Department of Cell Biology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia.
Traffic. 2018 Jul;19(7):496-502. doi: 10.1111/tra.12571. Epub 2018 May 11.
At the nexus of specialized cellular responses are localized enrichments of protein activity. The localization of messenger RNA (mRNA) coupled with translational control often plays a crucial role in the generation of protein concentrations at defined subcellular domains. Although mRNA localization is classically associated with large specialized cells, such as neurons and embryos, RNA localization is a highly conserved paradigm of post-transcriptional regulation observed in diverse cellular contexts. Functions of localized mRNAs extend far beyond the well-studied examples of neuronal polarization and developmental patterning. Since the initial discovery of the intracellular localization of cytoskeletal mRNAs within migrating cells, hundreds of mRNAs are now known to be enriched at specific organelles where they contribute to cell function. In this short review, we discuss basic principles regulating RNA localization and consider the contribution of localized mRNA to several essential cellular behaviors. We consider RNA localization as a mechanism with widespread implications for cellular function.
在专门的细胞反应的交汇点是蛋白质活性的局部富集。信使 RNA（mRNA）的定位与翻译控制通常在特定亚细胞区域的蛋白质浓度产生中起着至关重要的作用。尽管 mRNA 的定位通常与大型专门细胞（如神经元和胚胎）相关，但 RNA 的定位是一种高度保守的转录后调控模式，在各种细胞环境中都有观察到。局部化 mRNA 的功能远远超出了神经元极化和发育模式等研究充分的例子。自最初发现细胞骨架 mRNA 在迁移细胞内的细胞内定位以来，现在已经知道数百种 mRNA 在特定细胞器中富集，在这些细胞器中它们有助于细胞功能。在这篇简短的综述中，我们讨论了调节 RNA 定位的基本原理，并考虑了局部化 mRNA 对几种基本细胞行为的贡献。我们将 RNA 定位视为一种对细胞功能具有广泛影响的机制。
