Messenger RNA (mRNA) localisation enables a high degree of spatiotemporal control on protein synthesis, which contributes
to establishing the asymmetric protein distribution required to set up and maintain cellular polarity. As such, a tight control
of mRNA localisation is essential for many biological processes during development and in adulthood, such as body axes
determination in Drosophila melanogaster and synaptic plasticity in neurons. The mechanisms controlling how mRNAs are
localised, including difusion and entrapment, local degradation and directed active transport, are largely conserved across
evolution and have been under investigation for decades in diferent biological models. In this review, we will discuss the
standing of the feld regarding directional mRNA transport in light of the recent discovery that RNA can hitchhike on cytoplasmic organelles, such as endolysosomes, and the impact of these transport modalities on our understanding of neuronal
function during development, adulthood and in neurodegeneratio
