title: How introns influence and enhance eukaryotic gene expression.
abstract: Although it has been known since the late 1970s that intron-containing and intronless versions of otherwise identical genes can exhibit dramatically different expression profiles, the underlying molecular mechanisms have only lately come to light. This review summarizes recent progress in our understanding of how introns and the act of their removal by the spliceosome can influence and enhance almost every step of mRNA metabolism. A rudimentary understanding of these effects can prove invaluable to researchers interested in optimizing transgene expression in eukaryotic systems.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Biochemistry, MS009 Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02454, USA.
authors.forename: Hervé
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Le Hir
authors.forename: Ajit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nott
authors.forename: Melissa J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Moore
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D007438:Introns; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D012326:RNA Splicing; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger