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Review
. 2013 May-Jun;4(3):195-205.
doi: 10.4161/nucl.24434. Epub 2013 Apr 11.

The dynamic pathway of nuclear RNA in eukaryotes

Jonathan Sheinberger  1 , Yaron Shav-Tal
Affiliations
Review

The dynamic pathway of nuclear RNA in eukaryotes

Jonathan Sheinberger et al. Nucleus. 2013 May-Jun.

Abstract

The passage of mRNA molecules from the site of synthesis, through the nucleoplasm and the nuclear pore, en route to the cytoplasm, might appear straightforward. Nonetheless, several decades of detailed examination of this pathway, from high resolution electron microscopy in fixed specimens, through the development of immuno-detection techniques and fluorescence toolkits, to the current era of live-cell imaging, show this to be an eventful journey. In addition to mRNAs, several species of noncoding RNAs travel and function in the nucleus, some being retained within throughout their lifetime. This review will highlight the nucleoplasmic paths taken by mRNAs and noncoding RNAs in eukaryotic cells with special focus on live-cell data and in concurrence with the biophysical nature of the nucleus.

Keywords: RNA dynamics; inter-chromatin; live-cell imaging; mRNA export; nuceloplasm.

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Figures

None
Figure 1. Following the pathway of mRNA in the nucleus. (A) mRNA labeling and tagging. Four main mRNA tagging methods are depicted in green: (1) Microinjection of in vitro synthesized and labeled mRNAs; (2) Hybridization of fluorescently-tagged DNA/RNA probes or molecular beacons (MB); (3) GFP fused-RNA binding proteins (GFP-PABP2 and GFP-TAP); and (4) MS2 tagging with the MS2-coat protein (CP). (B) mRNA tracking. Current methodologies for mRNA kinetic studies: single particle tracking (SPT), fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP). In yellow are the point of detection for FCS and the region photobleached during FRAP, and arrows mark the movement in and out of the spots. Fluorescent mRNPs are in green and photobleached ones are in black. (C) mRNA export. Left: The region in the pore through which mRNA (black dots) translocation occurs is represented by two paths (peripheral and central), as observed in EM studies. Right: the kinetic time-frame of mRNA movement through the nucleus and through the pore is described in C. tentans and mammalian cells. Chromatin regions appears in blue.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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