Project description:We demonstrate that LARP1, an RNA-binding protein regulated by mTOR and CDK9, promotes leukemic cell fitness and drug resistance in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Using CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout models and multi-omics profiling, we show that LARP1 uniquely regulates the translation of transcripts involved in metabolism, cell cycle, and immune signalling, independent of mTOR or CDK9 inhibition. LARP1 loss reprograms mitochondrial and amino acid metabolism, downregulates cytidine deaminase, and enhances sensitivity to azacitidine and cytarabine. These findings establish LARP1 as a critical integrator of translational and metabolic control in AML and a potential therapeutic target.
Project description:The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a pivotal kinase responsible for transducing cellular energy signals to regulate a host of metabolic processes including protein synthesis, which in turn regulate cell growth and proliferation. All aspects of mRNA life cycle are controlled by protein/RNA interactions and although several effectors of mTOR signalling have been identified to date, how mTOR re-sculptures the mRNA interactome is unknown. Here we characterise mTOR regulated RNA-binding proteins, identifying LARP1, whose binding to RNA increases upon mTOR inhibition. We identified over 3800 LARP1 bound mRNAs, which can be broken down into two groups, those constantly bound by LARP1, or mRNAs that increase their interaction following mTOR inhibition. LARP1 has been implicated in the control of TOP mRNA translation and importantly we observe a large number of TOP mRNAs increasing association with LARP1 upon mTOR inhibition. Regarding the regulation of LARP1, we show that LARP1 and PABP show coordinated differential mRNA binding after mTOR inhibition. Importantly we find that LARP1-PABP interaction is important for LARP1 mRNA binding and mutations in the DM15 domain of LARP1 do not perturb its RNA interaction. Lastly we show that mRNAs bound by LARP1 and PABP are translationally repressed, including mRNAs encoding proteins critical for cell growth and survival.
Project description:Ribosomes execute the transcriptional program in every cell. Critical to sustain nearly all cellular activities, ribosome biogenesis requires the translation of ~200 factors of which 80 are ribosomal proteins (RPs). As ribosome synthesis depends on RP mRNAs translation, a priority within the translatome architecture should exist to ensure the preservation of ribosome biogenesis capacity, particularly under adverse growth conditions. Here we show that under critical metabolic constraints characterized by mTOR inhibition, LARP1 complexed with the 40S subunit protects from ribophagy the mRNAs regulon for ribosome biogenesis and protein synthesis, acutely preparing the translatome to promptly resume ribosomes production after growth conditions return permissive. Characterizing the LARP1-protected translatome revealed a set of 5’TOP transcript isoforms other than RPs involved in energy production and in mitochondrial function, among other processes, indicating that the mTOR-LARP1-5’TOP axis acts at the translational level as a primary guardian of the cellular anabolic capacity
Project description:Terminal oligopyrimidine motif-containing (TOP) mRNAs encode all ribosomal proteins in mammals and are regulated to tune ribosome synthesis to cell state. Previous studies implicate LARP1 in 40S- or 80S-ribosome complexes that repress and stabilize TOP mRNAs. However, a mechanistic understanding of how LARP1 and TOP mRNAs interact with ribosomes to coordinate TOP mRNA outcomes is lacking. Here, we show that LARP1 senses the cellular supply of ribosomes by directly binding non-translating 80S ribosomes. Cryo-EM structures reveal a previously uncharacterized domain of LARP1 bound to and occluding the 40S mRNA channel and mutations at the LARP1-ribosome interface block formation of the 40S/80S-LARP1-TOP complexes. Free cytosolic ribosomes induce sequestration of TOP mRNAs in repressed 80S-LARP1-TOP complexes independent of alterations in mTOR signaling. Together, this work demonstrates a ribosome-sensing function of LARP1 that allows it to tune ribosome protein synthesis to the availability of free ribosomes.
Project description:The RNA biding protein, LARP1, has been proposed to function downstream of mTORC1 to positively regulate the translation of 5M-bM-^@M-^YTOP mRNAs such as ribosome protein (RP) mRNAs. However, its regulatory roles in mTORC1-mediated translation remain unclear. PAR-CLIP of LARP1 revealed its direct and dynamic interactions with RP mRNAs through pyrimidine-enriched sequences in the 5M-bM-^@M-^YUTR of RP mRNAs when mTOR activity is inhibited. Importantly, this LARP1 is a direct substrate of mTORC1 and S6K1/Akt, and phosphorylated LARP1 scaffolds mTORC1 on translation-competent mRNAs to facilitate 4EBP1 and S6K1 phosphorylation. Ablation of LARP1 causes multiple defects in the processes of translation including abnormal eIF4G1 interaction with RP mRNAs and inefficient RP mRNA elongation thereby reducing ribosome biogenesis and cell proliferation. These observations illustrate that LARP1 functions both an effector and a regulator for local mTORC1 activity, and acts as a molecular switch for ribosome biogenesis by sensing growth factor/nutrient signaling. LARP1-bound RNA regions were sequenced from HEK293T cells under growing or mTOR-inactive conditions. In parallel, mRNA abundance was quantified, in biological duplicate, from HEK293T cells under the same conditions.
Project description:La-related protein 1 (LARP1) has been identified as a key translational inhibitor of terminal oligopyrimidine tract (TOP) mRNAs downstream of the nutrient sensing protein kinase complex, mTORC1. LARP1 exerts this inhibitory effect on TOP mRNA translation by binding to the mRNA cap and the adjacent 5’TOP motif, resulting in the displacement of the eIF4E complex from TOP mRNAs. In the present study, we identify a second nutrient sensing kinase GCN2 that converges on LARP1 to control TOP mRNA translation. GCN2 inhibits TOP mRNA translation via ATF4-dependent transcriptional induction of LARP1 mRNAs and GCN1-mediated recruitment of LARP1 to stalled ribosomes. We performed ATF4 ChIP-seq experiments in both WT and GCN2 KO MEFs with or without leucine deprivation.
Project description:To investigate the changes in gene expression upon loss of LARP1, we performed RNA-seq and differential gene expression analysis on WT and derived LARP1 KO cell lines. The canonical and 5′TOP mRNA cell lines used for single-molecule imaging were treated as biological replicates for the differential gene expression analysis.
Project description:LARP1 has been proposed to control the translation of TOP mRNAs downstrteam of mTORC1. Here we used ribosome profiling to analyze transcriptome-wide changes in translation following mTOR inhibition in wild-type HEK-293T cells and cells where LARP1 (sgLARP1) or LARP1 and its homologue LARP1B (sgLARP1/1B) have been deleted using CRISPR/Cas9.
Project description:To study the effect of Larp1 on the abundance and subcellular localization of 5'TOP containing mRNAs, Larp1 was depleted from mouse primary cortical neurons using shRNAs. RNA from subcellular compartments (neurite and soma cytoplasm) was isolated and sequenced in parallel with scrambled control shRNA expressing samples.
Project description:We investigated the role of RNMT in T cells using an Rnmt conditional knockout mouse model. We report that the mRNA cap methyltransferase, RNMT, supports naïve T cell survival and activation-induced proliferation. We demonstrate that RNMT has gene-specific impacts in T cells, selectively regulating expression of terminal polypyrimidine tract (TOP) mRNAs which are targets of the m7G-cap binding protein LARP1. These LARP1 eCLIP experiments determine the RNA binding sites of LARP1 in naive CD4 T cells from Rnmt cKO and control mice.