P-bodies react to stress and nonsense.

P-bodies are specialized cytoplasmic compartments where translational repression and mRNA turnover may occur. Findings in this issue of Cell provide evidence that P-bodies are sites of "mRNA purgatory." Bhattacharyya et al. (2006) reveal that normal mRNA can be released from P-bodies and translated into protein in response to stress. Meanwhile, Sheth and Parker (2006) report that aberrant mRNAs are targeted to P-bodies to undergo rapid decay.