Project description:DEAD-box RNA helicases DDX3 are important developmental regulators of multiple aspects of RNA metabolism of eukaryotes. belle, a single DDX3 ortholog in Drosophila, is essential for fly viability, fertility, and germline stem cell maintenance. Here we showed that RNAi belle knockdown in testis cyst cells caused a disruption of adhesion between germ cells and cyst cells and a generation of tumor-like clusters of stem-like germ cells. Ectopic expression of β-integrin in cyst cells rescued early stages of spermatogenesis in the belle knockdown testes, indicating that integrin adhesion complexes are required for interaction between somatic and germ cells in cyst. To address in details Belle functions in spermatogenesis we performed CLIP-seq analysis and identified multiple mRNAs which interacted with Belle in the testes. A set of Belle targets includes mRNAs of factors that are essential for preventing tumor-like cluster formation of early germ cells and ensuring of sustained gametogenesis.
Project description:DDX3 subfamily DEAD-box RNA helicases are essential developmental regulators of RNA metabolism in eukaryotes. belle, the single DDX3 ortholog in Drosophila, is required for fly viability, fertility, and germline stem cell maintenance. Belle is involved both in translational activation and repression of target mRNAs in different tissues; however, direct targets of Belle in the testes are essentially unknown. Here we showed that belle RNAi knockdown in testis cyst cells caused a disruption of adhesion between germ and cyst cells and generation of tumor-like clusters of stem-like germ cells. Ectopic expression of β-integrin in cyst cells rescued early stages of spermatogenesis in belle knockdown testes, indicating that integrin adhesion complexes are required for the interaction between somatic and germ cells in a cyst. To address Belle functions in spermatogenesis in detail we performed cross-linking immunoprecipitation and sequencing (CLIP-seq) analysis and identified multiple mRNAs that interacted with Belle in the testes. The set of Belle targets includes transcripts of proteins that are essential for preventing the tumor-like clusters of germ cells and for sustaining spermatogenesis. By our hypothesis, failures in the translation of a number of mRNA targets additively contribute to developmental defects observed in the testes with belle knockdowns both in cyst cells and in the germline.
Project description:DEAD-box RNA helicases are central players in RNA metabolism, however, their role in translation regulation is largely unexplored in parasitic protozoa. Here, we have investigated the role of DDX3 RNA helicase in ribosome-associated protein quality control in Leishmania. We show that ribosomes move more slowly and de novo polypeptide synthesis is reduced in cells lacking DDX3. In accordance with the slowing of ribosome speed, DDX3 depleted cells exhibit higher levels of ribosome-associated ubiquitination. Especially, ubiquitination of nascent polypeptides is enhanced upon DDX3 loss as determined by the isolation of ribosome-associated nascent chains modified either by HA-Ubiquitin or by endogenous ubiquitin using biotinylated-puromycin labeling. Consistent with increased co-translational ubiquitination, quantitative proteomics analysis revealed higher recruitment of E3 ubiquitin ligases and proteasomal components to DDX3 knockout ribosomes to eliminate aberrant nascent polypeptides. In addition, we show that cells lacking DDX3 accumulate cytosolic aggregates. This along with the higher recruitment of ribosome-associated chaperones and the improvement of translation by increasing HSP70 availability suggests that co-translational control of nascent polypeptides is impaired in the absence of DDX3. Altogether, these results highlight an important role for DDX3 in ribosome-associated quality control by reducing co-translational ubiquitination and proteotoxicity, hence allowing optimal ribosome movement and translation elongation.
Project description:Belle (Bel), the Drosophila homolog of the yeast DEAD-box RNA helicase DED1 and human DDX3, has been shown to be required for oogenesis and female fertility. Here we report a novel role of Bel in regulating the expression of transgenes. Abrogation of Bel by mutations or RNAi induces silencing of a variety of P-element-derived transgenes. This silencing effect depends on downregulation of their RNA levels. Our genetic studies have revealed that the RNA helicase Spindle-E (Spn-E), a nuage RNA helicase that plays a crucial role in regulating RNA processing and PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA) biogenesis in germline cells, is required for loss-of-bel-induced transgene silencing. Conversely, Bel abrogation alleviates the nuage-protein mislocalization phenotype in spn-E mutants, suggesting a competitive relationship between these two RNA helicases. Additionally, disruption of the chromatin remodeling factor Mod(mdg4) or the microRNA biogenesis enzyme Dicer-1 (Dcr-1) also alleviates the transgene-silencing phenotypes in bel mutants, suggesting the involvement of chromatin remodeling and microRNA biogenesis in loss-of-bel-induced transgene silencing. Finally we show that genetic inhibition of Bel function leads to de novo generation of piRNAs from the transgene region inserted in the genome, suggesting a potential piRNA-dependent mechanism that may mediate transgene silencing as Bel function is inhibited.
