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Fig. 2 | Molecular Cancer

Fig. 2

From: Nonsense-mediated RNA decay and its bipolar function in cancer

Fig. 2

Schematic representation of alternative splicing (AS) patterns inducing nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD)-sensitive mRNA isoforms. The first mRNA isoform represents a productive transcript that encodes a functional protein. The following isoforms represent NMD-sensitive transcripts promoted by different AS patterns. Poison cassette inclusion leads to the retention of a premature translation-termination codon (PTC)-containing exon, while exon skipping can induce a frameshift in the mRNA sequence, introducing a downstream PTC. On the other hand, intron retention and alternative 5′/3′ splice sites may promote an NMD-target by including an in-frame PTC. Inclusion of two exons that usually are spliced separately may result in a frameshift, creating a PTC-positive isoform. The last isoform represents an AS pattern that leads to skipping in the 3′ untranslated region (3’UTR), which results in the presence of an exon junction complex downstream of the normal termination codon, favoring a premature context. AUG: start codon; NTC: normal termination codon

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