Project description:Mitochondrial gene expression relies on mitoribosomes to translate mitochondrial mRNAs. The biogenesis of mitoribosomes is an intricate process involving multiple assembly factors. Among these factors, GTP-binding proteins (GTPBPs) play crucial roles. In bacterial systems, numerous GTPBPs are required for ribosome subunit maturation, with EngB being a GTPBP involved in the ribosomal large subunit assembly. In this study, we focused on exploring the function of GTPBP8, the human homolog of EngB. We found that ablation of GTPBP8 leads to the inhibition of mitochondrial translation, resulting in significant impairment of oxidative phosphorylation. In the absence of GTPBP8, numerous mitoribosomal proteins from both subunits become destabilized, indicating GTPBP8's involvement in synchronized subunit assembly. Furthermore, structural analysis of mitoribosomes from GTPBP8 knock-out cells showed the accumulation of mitoribosomal large subunit assembly intermediates that are incapable of forming functional monosomes. Our study highlights the crucial role of GTPBP8 as a component of the mitochondrial gene expression machinery involved in mitoribosome biogenesis.
Project description:Mitochondrial gene expression relies on mitoribosomes to translate mitochondrial mRNAs. The biogenesis of mitoribosomes is an intricate process involving multiple assembly factors. Among these factors, GTP-binding proteins (GTPBPs) play crucial roles. In bacterial systems, numerous GTPBPs are required for ribosome subunit maturation, with EngB being a GTPBP involved in the ribosomal large subunit assembly. In this study, we focused on exploring the function of GTPBP8, the human homolog of EngB. We found that ablation of GTPBP8 leads to the inhibition of mitochondrial translation, resulting in significant impairment of oxidative phosphorylation. In the absence of GTPBP8, numerous mitoribosomal proteins from both subunits become destabilized, indicating GTPBP8's involvement in synchronized subunit assembly. Furthermore, structural analysis of mitoribosomes from GTPBP8 knock-out cells showed the accumulation of mitoribosomal large subunit assembly intermediates that are incapable of forming functional monosomes. Our study highlights the crucial role of GTPBP8 as a component of the mitochondrial gene expression machinery involved in mitoribosome biogenesis.
Project description:Mitochondrial gene expression relies on mitoribosomes to translate mitochondrial mRNAs. The biogenesis of mitoribosomes is an intricate process involving multiple assembly factors. Among these factors, GTP-binding proteins (GTPBPs) play crucial roles. In bacterial systems, numerous GTPBPs are required for ribosome subunit maturation, with EngB being a GTPBP involved in the ribosomal large subunit assembly. In this study, we focused on exploring the function of GTPBP8, the human homolog of EngB. We found that ablation of GTPBP8 leads to the inhibition of mitochondrial translation, resulting in significant impairment of oxidative phosphorylation. Structural analysis of mitoribosomes from GTPBP8 knock-out cells showed the accumulation of mitoribosomal large subunit assembly intermediates that are incapable of forming functional monosomes. Furthermore, fPAR-CLIP analysis revealed that GTPBP8 is an RNA-binding protein that interacts specifically with the mitochondrial ribosome large subunit16S rRNA. Our study highlights the crucial role of GTPBP8 as a component of the mitochondrial gene expression machinery involved in mitochondrial large subunit maturation.
Project description:Human mitoribosomes are macromolecular complexes essential for translation of 11 mitochondrial mRNAs. The large and the small mitoribosomal subunits undergo a multistep maturation process that requires the involvement of several factors. Among these factors, GTP-binding proteins (GTPBPs) play an important role as GTP hydrolysis can provide energy throughout the assembly stages. In bacteria, many GTPBPs are needed for the maturation of ribosome subunits and, of particular interest for this study, ObgE has been shown to assist in the 50S subunit assembly. Here, we characterize the role of a related human Obg-family member, GTPBP5. We show that GTPBP5 interacts specifically with the large mitoribosomal subunit (mt-LSU) proteins and several late-stage mitoribosome assembly factors, including NSUN4-MTERF4 complex, MRM2 methyltransferase, MALSU1 and MTG1. Interestingly, we find that interaction of GTPBP5 with the mt-LSU is compromised in the presence of a non-hydrolyzable analog of GTP, suggesting a different mechanism of action of this protein in contrast to that of other Obg-family GTPBPs. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated GTPBP5 ablation leads to severe impairment in the oxidative phosphorylation system, concurrent with a decrease in mitochondrial translation, reduced monosome formation and elevated levels of certain mitoribosome assembly factors. Overall, our data indicate an important role of GTPBP5 in mitochondrial function and suggest its involvement in the late-stage maturation of the mt-LSU maturation.
Project description:The production of mitochondrial OXPHOS complexes is central to cellular metabolism, although the molecular details of mitochondrial translation remain enigmatic. It is widely held that translation initiation in human mitochondria proceeds similarly to bacterial systems, with mRNA binding the mitoribosomal small subunit in the presence of initiation factors, mtIF2and mtIF3, and initiator tRNA. However, unlike in bacteria, most human mitochondrial mRNAs do not possess 5′ leader sequences that mediate binding to the small subunit. Thus, how leaderless mRNAs are recognized by the mitoribosome is not known. By developing a single-molecule, fluorescence-based in vitro translation initiation assay, alongside the biochemical and genetic characterization of cellular knockouts of mitochondrial translation factors, we describe a mechanism for non-canonical translation initiation in human mitochondria. We show leaderless mt-mRNAs can be loaded onto 55S monosomes and translated independently of mtIF3 activity. However, in the case of the bicistronic ATP8/ATP6 transcript, translation of the downstream open reading frame (ORF) is dependent upon mtIF3 and is uncoupled from the upstream leaderless ORF, highlighting distinct role for the human initiation factor. Furthermore, we found mtIF2 to be essential for mitochondrial protein synthesis, but not monosome formation, while mitoribosome recycling was important for mitoribosome homeostasis. These data define an important evolutionary diversion of mitochondrial translation system, and further our fundamental understanding of a process central to eukaryotic metabolism.