Nonsense-mediated decay is a surveillance pathway that removes transcripts containing a premature stop codon. UPF3 is unusual among the trans-acting factors in the pathway because there are two distinct homologs, UPF3A and UPF3B. Given that patients with reduced UPF3B contain upregulated levels of UPF3A, a regulatory interplay between the two factors is uncovered, where competition for UPF2 binding destabilizes the unbound factor.
- Wai-Kin Chan
- Angela D Bhalla
- Miles F Wilkinson