The contribution of RNA decay quantitative trait loci to inter-individual variation in steady-state gene expression levels

Analysis of the extent to which inter-individual variation in mRNA decay contributes to inter-individual variation in gene expression levels in humans. The study examines properties of genome-wide decay rates and the relationship between mRNA decay and gene expression across genes, across individuals, and finally across genotype classes. 70 human lymphoblastoid cell lines were treated with Actinomycin D to arrest transcription. Transcript abundance was measured at 5 timepoints: before transcription (0 hours) and after transcription (0.5 hours, 1 hour, 2 hours, and 4 hours). Data was then used to estimate gene-specific decay rates genome-wide.