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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Mechanism of post-segregational killing by the hok/sok system of plasmid R1. Sok antisense RNA regulates hok gene expression indirectly through the overlapping mok gene.

The hok/sok locus of plasmid R1, which mediates plasmid stabilization by killing of plasmid-free segregants, codes for two RNAs, Hok mRNA and Sok antisense RNA. Hok mRNA encodes the Hok killer protein of 52 amino acid residues. Expression of hok is regulated post-transcriptionally by Sok antisense RNA. Killing of plasmid-free daughter-cells by the hok/sok system is accomplished through differential decay of the Hok and Sok-RNAs: Hok mRNA is very stable while Sok-RNA decays rapidly, thus leading to derepression of Hok mRNA translation in plasmid-free segregants, ensuring a rapid and selective killing of these cells. Sok antisense RNA is complementary to the leader region of the Hok mRNA. However, the region of complementarity does not overlap with the hok Shine-Dalgarno sequence. Thus, Sok-RNA regulates hok translation indirectly by an as yet unknown mechanism. We show here that Sok antisense RNA regulates the translation of another reading frame located in the hok/sok locus. This new reading frame, which overlaps with almost the entire hok gene, was denoted mok (mediation of killing). Point-mutations that prevent mok translation through the hok translational initiation region abolish efficient expression of hok. Furthermore, these mutations abolish the Sok-RNA-mediated control of hok gene expression. Hence, the antisense-RNA-mediated regulation of the hok gene seems to occur via translational coupling between the hok and mok reading-frames.

Base Sequence

Influenza A virus in vitro transcription: roles of NS1 and NP proteins in regulating RNA synthesis.

To study the mechanisms by which the influenza A virus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase switches from transcription to replication we have devised a riboprobe protection technique with which we analyzed the 3' end sequence of (+)-strand RNA products of an in vitro transcription reaction containing purified virion-RNP complexes in the presence and the absence of the putative regulatory proteins NP and NS1. We found that the addition of these proteins did not result in the synthesis of full-length (+)-strand RNA products resulting from read-through of the polyadenylation signal or replication. Because NS1 and NP are both phosphoproteins we searched for protein kinase activity that might play a role in regulating RNA synthesis. We showed that virion RNP complexes phosphorylated NS1 but possessed no autophosphorylating activity. Soluble NP protein derived from RNP complexes did not phosphorylate NS1, but did phosphorylate casein. When NP protein was dephosphorylated, however, it no longer phosphorylated casein. We also showed that NS1 was an ssRNA-binding protein which binds nonspecifically to all ssRNA, and that this activity is not dependent on its state of phosphorylation.

Animals

Interactions between double-stranded RNA regulators and the protein kinase DAI.

The interferon-induced protein kinase DAI, the double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-activated inhibitor of translation, plays a key role in regulating protein synthesis in higher cells. Once activated, in a process that involves autophosphorylation, it phosphorylates the initiation factor eIF-2, leading to inhibition of polypeptide chain initiation. The activity of DAI is controlled by RNA regulators, including dsRNA activators and highly structured single-stranded RNAs which block activation by dsRNA. To elucidate the mechanism of activation, we studied the interaction of DAI with RNA duplexes of discrete sizes. Molecules shorter than 30 bp fail to bind stably and do not activate the enzyme, but at high concentrations they prevent activation by long dsRNA. Molecules longer than 30 bp bind and activate the enzyme, with an efficiency that increases with increasing chain length, reaching a maximum at about 85 bp. These dsRNAs fail to activate at high concentrations and also prevent activation by long dsRNA. Analysis of complexes between dsRNA and DAI suggests that at maximal packing the enzyme interacts with as little as a single helical turn of dsRNA (11 bp) but under conditions that allow activation the binding site protects about 80 bp of duplex. When the RNA-binding site is fully occupied with an RNA activator, the complex appears to undergo a conformational change.

Binding Sites

Adenovirus VAI-RNA regulates gene expression by controlling stability of ribosome-bound RNAs.

