Core Nonsense-mediated mRNA Decay Factors Research Articles

Nonsense-Mediated mRNA Decay Factor Functions in Human Health and Disease.

Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) is a cellular surveillance mechanism that degrades mRNAs with a premature stop codon, avoiding the synthesis of C-terminally truncated proteins. In addition to faulty mRNAs, NMD recognises ~10% of endogenous transcripts in human cells and downregulates their expression. The up-frameshift proteins are core NMD factors and are conserved from yeast to human in structure and function. In mammals, NMD diversified into different pathways that target different mRNAs employing additional NMD factors. Here, we review our current understanding of molecular mechanisms and cellular roles of NMD pathways and the involvement of more specialised NMD factors. We describe the consequences of mutations in NMD factors leading to neurodevelopmental diseases, and the role of NMD in cancer. We highlight strategies of RNA viruses to evade recognition and decay by the NMD machinery.

Human UPF3A and UPF3B enable fault-tolerant activation of nonsense-mediated mRNA decay.

The paralogous human proteins UPF3A and UPF3B are involved in recognizing mRNAs targeted by nonsense‐mediated mRNA decay (NMD). UPF3B has been demonstrated to support NMD, presumably by bridging an exon junction complex (EJC) to the NMD factor UPF2. The role of UPF3A has been described either as a weak NMD activator or an NMD inhibitor. Here, we present a comprehensive functional analysis of UPF3A and UPF3B in human cells using combinatory experimental approaches. Overexpression or knockout of UPF3A as well as knockout of UPF3B did not substantially change global NMD activity. In contrast, the co‐depletion of UPF3A and UPF3B resulted in a marked NMD inhibition and a transcriptome‐wide upregulation of NMD substrates, demonstrating a functional redundancy between both NMD factors. In rescue experiments, UPF2 or EJC binding‐deficient UPF3B largely retained NMD activity. However, combinations of different mutants, including deletion of the middle domain, showed additive or synergistic effects and therefore failed to maintain NMD. Collectively, UPF3A and UPF3B emerge as fault‐tolerant, functionally redundant NMD activators in human cells.

An alternative UPF1 isoform drives conditional remodeling of nonsense-mediated mRNA decay.

The nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) pathway monitors translation termination in order to degrade transcripts with premature stop codons and regulate thousands of human genes. Here, we show that an alternative mammalian-specific isoform of the core NMD factor UPF1, termed UPF1LL , enables condition-dependent remodeling of NMD specificity. Previous studies indicate that the extension of a conserved regulatory loop in the UPF1LL helicase core confers a decreased propensity to dissociate from RNA upon ATP hydrolysis relative to UPF1SL , the major UPF1 isoform. Using biochemical and transcriptome-wide approaches, we find that UPF1LL can circumvent the protective RNA binding proteins PTBP1 and hnRNP L to preferentially bind and down-regulate transcripts with long 3'UTRs normally shielded from NMD. Unexpectedly, UPF1LL supports induction of NMD on new populations of substrate mRNAs in response to activation of the integrated stress response and impaired translation efficiency. Thus, while canonical NMD is abolished by moderate translational repression, UPF1LL activity is enhanced, offering the possibility to rapidly rewire NMD specificity in response to cellular stress.

Unusual SMG suspects recruit degradation enzymes in nonsense-mediated mRNA decay.

Degradation of eukaryotic RNAs that contain premature termination codons (PTC) during nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) is initiated by RNA decapping or endonucleolytic cleavage driven by conserved factors. Models for NMD mechanisms, including recognition of PTCs or the timing and role of protein phosphorylation for RNA degradation are challenged by new results. For example, the depletion of the SMG5/7 heterodimer, thought to activate RNA degradation by decapping, leads to a phenotype showing a defect of endonucleolytic activity of NMD complexes. This phenotype is not correlated to a decreased binding of the endonuclease SMG6 with the core NMD factor UPF1, suggesting that it is the result of an imbalance between active (e.g., in polysomes) and inactive (e.g., in RNA-protein condensates) states of NMD complexes. Such imbalance between multiple complexes is not restricted to NMD and should be taken into account when establishing causal links between gene function perturbation and observed phenotypes.

Translational repression of NMD targets by GIGYF2 and EIF4E2.

