UC San Diego

The regulation of gene expression is crucial to proper cell function. Cells have multiple layers of regulation including transcriptional control, translational control, and control of the stability of mRNAs. One of the pathways that serves to regulate the stability of certain mRNAs is Nonsense Mediated Decay (NMD). In NMD the SF1 helicase Upf1 remodels protein-coated mRNAs to facilitate the access of this mRNA to a variety of decay enzymes. Recent publications have implicated a close homolog of Upf1, MOV10, to also be involved in NMD. However, very little is known about the molecular function of MOV10. Here I begin the molecular characterization of the ATPase known as MOV10.