Increase in Cap- and IRES-Dependent Protein Synthesis by Overproduction of Translation Initiation Factor eIF4G

2000 ◽  
Vol 277 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoko Hayashi ◽  
Kazuhiro Nishimura ◽  
Tomomi Fukuchi-Shimogori ◽  
Keiko Kashiwagi ◽  
Kazuei Igarashi
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (668) ◽  
pp. eabc5429
Author(s):  
Mauricio M. Oliveira ◽  
Mychael V. Lourenco ◽  
Francesco Longo ◽  
Nicole P. Kasica ◽  
Wenzhong Yang ◽  
...  

Neuronal protein synthesis is essential for long-term memory consolidation, and its dysregulation is implicated in various neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Cellular stress triggers the activation of protein kinases that converge on the phosphorylation of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2α (eIF2α), which attenuates mRNA translation. This translational inhibition is one aspect of the integrated stress response (ISR). We found that postmortem brain tissue from AD patients showed increased phosphorylation of eIF2α and reduced abundance of eIF2B, another key component of the translation initiation complex. Systemic administration of the small-molecule compound ISRIB (which blocks the ISR downstream of phosphorylated eIF2α) rescued protein synthesis in the hippocampus, measures of synaptic plasticity, and performance on memory-associated behavior tests in wild-type mice cotreated with salubrinal (which inhibits translation by inducing eIF2α phosphorylation) and in both β-amyloid-treated and transgenic AD model mice. Thus, attenuating the ISR downstream of phosphorylated eIF2α may restore hippocampal protein synthesis and delay cognitive decline in AD patients.


1999 ◽  
Vol 342 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shinya SATOH ◽  
Makoto HIJIKATA ◽  
Hiroshi HANDA ◽  
Kunitada SHIMOTOHNO

Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2α (eIF-2α), a target molecule of the interferon-inducible double-stranded-RNA-dependent protein kinase (PKR), was cleaved in apoptotic Saos-2 cells on treatment with poly(I)˙poly(C) or tumour necrosis factor α. This cleavage occurred with a time course similar to that of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, a well-known caspase substrate. In addition, eIF-2α was cleaved by recombinant active caspase-3 in vitro. By site-directed mutagenesis, the cleavage site was mapped to an Ala-Glu-Val-Asp300 ↓ Gly301 sequence located in the C-terminal portion of eIF-2α. PKR phosphorylates eIF-2α on Ser51, resulting in the suppression of protein synthesis. PKR-mediated translational suppression was repressed when the C-terminally cleaved product of eIF-2α was overexpressed in Saos-2 cells, even though PKR can phosphorylate this cleaved product. These results suggest that caspase-3 or related protease(s) can modulate the efficiency of protein synthesis by cleaving the α subunit of eIF-2, a key component in the initiation of translation.


Blood ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 118 (21) ◽  
pp. 1853-1853 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirong Li ◽  
MeiHua Jin ◽  
Ailing Liu ◽  
Markus Y. Mapara ◽  
Suzanne Lentzsch

Abstract Abstract 1853 Methods: The translation initiation factor eIF4E is central to protein synthesis in general, and overexpression and/or activation of eIF4E is associated with a malignant phenotype by regulating oncogenic protein translation. Several previous publications indicate that aberrant control of protein synthesis contributes to lymphoma genesis but the exact role of protein translation in multiple myeloma (MM) is less clear. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms that control protein synthesis is an emerging new research area in MM with significant potential for developing innovative therapies. The goal of this study was to determine the role and regulation of eIF4E, as well as the effects of protein translation controlling drugs in MM. Results: By western blot analysis as well as RT-PCR we found that eIF4E protein and mRNA levels are significantly elevated (up to 20 fold) in MM cell lines (H929, RPMI-8226, MM.1S and OPM2) and primary myeloma cells compared to normal plasma cells. Silencing of eIF4E gene expression in RPMI-8226 MM cells by a stable and inducible shRNA system significantly decreased viability of myeloma cells (by ∼ 43%) but not of HEK 293 suggesting a higher dependency of MM cells to protein translation. Next we evaluated different drugs including pomalidomide, rapamycin, pp242, 4EGI-1 and ribavirin, that are known to inhibit protein synthesis for their effects on protein translation in MM. By m7GTP pull down assays we evaluated the effects of the different drugs on eIF4E expression and activity. Rapamycin blocked the phosphorylation of 4EBP1 and eIF4E release, and subsequently inhibited eIF4G binding. The compound 4EGI-1 decreased the interaction between eIF4E and eIF4G. Pomalidomide decreased eIF4E protein expression. All drugs inhibited MM cell DNA synthesis measured by 3H-Thymidine incorporation. Treatment with pomalidomide (10uM), rapamycin (40nM), pp242 (10uM), 4EGI1 (50uM) or ribavirin (50uM) for 48h significantly decreased (p<0.05) proliferation by 43–62% indicating that drugs controlling protein translation inhibit MM growth. We also found that all drugs decreased expression of eIF4E dependent targets such as cyclin D1 and c-myc. Conclusion: Here we show that eIF4E, a key player in translational control, is highly expressed in MM cells and critical for MM growth and survival. Therefore our study helps to understand the function and regulatory mechanism of eIF4E in MM. Further the evaluation of drugs targeting protein translation provides the basis for the optimization of current MM treatment or to open up new strategies such as targeting protein translation in future MM therapy. Disclosures: Lentzsch: Celgene Corp: Consultancy, Research Funding; Onyx: Consultancy; Genzyme: Consultancy; prIME Oncology: Honoraria; Imedex: Honoraria; Clinical Care Options: Honoraria.


