Mechanisms of mRNA degradation in eukaryotes.

Recent experiments have identified distinct mechanisms of eukaryotic RNA turnover. In one mechanism, deadenylation triggers decapping, exposing the messenger RNA to 5' to 3' degradation. This pathway may act at different rates on the majority of messenger RNAs. There are also degradation mechanisms, such as endonucleolytic cleavage, limited to messenger RNAs containing specific sequence elements.