Bulek, K., Liu, C., Li, X., & Hamilton, T. (2011) · Nature Immunology · doi:10.1038/ni.2081 · Cited by 232 · see citing works
CRISPR-Cas9-based mutagenesis frequently provokes on-target mRNA misregulation
Tuladhar, R., Yeu, Y., Tyler Piazza, J., Tan, Z., Rene Clemenceau, J., Wu, X., Barrett, Q., Herbert, J., Mathews, D. H., Kim, J., et al. (2019) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-019-12028-5 · Cited by 219 · see citing works
The Yeast Ski Complex: Crystal Structure and RNA Channeling to the Exosome Complex
Halbach, F., Reichelt, P., Rode, M., & Conti, E. (2013) · Cell · doi:10.1016/j.cell.2013.07.017 · Cited by 210 · see citing works
Hsieh, Y.-C., Guo, C., Yalamanchili, H. K., Abreha, M., Al-Ouran, R., Li, Y., Dammer, E. B., Lah, J. J., Levey, A. I., Bennett, D. A., et al. (2019) · Cell Reports · doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2019.08.104 · Cited by 196 · see citing works
Innate immune restriction and antagonism of viral RNA lacking 2׳-O methylation
Hyde, J. L., & Diamond, M. S. (2015) · Virology · doi:10.1016/j.virol.2015.01.019 · Cited by 194 · see citing works
3D RNA and Functional Interactions from Evolutionary Couplings
Weinreb, C., Riesselman, A. J., Ingraham, J. B., Gross, T., Sander, C., & Marks, D. S. (2016) · Cell · doi:10.1016/j.cell.2016.03.030 · Cited by 159 · see citing works
Systematic analysis of gene expression patterns associated with postmortem interval in human tissues
Zhu, Y., Wang, L., Yin, Y., & Yang, E. (2017) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-017-05882-0 · Cited by 129 · see citing works
Codon and amino acid content are associated with mRNA stability in mammalian cells
Forrest, M. E., Pinkard, O., Martin, S., Sweet, T. J., Hanson, G., & Coller, J. (2020) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0228730 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
A conserved mechanism of TOR-dependent RCK-mediated mRNA degradation regulates autophagy
Hu, G., McQuiston, T., Bernard, A., Park, Y.-D., Qiu, J., Vural, A., Zhang, N., Waterman, S. R., Blewett, N. H., Myers, T. G., et al. (2015) · Nature Cell Biology · doi:10.1038/ncb3189 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
Youn, H., & Chung, J.-K. (2015) · Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy · doi:10.1517/14712598.2015.1057563 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
IL-17 regulates CXCL1 mRNA stability via an AUUUA/tristetraprolin-independent sequence
Datta, S., Novotny, M., Pavicic, P. G., Zhao, C., Herjan, T., Hartupee, J., & Hamilton, T. (2010) · The Journal of Immunology · doi:10.4049/jimmunol.0902423 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
Robinson, S., Oliver, A., Chevassut, T., & Newbury, S. (2015) · Biomolecules · doi:10.3390/biom5031515 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
Therapeutic Prospects of mRNA-Based Gene Therapy for Glioblastoma
Tang, X., Zhang, S., Fu, R., Zhang, L., Huang, K., Peng, H., Dai, L., & Chen, Q. (2019) · Frontiers in Oncology · doi:10.3389/fonc.2019.01208 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Stability analysis of chemically modified mRNA using micropattern-based single-cell arrays
Ferizi, M., Leonhardt, C., Meggle, C., Aneja, M. K., Rudolph, C., Plank, C., & Rädler, J. O. (2015) · Lab on a Chip · doi:10.1039/c5lc00749f · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Mure, F., Corbin, A., Benbahouche, N. E. H., Bertrand, E., Manet, E., & Gruffat, H. (2018) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-018-31078-1 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
CIKS/DDX3X Interaction Controls the Stability of the <i>Zc3h12a</i> mRNA Induced by IL-17
Somma, D., Mastrovito, P., Grieco, M., Lavorgna, A., Pignalosa, A., Formisano, L., Salzano, A. M., Scaloni, A., Pacifico, F., Siebenlist, U., et al. (2015) · The Journal of Immunology · doi:10.4049/jimmunol.1401589 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Untranslated Region Sequences and the Efficacy of mRNA Vaccines against Tuberculosis
Reshetnikov, V., Terenin, I., Shepelkova, G., Yeremeev, V., Kolmykov, S., Nagornykh, M., Kolosova, E., Sokolova, T., Zaborova, O., Kukushkin, I., et al. (2024) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · doi:10.3390/ijms25020888 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Hamilton, T., Li, X., Novotny, M., Pavicic, P. G., Datta, S., Zhao, C., Hartupee, J., & Sun, D. (2011) · Journal of Leukocyte Biology · doi:10.1189/jlb.0811404 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
The RNA exosome maintains cellular RNA homeostasis by controlling transcript abundance in the brain
Higginson, L. A., Wang, X., He, K., Torstrick, M., Kim, M., Wijeratne, H. R. S., Runnebohm, A. M., Benayoun, B. A., MacLean, A., Chanfreau, G. F., et al. (2026) · Cell Reports · doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2025.116729 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
- Authors
- Garneau, N. L., Wilusz, J., & Wilusz, C. J.
- Affiliations
- Colorado State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Wilusz, Carol J.
- Venue
- Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology
- Published
- 2007-02
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 113-126
- ISSN
- 1471-0072 (ISSN-L)
- 1471-0080
- OpenAlex
- W2088860412
- Cited by
- 1,294
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 33 · 2025: 54 · 2024: 55 · 2023: 58 · 2022: 62 · 2021: 52 · 2020: 61 · 2019: 67 · 2018: 57 · 2017: 43 · 2016: 74 · 2015: 75 · 2014: 75 · 2013: 81 · 2012: 93
- FWCI
- 7.08
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA Research and Splicing
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA regulation and disease
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms
- Keywords
- mRNA degradation, mRNA turnover, gene expression regulation, post-transcriptional regulation, signal transduction, mRNA metabolism
- MeSH terms
- Cell Line, Gene Expression Regulation, Humans, Models, Genetic, RNA, Messenger, Transcription, Genetic, Signal Transduction, RNA Stability
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review