Adenovirus VAI-RNA is a small virally encoded RNA that is required for efficient protein synthesis at late times of adenoviral infection. We show that in transient transfection assays VAI-RNA promotes not only an increased level of protein encoded by a co-transfected marker (CAT) plasmid, but also a marked accumulation of its transcript. The increases in CAT protein and RNA levels reflect an enhanced stability of the cytoplasmic RNA as shown by primer extension analyses of RNA isolated from transfected cells upon transcriptional arrest. Surprisingly, the ability of VAI to activate expression of CAT requires the translation of a substantial portion of the RNA: when translation is prevented by elimination of the initiator AUG codon or by introduction of stop codons 5' to codon 107, VAI-RNA is no longer capable of increasing CAT RNA levels; the introduction of stop codons 3' of codon-135, on the other hand, does not significantly impair VAI-RNA function. We conclude that in addition to its role as a specific activator of translation, adenovirus VA genes function to regulate the stability of ribosome-bound RNA.

Adenoviruses, Human

Mechanism of post-segregational killing by the hok/sok system of plasmid R1: sok antisense RNA regulates formation of a hok mRNA species correlated with killing of plasmid-free cells.

The hok/sok system of plasmid R1, which mediates plasmid stabilization via killing of plasmid-free segregants, encodes two genes: hok and sok. The hok gene product is a potent cell-killing protein. The expression of hok is regulated post-transcriptionally by the sok gene-encoded repressor, an antisense RNA complementary to the hok mRNA leader region. We show here that the hok mRNA is very stable, while the sok RNA decays rapidly. We also observe a new hok mRNA species which is 70 nucleotides shorter in the 3'-end than the full-length hok transcript. The appearance of the truncated hok mRNA was found to be regulated by the sok antisense RNA. Furthermore, the presence of the truncated hok mRNA was found to be correlated with efficient expression of the Hok protein. On the basis of these findings, we propose an extended model in order to explain the killing of plasmid-free segregants by the hok/sok system.

Base Sequence

Double-stranded RNA regulation of DNA synthesis in fibroblasts.

The double-stranded RNA molecule polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (poly IC) has been found in some studies to have a mitogenic effect on fibroblast proliferation while other studies found poly IC to have an inhibitory effect on proliferation. In this study, we investigated whether a stabilized form of poly IC complexed with poly-L-lysine and carboxymethylcellulose (poly ICLC) had a bidirectional effect on DNA synthesis in fibroblasts from four different cell lines and determined factors that potentially influence this bidirectional effect. In medium containing fetal bovine serum, poly ICLC slightly increased the levels of [3H]thymidine incorporation in growing fibroblasts in three of the four fibroblast cell lines tested, while poly ICLC increased [3H]thymidine incorporation in confluent, quiescent fibroblasts in two of four cell lines. Poly ICLC did not induce DNA synthesis in subconfluent, quiescent or in confluent, quiescent fibroblasts under serum-free conditions. Poly ICLC significantly suppressed serum-induced [3H]thymidine incorporation by quiescent fibroblasts in all cell lines. We conclude that the stimulatory and inhibitory effects of poly ICLC on DNA synthesis are influenced by both the cell line and the presence of serum components in the culture medium but not by population density.

Animals

Studies concerning the mechanism by which translational-control RNA regulates protein synthesis in embryonic muscle.

Muscle translational-control RNA (tcRNA) has been separated into two classes, polysomal and messenger ribonuclear protein (mRNA - protein), which have different sizes as determined by acrylamide gel electrophoresis. While normally translation of mRNA - protein mRNA is inhibited by tcRNA derived from the same mRNA - proteins, this inhibition does not occur if the messenger is previously de-adenylated. This suggests that the poly(A) segment of mRNA is required for the tcRNA activity. Utilizing different mRNA - protein fractions from muscle, myosin mRNA - protein and small mRNA - proteins ( less than 30 S), we have been able to demonstrate that a degree of specificity exists in the interaction of tcRNA and mRNA derived from the same mRNA - proteins. This is illustrated by the facts that (a) each tcRNA only inhibits the translation of its respective mRNA and (b) the highest percentage of structural change occurs when each tcRNA is hybridized to its respective mRNA as measured by its resistance to T1 and T2 RNase.

Animals

Metallothionein messenger RNA regulation in the mottled mouse and Menkes kinky hair syndrome.