Translation of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) with premature termination codons produces truncated proteins with potentially deleterious effects. This is prevented by nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) of these mRNAs. NMD is triggered by ribosomes terminating upstream of a splice site marked by an exon-junction complex (EJC), but also acts on many mRNAs lacking a splice junction after their termination codon. We developed a genome-wide CRISPR flow cytometry screen to identify regulators of mRNAs with premature termination codons in K562 cells. This screen recovered essentially all core NMD factors and suggested a role for EJC factors in degradation of PTCs without downstream splicing. Among the strongest hits were the translational repressors GIGYF2 and EIF4E2. GIGYF2 and EIF4E2 mediate translational repression but not mRNA decay of a subset of NMD targets and interact with NMD factors genetically and physically. Our results suggest a model wherein recognition of a stop codon as premature can lead to its translational repression through GIGYF2 and EIF4E2.

Regulation of nonsense-mediated mRNA decay in neural development and disease.

Eukaryotes have evolved a variety of mRNA surveillance mechanisms to detect and degrade aberrant mRNAs with potential deleterious outcomes. Among them, nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) functions not only as a quality control mechanism targeting aberrant mRNAs containing a premature termination codon but also as a posttranscriptional gene regulation mechanism targeting numerous physiological mRNAs. Despite its well-characterized molecular basis, the regulatory scope and biological functions of NMD at an organismal level are incompletely understood. In humans, mutations in genes encoding core NMD factors cause specific developmental and neurological syndromes, suggesting a critical role of NMD in the central nervous system. Here, we review the accumulating biochemical and genetic evidence on the developmental regulation and physiological functions of NMD as well as an emerging role of NMD dysregulation in neurodegenerative diseases.

Activation and inhibition of nonsense-mediated mRNA decay control the abundance of alternative polyadenylation products.

Alternative polyadenylation (APA) produces transcript 3' untranslated regions (3'UTRs) with distinct sequences, lengths, stabilities and functions. We show here that APA products include a class of cryptic nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) substrates with extended 3'UTRs that gene- or transcript-level analyses of NMD often fail to detect. Transcriptome-wide, the core NMD factor UPF1 preferentially recognizes long 3'UTR products of APA, leading to their systematic downregulation. Counteracting this mechanism, the multifunctional RNA-binding protein PTBP1 regulates the balance of short and long 3'UTR isoforms by inhibiting NMD, in addition to its previously described modulation of co-transcriptional polyadenylation (polyA) site choice. Further, we find that many transcripts with altered APA isoform abundance across multiple tumor types are controlled by NMD. Together, our findings reveal a widespread role for NMD in shaping the outcomes of APA.

Pathogen-Associated Molecular Pattern-Triggered Immunity Involves Proteolytic Degradation of Core Nonsense-Mediated mRNA Decay Factors During the Early Defense Response.

Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD), an mRNA quality control process, is thought to function in plant immunity. A subset of fully spliced (FS) transcripts of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) resistance (R) genes are upregulated during bacterial infection. Here, we report that 81.2% and 65.1% of FS natural TIR-NBS-LRR (TNL) and CC-NBS-LRR transcripts, respectively, retain characteristics of NMD regulation, as their transcript levels could be controlled posttranscriptionally. Both bacterial infection and the perception of bacteria by pattern recognition receptors initiated the destruction of core NMD factors UP-FRAMESHIFT1 (UPF1), UPF2, and UPF3 in Arabidopsis within 30 min of inoculation via the independent ubiquitination of UPF1 and UPF3 and their degradation via the 26S proteasome pathway. The induction of UPF1 and UPF3 ubiquitination was delayed in mitogen-activated protein kinase3 (mpk3) and mpk6, but not in salicylic acid-signaling mutants, during the early immune response. Finally, previously uncharacterized TNL-type R transcripts accumulated in upf mutants and conferred disease resistance to infection with a virulent Pseudomonas strain in plants. Our findings demonstrate that NMD is one of the main regulatory processes through which PRRs fine-tune R transcript levels to reduce fitness costs and achieve effective immunity.

Manifestation of Functional Defects of Nervous System in <i>Upf3</i> Mutants <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i> at Larval and Adult Stages

Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) is a surveillance pathway that cleans the system from possible harmful proteins and also regulates up to 10% of normal RNAs. The essential player proteins in the NMD (core NMD factors) are Upf1, Upf2, and Upf3. Mutation of any of these NMD factors cause ranges of effects in the development of various organisms. In humans, mutation of <i>Upf3</i> was associated with neurodegenerative disorders, which include: attention deficit, schizophrenia autism, and intellectual disability. Using functional genetics approach and behavioral analysis methods we examined the loss of function effects of <i>Upf3</i>, in the nervous system function of a <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i>. We observed certain nervous system functional defects in homozygous <i>Upf3</i> mutants. The embryos exhibited reduced and delayed hatching, the larvae manifested defects in motor function and the adults showed reduced climbing ability, defective short term memory, and learning, and notably, the adult life span was also reduced. This work has further revealed the prospect of <i>Upf3</i> as a player gene for consideration in the management of neurodegenerative diseases. We explored this using <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i> as a model organism to mimic and study the neurodegenerative traits observed in the patients suffering from <i>Upf3</i> mutation. Likewise, it suggests a further investigation into the mechanistic insight for the roles of <i>Upf3</i> in both early and late CNS development.

Insights into the assembly and architecture of a Staufen-mediated mRNA decay (SMD)-competent mRNP

The mammalian Staufen proteins (Stau1 and Stau2) mediate degradation of mRNA containing complex secondary structures in their 3’-untranslated region (UTR) through a pathway known as Staufen-mediated mRNA decay (SMD). This pathway also involves the RNA helicase UPF1, which is best known for its role in the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) pathway. Here we present a biochemical reconstitution of the recruitment and activation of UPF1 in context of the SMD pathway. We demonstrate the involvement of UPF2, a core NMD factor and a known activator of UPF1, in SMD. UPF2 acts as an adaptor between Stau1 and UPF1, stimulates the catalytic activity of UPF1 and plays a central role in the formation of an SMD-competent mRNP. Our study elucidates the molecular mechanisms of SMD and points towards extensive cross-talk between UPF1-mediated mRNA decay pathways in cells.

Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay involves two distinct Upf1-bound complexes.

Nonsense-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 characterize the composition and dynamics of yeast NMD complexes in yeast (112 experiments). Unexpectedly, we identified two distinct complexes associated with Upf1: Upf1-23 (Upf1, Upf2, Upf3) and Upf1-decappingUpf1-decapping 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 with RNA was partially dependent on Upf1-23 components and the similarity between Nmd4/Ebs1 and mammalian Smg5-7 proteins suggest that NMD operates through conserved, successive Upf1-23 and Upf1-decapping complexes. This model can be extended to accommodate steps that are missing in yeast, to serve for further mechanistic studies of NMD in eukaryotes.

The loss of SMG1 causes defects in quality control pathways in Physcomitrella patens

Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) is important for RNA quality control and gene regulation in eukaryotes. NMD targets aberrant transcripts for decay and also directly influences the abundance of non-aberrant transcripts. In animals, the SMG1 kinase plays an essential role in NMD by phosphorylating the core NMD factor UPF1. Despite SMG1 being ubiquitous throughout the plant kingdom, little is known about its function, probably because SMG1 is atypically absent from the genome of the model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana. By combining our previously established SMG1 knockout in moss with transcriptome-wide analysis, we reveal the range of processes involving SMG1 in plants. Machine learning assisted analysis suggests that 32% of multi-isoform genes produce NMD-targeted transcripts and that splice junctions downstream of a stop codon act as the major determinant of NMD targeting. Furthermore, we suggest that SMG1 is involved in other quality control pathways, affecting DNA repair and the unfolded protein response, in addition to its role in mRNA quality control. Consistent with this, smg1 plants have increased susceptibility to DNA damage, but increased tolerance to unfolded protein inducing agents. The potential involvement of SMG1 in RNA, DNA and protein quality control has major implications for the study of these processes in plants.

UPF2, a nonsense-mediated mRNA decay factor, is required for prepubertal Sertoli cell development and male fertility by ensuring fidelity of the transcriptome.

Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) represents a highly conserved RNA surveillance mechanism through which mRNA transcripts bearing premature termination codons (PTCs) are selectively degraded to maintain transcriptomic fidelity in the cell. Numerous in vitro studies have demonstrated the importance of the NMD pathway; however, evidence supporting its physiological necessity has only just started to emerge. Here, we report that ablation of Upf2, which encodes a core NMD factor, in murine embryonic Sertoli cells (SCs) leads to severe testicular atrophy and male sterility owing to rapid depletion of both SCs and germ cells during prepubertal testicular development. RNA-Seq and bioinformatic analyses revealed impaired transcriptomic homeostasis in SC-specific Upf2 knockout testes, characterized by an accumulation of PTC-containing transcripts and the transcriptome-wide dysregulation of genes encoding splicing factors and key proteins essential for SC fate control. Our data demonstrate an essential role of UPF2-mediated NMD in prepubertal SC development and male fertility.

