Laboratory of RNA regulation

Translation of mRNA by the ribosome converts an array of codons into protein and therefore lies at the core of the central dogma. We discovered from zebrafish embryos that mRNA stability just after fertilization is determined by codon composition (Mishima et al., Mol Cell. 2016). This discovery indicates that translating ribosome senses the unknown difference of codons and modulates mRNA stability. However, the molecular mechanism underlying codon-mediated mRNA decay by the ribosome remains largely unknown. We aim to elucidate the molecular mechanism of codon-mediated control of mRNA stability by combining our knowledge and unique approaches established in zebrafish embryos.