Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay in health and disease.
All eukaryotes possess the ability to detect and degrade transcripts harboring premature signals for the termination of translation. Despite the ubiquitous nature of nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) and its demonstrated role in the modulation of phenotypes resulting from selected nonsense alleles, very little is known regarding its basic mechanism or the selective pressure for complete evolutionary conservation of this function. This review will present the current models of NMD that have been generated during the study of model organisms and mammalian cells. The physiological burden of nonsense transcripts and the emerging view that NMD plays a broad and critical role in the regulation of gene expression will also be discussed. Such issues are relevant to the proposal that pharmacological manipulation of NMD will find therapeutic application.
Frischmeyer
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PA
Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Institute for Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Dietz
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HC
D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D000818:Animals; D018389:Codon, Nonsense / Q000235:genetics*; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000235:genetics; D030342:Genetic Diseases, Inborn / Q000235:genetics* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008957:Models, Genetic; D020871:RNA Stability; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000627:therapeutic use
D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D018389:Codon, Nonsense; D005656:Fungal Proteins; C092470:NMD2 protein, S cerevisiae; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators