Project description:Assembly of eukaryotic ribosomes begins in the nucleolus, a compartmentalized membraneless organelle. Although the two ribosomal subunits, 40S and 60S, assemble independently, it remains unknown if these particles are physically sorted as they assemble and how they partition from the central chromatin compartment into the outer nucleolar regions, where maturation occurs. In this study, we show that nucleophosmin specifically mediates the assembly of nascent 60S subunits and that this specificity is determined by its chromatin localization at the rDNA sites encoding for 60S subunit rRNA. Nucleophosmin dissociates from chromatin to bind nascent 60S subunits, causing their partitioning away from chromatin and from nascent 40S subunits through liquid-liquid phase separation. This directs translocation of nascent 60S subunits towards the nucleophosmin-rich granular component, where biogenesis continues. Notably, this compartmentalization increases the efficiency of 60S subunit assembly, specifically the incorporation of the 60S domain III. Our data reveal that the chromatin localization of nucleophosmin determines its specificity in sorting and coordinates the movement of ribosomal subunits into specialized assembly compartments.
Project description:In S. cerevisiae, the ribosome assembly factor Reh1 binds to pre-60S subunits at a late stage during their cytoplasmic maturation. Unlike canonical assembly factors, which associate exclusively with pre-60S subunits, we observed that Reh1 sediments with polysomes in addition to free 60S subunits. We therefore investigated the intriguing possibility that Reh1 remains associated with 60S subunits after the release of the anti-association factor Tif6 and after subunit joining. Here, we show that Reh1-bound nascent 60S subunits associate with 40S subunits to form actively translating ribosomes.
Project description:Continuous translation elongation, irrespective of amino acid sequences, is a prerequisite for living organisms to produce their proteomes. However, the risk of elongation abortion is concealed within nascent polypeptide products. For example, negatively charged sequences with occasional intermittent prolines, termed intrinsic ribosome destabilization (IRD) sequences, destabilizes the translating ribosomal complex. Thus, some nascent chain sequences lead to premature translation cessation. Here, we show that most potential IRD sequences in the middle of open reading frames remain cryptic by two mechanisms: the nascent polypeptide itself that spans the exit tunnel and its bulky amino acid residues that occupy the tunnel entrance region. Thus, nascent polypeptide products have a built-in ability to ensure elongation continuity by serving as a bridge and thus by protecting the large and small ribosomal subunits from dissociation.
Project description:Moderating the pool of active ribosomal subunits is critical for maintaining global translation rates. A crucial factor for modulating the 60S ribosomal subunits is eukaryotic translation initiation factor 6. Release of eIF6 from 60S is essential to permit 60S interactions with 40S. Here, using the N106S mutant of eIF6, we show that disrupting eIF6 interaction with 60S leads to an increase in vacant 80S. It further highlights a dichotomy in the anti-association activity of eIF6 that is distinct from its role in 60S biogenesis and shows that the nucleolar localization of eIF6 is not dependent on uL14-BCCIP interactions. Limiting active ribosomal pools markedly deregulates translation especially in mitosis and leads to chromosome segregation defects, mitotic exit delays and mitotic catastrophe. Ribo-Seq analysis of the eIF6-N106S mutant shows a significant downregulation in the translation efficiencies of mitotic factors and specifically transcripts with long 3′UTRs. eIF6-N106S mutation also limits cancer invasion, and this role is correlated with the overexpression of eIF6 only in high-grade invasive cancers suggesting that deregulation of eIF6 is probably not an early event in cancers. Thus, this study highlights the segregation of eIF6 functions and its role in moderating 80S availability for mitotic translation and cancer progression.
Project description:Moderating the pool of active ribosomal subunits is critical for maintaining global translation rates. A crucial factor for modulating the 60S ribosomal subunits is eukaryotic translation initiation factor 6. Release of eIF6 from 60S is essential to permit 60S interactions with 40S. Here, using the N106S mutant of eIF6, we show that disrupting eIF6 interaction with 60S leads to an increase in vacant 80S. It further highlights a dichotomy in the anti-association activity of eIF6 that is distinct from its role in 60S biogenesis and shows that the nucleolar localization of eIF6 is not dependent on uL14-BCCIP interactions. Limiting active ribosomal pools markedly deregulates translation especially in mitosis and leads to chromosome segregation defects, mitotic exit delays and mitotic catastrophe. Ribo-Seq analysis of the eIF6-N106S mutant shows a significant downregulation in the translation efficiencies of mitotic factors and specifically transcripts with long 3′UTRs. eIF6-N106S mutation also limits cancer invasion, and this role is correlated with the overexpression of eIF6 only in high-grade invasive cancers suggesting that deregulation of eIF6 is probably not an early event in cancers. Thus, this study highlights the segregation of eIF6 functions and its role in moderating 80S availability for mitotic translation and cancer progression.
Project description:During ribosome biogenesis a plethora of assembly factors and essential enzymes drive the unidirectional maturation of nascent pre-ribosomal subunits. The DEAD-box RNA helicase Dbp10 is suggested to restructure pre-ribosomal rRNA of the evolving peptidyl-transferase center (PTC) on nucleolar ribosomal 60S assembly intermediates. Here, we show that point mutations within conserved catalytic helicase-core motifs of Dbp10 yield a dominant-lethal growth phenotype. Such dbp10 mutants, which stably associate with pre-60S intermediates, impair pre-60S biogenesis at a nucleolar stage prior to the release of assembly factor Rrp14 and stable integration of late nucleolar factors such as Noc3. Furthermore, the binding of the GTPase Nug1 to particles isolated directly via mutant Dbp10 bait proteins is specifically inhibited. The N-terminal domain of Nug1 interacts with Dbp10 and the methyltransferase Spb1, whose pre-60S incorporation is also reduced in absence of functional Dbp10. Our data suggest that Dbp10’s helicase activity generates a crucial framework for assembly factor docking thereby permitting the progression of pre-60S maturation
Project description:Assembly of eukaryotic ribosomal subunits is a highly dynamic and energy-consuming process involving numerous structural and compositional changes. Here, we identify the pre-ribosomal binding sites of three ATP-dependent RNA helicases Has1, Mak5 and Spb4 and by elucidating the precise targets of these enzymes, we uncover direct roles of Has1 in mediating release of the U14 snoRNA and dissociation of a cluster of early pre-60S biogenesis factors. We further discover pre-rRNA remodelling by Mak5 enables recruitment of the ribosomal protein Rpl10 in the cytoplasm and show that binding of Spb4 to a molecular hinge at the base of ES27 facilitates binding of the export adaptor Arx1 to pre-60S complexes. Our data highlight RNA helicases as key regulators of critical events during ribosome biogenesis and provide novel insights into the structural remodelling events that take place during assembly of the ribosomal subunits.