Figure 6-40. Schematic illustration of an “export-ready” mRNA molecule and its transport through the nuclear pore.

Figure 6-40Schematic illustration of an “export-ready” mRNA molecule and its transport through the nuclear pore

As indicated, some proteins travel with the mRNA as it moves through the pore, whereas others remain in the nucleus. Once in the cytoplasm, the mRNA continues to shed previously bound proteins and acquire new ones; these substitutions affect the subsequent translation of the message. Because some are transported with the RNA, the proteins that become bound to an mRNA in the nucleus can influence its subsequent stability and translation in the cytosol. RNA export factors, shown in the nucleus, play an active role in transporting the mRNA to the cytosol (see Figure 12-16). Some are deposited at exon-exon boundaries as splicing is completed, thus signifying those regions of the RNA that have been properly spliced.

Image ch12f16

From: From DNA to RNA

Cover of Molecular Biology of the Cell
Molecular Biology of the Cell. 4th edition.
Alberts B, Johnson A, Lewis J, et al.
New York: Garland Science; 2002.
Copyright © 2002, Bruce Alberts, Alexander Johnson, Julian Lewis, Martin Raff, Keith Roberts, and Peter Walter; Copyright © 1983, 1989, 1994, Bruce Alberts, Dennis Bray, Julian Lewis, Martin Raff, Keith Roberts, and James D. Watson .

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