Project description:The ribosome employs a set of highly conserved translation factors to efficiently synthesise proteins. Some translation factors interact with the ribosome in a transient manner and are thus challenging to identify. However, proteins involved in translation could be specifically identified by their interaction with ribosomal RNAs. In this study, we searched for novel RNA binding proteins in the pathogenic bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes. A combination of proteomics approaches identified several proteins of unknown function that interact with RNA. One of these, a universally conserved protein YebC, was shown to transiently interact with 23S rRNA near the peptidyl-transferase. The deletion of YebC moderately affected physiology and virulence of S. pyogenes. Site-directed mutagenesis in S. pyogenes identified several amino acids essential for YebC activity. We performed ribosome profiling and detected increased pausing at proline-rich amino acid stretches in the absence of functional YebC. Further results obtained with in vivo reporters and in vitro translation system suggest that YebC can alleviate ribosome stalling at polyproline stretches. In conclusion, our study shows that YebC is a novel translation factor required for efficient translation of proteins with proline-rich motifs.
Project description:Viral infection often triggers eukaryotic initiator factor 2α (eIF2α) phosphorylation, leading to global 5’-cap-dependent translation inhibition. RSV encodes messenger RNAs (mRNAs) mimicking 5’-cap structures of host mRNAs and thus inhibition of cap-dependent translation initiation would likely also reduce viral translation. We confirmed that RSV limits widespread translation initiation inhibition and unexpectedly found that the fraction of ribosomes within polysomes increases during infection, indicating higher ribosome loading on mRNAs during infection. We found that AU-rich host transcripts that are less efficiently translated under normal conditions become more efficient at recruiting ribosomes, similar to RSV transcripts. Viral transcripts are transcribed in cytoplasmic inclusion bodies, where the viral AU-rich binding protein M2-1 has been shown to bind viral transcripts and shuttle them into the cytoplasm. We further demonstrated that M2-1 is found on polysomes, and that M2-1 might deliver host AU-rich transcripts for translation.
Project description:CNBP is a eukaryote-conserved nucleic-acid binding protein required in mammals for embryonic development. It contains seven CCHC-type zinc-finger domains and was suggested to act as a nucleic acid chaperone, as well as a transcription factor. Here, we identify all CNBP isoforms as cytoplasmic messenger RNA (mRNA)-binding proteins. Using Photoactivatable Ribonucleoside Enhanced Cross-linking and Immunoprecipitation, we mapped its binding sites on RNA at nucleotide-level resolution on a genome-wide scale and find that CNBP interacted with 3961 mRNAs in human cell lines, preferentially at a G-rich motif close to the AUG start codon on mature mRNAs. Loss- and gain-of-function analyses coupled with system-wide RNA and protein quantification revealed that CNBP did not affect RNA abundance, but rather promoted translation of its targets. This is consistent with an RNA chaperone function of CNBP helping to resolve secondary structures, thus promoting translation. CNBP PAR-CLIP
Project description:CNBP is a eukaryote-conserved nucleic-acid binding protein required in mammals for embryonic development. It contains seven CCHC-type zinc-finger domains and was suggested to act as a nucleic acid chaperone, as well as a transcription factor. Here, we identify all CNBP isoforms as cytoplasmic messenger RNA (mRNA)-binding proteins. Using Photoactivatable Ribonucleoside Enhanced Cross-linking and Immunoprecipitation, we mapped its binding sites on RNA at nucleotide-level resolution on a genome-wide scale and find that CNBP interacted with 3961 mRNAs in human cell lines, preferentially at a G-rich motif close to the AUG start codon on mature mRNAs. Loss- and gain-of-function analyses coupled with system-wide RNA and protein quantification revealed that CNBP did not affect RNA abundance, but rather promoted translation of its targets. This is consistent with an RNA chaperone function of CNBP helping to resolve secondary structures, thus promoting translation. CNBP protein knockdown and RNA-seq
Project description:MCT-1 is an oncogene initially identified in a human T-cell lymphoma. Subsequently, MCT-1 protein levels were found to be elevated in a subset of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Forced expression of MCT-1 has recently been shown to induce cell proliferation as well as activate survival-related pathways protecting lymphoid cells from apoptosis. We document here that MCT-1 interacts with the density-regulated protein (DENR/DRP), containing the SUI1 translation initiation domain, found in many translation initiation factors. MCT-1 contains the PUA domain, a recently described RNA binding domain that is found in several tRNA and rRNA modification enzymes. Our findings established that MCT-1 protein is interacting with the cap complex through its PUA domain and enhances translation. Furtheremore, our data support a putative role for the MCT-1 oncogene in translation and suggests a mechanism for its role in lymphomagenesis. Keywords: Gene upregulation by MCT-1