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Review
. 2015;12(9):950-8.
doi: 10.1080/15476286.2015.1068497.

Translational readthrough potential of natural termination codons in eucaryotes--The impact of RNA sequence

Maciej Dabrowski  1 , Zuzanna Bukowy-Bieryllo  1 , Ewa Zietkiewicz  1
Affiliations
Review

Translational readthrough potential of natural termination codons in eucaryotes--The impact of RNA sequence

Maciej Dabrowski et al. RNA Biol. 2015.

Abstract

Termination of protein synthesis is not 100% efficient. A number of natural mechanisms that suppress translation termination exist. One of them is STOP codon readthrough, the process that enables the ribosome to pass through the termination codon in mRNA and continue translation to the next STOP codon in the same reading frame. The efficiency of translational readthrough depends on a variety of factors, including the identity of the termination codon, the surrounding mRNA sequence context, and the presence of stimulating compounds. Understanding the interplay between these factors provides the necessary background for the efficient application of the STOP codon suppression approach in the therapy of diseases caused by the presence of premature termination codons.

Keywords: STOP codon suppression; mRNA; near-cognate tRNA; premature termination codon; termination codon; translational readthrough.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The major factors involved in translation termination in Eukaryota. NTC – normal termination codon; PABP – poly(A)-binding proteins; eRF1 and eRF3 – termination factors.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
The principle of termination codon readthrough. Near-cognate tRNA (nc-tRNA) successfully competes with eRF1 and leads to the decoding of a STOP codon.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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