DHX34 and NBAS form part of an autoregulatory NMD circuit that regulates endogenous RNA targets in human cells, zebrafish and Caenorhabditis elegans

The nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) pathway selectively degrades mRNAs harboring premature termination codons but also regulates the abundance of cellular RNAs. We sought to identify transcripts that are regulated by two novel NMD factors, DHX34 and neuroblastoma amplified sequence (NBAS), which were identified in a genome-wide RNA interference screen in Caenorhabditis elegans and later shown to mediate NMD in vertebrates. We performed microarray expression profile analysis in human cells, zebrafish embryos and C. elegans that were individually depleted of these factors. Our analysis revealed that a significant proportion of genes are co-regulated by DHX34, NBAS and core NMD factors in these three organisms. Further analysis indicates that NMD modulates cellular stress response pathways and membrane trafficking across species. Interestingly, transcripts encoding different NMD factors were sensitive to DHX34 and NBAS depletion, suggesting that these factors participate in a conserved NMD negative feedback regulatory loop, as was recently described for core NMD factors. In summary, we find that DHX34 and NBAS act in concert with core NMD factors to co-regulate a large number of endogenous RNA targets. Furthermore, the conservation of a mechanism to tightly control NMD homeostasis across different species highlights the importance of the NMD response in the control of gene expression.

EIF4E-bound mRNPs are substrates for nonsense-mediated mRNA decay in mammalian cells

Eukaryotic mRNAs with premature translation termination codons (PTCs) are recognized and degraded through a process termed nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD). The evolutionary conservation of the core NMD factors UPF1, UPF2 and UPF3 implies a similar basic mechanism of PTC recognition in all eukaryotes. However, while PTC-containing mRNAs in yeast seem to be available to NMD at each round of translation, mammalian NMD has been reported to be restricted to cap-binding complex (CBC)-bound mRNAs during the pioneer round of translation. Here, we compared decay kinetics of two NMD reporter genes in mRNA fractions bound to either CBC or the eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) in human cells and demonstrate that NMD destabilizes eIF4E-bound transcripts as efficiently as those associated with CBC. These results corroborate an emerging unified model for NMD substrate recognition, according to which NMD can ensue at every aberrant translation termination event.

