mRNA Decay

c-fos mRNA is rapidly degraded after it is produced. Since c-fos transcription occurs in a rapid burst, the decay of a cohort of c-fos transcripts can be conveniently assayed. This provides a good system for studying mRNA decay without having to resort to the use of drugs to inhibit transcription.

Some relevant publications:

Zubiaga, Belasco, and Greenberg. The nonamer UUAUUUAUU is the key AU-rich sequence motif that mediates mRNA degradation. Mol Cell Biol 1995; 15:2219-2230.
Schiavi, Wellington, Shyu, Chen, Greenberg, Belasco. Multiple elements in the c-fos protein-coding region facilitate mRNA deadenylation and decay by a mechanism coupled to translation. J Biol Chem 1994; 269:3441-8.

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