Review
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World J Biol Chem. Jan 26, 2012; 3(1): 7-26
Published online Jan 26, 2012. doi: 10.4331/wjbc.v3.i1.7
Yeast nuclear RNA processing
Jade Bernstein, Eric A Toth
Jade Bernstein, Eric A Toth, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, United States
Eric A Toth, Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, United States
Author contributions: Bernstein J and Toth EA solely contributed to this paper.
Supported by The Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center (Toth EA)
Correspondence to: Eric A Toth, PhD, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 108 N. Greene St., Baltimore, MD 21201, United States. etoth@som.umaryland.edu
Telephone: +1-410-7065345 Fax: +1-410-7068297
Received: August 21, 2011
Revised: November 27, 2011
Accepted: December 4, 2011
Published online: January 26, 2012
Abstract

Nuclear RNA processing requires dynamic and intricately regulated machinery composed of multiple enzymes and their cofactors. In this review, we summarize recent experiments using Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model system that have yielded important insights regarding the conversion of pre-RNAs to functional RNAs, and the elimination of aberrant RNAs and unneeded intermediates from the nuclear RNA pool. Much progress has been made recently in describing the 3D structure of many elements of the nuclear degradation machinery and its cofactors. Similarly, the regulatory mechanisms that govern RNA processing are gradually coming into focus. Such advances invariably generate many new questions, which we highlight in this review.

Keywords: Cryptic unstable transcript; Exosome; mRNA; Mtr4p; Polyadenylation; rRNA; Small nuclear RNA; Small nucleolar RNA; TRAMP; tRNA