scholarly journals Characterization of cis-acting sequences and decay intermediates involved in nonsense-mediated mRNA turnover.

1995 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 809-823 ◽  
Author(s):  
K W Hagan ◽  
M J Ruiz-Echevarria ◽  
Y Quan ◽  
S W Peltz

Several lines of evidence indicate that the processes of mRNA turnover and translation are intimately linked and that understanding this relationship is critical to elucidating the mechanism of mRNA decay. One clear example of this relationship is the observation that nonsense mutations can accelerate the decay of mRNAs in a process that we term nonsense-mediated mRNA decay. The experiments described here demonstrate that in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae premature translational termination within the initial two-thirds of the PGK1 coding region accelerates decay of that transcript regardless of which of the stop codons is used. Nonsense mutations within the last quarter of the coding region have no effect on PGK1 mRNA decay. The sequences required for nonsense-mediated mRNA decay include a termination codon and specific sequences 3' to the nonsense mutation. Translation of two-thirds of the PGK1 coding region inactivates the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay pathway. This observation explains why carboxyl-terminal nonsense mutations are resistant to accelerated decay. Characterization of the decay of nonsense-containing HIS4 transcripts yielded results mirroring those described above, suggesting that the sequence requirements described for the PGK1 transcript are likely to be a general characteristic of this decay pathway. In addition, an analysis of the decay intermediates of nonsense-containing mRNAs indicates that nonsense-mediated mRNA decay flows through a pathway similar to that described for a class of wild-type transcripts. The initial cleavage event occurs near the 5' terminus of the nonsense-containing transcript and is followed by 5'-->3' exonucleolytic digestion. A model for nonsense-mediated mRNA decay based on these results is discussed.

1995 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 2231-2244 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Zhang ◽  
M J Ruiz-Echevarria ◽  
Y Quan ◽  
S W Peltz

In both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, nonsense mutations in a gene can enhance the decay rate or reduce the abundance of the mRNA transcribed from that gene, and we call this process nonsense-mediated mRNA decay. We have been investigating the cis-acting sequences involved in this decay pathway. Previous experiments have demonstrated that, in addition to a nonsense codon, specific sequences 3' of a nonsense mutation, which have been defined as downstream elements, are required for mRNA destabilization. The results presented here identify a sequence motif (TGYYGATGYYYYY, where Y stands for either T or C) that can predict regions in genes that, when positioned 3' of a nonsense codon, promote rapid decay of its mRNA. Sequences harboring two copies of the motif from five regions in the PGK1, ADE3, and HIS4 genes were able to function as downstream elements. In addition, four copies of this motif can function as an independent downstream element. The sequences flanking the motif played a more significant role in modulating its activity when fewer copies of the sequence motif were present. Our results indicate the sequences 5' of the motif can modulate its activity by maintaining a certain distance between the sequence motif and the termination codon. We also suggest that the sequences 3' of the motif modulate the activity of the downstream element by forming RNA secondary structures. Consistent with this view, a stem-loop structure positioned 3' of the sequence motif can enhance the activity of the downstream element. This sequence motif is one of the few elements that have been identified that can predict regions in genes that can be involved in mRNA turnover. The role of these sequences in mRNA decay is discussed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 1760-1768 ◽  
Author(s):  
Misa Iwatani-Yoshihara ◽  
Masahiro Ito ◽  
Yoshihiro Ishibashi ◽  
Hideyuki Oki ◽  
Toshio Tanaka ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marine Dehecq ◽  
Laurence Decourty ◽  
Abdelkader Namane ◽  
Caroline Proux ◽  
Joanne Kanaan ◽  
...  

AbstractNonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) is a translation-dependent RNA degradation pathway involved in many cellular pathways and crucial for telomere maintenance and embryo development. Core NMD factors Upf1, Upf2 and Upf3 are conserved from yeast to mammals, but a universal NMD model is lacking. We used affinity purification coupled with mass spectrometry and an improved data analysis protocol to obtain the first large-scale quantitative characterization of yeast NMD complexes in yeast (112 experiments). Unexpectedly, we identified two distinct complexes associated with Upf1: Detector (Upf1/2/3) and Effector. Effector contained the mRNA decapping enzyme, together with Nmd4 and Ebs1, two proteins that globally affected NMD and were critical for RNA degradation mediated by the Upf1 C-terminal helicase region. The fact that Nmd4 association to RNA was dependent on Detector components and the similarity between Nmd4/Ebs1 and mammalian Smg5-7 proteins suggest that in all eukaryotes NMD operates through successive Upf1-bound Detector and Effector complexes.


Author(s):  
Stuart W. Peltz ◽  
Christopher Trotta ◽  
He Feng ◽  
Agneta Brown ◽  
Janet Donahue ◽  
...  

2010 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 347-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Israel S. Fernández ◽  
Akio Yamashita ◽  
Ernesto Arias-Palomo ◽  
Yumi Bamba ◽  
Ruben A. Bartolomé ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Volker Boehm ◽  
Jennifer V. Gerbracht ◽  
Marie-Charlotte Marx ◽  
Niels H. Gehring

Abstract The turnover of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) is a key regulatory step of gene expression in eukaryotic cells. Due to the complexity of the mammalian degradation machinery, the contribution of decay factors to the directionality of mRNA decay is poorly understood. Here we characterize a molecular tool to interrogate mRNA turnover via the detection of XRN1-resistant decay fragments (xrFrag). Using nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) as a model pathway, we establish xrFrag analysis as a robust indicator of accelerated 5′–3′ mRNA decay. In tethering assays, monitoring xrFrag accumulation allows to distinguish decapping and endocleavage activities from deadenylation. Moreover, xrFrag analysis of mRNA degradation induced by miRNAs, AU-rich elements (AREs) as well as the 3′ UTRs of cytokine mRNAs reveals the contribution of 5′–3′ decay and endonucleolytic cleavage. Our work uncovers formerly unrecognized modes of mRNA turnover and establishes xrFrag as a powerful tool for RNA decay analyses.


1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (10) ◽  
pp. 5491-5506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y Weng ◽  
K Czaplinski ◽  
S W Peltz

To understand the relationship between translation and mRNA decay, we have been studying how premature translation termination accelerates the degradation of mRNAs. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the Upf1 protein (Upf1p), which contains a cysteine- and histidine-rich region and nucleoside triphosphate hydrolysis and helicase motifs, was shown to be a trans-acting factor in this decay pathway. A UPF1 gene disruption results in the stabilization of nonsense-containing mRNAs and leads to a nonsense suppression phenotype. Biochemical analysis of the wild-type Upf1p demonstrated that it has RNA-dependent ATPase, RNA helicase, and RNA binding activities. In the work described in the accompanying paper (Y. Weng, K. Czaplinski, and S. W. Peltz, Mol. Cell. Biol. 16:5477-5490, 1996) mutations in the helicase region of Upf1p that inactivated its mRNA decay function but prevented suppression of leu2-2 and tyr7-1 nonsense alleles are identified. On the basis of these results, we suggested that Upf1p is a multifunctional protein involved in modulating mRNA decay and translation termination at nonsense codons. If this is true, we predict that UPF1 mutations with the converse phenotype should be identified. In this report, we describe the identification and biochemical characterization of mutations in the amino-terminal cysteine- and histidine-rich region of Upf1p that have normal nonsense-mediated mRNA decay activities but are able to suppress leu2-2 and tyr7-1 nonsense alleles. Biochemical characterization of these mutant proteins demonstrated that they have altered RNA binding properties. Furthermore, using the two-hybrid system, we characterized the Upf1p-Upf2p interactions and demonstrated that Upf2p interacts with Upf3p. Mutations in the cysteine- and histidine-rich region of Upf1p abolish Upf1p-Upf2p interaction. On the basis of these results, the role of the Upf complex in nonsense-mediated mRNA decay and nonsense suppression is discussed.


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