MicroRNAs Cause Accelerated Decay of Short-Tailed Target mRNAs (Molecular Cell)

MicroRNAs induce decay of mRNA targets by recruiting enzymes that shorten poly(A) tails. Despite this recruitment, Eisen et al. find that microRNAs fail to alter steady-state poly(A)-tail lengths of targets. Time-resolved poly(A)-tail length measurement reveals that microRNAs accelerate rates of short-tailed mRNA decay, explaining why short-tailed targets do not accumulate.