Down-Regulation of eIF4GII by miR-520c-3p Represses Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma Development

Deregulation of the translational machinery is emerging as a critical contributor to cancer development. The contribution of microRNAs in translational gene control has been established however; the role of microRNAs in disrupting the cap-dependent translation regulation complex has not been previously described. Here, we established that elevated miR-520c-3p represses global translation, cell proliferation and initiates premature senescence in HeLa and DLBCL cells. Moreover, we demonstrate that miR-520c-3p directly targets translation initiation factor, eIF4GII mRNA and negatively regulates eIF4GII protein synthesis. miR-520c-3p overexpression diminishes cells colony formation and reduces tumor growth in a human xenograft mouse model. Consequently, downregulation of eIF4GII by siRNA decreases translation, cell proliferation and ability to form colonies, as well as induces cellular senescence. In vitro and in vivo findings were further validated in patient samples; DLBCL primary cells demonstrated low miR-520c-3p levels with reciprocally up-regulated eIF4GII protein expression. Our results provide evidence that the tumor suppressor effect of miR-520c-3p is mediated through repression of translation while inducing senescence and that eIF4GII is a key effector of this anti-tumor activity.     

Translational discrimination against bacteriophage T7 gene 0·3 messenger RNA

Based on genetic manipulation of T7 late messenger RNA levels in vivo, we previously hypothesized that wild-type T7 infection of Escherichia coli develops in mRNA excess and that there is translational discrimination against T7 gene 0·3 mRNA (Strome & Young, 1978). The results presented here support our hypothesis. The discrimination against 0·3 mRNA translation observed in vivo can be mimicked in a cell-free system by increasing the concentration of T7 RNA beyond the level needed to saturate the translational machinery or by translating T7 RNA with a low concentration of ribosomes. This discrimination can be overcome by adding ribosomes to the cell-free system (increasing the ribosome to mRNA ratio) or by slowing the rate of polypeptide chain elongation. In addition 0·3 mRNA activity as well as a substantial fraction of T7 late mRNA activity is found to be shifted off of polysomes late in T7 infection. Our results are indicative of a low initiation rate constant for 0·3 mRNA compared to T7 late mRNAs.     

Translation attenuation regulation of chloramphenicol resistance in bacteria — a review

The chloramphenicol (Cm)-inducible cat and cmlA genes are regulated by translation attenuation, a regulatory device that modulates mRNA translation. In this form of gene regulation, translation of the Cm^R coding sequence is prevented by mRNA secondary structure that sequesters its ribosome-binding site (RBS). A translated leader of nine codons precedes the secondary structure, and induction results when a ribosome becomes stalled at a specific site in the leader. Here we demonstrate that the site of ribosome stalling in the leader is selected by a cis effect of the nascent leader peptide on its translating ribosome.     

Isolation of Ribosome Bound Nascent Polypeptides in vitro to Identify Translational Pause Sites Along mRNA

The rate of translational elongation is non-uniform. mRNA secondary structure, codon usage and mRNA associated proteins may alter ribosome movement on the message^{for review see 1}. However, it''s now widely accepted that synonymous codon usage is the primary cause of non-uniform translational elongation rates¹. Synonymous codons are not used with identical frequency. A bias exists in the use of synonymous codons with some codons used more frequently than others². Codon bias is organism as well as tissue specific^2,3. Moreover, frequency of codon usage is directly proportional to the concentrations of cognate tRNAs⁴. Thus, a frequently used codon will have higher multitude of corresponding tRNAs, which further implies that a frequent codon will be translated faster than an infrequent one. Thus, regions on mRNA enriched in rare codons (potential pause sites) will as a rule slow down ribosome movement on the message and cause accumulation of nascent peptides of the respective sizes^5-8. These pause sites can have functional impact on the protein expression, mRNA stability and protein folding^{for review see 9}. Indeed, it was shown that alleviation of such pause sites can alter ribosome movement on mRNA and subsequently may affect the efficiency of co-translational (in vivo) protein folding^1,7,10,11. To understand the process of protein folding in vivo, in the cell, that is ultimately coupled to the process of protein synthesis it is essential to gain comprehensive insights into the impact of codon usage/tRNA content on the movement of ribosomes along mRNA during translational elongation.Here we describe a simple technique that can be used to locate major translation pause sites for a given mRNA translated in various cell-free systems^6-8. This procedure is based on isolation of nascent polypeptides accumulating on ribosomes during in vitro translation of a target mRNA. The rationale is that at low-frequency codons, the increase in the residence time of the ribosomes results in increased amounts of nascent peptides of the corresponding sizes. In vitro transcribed mRNA is used for in vitro translational reactions in the presence of radioactively labeled amino acids to allow the detection of the nascent chains. In order to isolate ribosome bound nascent polypeptide complexes the translation reaction is layered on top of 30% glycerol solution followed by centrifugation. Nascent polypeptides in polysomal pellet are further treated with ribonuclease A and resolved by SDS PAGE. This technique can be potentially used for any protein and allows analysis of ribosome movement along mRNA and the detection of the major pause sites. Additionally, this protocol can be adapted to study factors and conditions that can alter ribosome movement and thus potentially can also alter the function/conformation of the protein.     

