Nucleic acid chain termination

Nucleic acid chain termination* refers to the cessation of polymerization of a nucleic acid or polypeptide chain, typically at a defined stop signal.\n- In **transcription**, termination occurs when RNA polymerase reaches a terminator sequence and dissociates from DNA, releasing the RNA transcript[5][4].\n- In **translation**, termination happens when the ribosome encounters a stop codon (UAA, UAG, UGA) on the mRNA, leading to the action of release factors, release of the newly synthesized polypeptide, and dissociation of the ribosome[2][7][8][4][5].\n- In DNA replication, termination occurs when replication forks converge and replication machinery dissociates after fully copying the template[3].\nTherapeutically, many antiviral drugs (such as nucleoside analogues) function by causing premature chain termination, thereby inhibiting viral replication by blocking further elongation of viral nucleic acids. However, *nucleic acid chain termination* is a process, not a molecular target, and cannot be specifically classified as a receptor, enzyme, or canonical drug target[9][2][3].

Other names

Chain terminationtranslation terminationtranscription terminationDNA replication termination

Premature termination of nucleic acid chains (by incorporation of nucleotide analogs that lack a required group for chain elongation leading to early chain stop[9]), inhibition of termination factors, disruption of ribosomal function