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Activation of ribosomal RNA transcription by hepatitis C virus involves upstream binding factor phosphorylation via induction of cyclin D1.

ABSTRACT: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) causes chronic infection in humans leading to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. rRNA transcription, catalyzed by RNA polymerase I (Pol I), plays a critical role in ribosome biogenesis, and changes in Pol I transcription rate are associated with profound alterations in the growth rate of the cell. Because rRNA synthesis is intimately linked to cell growth and frequently up-regulated in many cancers, we hypothesized that HCV might have the ability to activate rRNA synthesis in infected cells. We show here that rRNA promoter-mediated transcription is significantly (10- to 12-fold) activated in human liver-derived cells following infection with type 2 JFH-1 HCV or transfection with the subgenomic type 1 HCV replicon. Further analysis revealed that HCV nonstructural protein 5A (NS5A) was responsible for activation of rRNA transcription. Both the NH(2)-terminal amphipathic helix and the polyproline motifs of NS5A seem to be essential for rRNA transcription activation. The NS5A-dependent activation of rRNA transcription seems to be due to hyperphosphorylation and consequent activation of upstream binding factor (UBF), a Pol I DNA binding transcription factor. We further show that hyperphosphorylation of UBF occurs as a result of up-regulation of both cyclin D1 and cyclin-dependent kinase 4 by the HCV NS5A polypeptide. These results suggest that the endoplasmic reticulum-associated NS5A is able to transduce signals into the nucleoplasm via UBF hyperphosphorylation leading to rRNA transcription activation. These results could, at least in part, explain a mechanism by which HCV contributes to transformation of liver cells.

SUBMITTER: Raychaudhuri S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2650774 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Activation of ribosomal RNA transcription by hepatitis C virus involves upstream binding factor phosphorylation via induction of cyclin D1.

Raychaudhuri Santanu S Fontanes Vanessa V Barat Bhaswati B Dasgupta Asim A

Cancer research 20090217 5

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) causes chronic infection in humans leading to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. rRNA transcription, catalyzed by RNA polymerase I (Pol I), plays a critical role in ribosome biogenesis, and changes in Pol I transcription rate are associated with profound alterations in the growth rate of the cell. Because rRNA synthesis is intimately linked to cell growth and frequently up-regulated in many cancers, we hypothesized that HCV might have the ability to activate rR ...[more]

PMID: 19223538

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Project description:p107 functions to control cell division and development through interaction with members of the E2F family of transcription factors. p107 is phosphorylated in a cell cycle-regulated manner, and its phosphorylation leads to its release from E2F. Although it is known that p107 physically associates with E- and A-type cyclin/cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (Cdk2) complexes through a cyclin-binding RXL motif located in the spacer domain, the mechanisms underlying p107 inactivation via phosphorylation remain poorly defined. Recent genetic evidence indicates a requirement for cyclin D1/Cdk4 complexes in p107 inactivation. In this work, we provide direct biochemical evidence for the involvement of cyclin D1/Cdk4 in the inactivation of p107's growth-suppressive function. While coexpression of cyclin D1/Cdk4 can reverse the cell cycle arrest properties of p107 in Saos-2 cells, we find that p107 in which the Lys-Arg-Arg-Leu sequence of the RXL motif is replaced by four alanine residues is largely refractory to inactivation by cyclin D/Cdk4, indicating a role for this motif in p107 inactivation without a requirement for its tight interaction with cyclin D1/Cdk4. We identified four phosphorylation sites in p107 (Thr-369, Ser-640, Ser-964, and Ser-975) that are efficiently phosphorylated by Cdk4 but not by Cdk2 in vitro and are also phosphorylated in tissue culture cells. Growth suppression by p107 containing nonphosphorylatable residues in these four sites is not reversed by coexpression of cyclin D1/Cdk4. In model p107 spacer region peptides, phosphorylation of S640 by cyclin D1/Cdk4 is strictly dependent upon an intact RXL motif, but phosphorylation of this site in the absence of an RXL motif can be partially restored by replacement of S643 by arginine. This suggests that one role for the RXL motif is to facilitate phosphorylation of nonconsensus Cdk substrates. Taken together, these data indicate that p107 is inactivated by cyclin D1/Cdk4 via direct phosphorylation and that the RXL motif of p107 plays a role in its inactivation by Cdk4 in the absence of stable binding.

Dataset Information

Activation of ribosomal RNA transcription by hepatitis C virus involves upstream binding factor phosphorylation via induction of cyclin D1.

Publications

Activation of ribosomal RNA transcription by hepatitis C virus involves upstream binding factor phosphorylation via induction of cyclin D1.

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