Oligo(uridine) tailing and exonucleolytic decay drive 40S ribosome degradation in response to stress.

Oligo(uridine) tailing by TUT7 and exonucleolytic decay by DIS3L2 drive 40S ribosome degradation during starvation in human cells.

• Why it matters: Understanding how cells regulate ribosome breakdown under stress is crucial for insights into cellular adaptation and survival mechanisms, yet the specific molecular processes remain unclear.
• What they did: The study used sequencing analyses to show that TUT7 adds oligo(uridine) tails to 18S rRNA, which are then recognized by DIS3L2 for 3'-5' decay, with loss of DIS3L2 impairing rRNA degradation.
• The result: These findings reveal a mechanism where oligo(uridine) tailing promotes rRNA decay, enabling targeted ribosome degradation during stress conditions like starvation.