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peer reviewed · Nature Cell Biology

The proportional scaling of mRNA and ribosome concentrations controls eukaryotic cell growth

Xin Gao and colleagues report that yeast cells grew faster by increasing mRNA and ribosome concentrations together, raising the number of active ribosomes without speeding elongation.

Author affiliations

  • Stanford University
  • Chan Zuckerberg Biohub

In plain English

The team grew yeast under different nutrient conditions and measured global RNA, proteins, ribosome activity, and cell growth. A mass-action model connected the concentration changes to the number of ribosomes actively making protein.

How the study worked

A plain-language walk through the work behind the result.

  1. Measured proteomes, RNA concentrations, ribosome activity, and growth across nutrient conditions in yeast.

  2. Built and tested a quantitative model linking mRNA and ribosome concentration to active translation.

What they found

  • Faster growth coincided with proportional increases in mRNA and ribosome concentrations.
  • The active-ribosome pool increased while peptide-elongation rate remained approximately constant.

Why it matters

The result gives a concentration-based explanation for how eukaryotic cells tune protein production as growth conditions change.

The catch

  • The experiments center on budding yeast and may not transfer unchanged to other eukaryotes.
  • Several measurements use condition-level averages and require more work to resolve cell-to-cell variation.

Evidence ledger

Sources behind this brief

  1. 01
    Primary source

    Nature Cell Biology article

    peer reviewed · Accessed August 25, 2026