Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 1, 2026

Assaying Proteasomal Degradation in a Cell-free System in Plants
Published on: March 27, 2014
The Upf factor complex interacts with aberrant products derived from mRNAs containing a premature termination codon
Kazushige Kuroha1, Koji Ando, Reiko Nakagawa
1From the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8578 and.
Abstract:
Up-frameshift (Upf) factors eliminate aberrant mRNAs containing a specific premature termination codon (PTC). Here, we show that Upf complex facilitates the ubiquitin-dependent degradation of products derived from mRNA containing specific PTCs in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The efficiency of recruitment of the Upf complex to a PTC product was correlated with the decay of the PTC product. Upf factors promoted the degradation of the human von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) protein, which is an unfolded protein in yeast cells, in a manner that depends on the presence of a faux 3'-UTR. Mass spectrometric analysis and Western blot analysis revealed that Hsp70 was associated with the PTC product. These findings suggest that the Upf complex may be recruited to ribosomes in a faux 3'-UTR-dependent manner and then associates with aberrant products to facilitate their degradation by the proteasome.
Related Concept Videos
Nuclear Export of mRNA
Nonsense-mediated mRNA Decay
Usually, Upf3 binds to an Exon Junction Complex (EJC) at mRNA splice sites. If a ribosome fully translates the mRNA,...
mRNA Stability and Gene Expression
Cis-acting Elements involved in mRNA stability
The Unfolded Protein Response
Export of Misfolded Proteins out of the ER
Regulation of the Unfolded Protein Response