Menkes kinky hair syndrome is an X-linked neurodegenerative disorder, causing tissue-specific increases in copper and metallothionein content. A mouse model is provided by hemizygotes for mutant alleles at the X-linked mottled locus. Herein we test the possibility that the primary defect in both species is in metallothionein gene regulation. We show that metallothionein-I messenger RNA (mRNA) (mouse) and metallothionein-II mRNA (human) are elevated in mutant fibroblasts. However, comparable dose-response curves in mutant and control cells are generated when mouse metallothionein-I mRNA concentrations are measured in cells exposed to varying concentrations of cadmium or copper (metallothionein inducers). Furthermore, when mutant and control cells are grown to achieve overlapping intracellular copper concentrations in the two cell types, metallothionein-I (mouse) and metallothionein-II (human) mRNA levels are proportional to the intracellular copper concentrations. Finally, in paired determinations in blotchy hemizygote and littermate kidneys containing comparable copper levels, metallothionein-I mRNA contents are very similar. The observations suggest that elevated intracellular copper in these mutants induces metallothionein synthesis by normal regulatory mechanisms.

Alleles

Guide RNAs for transcripts with developmentally regulated RNA editing are present in both life cycle stages of Trypanosoma brucei.

RNA editing of several mitochondrial transcripts in Trypanosoma brucei is developmentally regulated. The cytochrome b and cytochrome oxidase II mRNAs are edited in procyclic-form parasites but are primarily unedited in bloodstream forms. The latter forms lack the mitochondrial respiratory system present in procyclic forms. Editing of the NADH dehydrogenase 7 (ND7) and ND8 transcripts is also developmentally regulated but occurs preferentially in bloodstream forms. Other transcripts, cytochrome oxidase III and ATPase 6, are edited in both life forms. We have identified many minicircle-encoded guide RNAs (gRNAs) for ATPase 6, ND7, and ND8. The characteristics of these gRNAs reveal how extensively edited RNA can be edited in the 3'-to-5' direction. Northern (RNA) blot and primer extension analyses indicate that gRNAs for transcripts whose editing is developmentally regulated are present in both procyclic and bloodstream form parasites. These results suggest that the developmental regulation of editing in these transcripts is not controlled by the presence or absence of gRNAs.

Aging

Phosphorylation regulates RNA binding by the human T-cell leukemia virus Rex protein.

The Rex protein of human T-cell leukemia virus types I (HTLV-I) and II (HTLV-II) regulates the expression of the viral structural genes and is critical for viral replication. Rex acts by specifically binding to RNAs containing sequences of the R region of the 5' long terminal repeat. Two forms of Rex detected in HTLV-II-infected cells, p26rex and p24rex, differ in the extent of serine phosphorylation. Two-dimensional phosphopeptide analysis indicates that p26rex is extensively phosphorylated at multiple sites. Using a sensitive immunobinding assay, we show that the phosphorylation state of Rex determines the efficiency of binding of Rex to HTLV-II target RNAs. Thus, the phosphorylation state of Rex in the infected cell may be a switch that determines whether virus exists in a latent or productive state. These studies also suggest that phosphorylation of RNA-binding regulatory proteins is a more general mechanism of gene regulation.

Baculoviridae

Polyadenylation of maternal mRNA during oocyte maturation: poly(A) addition in vitro requires a regulated RNA binding activity and a poly(A) polymerase.

