[GW bodies and stress granules, two cytoplasmic structures for mRNA degradation and storage in mammalian cells].

What does mRNA become at the issue of translation in eukaryotic cells? It can be directly degraded or stored for further use. In some cases, the underlying molecular mechanisms have been studied in detail by biochemical approaches, as examplified by the most recently discovered regulation pathway, RNA interference. However, the cellular context of these regulations has often been ignored, as if these reactions took place diffusely throughout the cytoplasm. Two new structures involved therein have now been described: GW bodies (or P-bodies) and stress granules. The first studies suggested that they were specifically devoted to mRNA degradation and mRNA storage, respectively. This framework is changing rapidly with obvious functional overlapping between both structures.