Temporal gating dictates stress-induced transcript export from the nucleus.

Temporal gating of mRNA biogenesis controls stress-induced transcript export, with early transcripts exported before global export inhibition during human cell stress.

• Why it matters: Understanding how nuclear mRNA export is regulated during stress is crucial because it influences gene expression responses, yet this process remains poorly characterized compared to transcriptional and translational control.
• What they did: The study used single-molecule mRNA imaging and transcriptome-wide analyses to examine mRNA export during arsenite and heat stress, focusing on the timing of transcript production and export.
• The result: Findings show that early transcribed mRNAs, including immediate early genes, are exported prior to export inhibition, highlighting that transcription timing, not sequence features, primarily determines mRNA export efficiency during stress.