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RNA degradation drives stem cell differentiation
Author(s) -
Lou ChihHong,
Shum Eleen Y,
Wilkinson Miles F
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the embo journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.484
H-Index - 392
eISSN - 1460-2075
pISSN - 0261-4189
DOI - 10.15252/embj.201591631
Subject(s) - biology , stem cell , degradation (telecommunications) , microbiology and biotechnology , rna , computational biology , genetics , gene , telecommunications , computer science
The mechanisms by which multi‐potent stem cells switch their program to become functional differentiated cells have intrigued biologists for decades. Most focus has been on transcriptional pathways, but whether they have sufficient dynamic range to cause discrete shifts in cell state is not clear. Because the steady‐state level of RNA s is also dictated by their decay rate, an attractive possibility is that specific RNA decay mechanisms also have a role in promoting differentiation mechanisms. In this issue of The EMBO Journal , Li et al (2015) obtained evidence that a highly conserved RNA degradation pathway called nonsense‐mediated RNA decay ( NMD ) is critical for the differentiation of embryonic stem ( ES ) cells.