Yeast NMD2 gene
US5679566A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 20, 1995 |
| Grant date | Oct 21, 1997 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 20, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC C)Chemistry; Metallurgy
- CPC primaryC12N15/67
- WIPO fieldBiotechnology
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
The invention relates to the discovery of a gene, NMD2, named after its role in the Nonsense-Mediated mRNA Decay pathway, and the protein, Nmd2p, encoded by the NMD2 gene. The amino acid sequence of Nmd2p and the nucleotide sequence of the NMD2 gene encoding it are disclosed. Nmd2p is shown herein to bind to another protein in the decay pathway, Upf1p. A C-terminal fragment of the protein is also shown to bind Upf1p and, when overexpressed in the host cell, the fragment inhibits the function of Upf1p, thereby inhibiting the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay pathway. The invention also relates to methods of inhibiting the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay pathway to stabilize mRNA transcripts containing a nonsense codon which normally would cause an increase in the transcript decay rate. Such stabilization of a transcript is useful for the production of a recombinant protein or fragment thereof.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.