Determining the kinetics and mechanism of mRNA export

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In eukaryotic cells, the sites of storage of genetic information and of protein synthesis are separated by a double bilipidic membrane impermeable to large molecules. To reach the site of protein synthesis, the messenger RNA (mRNA) has to pass this barrier through the nuclear pore complex. The export of mRNAs however is not an isolated process, it is functionally linked to different upstream and downstream processes, in particular the localization of the gene within the nucleus, transcription and mRNA processing. The long-term objective of our research program is to understand how the interplay between different components of the gene expression pathway result in the efficient and selective export of mRNAs from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. We will therefore link cell biological and biophysical approaches in order to study the process of mRNA export in the closest form possible, the single mRNA expressed from a single gene within a single cell, in real time. Only using such novel technologies, allowing directly observing molecular events within their natural environment, it will be possible to fully understand biological processes occurring in cells.