Specific maternal mRNAs receive poly(A) during early development as a means of translational regulation. In this report, we investigated the mechanism and control of poly(A) addition during frog oocyte maturation, in which oocytes advance from first to second meiosis becoming eggs. We analyzed polyadenylation in vitro in oocyte and egg extracts. In vivo, polyadenylation during maturation requires AAUAAA and a U-rich element. The same sequences are required for polyadenylation in egg extracts in vitro. The in vitro reaction requires at least two separable components: a poly(A) polymerase and an RNA binding activity with specificity for AAUAAA and the U-rich element. The poly(A) polymerase is similar to nuclear poly(A) polymerases in mammalian cells. Through a 2000-fold partial purification, the frog egg and mammalian enzymes were found to be very similar. More importantly, a purified calf thymus poly(A) polymerase acquired the sequence specificity seen during frog oocyte maturation when mixed with the frog egg RNA binding fraction, demonstrating the interchangeability of the two enzymes. To determine how polyadenylation is activated during maturation, we compared polymerase and RNA binding activities in oocyte and egg extracts. Although oocyte extracts were much less active in maturation-specific polyadenylation, they contained nearly as much poly(A) polymerase activity. In contrast, the RNA binding activity differed dramatically in oocyte and egg extracts: oocyte extracts contained less binding activity and the activity that was present exhibited an altered mobility in gel retardation assays. Finally, we demonstrate that components present in the RNA binding fraction are rate-limiting in the oocyte extract, suggesting that fraction contains the target that is activated by progesterone treatment. This target may be the RNA binding activity itself. We propose that in spite of the many biological differences between them, nuclear polyadenylation and cytoplasmic polyadenylation during early development may be catalyzed by similar, or even identical, components.

Animals

Arginine methylation-dependent METTL14-SMN interaction regulates RNA m6A homeostasis.

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) homeostasis is essential for development, and its dysregulation is linked to cancers and neurological disorders. However, the mechanisms regulating m6A remain unclear. Here, we identify the survival of motoneuron (SMN) protein as a novel interaction partner of METTL14, a key component of the m6A methyltransferase complex. SMN binds METTL14 via its Tudor domain in an arginine methylation-dependent manner. Mutations in the SMN Tudor domain identified in spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) disrupt its interaction with METTL14 and reduce m6A levels in patient-derived fibroblasts, linking m6A dysregulation to SMA pathology. Both SMN knockdown and SMA mutations impair m6A deposition on the mRNAs of DNA repair genes, mirroring the effects of METTL14 hypomethylation. Consequently, SMA patient fibroblasts are hypersensitive to DNA-damaging agents due to reduced levels of DNA repair gene expression. To explore the function of METTL14 arginine methylation in vivo, we generated a Mettl14 methylation-deficient mouse model (Mettl14RK). Although this model does not show SMA-like phenotypes, the mutants are partially embryonic lethal and show abnormal hematopoiesis, underscoring a role for methylated METTL14 in early development.

Methyltransferases

Developmentally regulated RNA transcripts coding for alcohol dehydrogenase in Drosophila affinidisjuncta.

The organization of the gene coding for alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) in Drosophila affinidisjuncta has been determined by physically mapping Adh RNA transcripts to cloned genomic DNA. Two distinct transcript types accumulate with developmental specificity. Because only a single genomic Adh locus is detected in D. affinidisjuncta, and since all Adh transcripts appear to be identical except at their termini, the two Adh RNA types are products of the same gene. One type of transcript, abundant in adults, contains a small 5' terminal exon that is completely lacking in the other type of transcript, which accumulates in larvae. This 5' end difference suggests that the D. affinidisjuncta Adh gene, like the homologous gene from the distantly related species D. melanogaster, is expressed from two promoters. According to the transcription map, these D. affinidisjuncta promoters are separated by approximately 560 base pairs of genomic DNA sequence. D. affinidisjuncta Adh transcripts also resemble D. melanogaster Adh transcripts in both their overall organization and their developmental distribution. Multiple 3' ends are responsible for the size heterogeneity of both types of D. affinidisjuncta Adh RNA, and some of these also appear with stage specificity.

Alcohol Dehydrogenase

Messenger RNA regulation in humam diploid fibroblasts.

In resting, non-growing human diploid fibroblasts the amount of rRNA is reduced 1.8-fold, cytoplasmic polysomes are disaggregated, and the level of poly-A RNA (mRNA) is reduced 1.8-fold in relation to growing cells. The distribution of poly-A RNA is altered in resting, non-growing cells so that an average of 64% of the total cytoplasmic poly-A RNA sediments along with particles lighter than 80S (prepolysomal) in sucrose density gradients. By camparison, in growing cells only 30% of the cytoplasmic poly-A RNA sediments in the prepolysomal region. In SDS sucrose gradients, the sedimentation profile of the prepolysomal poly-A RNA from resting cells resembles that of polysomal poly-A RNA from those cells. In contrast, the average size of prepolysomal poly-A RNA from growing cells is much smaller than that of the polysomal poly-A RNA from those cells. These data are compatible with the possibility that resting cell prepolysomal poly-A is untranslated mRNA. Also consistent with this interpretation are experiments which demonstrate that one-quarter to one-third of the prepolysomal poly-A RNA of resting cells is recruited into polysomes in the presence of of cyoloheximide.

