scholarly journals The mRNA translation landscape in the synaptic neuropil

Author(s):  
Caspar Glock ◽  
Anne Biever ◽  
Georgi Tushev ◽  
Ina Bartnik ◽  
Belquis Nassim-Assir ◽  
...  

AbstractTo form and modify synaptic connections and store information, neurons continuously remodel their proteomes. The impressive length of dendrites and axons imposes unique logistical challenges to maintain synaptic proteins at locations remote from the transcription source (the nucleus). The discovery of thousands of mRNAs near synapses suggested that neurons overcome distance and gain autonomy by producing proteins locally1. It is not known, however if, how and when localized mRNAs are translated into protein. To investigate the translational landscape in neuronal subregions, we performed simultaneous RNA-seq and Ribo-seq from microdissected rodent brain slices to identify and quantify the transcriptome and translatome in cell bodies as well as dendrites and axons (neuropil). More than 4800 transcripts were translated in synaptic regions. Thousands of transcripts were differentially translated between somatic and synaptic regions, with scaffold and signaling molecules mostly arising from local sources. Furthermore, specific mRNA features were identified that regulate the efficiency of mRNA translation. The findings overturn the view that local translation is a minor source of synaptic protein2 and indicate that on-site translational control is an important mechanism to control synaptic strength.

2002 ◽  
Vol 357 (1420) ◽  
pp. 521-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shao Jun Tang ◽  
Erin M. Schuman

In neurons, many proteins that are involved in the transduction of synaptic activity and the expression of neural plasticity are specifically localized at synapses. How these proteins are targeted is not clearly understood. One mechanism is synaptic protein synthesis. According to this idea, messenger RNA (mRNA) translation from the polyribosomes that are observed at the synaptic regions provides a local source of synaptic proteins. Although an increasing number of mRNA species has been detected in the dendrite, information about the synaptic synthesis of specific proteins in a physiological context is still limited. The physiological function of synaptic synthesis of specific proteins in synaptogenesis and neural plasticity expression remains to be shown. Experiments aimed at understanding the mechanisms and functions f synaptic protein synthesis might provide important information about the molecular nature of neural plasticity.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (17) ◽  
pp. 2240-2253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine M. Mageeney ◽  
Vassie C. Ware

The functional significance of ribosome heterogeneity in development and differentiation is relatively unexplored. We present the first in vivo evidence of ribosome heterogeneity playing a role in specific mRNA translation in a multicellular eukaryote. Eukaryotic-specific ribosomal protein paralogues eRpL22 and eRpL22-like are essential in development and required for sperm maturation and fertility in Drosophila. eRpL22 and eRpL22-like roles in spermatogenesis are not completely interchangeable. Flies depleted of eRpL22 and rescued by eRpL22-like overexpression have reduced fertility, confirming that eRpL22-like cannot substitute fully for eRpL22 function, and that paralogues have functionally distinct roles, not yet defined. We investigated the hypothesis that specific RNAs differentially associate with eRpL22 or eRpL22-like ribosomes, thereby establishing distinct ribosomal roles. RNA-seq identified 12,051 transcripts (mRNAs/noncoding RNAs) with 50% being enriched on specific polysome types. Analysis of ∼10% of the most abundant mRNAs suggests ribosome specialization for translating groups of mRNAs expressed at specific stages of spermatogenesis. Further, we show enrichment of “model” eRpL22-like polysome-associated testis mRNAs can occur outside the germline within S2 cells transfected with eRpL22-like, indicating that germline-specific factors are not required for selective translation. This study reveals specialized roles in translation for eRpL22 and eRpL22-like ribosomes in germline differentiation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brett D. Keiper

