Workshop “Gene expression as a circular process: cross-talk between transcription and mRNA degradation in eukaryotes”

Transcription in eukaryotes has been traditionally considered a linear process that involves several consecutive steps, and the fate of the mRNA in the cytoplasm was regarded as an independent part of its life. During the last two decades it has been demonstrated that most steps are interconnected. Communication between nuclear and cytoplasmic mRNA events is a more recent topic. The idea was raised by the finding that transcription in the nucleus and mRNA decay in the cytoplasm are coupled processes. These results show that transcription may imprint mRNA in a manner that predetermines its fate in the cytoplasm. Thus, it seems that eukaryotic gene expression can be viewed as a circular process, whereby the hitherto “first” (transcription) and the “last” (mRNA decay) are interconnected. The picture that emerges is that the synthetic and decay processes function as one multi-factorial machinery, which has two arms. This is a new concept of a very young field that will be discussed in this workshop.

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