Identification of DEAD-box RNA Helicase 6 (DDX6) as a Cellular Modulator of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Expression under Hypoxia

Vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF) is a crucial proangiogenic factor, which regulates blood vessel supply under physiologic and pathologic conditions. The VEGF mRNA 5′-untranslated region (5′-UTR) bears internal ribosome entry sites (IRES), which confer sustained VEGF mRNA translation under hypoxia when 5′-cap-dependent mRNA translation is inhibited. VEGF IRES-mediated initiation of translation requires the modulated interaction of trans-acting factors. To identify trans-acting factors that control VEGF mRNA translation under hypoxic conditions we established an in vitro translation system based on human adenocarcinoma cells (MCF-7). Cytoplasmic extracts of MCF-7 cells grown under hypoxia (1% oxygen) recapitulate VEGF IRES-mediated reporter mRNA translation. Employing the VEGF mRNA 5′-UTR and 3′-UTR in an RNA affinity approach we isolated interacting proteins from translational active MCF-7 extract prepared from cells grown under normoxia or hypoxia. Interestingly, mass spectrometry analysis identified the DEAD-box RNA helicase 6 (DDX6) that interacts with the VEGF mRNA 5′-UTR. Recombinant DDX6 inhibits VEGF IRES-mediated translation in normoxic MCF-7 extract. Under hypoxia the level of DDX6 declines, and its interaction with VEGF mRNA is diminished in vivo. Depletion of DDX6 by RNAi further promotes VEGF expression in MCF-7 cells. Increased secretion of VEGF from DDX6 knockdown cells positively affects vascular tube formation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) in vitro. Our results indicate that the decrease of DDX6 under hypoxia contributes to the activation of VEGF expression and promotes its proangiogenic function.     

Ribosome collisions and translation efficiency: optimization by codon usage and mRNA destabilization

Individual mRNAs are translated by multiple ribosomes that initiate translation with an interval of a few seconds. The ribosome speed is codon dependent, and ribosome queuing has been suggested to explain specific data for translation of some mRNAs in vivo. By modeling the stochastic translation process as a traffic problem, we here analyze conditions and consequences of collisions and queuing. The model allowed us to determine the on-rate (0.8 to 1.1 initiations/s) and the time (1 s) the preceding ribosome occludes initiation for Escherichia coli lacZ mRNA in vivo. We find that ribosome collisions and queues are inevitable consequences of a stochastic translation mechanism that reduce the translation efficiency substantially on natural mRNAs. The cells minimize collisions by having its mRNAs being unstable and by a highly selected codon usage in the start of the mRNA. The cost of mRNA breakdown is offset by the concomitant increase in translation efficiency.     

A competition mechanism regulates the translation of the Escherichia coli operon encoding ribosomal proteins L35 and L20

Escherichia coli ribosomal protein (r-protein) L20 is essential for the assembly of the 50S ribosomal subunit and is also a translational regulator of its own rpmI-rplT operon, encoding r-proteins L35 and L20 in that order. L20 directly represses the translation of the first cistron and, through translational coupling, that of its own gene. The translational operator of the operon is 450 nt in length and includes a long-range pseudoknot interaction between two RNA sequences separated by 280 nt. L20 has the potential to bind both to this pseudoknot and to an irregular hairpin, although only one site is occupied at a time during regulation. This work shows that the rpmI-rplT operon is regulated by competition between L20 and the ribosome for binding to mRNA in vitro and in vivo. Detailed studies on the regulatory mechanisms of r-protein synthesis have only been performed on the rpsO gene, regulated by r-protein S15, and on the alpha operon, regulated by S4. Both are thought to be controlled by a trapping mechanism, whereby the 30S ribosomal subunit, the mRNA, and the initiator tRNA are blocked as a nonfunctional preternary complex. This alternative mode of regulation of the rpmI-rplT operon raises the possibility that control is kinetically and not thermodynamically limited in this case. We show that the pseudoknot, which is known to be essential for L20 binding and regulation, also enhances 30S binding to mRNA as if this structure is specifically recognised by the ribosome.     

