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Should we kill the messenger? The role of the surveillance complex in translation termination and mRNA turnover
Author(s) -
Czaplinski Kevin,
RuizEchevarria Maria J.,
González Carlos I.,
Peltz Stuart W.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1521-1878(199908)21:8<685::aid-bies8>3.0.co;2-4
Subject(s) - translation (biology) , messenger rna , mechanism (biology) , biology , eukaryotic translation , microbiology and biotechnology , p bodies , stop codon , genetics , nonsense mediated decay , protein biosynthesis , computational biology , gene , rna , physics , quantum mechanics , rna splicing
Eukaryotes have evolved conserved mechanisms to rid cells of faulty gene products that can interfere with cell function. mRNA surveillance is an example of a pathway that monitors the translation termination process and promotes degradation of transcripts harboring premature translation termination codons. Studies on the mechanism of mRNA surveillance in yeast and humans suggest a common mechanism where a “surveillance complex” monitors the translation process and determines whether translation termination has occurred at the correct position within the mRNA. A model will be presented that suggests that the surveillance complex assesses translation termination by monitoring the transition of an RNP as it is converted from a nuclear to a cytoplasmic form during the initial rounds of translation. BioEssays 21:685–696, 1999. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.