Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2021 May 11.
Published in final edited form as: Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2020 May 11;61:75–82. doi: 10.1016/j.gde.2020.04.003

Figure 3. Recent applications of NCT to study translation repression dynamics.

Figure 3.

Above: When a ribosome initiates translation, a green signal appears at a red-labeled mRNA (1). Once translating ribosomes reach a Premature Termination Codon (PTC), they can trigger Nonsense-Mediated Decay (NMD)(2). NMD slices an mRNA in half, which physically separates the green translating ribosome signal on the upstream half of the mRNA from the red mRNA tag signal (3). The count and dwell time of ribosomes and the mRNA slicing event can be determined from the green signal location and intensity. Below: After adding acute cell stress, translation is repressed, seen in the cell as loss of green translation signal (1–2). Translationally-silent, red signal-only mRNA can enter stress granules or P bodies (3). After the stress is removed, stress granules dissolve, releasing the mRNA (4). Then, translation recommences, as seen in the cell by green-labeled nascent peptide colocalizing with red mRNA (5).