Coordinating mRNA abundance with cell size
Molecular Horizons Seminar - Dr Scott Berry
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Wollongong Campus
32.G01
Cells maintain constant concentrations of mRNAs, which requires that mRNA synthesis or mRNA degradation rates are regulated according to cell volume. Moreover, rates of mRNA synthesis and degradation are coupled, so that perturbation of one of these rates results in adaptation of the other. Our recent work using genetic screening with single-cell resolution, single-molecule RNA FISH and RNA metabolic labelling in human cells suggests that these two mechanisms converge on regulation of activity, and ultimately abundance, of RNA polymerase II. This process involves rapid feedback from nuclear mRNA concentration on transcription itself, suggesting a new model for the coordination of mRNA abundance with cell size.