# Post-transcriptional and post-translational regulation

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/post-transcriptional-regulation-term/  
OnCo record `post-transcriptional-regulation-term` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Cells control genes after the messenger RNA is made, by editing, transporting and degrading it and by modifying the finished protein, which is why RNA levels and protein activity can disagree.

## Summary

Post-transcriptional regulation is control of gene expression at the RNA level, through capping, splicing, polyadenylation, localisation, stability and translation (Wikipedia). Post-translational modification then alters the protein itself by phosphorylation, ubiquitination, glycosylation and cleavage. Together they decouple protein abundance and activity from mRNA, the reason phosphoproteomics and reverse-phase protein arrays exist alongside RNA sequencing.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-09-24
- Also known as: post-transcriptional regulation; post-translational regulation; post-translational modification; post-translational modifications; PTMs
- Tags: cansim-terms

## Notes

- Listed in the CanSim terms map 1.0.0 (docs/onco/terms.json, generated 2026-09-24), CC BY 4.0, attribution: CanSim project, an open, public-data-first cancer foundation-model programme; CanSim page path /terms/post-transcriptional-regulation.

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-transcriptional_regulation
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-transcriptional_regulation

## Connected records

- terms: [Cancer AI vocabulary (CanSim terms map)](https://onco.cc/terms/cancer-ai-vocabulary/), [mRNA to protein concordance](https://onco.cc/terms/mrna-protein-concordance/), [Pathway activation state (phosphosignalling)](https://onco.cc/terms/pathway-activation-state/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/post-transcriptional-regulation-term.json