Switch from Cap- to Factorless IRES-Dependent 0 and +1 Frame Translation during Cellular Stress and Dicistrovirus Infection

Internal ribosome entry sites (IRES) are utilized by a subset of cellular and viral mRNAs to initiate translation during cellular stress and virus infection when canonical cap-dependent translation is compromised. The intergenic region (IGR) IRES of the Dicistroviridae uses a streamlined mechanism in which it can directly recruit the ribosome in the absence of initiation factors and initiates translation using a non-AUG codon. A subset of IGR IRESs including that from the honey bee viruses can also direct translation of an overlapping +1 frame gene. In this study, we systematically examined cellular conditions that lead to IGR IRES-mediated 0 and +1 frame translation in Drosophila S2 cells. Towards this, a novel bicistronic reporter that exploits the 2A “stop-go” peptide was developed to allow the detection of IRES-mediated translation in vivo. Both 0 and +1 frame translation by the IGR IRES are stimulated under a number of cellular stresses and in S2 cells infected by cricket paralysis virus, demonstrating a switch from cap-dependent to IRES-dependent translation. The regulation of the IGR IRES mechanism ensures that both 0 frame viral structural proteins and +1 frame ORFx protein are optimally expressed during virus infection.     

Dissecting eukaryotic translation and its control by ribosome density mapping

Translation of an mRNA is generally divided into three stages: initiation, elongation and termination. The relative rates of these steps determine both the number and position of ribosomes along the mRNA, but traditional velocity sedimentation assays for the translational status of mRNA determine only the number of bound ribosomes. We developed a procedure, termed Ribosome Density Mapping (RDM), that uses site-specific cleavage of polysomal mRNA followed by separation on a sucrose gradient and northern analysis, to determine the number of ribosomes associated with specified portions of a particular mRNA. This procedure allows us to test models for translation and its control, and to examine properties of individual steps of translation in vivo. We tested specific predictions from the current model for translational control of GCN4 expression in yeast and found that ribosomes were differentially associated with the uORFs elements and coding region under different growth conditions, consistent with this model. We also mapped ribosome density along the ORF of several mRNAs, to probe basic kinetic properties of translational steps in yeast. We found no detectable decline in ribosome density between the 5′ and 3′ ends of the ORFs, suggesting that the average processivity of elongation is very high. Conversely, there was no queue of ribosomes at the termination site, suggesting that termination is not very slow relative to elongation and initiation. Finally, the RDM results suggest that less frequent initiation of translation on mRNAs with longer ORFs is responsible for the inverse correlation between ORF length and ribosomal density that we observed in a global analysis of translation. These results provide new insights into eukaryotic translation in vivo.     

Translation affects YoeB and MazF messenger RNA interferase activities by different mechanisms

Prokaryotic toxin–antitoxin loci encode mRNA cleaving enzymes that inhibit translation. Two types are known: those that cleave mRNA codons at the ribosomal A site and those that cleave any RNA site specifically. RelE of Escherichia coli cleaves mRNA at the ribosomal A site in vivo and in vitro but does not cleave pure RNA in vitro. RelE exhibits an incomplete RNase fold that may explain why RelE requires its substrate mRNA to presented by the ribosome. In contrast, RelE homologue YoeB has a complete RNase fold and cleaves RNA independently of ribosomes in vitro. Here, we show that YoeB cleavage of mRNA is strictly dependent on translation of the mRNA in vivo. Non-translated model mRNAs were not cleaved whereas the corresponding wild-type mRNAs were cleaved efficiently. Model mRNAs carrying frameshift mutations exhibited a YoeB-mediated cleavage pattern consistent with the reading frameshift thus giving strong evidence that YoeB cleavage specificity was determined by the translational reading frame. In contrast, site-specific mRNA cleavage by MazF occurred independently of translation. In one case, translation seriously influenced MazF cleavage efficiency, thus solving a previous apparent paradox. We propose that translation enhances MazF-mediated cleavage of mRNA by destabilization of the mRNA secondary structure.