The FASEB Summer Research conference entitled "Post-transcriptional control of gene expression: mechanisms of mRNA decay" will be held June 26-July1, 2004, in Tucson, AZ. Turnover of mRNA is a key but frequently unrecognized regulator of gene expression as the stability of an mRNA dictates its ultimate steady-state level. Moreover, programmed instability is an important mechanism of repressing gene expression. In addition, it is increasingly recognized that most organisms employ means of surveillance of mRNA quality to ensure that only "fit" transcripts exit the nucleus and are translated. Targeted mRNA turnover is integral to this process. Finally, newly discovered means of antisense regulation, including RNA interference, rely on selective mRNA turnover for their biological consequences. For all these reasons, mRNA turnover is attracting great interest from the broader life sciences community. The goal of this meeting is to explore the mechanisms that underpin the universal process of mRNA turnover, at both the cellular and molecular levels. This conference will focus on mRNA decay in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. The topics to be covered include the multifunctional ribonucleases of prokaryotes and eukaryotes, RNA quality control, the role of mRNA binding proteins in mediating mRNA (in)stability, mRNA decay and disease, RNA interference and genome-wide approaches to mRNA turnover.
