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P bodies

Post-transcriptional processes have a central role in the regulation of eukaryotic gene expression.

Proteins that are involved in mRNA degradation, translational repression, mRNA surveillance and RNA-mediated gene silencing, together with their mRNA targets, colocalize within discrete cytoplasmic domains known as P bodies.

P bodies are sites where mRNAs that are not being translated accumulate, the information carried by associated proteins and regulatory RNAs is integrated, and their fate - either translation, silencing or decay - is decided.

References

- Eulalio A, Behm-Ansmant I, Izaurralde E. P bodies: at the crossroads of post-transcriptional pathways. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2007 Jan;8(1):9-22. PMID: 17183357