Cell Division

Maternal PAN2 selectively maintains mRNA Poly(A) tail homeostasis to regulate RNA degradation during oocyte-to-early embryo transition in mice.

In mammals, the precise degradation of maternal mRNAs is essential for oocyte maturation and early embryonic development, as it facilitates the "maternal-to-zygotic transition (MZT)" by eliminating maternal transcripts and enabling zygotic genome activation (ZGA). However, the physiological role of the poly(A)-specific nuclease 2 (PAN2), a deadenylase that initiates cascade degradation of long-tailed transcripts, remains unknown. Here, we generated oocyte-specific Pan2 conditional knockout (cKO) mice to investigate its role. We found that Pan2 cKO females exhibit severe female subfertility despite normal oocyte maturation and ovulation, with embryos arresting at the 2-cell stage. PAIso-seq2 and transcriptome sequencing reveal that PAN2 coordinates maternal mRNA deadenylation and decay. Mechanistically, PAN2 recognizes its substrates through a PAN3-PABPC1 bridging complex, and it preferentially targets transcripts whose poly(A) tails lack guanosine (G) but are enriched for uridine (U). PAN2 deficiency causes poly(A) tail dyshomeostasis, leading to global accumulation of maternal mRNAs, impaired zygotic genome activation, and abnormal protein accumulation in 2-cell embryos. Overexpression of these proteins phenocopies developmental defects. Notably, the PAN2-regulated transcriptome is largely non-overlapping with the LC3B-mediated degradation pathway, highlighting the unique and non-redundant role of PAN2 in maternal mRNA clearance. Our study establishes maternal PAN2 as a critical regulator of poly(A) tail homeostasis, ensuring timely maternal mRNA clearance and proper ZGA, highlighting the stage-specific and tail-composition-dependent functions of the deadenylase cascade during the maternal-to-zygotic transition. These findings offer new perspectives on post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms in early mammalian embryogenesis.

Deadenylation

A regulated RNA binding protein also possesses aconitase activity.

A clone for the iron-responsive element (IRE)-binding protein (IRE-BP) has been transfected and expressed in mouse fibroblasts. The IRE-BP gene product binds IREs with high affinity and specificity. Amino acid alignments reveal that the IRE-BP is 30% identical to mitochondrial aconitase. The 18 active site residues of mitochondrial aconitase are identical to those in the IRE-BP, suggesting that the IRE-BP may possess aconitase activity. After purification of native IRE-BP and immunoaffinity purification of transfected and expressed IRE-BP, we demonstrate that the purified IRE-BP has aconitase activity.

Aconitate Hydratase

Two forms of RPO41-dependent RNA polymerase. Regulation of the RNA polymerase by glucose repression may control yeast mitochondrial gene expression.

We have identified two chromatographically separable forms of mitochondrial RNA polymerase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae which utilize different DNA templates. One form is only active in a nonselective assay utilizing a poly[d(A-T)] template. The other form selectively initiates from a mitochondrial promoter consensus sequence. Both enzymes can be extracted from yeast mitochondria and all components are encoded by nuclear genes. The possibility that these two activities represent core and holoenzyme forms of the multicomponent mitochondrial RNA polymerase is supported by our observation that both enzymes are absent from a strain bearing a disrupted copy of the RPO41 gene (Greenleaf, A. L., Kelly, J. L., and Lehman, I. R. (1986) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 83, 3391-3399). The two enzyme activities are differentially regulated by carbon source; the nonselective enzyme is repressed during growth on glucose relative to the selective enzyme. The 5-fold increase in RNA polymerase activity on a nonrepressing carbon source correlates with the increased level of transcript production from mitochondrial DNA. These results suggest that the mitochondrial RNA polymerase and, in consequence, mitochondrial transcription are regulated by carbon catabolite control.

Chromatography