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Published on: December 13, 2014
[Progress on cis-acting regulatory elements in nonsense-mediated mRNA decay]
Zhi Huang1, Tian-Hong Zhou, Bao-Jiang Guo
1College of Life Science and Technology, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.
Yi Chuan Xue Bao = Acta Genetica Sinica
|January 18, 2005
Summary
Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) removes faulty mRNAs with premature stop codons. This review details cis-acting elements like exon-exon junctions that regulate NMD, crucial for cellular protection.
Area of Science:
- Molecular Biology
- Genetics
- Cell Biology
Context:
- Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) is a critical cellular surveillance pathway in eukaryotes.
- NMD prevents the accumulation of aberrant mRNAs containing premature termination codons (PTCs).
- Failure of NMD can lead to the production of truncated proteins with potentially harmful effects.
Purpose:
- To review the progress on understanding cis-acting regulatory elements involved in NMD.
- To consolidate knowledge on how specific sequence elements influence NMD efficiency.
- To provide a comprehensive overview of regulatory factors impacting mRNA surveillance.
Summary:
- This review focuses on cis-acting elements that modulate nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD).
- Key elements discussed include PTC presence, downstream sequence elements (DSEs) in yeast, and exon-exon junctions (EEJs) in mammals.
- Other regulatory factors such as stabilizer elements (STEs), 3' UTR poly(A) tails, upstream open reading frames (uORFs), and programmed -1 ribosomal frameshifting (-1 PRF) are also examined.
Impact:
- Enhances understanding of mRNA quality control mechanisms.
- Provides insights into potential therapeutic targets for diseases associated with NMD dysfunction.
- Facilitates further research into gene regulation and protein homeostasis.
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