Gene expression involves transcription, translation and the turnover of mRNAs and proteins. The degree to which protein abundances scale with mRNA levels and the implications in cases where this dependency breaks down remain an intensely debated topic. Here we review recent mRNA–protein correlation studies in the light of the quantitative parameters of the gene expression pathway, contextual confounders and buffering mechanisms. Although protein and mRNA levels typically show reasonable correlation, we describe how transcriptomics and proteomics provide useful non-redundant readouts. Integrating both types of data can reveal exciting biology and is an essential step in refining our understanding of the principles of gene expression control.

基因表达涉及转录，翻译以及mRNA和蛋白质的更新。蛋白质丰度与mRNA水平成比例的程度以及这种依赖性破裂的情况下的含义仍然是一个激烈争论的话题。在这里，我们根据基因表达途径，上下文混杂因素和缓冲机制的定量参数，回顾了最近的mRNA与蛋白质相关性研究。尽管蛋白质和mRNA水平通常显示合理的相关性，但我们描述了转录组学和蛋白质组学如何提供有用的非冗余读数。整合两种类型的数据可以揭示令人兴奋的生物学特性，并且是完善我们对基因表达控制原理的理解的重要步骤。