Effects of mRNA Modifications on Translation: An Overview

The mRNA epitranscriptome imparts diversity to gene expression by installing chemical modifications. Advances in detection methods have identified chemical modifications in eukaryotic, bacterial, and viral messenger RNAs (mRNAs). The biological functions of modifications in mRNAs still remain to be understood. Chemical modifications are introduced in synthetic mRNAs meant for therapeutic applications to maximize expression from the synthetic mRNAs and to evade the host immune response. This overview provides a background of chemical modifications found in mRNAs, with an emphasis on pseudouridine and its known effects on the mRNA life cycle, its potential applications in synthetic mRNA, and the methods used to assess its effects on mRNA translation. © 2021, The Author(s).