Global mRNA polarization regulates translation efficiency in the intestinal epithelium

Location, location, location The distribution of RNA in cells is important for efficient translation into proteins. Asymmetric RNA localization is known in several cell types but is poorly understood in gut epithelial cells. Moor et al. found that transcripts in intestinal enterocytes tend to distribute to the cells' apical or basal cell sides (see the Perspective by Gáspár and Ephrussi). mRNA localization does not generally overlap protein localization; instead, ribosomes are apically biased, which allows more efficient translation. On refeeding of fasted mice, gut cell mRNAs encoding ribosomal proteins exhibit a basal-to-apical shift in localization and a boost in translation. Thus, dynamic polarization of mRNA and polarized translation modulate translational efficiency in the intestinal epithelium. Science , this issue p. 1299 ; see also p. 1235