Hidden stop codons orchestrate mRNA fate by ambushing ribosomal frameshifting associated with codon usage

Abstract

In eukaryotes, the mRNA stability is generally shaped by codon usage bias, the uneven preferences for synonymous codons, in a translation-dependent manner. However, the conserved mechanism linking codon to mRNA decay remains elusive. Hidden stop codons (HSCs), defined as stop codons located in the +1 or -1 frame relative to canonical ORF, are widespread across all genomes but largely uncharacterized. Here, we demonstrate that in both fungi and human cells, HSCs play an conserved and mechanistic role in promoting mRNA decay by rapidly terminating out-of-frame translation promoted by nonoptimal codons, primarily through +1 ribosomal frameshifting. In the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa, partially deleting HSCs via synonymous substitutions in the clock gene frequency increases mRNA stability and disrupts circadian rhythmicity. In human cells, acute depletion of translation termination factor eRF1 impairs recognition of HSCs, leading to global stabilization of mRNAs enriched in nonoptimal codons and HSCs. In both Neurospora and humans, these mRNAs are in part degraded through the NMD pathway via UPF1. Collectively, these findings suggest that in eukaryotes, HSCs serve as surveillance elements to monitor ribosomal frameshifting and out-of-translation promoted by nonoptimal codons, thereby initiating mRNA decay through NMD.