A new function of ROD1 in nonsense-mediated mRNA decay

RNA-binding proteins play a crucial role in the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. Polypyrimidine tract binding protein (PTB in humans) has been extensively characterized as an important splicing factor, and has additional functions in 3′ end processing and translation. ROD1 is a PTB paralog containing four RRM (RNA recognition motif) domains. Here, we discover a function of ROD1 in nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD). We show that ROD1 and the core NMD factor UPF1 interact and co-regulate an extensive number of target genes. Using a reporter system, we demonstrate that ROD1, similarly to UPF1 and UPF2, is required for the destabilization of a known NMD substrate. Finally, we show through RIP-seq that ROD1 and UPF1 associate with a significant number of common transcripts. Structured summary of protein interactionsROD1physically interacts with TMED10, RNP1, PCD6, LOC493753, RBM39, BCL7C, GST-PI, AP-3, RAE1, ASH2L2, SF3B10, SDP3, CDC23, ARL10C, CAF1B, CEP55, EXPORTIN 1, NCOR1, LENG1, SNAP29, RCBTB1, RPS10, NUP155, DYNLL2, LSF, HSPC137, TNRC6C, XPO5, TMPO, SRP19, SRI, UPF2, TRF2, SSRP1, HOXB9, C11ORF73, TAF15, WDR48, SMARCA5, CUL-2, THOC2, SEC16A, CAD, LSM2, U11/U12 snRNP, TUBA, NEZHA, TRANSPORTIN 2, CGI-135, RER1, snRP E, PRPF19, TRANSPORTIN, IER3ip1, DGCR14, RPS19BP1, TOPBP1, YIP1, CPSF6, ASF1, RBM9, ARCN1, U4/U6 snRNP, CUGbp2, WDR41, p53, DNAJC9, DAZap1, TDP43, MYL6, HEY1, RAB8B, BET1, COFILIN1, MYO12A, VAT1, PRA1, MAP7D2, MAZ, PCD7, DNAJ, GNL3L, BCAS2, NUP50, RGSip1, TRIM33B, HMG-1, RAB10, ANNEXIN A2, YKT6, TRANSFERRIN, TIM44, CTP synthase, CDC42, PPIL1, HOXA9B, GCN1, hnRNP A1, LDH-B, TRAP25, mtSSB, MED8, TIA1, HMMR, B99, H1d, IMPORTIN 5, HOX7, ZMAT5, RPR1A, MARCKS, NACA, PRMT1, HOXC9, KIAA1741, HSP90AA1, LSM14, COL1A1, PRC1, CDK2, TRX-1, CSE1, COX5B, ARL1, SEPT9, BCR/ABL, CLIP-ap1, ALY, BACH1, TRIP230, DES, GFAP, APC10, MARK2, FIP1l1, RPL38, HOXC8, GATAd2A, HSPC128, TUBB, RPL11, FAM83D, UPF1, ZFP768, RPL35A, RPL30, RAB1A, BTEbp4, RNA Pol II, SEC24B, RAN, RAC3, RPS28, RPS27, snRP A, SNF5/INI1, C1ORF35, RPS7, RPS4X, RAMA1, RPS14, TUBA6, FAM128B, T-PLASTIN, FLYWCH, MYH10, ARP1, U2AF, SERPINE1, NEFM, KIAA1826, Ki-67 and RPS11 by anti bait coimmunoprecipitation (View interaction)ROD1physically interacts with LOC100288473, PTBP1, LOC100291593, RRP36, PCMT1, BBS9, FAM83H, ARHGEF17, VIPAR, LOC100132738, PTBP2, SACS, KBTBD5, GPR98, hnRNP F, OTUD4, CAMSAP1L1, C16ORF48, FAM64A, SCN3A, IQGAP3, ZMAT5, TEX15, NOL8, RBM4, snRNP48, TMEM33, UNC45A, OGT, DIAPH3, CDK17, LARS, FAM83D, TMTC2, HSPA1A, PCM1, CSNK1A1, PHF5A, CCDC77, PLECTIN, SETX, HSPB1, HuR, NARF, MYH2, HSP90AA1, HLTF, GSK3b, CDC42, MAGOH, TRIM21, UPF1, RBMS1, ERI1, CROCC, CSNK1D, CTNNA1, AIMP2, VPS33B, FLII, CTNNB1, eIF4G2, APC, TCF20, CYCLIN T1, HIRA, BACH1, XRCC6, HMMR, RPL9, HSD17B4, MAP2, hnRNP H1, GRIA4, FRG1, HistH1e, MSH6, CELF2, CELF1, MYBbp1A, CLASP2, STIP1, GIPC1, SF3a1, CSNK1E, CDC14A, PPIH, RBM14, DYNLL2, RALY, PUF60, TRIM33, SF3b1, TARDBP, PAPD7, SF3b2, LRRFIP2, SUPT16H, FAM110B, hnRNP Ul1, KIAA1543, AXIN1, RNP1, HERC1, BANF1, XRCC5, XPC, FYTTD1, PDCD7, TAF15, YWHAH, RB1CC1, MATR3, SRRM1, SFRS14, LAGE3, XIRP1, ARHGEF2, PRPF3, PUM1 and IQCB1 by anti bait coimmunoprecipitation (View interaction)

UPF1 P-body localization

NMD (nonsense-mediated mRNA decay) is a mechanism that degrades transcripts containing PTCs (premature translation termination codons). NMD is a translation-associated process that is expected to take place throughout the cytoplasm. However, recent studies have indicated that the core NMD factors UPF1 (up-frameshift-1), UPF2 and UPF3 can associate with P-bodies (processing bodies), which are large cytoplasmic granules replete with proteins involved in general mRNA decay and related processes. It has been proposed that UPF1 directs PTC-containing mRNAs to P-bodies and triggers decay. Here, we discuss the link between P-bodies and NMD in view of recent studies that suggest that P-bodies are not required for NMD in Drosophila.

NMD is essential for hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells and for eliminating by-products of programmed DNA rearrangements

Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) is a post-transcriptional surveillance process that eliminates mRNAs containing premature termination codons (PTCs). NMD has been hypothesized to impact on several aspects of cellular function; however, its importance in the context of a mammalian organism has not been addressed in detail. Here we use mouse genetics to demonstrate that hematopoietic-specific deletion of Upf2, a core NMD factor, led to the rapid, complete, and lasting cell-autonomous extinction of all hematopoietic stem and progenitor populations. In contrast, more differentiated cells were only mildly affected in Upf2-null mice, suggesting that NMD is mainly essential for proliferating cells. Furthermore, we show that UPF2 loss resulted in the accumulation of nonproductive rearrangement by-products from the Tcrb locus and that this, as opposed to the general loss of NMD, was particularly detrimental to developing T-cells. At the molecular level, gene expression analysis showed that Upf2 deletion led to a profound skewing toward up-regulated mRNAs, highly enriched in transcripts derived from processed pseudogenes, and that NMD impacts on regulated alternative splicing events. Collectively, our data demonstrate a unique requirement of NMD for organismal survival.