2007 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 3635-3644 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirin Kazemi ◽  
Zineb Mounir ◽  
Dionissios Baltzis ◽  
Jennifer F. Raven ◽  
Shuo Wang ◽  
...  

Phosphoinositide-3 kinase (PI3K) plays an important role in signal transduction in response to a wide range of cellular stimuli involved in cellular processes that promote cell proliferation and survival. Phosphorylation of the α subunit of the eukaryotic translation initiation factor eIF2 at Ser51 takes place in response to various types of environmental stress and is essential for regulation of translation initiation. Herein, we show that a conditionally active form of the eIF2α kinase PKR acts upstream of PI3K and turns on the Akt/PKB-FRAP/mTOR pathway leading to S6 and 4E-BP1 phosphorylation. Also, induction of PI3K signaling antagonizes the apoptotic and protein synthesis inhibitory effects of the conditionally active PKR. Furthermore, induction of the PI3K pathway is impaired in PKR−/− or PERK−/− mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) in response to various stimuli that activate each eIF2α kinase. Mechanistically, PI3K signaling activation is indirect and requires the inhibition of protein synthesis by eIF2α phosphorylation as demonstrated by the inactivation of endogenous eIF2α by small interfering RNA or utilization of MEFs bearing the eIF2α Ser51Ala mutation. Our data reveal a novel property of eIF2α kinases as activators of PI3K signaling and cell survival.


2004 ◽  
Vol 78 (23) ◽  
pp. 12747-12761 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dionissios Baltzis ◽  
Li-Ke Qu ◽  
Stavroula Papadopoulou ◽  
Jaime D. Blais ◽  
John C. Bell ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Phosphorylation of the alpha (α) subunit of the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 (eIF2) leads to the inhibition of protein synthesis in response to diverse stress conditions, including viral infection. The eIF2α kinase PKR has been shown to play an essential role against vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) infection. We demonstrate here that another eIF2α kinase, the endoplasmic reticulum-resident protein kinase PERK, contributes to cellular resistance to VSV infection. We demonstrate that mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) from PERK−/− mice are more susceptible to VSV-mediated apoptosis than PERK+/+ MEFs. The higher replication capacity of VSV in PERK−/− MEFs results from their inability to attenuate viral protein synthesis due to an impaired eIF2α phosphorylation. We also show that VSV-infected PERK−/− MEFs are unable to fully activate PKR, suggesting a cross talk between the two eIF2α kinases in virus-infected cells. These findings further implicate PERK in virus infection, and provide evidence that the antiviral and antiapoptotic roles of PERK are mediated, at least in part, via the activation of PKR.


2006 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 1164-1175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karsten D. Meier ◽  
Olivier Deloche ◽  
Kentaro Kajiwara ◽  
Kouichi Funato ◽  
Howard Riezman

Sphingolipids are required for many cellular functions including response to heat shock. We analyzed the yeast lcb1-100 mutant, which is conditionally impaired in the first step of sphingolipid biosynthesis and shows a strong decrease in heat shock protein synthesis and viability. Transcription and nuclear export of heat shock protein mRNAs is not affected. However, lcb1-100 cells exhibited a strong decrease in protein synthesis caused by a defect in translation initiation under heat stress conditions. The essential lipid is sphingoid base, not ceramide or sphingoid base phosphates. Deletion of the eIF4E-binding protein Eap1p in lcb-100 cells restored translation of heat shock proteins and increased viability. The translation defect during heat stress in lcb1-100 was due at least partially to a reduced function of the sphingoid base-activated PKH1/2 protein kinases. In addition, depletion of the translation initiation factor eIF4G was observed in lcb1-100 cells and ubiquitin overexpression allowed partial recovery of translation after heat stress. Taken together, we have shown a requirement for sphingoid bases during the recovery from heat shock and suggest that this reflects a direct lipid-dependent signal to the cap-dependent translation initiation apparatus.


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