Puga A, Borrás M T, Tessman E S, Tessman I
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1973 Jul;70(7):2171-5. doi: 10.1073/pnas.70.7.2171.
Messenger RNA molecules that are structurally stable, as measured by their ability to hybridize to DNA, may nevertheless be considerably less stable in retaining their ability to function in protein synthesis. The structure of the majority of the mRNA of phage S13 decays with a half-life of 10.6 +/- 0.5 min. In contrast, much of the function of the mRNA that is involved in synthesis of a capsid protein (product of the F gene) decays rapidly with a half-life of 1.4 +/- 0.8 min; a residual amount of function decays with a half-life of 14.0 +/- 4.0 min. The measurements were made in the presence of rifampicin, which was used to prevent the formation of new mRNA. A proposed model for the functional decay is based on the polycistronic nature of the mRNA. Degradation of the mRNA would proceed in two steps: the first step would be a fast attack at a region near the 5'-terminus of each molecule that would eliminate the function of the proximal message; the second step would be a slow attack on the remaining messenger molecule precipitating a subsequent rapid degradation of the physical structure.
信使核糖核酸（mRNA）分子，若以其与DNA杂交的能力来衡量结构稳定性，然而在维持其在蛋白质合成中发挥功能的能力方面，可能稳定性要低得多。噬菌体S13的大多数mRNA的结构半衰期为10.6±0.5分钟。相比之下，参与衣壳蛋白（F基因产物）合成的mRNA的大部分功能半衰期为1.4±0.8分钟，迅速衰减；残余功能的半衰期为14.0±4.0分钟。这些测量是在利福平存在的情况下进行的，利福平用于阻止新mRNA的形成。一个关于功能衰减的模型是基于mRNA的多顺反子性质提出的。mRNA的降解将分两步进行：第一步是对每个分子5'端附近区域的快速攻击，这将消除近端信息的功能；第二步是对剩余信使分子的缓慢攻击，导致随后物理结构的快速降解。
