Project description:Translational regulation at the stage of initiation impacts the number of ribosomes translating each mRNA molecule. For example, multiple ribosomes can engage on a single mRNA forming a polysome, resulting in highly efficient protein synthesis. However, the translational activity of single 80S ribosomes on mRNA (monosomes) is less well understood, even though these 80S monosomes represent the dominant ribosomal complexes in many tissues. Here, we used cryo-EM to determine the translational activity of 80S monosomes across different tissues in Drosophila melanogaster. We discovered that while head and embryo 80S monosomes are highly translationally active, testis and ovary 80S monosomes are translationally inactive. RNA-Seq analysis of head monosome- and polysome-translated mRNAs, revealed that head 80S monosomes preferentially translate mRNAs with TOP motifs, short 5’-UTRs, short ORFs and are enriched for uORFs. Overall, these findings highlight that regulation of translation initiation, and therefore the number of ribosomes bound per mRNA, varies substantially across tissues.
Project description:mRNAs associated with microtubules during interphase, metaphase and the midbody stage of cytokinesis were sequenced. Selective midbody-localized RNAs were identified and their translational characteristics were studied.
Project description:MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are master regulators that act in response to development signals or environmental stimuli by mediating the cleavage of their target mRNAs or repressing their translation; however, the mechanisms by which miRNA dynamics are precisely regulated under salt stress are yet to be fully elucidated. SOS2 modulates the reconstruction of the salt-responsive transcriptome by post-translationally modifying SE.
Project description:Initiation of bacterial DNA replication takes place at the origin of replication (oriC), a region characterized by the presence of multiple DnaA boxes that serve as the binding sites for the master initiator protein DnaA. The absence or failure of DNA replication can result in bacterial cell growth arrest or death. Here, we aimed to uncover the physiological and molecular consequences of stopping replication in the model bacterium Bacillus subtilis. For this purpose, DNA replication was blocked using a CRISPRi approach specifically targeting DnaA boxes 6 and 7, which are essential for replication initiation. We characterized the phenotype of these cells and analyzed the overall changes in the proteome using quantitative mass spectrometry. Cells with arrested replication were elongating and not dividing but showed no evidence of DNA damage response (DDR). Moreover, these cells did not cease translation over time. This study sets the ground for future research on non-replicating but translationally active B. subtilis, which might be valuable for biotechnological applications.
Project description:The CCA-adding enzyme adds CCA to the 3' ends of transfer RNAs (tRNAs), a critical step in tRNA biogenesis that generates the amino acid attachment site. We found that the CCA-adding enzyme plays a key role in tRNA quality control by selectively marking unstable tRNAs and tRNA-like small RNAs for degradation. Instead of adding CCA to the 3' ends of these transcripts, CCA-adding enzymes from all three kingdoms of life add CCACCA. Here, we report deep sequencing analysis of the 3' ends of tRNA-Ser-CGA and tRNA-Ser-UGA from S. cerevisiae strains and show that hypomodified mature tRNAs are subjected to CCACCA (or poly(A) addition) as part of a rapid tRNA decay pathway in vivo. We conjecture that CCACCA addtion is a universal mechanism for controlling tRNA levels and preventing errors in translation. 121 samples analyzed in total, representing time courses of 10 different yeast strains; Biological replicates for each time point are included
Project description:The regulation of translation is crucial for cells to rapidly adapt to changing conditions. Although the transcriptional changes under inflammatory conditions are intensely studied, not much is known about translational changes. Therefore, this study aimed at identifying translationally deregulated targets in inflammatory settings.
Project description:The modification of adenosine to inosine at the wobble position (I34) of tRNA anticodons is an abundant and essential feature of eukaryotic tRNAs. The expansion of inosine-containing tRNAs in eukaryotes followed the transformation of the homodimeric bacterial enzyme TadA, which generates I34 in tRNAArg and tRNALeu, into the heterodimeric eukaryotic enzyme ADAT, which modifies up to eight different tRNAs. The emergence of ADAT and its larger set of substrates, strongly influenced the tRNA composition and codon usage of eukaryotic genomes. However, the selective advantages that drove the expansion of I34-tRNAs remain unknown. Here we investigate the functional relevance of I34-tRNAs in human cells and show that a full complement of these tRNAs is necessary for the translation of low-complexity protein domains enriched in amino acids cognate for I34-tRNAs. The coding sequences for these domains require codons translated by I34-tRNAs, in detriment of synonymous codons that use other tRNAs. I34-tRNA-dependent low-complexity proteins are enriched in functional categories related to cell adhesion, and depletion in I34-tRNAs leads to cellular phenotypes consistent with these roles. We show that the distribution of these low-complexity proteins mirrors the distribution of I34-tRNAs in the phylogenetic tree.
Project description:Combining transcriptome-wide approaches to detect m7G RNA methylation, in vitro functional assays and Mettl1 knockout mouse models, we provide evidence that guanosine-7 tRNA methylation is required to protect tRNAs from cleavage in response to stress, leading to impaired regulation of protein synthesis. Loss of METTL1 and tRNA methylation sensitises cancer cells to stress, reducing tumour growth and increasing cytotoxic responses to convectional cancer treatments in vitro and in vivo. Our study uncovers the role of m7G methylation of tRNAs in stress responses and highlights the potential of targeting METTL1 to sensitise cancer cells to therapy.