Post-transcriptional regulation refers to the control of gene expression at the RNA level after the transcription process, where the DNA is transcribed into messenger RNA (mRNA). This regulation can affect various stages of RNA processing and ultimately influence the amount and functionality of the resulting proteins.
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Post-transcriptional regulation controls gene expression after RNA synthesis through processes such as RNA splicing, export, localization, biological translation and degradation. Two cells can produce the same initial transcript yet accumulate different mature products if processing or stability differs. Nonsense-mediated decay illustrates selective removal based partly on the context of biological translation termination. Transcript abundance alone therefore cannot distinguish altered transcription from altered lifetime. [ref]
Molecular Biology of the Cell, 4th edition by Bruce Alberts and others. Chapter 7, Posttranscriptional Controls