Identification of signal sequences determining the specific nucleolar localization of fibrillarin in HeLa cells

Fibrillarin is one of the major nucleolar proteins and is involved in pre-rRNA maturation. Its three main regions are a glycine and arginine-rich (GAR) domain, an RNA-binding domain, and an alpha-helical region, which presumably has a methyltransferase activity. Yet the roles of these regions in nucleolus-specific localization of fibrillarin are still unclear. To elucidate this issue, a series of plasmids was constructed to express human fibrillarin mutants fused with the green fluorescent protein. Localization of the chimeric proteins was studied in interphase and mitotic HeLa cells after single transfection with the plasmids. Deletion or a mutation of any domain proved to alter the specific fibrillarin location coinciding with sites of pre-rRNA synthesis. The GAR domain and the first spacer together were sufficient for fibrillarin migration into the nucleolus. Fibrillarin mutants located within the interphase nucleolus did not differ in mitotic location from the wild-type fibrillarin.