Nonsense-mediated RNA decay (NMD) was originally discovered as a cellular surveillance pathway that safeguards the quality of mRNA transcripts in eukaryotic cells. In its canonical function, NMD prevents translation of mutant mRNAs harboring premature termination codons (PTCs) by targeting them for degradation. However, recent studies have shown that NMD has a much broader role in gene expression by regulating the stability of many normal transcripts. In this review, we discuss the function of NMD in normal physiological processes, its dynamic regulation by developmental and environmental cues, and its association with human disease.

During IgL chain rearrangement in mouse pre–B cells, DNA breaks inflicted by RAG proteins induce Pim2 to promote cell survival and limit proliferation; thus, DNA breaks effectively stand in for the prosurvival cytokine IL-7, whose signaling is attenuated during this stage of B cell development.

The nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) pathway selectively eliminates aberrant transcripts containing premature translation termination codons (PTCs) and regulates the levels of a number of physiological mRNAs. NMD modulates the clinical outcome of a variety of human diseases, including cancer and many genetic disorders, and may represent an important target for therapeutic intervention. Here we have developed a novel multicolored, bioluminescence-based reporter system that can specifically and effectively assay NMD in live human cells. Using this reporter system, we conducted a robust high-throughput small-molecule screen in human cells and, unpredictably, identified a group of cardiac glycosides including ouabain and digoxin as potent inhibitors of NMD. Cardiac glycoside-mediated effects on NMD are dependent on binding and inhibiting the Na+/K+-ATPase on the plasma membrane and subsequent elevation of intracellular calcium levels. Induction of calcium release from endoplasmic reticulum also leads to inhibition of NMD. Thus, this study reveals intracellular calcium as a key regulator of NMD and has important implications for exploiting NMD in the treatment of disease.

B-lineage cells reconcile the competing needs of proliferation and genome stability.

"RAG-mediated DNA double-strand breaks activate a cell type-specific checkpoint to inhibit pre-B cell receptor signals