RNA helicases of helicase superfamily SF1 are also referred to as UPF1-like helicases owing to their similarity with the prototype member, UPF1. SF1 family helicases are thought to mediate their effect by translocation on the nucleic acid, translocating in the 5'-3' direction. UPF1 is a central component of the nonsense mediated mRNA decay (NMD) pathway, which involves the step-wise assembly and disassembly of several protein factors to mediate target mRNA degradation. In the NMD pathway, UPF1 employs its catalytic activity to remodel mRNPs containing premature termination codons. (Adapted from
PMID:29378013.)
