Structural basis for the assembly and disassembly of mRNA nuclear export complexes

►Nuclear mRNA export begins with assembly of an export-competent mRNP in the nucleus. ►Export-competent mRNPs diffuse back-and-forth through nuclear pores. ►Dbp5 removes export factors from mRNPs at the pore's cytoplasmic face, preventing return to the nucleus. ►TREX and TREX-2 link export-competent mRNPs assembly to earlier gene expression pathway steps. ►Emerging structural information is generating a molecular understanding of these processes.