Department of Pediatric Oncology, Hematology and Immunology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 150, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany. gaby.neu-yilik@med.uni-heidelberg.de
Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) downmodulates mRNAs that have in-frame premature termination codons and prevents translation of potentially harmful truncated proteins from aberrant mRNAs. Two new approaches have identified physiological NMD substrates, and suggest that NMD functions as a multipurpose tool in the modulation of gene expression.