Determining the kinetics and mechanism of mRNA export

在真核细胞中，储存遗传信息的地点和蛋白质合成的地点被一层双层脂质膜隔开，大分子无法通过。为了到达蛋白质合成位点，信使RNA （mRNA）必须通过核孔复合物穿过这一屏障。然而，mRNA的输出并不是一个孤立的过程，它在功能上与不同的上游和下游过程有关，特别是基因在细胞核内的定位、转录和mRNA加工。我们研究计划的长期目标是了解基因表达途径中不同组分之间的相互作用如何导致mrna从细胞核高效和选择性地输出到细胞质。因此，我们将把细胞生物学和生物物理学方法联系起来，以便以最接近的形式研究mRNA输出的过程，即单个细胞内单个基因实时表达的单个mRNA。只有使用这样的新技术，允许直接观察自然环境中的分子事件，才有可能完全了解细胞中发生的生物过程。

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.