Determinants of messenger RNA stability

The steady-state levels of functional mRNAs are determined in part by their rates of decay in the cytoplasm. Hence, this process plays an important role in the control of gene expression. Individual mRNA species differ widely with respect to metabolic stability. In mammalian cells, the mRNAs for transiently expressed genes such as c-fos and c-myc have half-life (tIh) values as low as 15 min, while others such as 8-globin mRNA appear to be fully...