Cellular mRNAs in plants and animals have a 5′-cap structure that is accepted as the recognition point to initiate translation by ribosomes. Consequently, it was long assumed that the translation initiation apparatus was built solely for a cap-dependent (CD) mechanism. Exceptions that emerged invoke structural damage (proteolytic cleavage) to eukaryotic initiation factor 4 (eIF4) factors that disable cap recognition. The residual eIF4 complex is thought to be crippled, but capable of cap-independent (CI) translation to recruit viral or death-associated mRNAs begrudgingly when cells are in great distress. However, situations where CI translation coexists with CD translation are now known. In such cases, CI translation is still a minor mechanism in the major background of CD synthesis. In this review, I propose that germ cells do not fit this mold. Using observations from various animal models of oogenesis and spermatogenesis, I suggest that CI translation is a robust partner to CD translation to carry out the translational control that is so prevalent in germ cell development. Evidence suggests that CI translation provides surveillance of germ cell homeostasis, while CD translation governs the regulated protein synthesis that ushers these meiotic cells through the remarkable steps in sperm/oocyte differentiation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Lleó ◽  
Maria Carmona-Iragui ◽  
Laura Videla ◽  
Susana Fernández ◽  
Bessy Benejam ◽  
...  

Abstract Background There is an urgent need for objective markers of Alzheimer’s disease (AD)-related cognitive impairment in people with Down syndrome (DS) to improve diagnosis, monitor disease progression, and assess response to disease-modifying therapies. Previously, GluA4 and neuronal pentraxin 2 (NPTX2) showed limited potential as cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) markers of cognitive impairment in adults with DS. Here, we compare the CSF profile of a panel of synaptic proteins (Calsyntenin-1, Neuroligin-2, Neurexin-2A, Neurexin-3A, Syntaxin-1B, Thy-1, VAMP-2) to that of NPTX2 and GluA4 in a large cohort of subjects with DS across the preclinical and clinical AD continuum and explore their correlation with cognitive impairment. Methods We quantified the synaptic panel proteins by selected reaction monitoring in CSF from 20 non-trisomic cognitively normal controls (mean age 44) and 80 adults with DS grouped according to clinical AD diagnosis (asymptomatic, prodromal AD or AD dementia). We used regression analyses to determine CSF changes across the AD continuum and explored correlations with age, global cognitive performance (CAMCOG), episodic memory (modified cued-recall test; mCRT) and CSF biomarkers, CSF Aβ42:40 ratio, CSF Aβ1-42, CSF p-tau, and CSF NFL. P values were adjusted for multiple testing. Results In adults with DS, VAMP-2 was the only synaptic protein to correlate with episodic memory (delayed recall adj.p = .04) and age (adj.p = .0008) and was the best correlate of CSF Aβ42:40 (adj.p = .0001), p-tau (adj.p < .0001), and NFL (adj.p < .0001). Compared to controls, mean VAMP-2 levels were lower in asymptomatic adults with DS only (adj.p = .02). CSF levels of Neurexin-3A, Thy-1, Neurexin-2A, Calysntenin-1, Neuroligin-2, GluA4, and Syntaxin-1B all strongly correlated with NPTX2 (p < .0001), which was the only synaptic protein to show reduced CSF levels in DS at all AD stages compared to controls (adj.p < .002). Conclusion These data show proof-of-concept for CSF VAMP-2 as a potential marker of synapse degeneration that correlates with CSF AD and axonal degeneration markers and cognitive performance.


Genetics ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 142 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Freitag ◽  
Nelima Dighde ◽  
Matthew S Sachs

The Neurospora crmsu arg-2 gene encodes the small subunit of arginine-specific carbamoyl phosphate synthetase. The levels of arg-2 mRNA and mRNA translation are negatively regulated by arginine. An upstream open reading frame (uORF) in the transcript’s 5′ region has been implicated in arginine-specific control. An arg-2-hph fusion gene encoding hygromycin phosphotransferase conferred arginine-regulated resistance to hygromycin when introduced into N. crassa. We used an arg-2-hph strain to select for UV-induced mutants that grew in the presence of hygromycin and arginine, and we isolated 46 mutants that had either of two phenotypes. One phenotype indicated altered expression of both arg-2-hph and urg-2 genes; the other, altered expression of urg-2-hph but not arg-2. One of the latter mutations, which was genetically closely linked to arg-2-hph, was recovered from the 5′ region of the arg-2-hph gene using PCR. Sequence analyses and transformation experiments revealed a mutation at uORF codon 12 (Asp to Asn) that abrogated negative regulation. Examination of the distribution of ribosomes on arg-2-hph transcripts showed that loss of regulation had a translational component, indicating the uORF sequence was important for Arg-specific translational control. Comparisons with other uORFS suggest common elements in translational control mechanisms.


