Single-molecule insights into mRNA dynamics in neurons

• mRNA localization into neuronal processes and localized translation is an efficient mechanism of local protein delivery in neurons due to their long processes and synaptic function.
• Single-mRNA studies in neurons illustrate the diverse and stochastic nature of mRNA trafficking into neuronal processes.
• Single-molecule imaging of endogenous mRNA has illuminated a novel and unexpected understanding of mRNA dynamics.

Targeting of mRNAs to neuronal dendrites and axons plays an integral role in intracellular signaling, development, and synaptic plasticity. Single-molecule imaging of mRNAs in neurons and brain tissue has led to enhanced understanding of mRNA dynamics. Here we discuss aspects of mRNA regulation as revealed by single-molecule detection, which has led to quantitative analyses of mRNA diversity, localization, transport, and translation. These exciting new discoveries propel our understanding of the life of an mRNA in a neuron and how its activity is regulated at the single-molecule level.