A cytoplasmic variant of the KH-type splicing regulatory protein serves as a decay-promoting factor for phosphoglycerate kinase 2 mRNA in murine male germ cells

Phosphoglycerate kinase 2 (PGK2) is a germ cell-specific protein whose mRNA is translationally regulated in the mammalian testis. Using RNA affinity chromatography with the 3′-untranslated region (UTR) of Pgk2 mRNA and adult testis extracts, several associated proteins including a novel isoform of the AU-rich element RNA-binding protein and KH-type splicing regulatory protein (KSRP) were identified. KSRP, a protein of ~75 kDa, is widely expressed in somatic and germ cells where it is primarily nuclear. In addition to the ~75-kDa KSRP, a ~52-kD KSRP, t-KSRP, is present in the cytoplasm of a subpopulation of germ cells. t-KSRP binds directly to a 93-nt sequence (designated the F1 region) of the 3′-UTR of the Pgk2 mRNA and destabilizes Pgk2 mRNA constructs in testis extracts and in transfected cells. We conclude that this testicular variant of the multifunctional nucleic acid–binding protein, KSRP, serves as a decay-promoting factor for Pgk2 mRNA in male germ cells.