Nucleosome deposition and DNA methylation may participate in the recognition of premature termination codon in nonsense-mediated mRNA decay.
In non-mammalian eukaryotes, an abnormally long 3' untranslated region (UTR) is generally thought to be the definitive signal in the recognition of a premature termination codon (PTC) in nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD). However, because the lengths of 3' UTRs in normal mRNAs are widely distributed, "abnormally long" is hard to define. Distinct peaks of nucleosome deposition and DNA methylation have recently been found at coding region boundaries. We propose that nucleosomes and DNA methylation just upstream of a normal stop codon are ideal indicators for the position of a normal stop codon and may thus serve as signals in PTC recognition.
Niu
Deng-Ke
DK
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China. dkniu@bnu.edu.cn
Cao
Jian-Li
JL
D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018389:Codon, Nonsense / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D019175:DNA Methylation / Q000235:genetics*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009707:Nucleosomes / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D020871:RNA Stability / Q000235:genetics*; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics
D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D018389:Codon, Nonsense; D009707:Nucleosomes