Abstract
mRNA surveillance system represses the expression of nonstop mRNA by rapid mRNA degradation and translation repression. Here we show that the level of protein product of nonstop mRNA containing a poly(A) tail was reduced 100-fold, and this reduction was due to rapid mRNA degradation, translation repression, and protein destabilization, at least in part, by the proteasome. Insertion of a poly(A) tract upstream of a termination codon resulted in translation repression and protein destabilization, but not rapid mRNA decay. We propose that translation of the poly(A) tail plays crucial roles in nonstop mRNA surveillance via translation repression and protein destabilization.