2002 ◽  
Vol 97 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie de Boüard ◽  
Christo Christov ◽  
Jean-Sébastien Guillamo ◽  
Lina Kassar-Duchossoy ◽  
Stéphane Palfi ◽  
...  

Object. The reliable assessment of the invasiveness of gliomas in vitro has proved elusive, because most invasion assays inadequately model in vivo invasion in its complexity. Recently, organotypical brain cultures were successfully used in short-term invasion studies on glioma cell lines. In this paper the authors report that the invasiveness of human glioma biopsy specimens directly implanted into rodent brain slices by using the intraslice implantation system (ISIS) can be quantified with precision. The model was first validated by the demonstration that, in long-term studies, established glioma cells survive in the ISIS and follow pathways of invasion similar to those in vivo. Methods. Brain slices (400 µm thick) from newborn mice were maintained on millicell membranes for 15 days. Cells from two human and one rodent glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) cell lines injected into the ISIS were detected by immunohistochemistry or after transfection with green fluorescent protein—containing vectors. Preferential migration along blood vessels was identified using confocal and fluorescent microscopy. Freshly isolated (≤ 24 hours after removal) 1,1′-dioctadecyl-3,3,3′,3′-tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate—prelabeled human glioma biopsy specimens were successfully implanted in 19 (83%) of 23 cases, including 12 GBMs and seven lower grade gliomas (LGGs). Morphometric quantification of distance and density of tumor cell invasion showed that the GBMs were two to four times more invasive than the LGGs. Heterogeneity of invasion was also observed among GBMs and LGGs. Directly implanted glioma fragments were more invasive than spheroids derived from the same biopsy specimen. Conclusions. The ISIS combines a high success rate, technical simplicity, and detailed quantitative measurements and may, therefore, be used to study the invasiveness of biopsy specimens of gliomas of different grades.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Godfrey Grech ◽  
Marieke von Lindern

Organisation of RNAs into functional subgroups that are translated in response to extrinsic and intrinsic factors underlines a relatively unexplored gene expression modulation that drives cell fate in the same manner as regulation of the transcriptome by transcription factors. Recent studies on the molecular mechanisms of inflammatory responses and haematological disorders indicate clearly that the regulation of mRNA translation at the level of translation initiation, mRNA stability, and protein isoform synthesis is implicated in the tight regulation of gene expression. This paper outlines how these posttranscriptional control mechanisms, including control at the level of translation initiation factors and the role of RNA binding proteins, affect hematopoiesis. The clinical relevance of these mechanisms in haematological disorders indicates clearly the potential therapeutic implications and the need of molecular tools that allow measurement at the level of translational control. Although the importance of miRNAs in translation control is well recognised and studied extensively, this paper will exclude detailed account of this level of control.


2000 ◽  
Vol 279 (4) ◽  
pp. E715-E729 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Jameel Shah ◽  
Joshua C. Anthony ◽  
Scot R. Kimball ◽  
Leonard S. Jefferson

Maintenance of cellular protein stores in skeletal muscle depends on a tightly regulated synthesis-degradation equilibrium that is conditionally modulated under an extensive range of physiological and pathophysiological circumstances. Recent studies have established the initiation phase of mRNA translation as a pivotal site of regulation for global rates of protein synthesis, as well as a site through which the synthesis of specific proteins is controlled. The protein synthetic pathway is exquisitely sensitive to the availability of hormones and nutrients and employs a comprehensive integrative strategy to interpret the information provided by hormonal and nutritional cues. The translational repressor, eukaryotic initiation factor 4E binding protein 1 (4E-BP1), and the 70-kDa ribosomal protein S6 kinase (S6K1) have emerged as important components of this strategy, and together they coordinate the behavior of both eukaryotic initiation factors and the ribosome. This review discusses the role of 4E-BP1 and S6K1 in translational control and outlines the mechanisms through which hormones and nutrients effect changes in mRNA translation through the influence of these translational effectors.


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