scholarly journals eIF4GI links nutrient sensing by mTOR to cell proliferation and inhibition of autophagy

2008 ◽  
Vol 181 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Ramírez-Valle ◽  
Steve Braunstein ◽  
Jiri Zavadil ◽  
Silvia C. Formenti ◽  
Robert J. Schneider

Translation initiation factors have complex functions in cells that are not yet understood. We show that depletion of initiation factor eIF4GI only modestly reduces overall protein synthesis in cells, but phenocopies nutrient starvation or inhibition of protein kinase mTOR, a key nutrient sensor. eIF4GI depletion impairs cell proliferation, bioenergetics, and mitochondrial activity, thereby promoting autophagy. Translation of mRNAs involved in cell growth, proliferation, and bioenergetics were selectively inhibited by reduction of eIF4GI, as was the mRNA encoding Skp2 that inhibits p27, whereas catabolic pathway factors were increased. Depletion or overexpression of other eIF4G family members did not recapitulate these results. The majority of mRNAs that were translationally impaired with eIF4GI depletion were excluded from polyribosomes due to the presence of multiple upstream open reading frames and low mRNA abundance. These results suggest that the high levels of eIF4GI observed in many breast cancers might act to specifically increase proliferation, prevent autophagy, and release tumor cells from control by nutrient sensing.

mBio ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Louise Glass

ABSTRACT The interplay between translation initiation, modification of translation initiation factors, and selection of start sites on mRNA for protein synthesis can play a regulatory role in the cellular response to stress, development, and cell fate in eukaryotic species by shaping the proteome. As shown by Ivanov et al. (mBio 8:e00844-17, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.00844-17 !), in the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa, both upstream open reading frames (uORFs) and near-cognate start codons negatively or positively regulate the translation of the transcription factor CPC1 and production of CPC1 isoforms, which mediate the cellular response to amino acid starvation. Dissecting the physiological roles that differentiate cellular choice of translation initiation is an important parameter to understanding mechanisms that determine cell fate via gene regulation and protein synthesis.


1990 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 1134-1144 ◽  
Author(s):  
F Rozen ◽  
I Edery ◽  
K Meerovitch ◽  
T E Dever ◽  
W C Merrick ◽  
...  

The mechanism of ribosome binding to eucaryotic mRNAs is not well understood, but it requires the participation of eucaryotic initiation factors eIF-4A, eIF-4B, and eIF-4F and the hydrolysis of ATP. Evidence has accumulated in support of a model in which these initiation factors function to unwind the 5'-proximal secondary structure in mRNA to facilitate ribosome binding. To obtain direct evidence for initiation factor-mediated RNA unwinding, we developed a simple assay to determine RNA helicase activity, and we show that eIF-4A or eIF-4F, in combination with eIF-4B, exhibits helicase activity. A striking and unprecedented feature of this activity is that it functions in a bidirectional manner. Thus, unwinding can occur either in the 5'-to-3' or 3'-to-5' direction. Unwinding in the 5'-to-3' direction by eIF-4F (the cap-binding protein complex), in conjunction with eIF-4B, was stimulated by the presence of the RNA 5' cap structure, whereas unwinding in the 3'-to-5' direction was completely cap independent. These results are discussed with respect to cap-dependent versus cap-independent mechanisms of ribosome binding to eucaryotic mRNAs.


2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (8) ◽  
pp. 1376-1389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cláudia Onofre ◽  
Filipa Tomé ◽  
Cristina Barbosa ◽  
Ana Luísa Silva ◽  
Luísa Romão

The gene encoding human hemojuvelin (HJV) is one of the genes that, when mutated, can cause juvenile hemochromatosis, an early-onset inherited disorder associated with iron overload. The 5′ untranslated region of the human HJV mRNA has two upstream open reading frames (uORFs), with 28 and 19 codons formed by two upstream AUGs (uAUGs) sharing the same in-frame stop codon. Here we show that these uORFs decrease the translational efficiency of the downstream main ORF in HeLa and HepG2 cells. Indeed, ribosomal access to the main AUG is conditioned by the strong uAUG context, which results in the first uORF being translated most frequently. The reach of the main ORF is then achieved by ribosomes that resume scanning after uORF translation. Furthermore, the amino acid sequences of the uORF-encoded peptides also reinforce the translational repression of the main ORF. Interestingly, when iron levels increase, translational repression is relieved specifically in hepatic cells. The upregulation of protein levels occurs along with phosphorylation of the eukaryotic initiation factor 2α. Nevertheless, our results support a model in which the increasing recognition of the main AUG is mediated by a tissue-specific factor that promotes uORF bypass. These results support a tight HJV translational regulation involved in iron homeostasis.


2004 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 589-591 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.S. Browning

Plants have significant differences in some of the ‘parts’ of the translational machinery. There are two forms of eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF) 4F, eIF3 has two novel subunits, eIF4B is poorly conserved, and eIF2 kinases and eIF4E binding proteins (4E-BP) are yet to be discovered. These differences suggest that plants may regulate their translation in unique ways.


