Nonsense mutation

In genetics, a nonsense mutation is a point mutation in a sequence of DNA that results in a nonsense codon, or a premature stop codon in the transcribed mRNA, and leads to a truncated, incomplete, and possibly nonfunctional protein product.[1] Nonsense mutations are not always harmful;[2] the functional effect of a nonsense mutation depends on many aspects, such as the location of the stop codon within the coding DNA.[2] For example, the effect of a nonsense mutation depends on the proximity of the nonsense mutation to the original stop codon, and the degree to which functional subdomains of the protein are affected.[3] As nonsense mutations leads to premature termination of polypeptide chains; they are also called chain termination mutations.[4]

Missense mutations differ from nonsense mutations since they are point mutations that exhibit a single nucleotide change to cause substitution of a different amino acid. A nonsense mutation also differs from a nonstop mutation, which is a point mutation that removes a stop codon. About 10% of patients facing genetic diseases have involvement with nonsense mutations.[5] Some of the diseases that these mutations can cause are Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), cystic fibrosis (CF),[6] spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), cancers, metabolic diseases, and neurologic disorders.[5][7] The rate of nonsense mutations is variable from gene-to-gene and tissue-to-tissue, but gene silencing occurs in every patient with a nonsense mutation.[5]

  1. ^ Sharma, Jyoti; Keeling, Kim M.; Rowe, Steven M. (2020-08-15). "Pharmacological approaches for targeting cystic fibrosis nonsense mutations". European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 200: 112436. doi:10.1016/j.ejmech.2020.112436. PMC 7384597. PMID 32512483.
  2. ^ a b Potapova, Nadezhda A. (2022-05-01). "Nonsense Mutations in Eukaryotes". Biochemistry (Moscow). 87 (5): 400–412. doi:10.1134/S0006297922050029. ISSN 1608-3040. PMID 35790376. S2CID 248793651.
  3. ^ Balasubramanian, Suganthi; Fu, Yao; Pawashe, Mayur; McGillivray, Patrick; Jin, Mike; Liu, Jeremy; Karczewski, Konrad J.; MacArthur, Daniel G.; Gerstein, Mark (2017-08-29). "Using ALoFT to determine the impact of putative loss-of-function variants in protein-coding genes". Nature Communications. 8 (1): 382. Bibcode:2017NatCo...8..382B. doi:10.1038/s41467-017-00443-5. PMC 5575292. PMID 28851873.
  4. ^ Clark, David P.; Pazdernik, Nanette J.; McGehee, Michelle R. (2019), "Mutations and Repair", Molecular Biology, Elsevier, pp. 832–879, doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-813288-3.00026-4, ISBN 9780128132883, S2CID 239340633, retrieved 2022-12-02
  5. ^ a b c "Nonsense mutation correction in human diseases an approach for targeted medicine | WorldCat.org". www.worldcat.org. Retrieved 2022-12-02.
  6. ^ Guimbellot, Jennifer; Sharma, Jyoti; Rowe, Steven M. (November 2017). "Toward inclusive therapy with CFTR modulators: Progress and challenges". Pediatric Pulmonology. 52 (Suppl 48): S4–S14. doi:10.1002/ppul.23773. PMC 6208153. PMID 28881097.
  7. ^ Benhabiles, Hana; Jia, Jieshuang; Lejeune, Fabrice (2016-01-01), Benhabiles, Hana; Jia, Jieshuang; Lejeune, Fabrice (eds.), "Ch. 2. Pathologies Susceptible to be Targeted for Nonsense Mutation Therapies", Nonsense Mutation Correction in Human Diseases, Boston: Academic Press, pp. 77–105, ISBN 978-0-12-804468-1, retrieved 2022-12-02