Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. robin_reed@hms.harvard.edu
Recent advances have led to a new understanding of how mRNAs are exported from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. This process requires a heterodimeric mRNA export receptor that is part of an elaborate machinery conserved from yeast to humans. Export of mRNAs is coupled to upstream steps in gene expression, such as pre-mRNA splicing, and to downstream events, including nonsense-mediated decay.