Crystal Structures of GCN2 Protein Kinase C-terminal Domains Suggest Regulatory Differences in Yeast and Mammals

In response to amino acid starvation, GCN2 phosphorylation of eIF2 leads to repression of general translation and initiation of gene reprogramming that facilitates adaptation to nutrient stress. GCN2 is a multidomain protein with key regulatory domains that directly monitor uncharged tRNAs which accumulate during nutrient limitation, leading to activation of this eIF2 kinase and translational control. A critical feature of regulation of this stress response kinase is its C-terminal domain (CTD). Here, we present high resolution crystal structures of murine and yeast CTDs, which guide a functional analysis of the mammalian GCN2. Despite low sequence identity, both yeast and mammalian CTDs share a core subunit structure and an unusual interdigitated dimeric form, albeit with significant differences. Disruption of the dimeric form of murine CTD led to loss of translational control by GCN2, suggesting that dimerization is critical for function as is true for yeast GCN2. However, although both CTDs bind single- and double-stranded RNA, murine GCN2 does not appear to stably associate with the ribosome, whereas yeast GCN2 does. This finding suggests that there are key regulatory differences between yeast and mammalian CTDs, which is consistent with structural differences.     

The GCN2 eIF2alpha kinase is required for adaptation to amino acid deprivation in mice

The GCN2 eIF2alpha kinase is essential for activation of the general amino acid control pathway in yeast when one or more amino acids become limiting for growth. GCN2's function in mammals is unknown, but must differ, since mammals, unlike yeast, can synthesize only half of the standard 20 amino acids. To investigate the function of mammalian GCN2, we have generated a Gcn2(-/-) knockout strain of mice. Gcn2(-/-) mice are viable, fertile, and exhibit no phenotypic abnormalities under standard growth conditions. However, prenatal and neonatal mortalities are significantly increased in Gcn2(-/-) mice whose mothers were reared on leucine-, tryptophan-, or glycine-deficient diets during gestation. Leucine deprivation produced the most pronounced effect, with a 63% reduction in the expected number of viable neonatal mice. Cultured embryonic stem cells derived from Gcn2(-/-) mice failed to show the normal induction of eIF2alpha phosphorylation in cells deprived of leucine. To assess the biochemical effects of the loss of GCN2 in the whole animal, liver perfusion experiments were conducted. Histidine limitation in the presence of histidinol induced a twofold increase in the phosphorylation of eIF2alpha and a concomitant reduction in eIF2B activity in perfused livers from wild-type mice, but no changes in livers from Gcn2(-/-) mice.     

The immunosuppressant FK506 uncovers a positive regulatory cross-talk between the Hog1p and Gcn2p pathways

The immunosuppressant Tacrolimus (FK506) has increased the survival rates of organ transplantation. FK506 exerts its immunosuppressive effect by inhibition of the protein phosphatase calcineurin in activated T-cells. Unfortunately, FK506 therapy is associated with undesired non-therapeutic effects involving targets other than calcineurin. To identify these targets we have addressed FK506 cellular toxicity in budding yeast. We show that FK506 increased cell sensitivity upon osmotic challenge independently of calcineurin and the FK506-binding proteins Fpr1p, -2p, -3p, and -4p. FK506 also induced strong amino acid starvation and activation of the general control (GCN) pathway. Tryptophan prototrophy or excess tryptophan overcame FK506 toxicity, showing that tryptophan deprivation mediated this effect. Mutation of the GCN3 and -4 genes partially alleviated FK506 toxicity, suggesting that activation of the GCN pathway by FK506 was also involved in osmotic tolerance. FK506 enhanced osmotic stress-dependent Hog1p kinase phosphorylation that was not accompanied by induction of a Hog1p-dependent reporter. Interestingly, deletion of the GCN2 gene suppressed FK506-dependent Hog1p hyperphosphorylation and restored Hog1p-dependent reporter activity. Conversely, deletion of the HOG1 gene impaired FK506-dependent activation of Gcn2p kinase and translation of a GCN4-LacZ reporter, highlighting functional cross-talk between the Gcn2p and Hog1p protein kinases. Taken together, these data demonstrate that both FK506-induced amino acid starvation and activation of the GCN pathway contribute to cell sensitivity to osmotic stress and reveal a positive regulatory loop between the Hog1p and Gcn2p pathways. Given the conserved nature of Gcn2p and Hog1p pathways, this mechanism of FK506 toxicity could be relevant to the non-therapeutic effects of FK506 therapy.     

Arabidopsis nonresponding to oxylipins locus NOXY7 encodes a yeast GCN1 homolog that mediates noncanonical translation regulation and stress adaptation

Stress adaptation and translational regulation was studied using noxy7 (nonresponding to oxylipins7) from a series of Arabidopsis thaliana mutants. We identified the noxy7 mutation in At1g64790, which encodes a homolog of the yeast translational regulator General Control Nonderepressible1 (GCN1) that activates the GCN2 kinase; GCN2 in turn phosphorylates the α subunit of the translation initiation factor eIF2. This regulatory circuit is conserved in yeast and mammals, in which phosphorylated eIF2α (P‐eIF2α) facilitates stress adaptation by inhibiting protein synthesis. In phenotypic and de novo protein synthesis studies with Arabidopsis mutants, we found that NOXY7/GCN1 and GCN2 mediate P‐eIF2α formation and adaptation to amino acid deprivation; however, P‐eIF2α formation is not linked to general protein synthesis arrest. Additional evidence suggested that NOXY7/GCN1 but not GCN2 regulates adaptation to mitochondrial dysfunction, high boron concentration, and activation of plant immunity to infection by Pseudomonas syringae pv tomato (Pst). In these responses, NOXY7/GCN1 acts with GCN20 to regulate translation in a noncanonical pathway independently of GCN2 and P‐eIF2α. These results show the lesser functional relevance of GCN2 and P‐eIF2α in plants relative to other eukaryotes and highlight the prominent role of NOXY7/GCN1 and GCN20 in regulation of translation and stress adaptation in plants.