2012 ◽  
Vol 23 (18) ◽  
pp. 3499-3510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas C. Reineke ◽  
Jon D. Dougherty ◽  
Philippe Pierre ◽  
Richard E. Lloyd

Stress granules are large messenger ribonucleoprotein (mRNP) aggregates composed of translation initiation factors and mRNAs that appear when the cell encounters various stressors. Current dogma indicates that stress granules function as inert storage depots for translationally silenced mRNPs until the cell signals for renewed translation and stress granule disassembly. We used RasGAP SH3-binding protein (G3BP) overexpression to induce stress granules and study their assembly process and signaling to the translation apparatus. We found that assembly of large G3BP-induced stress granules, but not small granules, precedes phosphorylation of eIF2α. Using mouse embryonic fibroblasts depleted for individual eukaryotic initiation factor 2α (eIF2α) kinases, we identified protein kinase R as the principal kinase that mediates eIF2α phosphorylation by large G3BP-induced granules. These data indicate that increasing stress granule size is associated with a threshold or switch that must be triggered in order for eIF2α phosphorylation and subsequent translational repression to occur. Furthermore, these data suggest that stress granules are active in signaling to the translational machinery and may be important regulators of the innate immune response.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Wallace ◽  
Corinne Maufrais ◽  
Jade Sales-Lee ◽  
Laura Tuck ◽  
Luciana de Oliveira ◽  
...  

AbstractEukaryotic protein synthesis initiates at a start codon defined by an AUG and its surrounding Kozak sequence context, but studies of S. cerevisiae suggest this context is of little importance in fungi. We tested this concept in two pathogenic Cryptococcus species by genome-wide mapping of translation and of mRNA 5’ and 3’ ends. We observed that upstream open reading frames (uORFs) are a major contributor to translation repression, that uORF use depends on the Kozak sequence context of its start codon, and that uORFs with strong contexts promote nonsense-mediated mRNA decay. Numerous Cryptococcus mRNAs encode predicted dual-localized proteins, including many aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, in which a leaky AUG start codon is followed by a strong Kozak context in-frame AUG, separated by mitochondrial-targeting sequence. Further analysis shows that such dual-localization is also predicted to be common in Neurospora crassa. Kozak-controlled regulation is correlated with insertions in translational initiation factors in fidelity-determining regions that contact the initiator tRNA. Thus, start codon context is a signal that programs the expression and structures of proteins in fungi.


2009 ◽  
Vol 20 (11) ◽  
pp. 2673-2683 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Mokas ◽  
John R. Mills ◽  
Cristina Garreau ◽  
Marie-Josée Fournier ◽  
Francis Robert ◽  
...  

Cytoplasmic stress granules (SGs) are specialized regulatory sites of mRNA translation that form under different stress conditions known to inhibit translation initiation. The formation of SG occurs via two pathways; the eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF) 2α phosphorylation-dependent pathway mediated by stress and the eIF2α phosphorylation-independent pathway mediated by inactivation of the translation initiation factors eIF4A and eIF4G. In this study, we investigated the effects of targeting different translation initiation factors and steps in SG formation in HeLa cells. By depleting eIF2α, we demonstrate that reduced levels of the eIF2.GTP.Met-tRNAiMet ternary translation initiation complexes is sufficient to induce SGs. Likewise, reduced levels of eIF4B, eIF4H, or polyA-binding protein, also trigger SG formation. In contrast, depletion of the cap-binding protein eIF4E or preventing its assembly into eIF4F results in modest SG formation. Intriguingly, interfering with the last step of translation initiation by blocking the recruitment of 60S ribosome either with 2-(4-methyl-2,6-dinitroanilino)-N-methylpropionamideis or through depletion of the large ribosomal subunits protein L28 does not induce SG assembly. Our study identifies translation initiation steps and factors involved in SG formation as well as those that can be targeted without induction of SGs.


2006 ◽  
Vol 26 (7) ◽  
pp. 2716-2727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krystyna Mazan-Mamczarz ◽  
Ashish Lal ◽  
Jennifer L. Martindale ◽  
Tomoko Kawai ◽  
Myriam Gorospe

ABSTRACT The RNA-binding protein TIAR has been proposed to inhibit protein synthesis transiently by promoting the formation of translationally silent stress granules. Here, we report the selective binding of TIAR to several mRNAs encoding translation factors such as eukaryotic initiation factor 4A (eIF4A) and eIF4E (translation initiation factors), eEF1B (a translation elongation factor), and c-Myc (which transcriptionally controls the expression of numerous translation regulatory proteins). TIAR bound the 3′-untranslated regions of these mRNAs and potently suppressed their translation, particularly in response to low levels of short-wavelength UV (UVC) irradiation. The UVC-imposed global inhibition of the cellular translation machinery was significantly relieved after silencing of TIAR expression. We propose that the TIAR-mediated inhibition of translation factor expression elicits a sustained repression of protein biosynthesis in cells responding to stress.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Bohlen ◽  
Kai Fenzl ◽  
Günter Kramer ◽  
Bernd Bukau ◽  
Aurelio A. Teleman

SUMMARYTranslation regulation occurs largely during initiation. Currently, translation initiation can be studied in vitro, but these systems lack features present in vivo and on endogenous mRNAs. Here we develop selective 40S footprinting for visualizing initiating 40S ribosomes on endogenous mRNAs in vivo. It pinpoints where on an mRNA initiation factors join the ribosome to act, and where they leave. We discover that in human cells most scanning ribosomes remain attached to the 5’ cap. Consequently, only one ribosome scans a 5’UTR at a time, and 5’UTR length affects translation efficiency. We discover that eIF3B, eIF4G1 and eIF4E remain on translating 80S ribosomes with a decay half-length of ∼12 codons. Hence ribosomes retain these initiation factors while translating short upstream Open Reading Frames (uORFs), providing an explanation for how ribosomes can re-initiate translation after uORFs in humans. This method will be of use for studying translation initiation mechanisms in vivo.HIGHLIGHTSSelective 40S FPing visualizes regulation of translation initiation on mRNAs in vivoScanning ribosomes are cap-tethered in human cellsOnly one ribosome scans a 5’UTR at a time in human cellsRibosomes retain eIFs during early translation, allowing reinitiation after uORFs


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