Project description:A transcriptome analysis was performed to estimate a primary response of the hepatocytes to depletion of DDX3 RNA helicase both in vitro and in vivo. We used two siRNAs with different efficacy and demonstrated protein level-dependent effects on DDX3 RNA helicase depletion in the murine liver. We found that strong reduction of DDX3 protein (>85%) leads to similar changes in vitro and in vivo – we observed deregulation of cell cycle, Wnt and cadherin pathways. However, more modest downregulation of DDX3 protein (60-65%) resulted in discordant results between gene expression in vitro and in vivo – in vitro data were close to those under strong reduction, while in vivo phenotype was weak. These results demonstrate that the level of active DDX3 protein can dramatically influence on the phenotype in vivo, which should be taken into account during drug development.
Project description:During mitosis, faithful inheritance of genetic material is achieved by chromosome segregation, as mediated by the condensin I and II complexes. Failed chromosome segregation can result in neoplasm formation, infertility, and birth defects. Recently, the germ-line-specific DEAD-box RNA helicase Vasa was demonstrated to promote mitotic chromosome segregation in Drosophila by facilitating robust chromosomal localization of Barren (Barr), a condensin I component. This mitotic function of Vasa is mediated by Aubergine and Spindle-E, which are two germ-line components of the Piwi-interacting RNA pathway. Faithful segregation of chromosomes should be executed both in germ-line and somatic cells. However, whether a similar mechanism also functions in promoting chromosome segregation in somatic cells has not been elucidated. Here, we present evidence that belle (vasa paralog) and the RNA interference pathway regulate chromosome segregation in Drosophila somatic cells. During mitosis, belle promotes robust Barr chromosomal localization and chromosome segregation. Belle's localization to condensing chromosomes depends on dicer-2 and argonaute2. Coimmunoprecipitation experiments indicated that Belle interacts with Barr and Argonaute2 and is enriched at endogenous siRNA (endo-siRNA)-generating loci. Our results suggest that Belle functions in promoting chromosome segregation in Drosophila somatic cells via the endo-siRNA pathway. DDX3 (human homolog of belle) and DICER function in promoting chromosome segregation and hCAP-H (human homolog of Barr) localization in HeLa cells, indicating a conserved function for those proteins in human cells. Our results suggest that the RNA helicase Belle/DDX3 and the RNA interference pathway perform a common role in regulating chromosome segregation in Drosophila and human somatic cells.
Project description:By using ribosome profiling, we demonstrate that catalytic activity of the RNA helicase DDX3 is generally required for mediating translation repression under stress. Intriguingly, however, a cancer-related DDX3 variant DDX3 R534H selectively preserves translation of genes encoding core nucleosome components. Additionally, DDX3 variants also shift ORF usage on select genes, such as RPLP1 and stress-response factors as an added mechanism of translation regulation during stress. Thus, DDX3 through both extensive and selective interactions with RNA and the ribosomal machinery helps to remodel the translational landscape under stress and in cancer.
Project description:SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, continues to spread globally even as vaccine strategies are proving effective in preventing hospitalizations and deaths. However, evolving variants of the virus appear to be more transmissive and vaccine efficacy towards them is waning. As a result, SARS-CoV-2 will continue to have a deadly impact on public health into the foreseeable future. One strategy to bypass the continuing problem of newer variants is to target host proteins required for viral replication. We have used this host-targeted antiviral (HTA) strategy that targets DDX3, a host DEAD-box RNA helicase that is usurped by SARS-CoV-2 for virus production. We demonstrated that targeting DDX3 with RK-33, a small molecule inhibitor, reduced the viral load in four isolates of SARS-CoV-2 (Lineage A, and Lineage B Alpha, Beta, and Delta variants) by one to three log orders in Calu-3 cells. Furthermore, proteomics and RNA-seq analyses indicated that most SARS-CoV-2 genes were downregulated by RK-33 treatment. Also, we show that the use of RK-33 decreases TMPRSS2 expression, which may be due to DDX3s ability to unwind G-quadraplex structures present in the TMPRSS2 promoter. The data presented supports the use of RK-33 as an HTA strategy to control SARS-CoV-2 infection, irrespective of its mutational status, in humans.
Project description:The conserved and essential DEAD-box RNA helicase Ded1p from yeast and its mammalian ortholog DDX3 are critical for translation initiation. Mutations in DDX3 are linked to tumorigenesis and intellectual disability, and the enzyme is targeted by diverse viruses. How Ded1p and its orthologs engage RNAs to impact translation initiation has been a longstanding, unresolved question. Here we show that Ded1p associates with the pre-initiation complex at the mRNA entry channel of the small ribosomal subunit and that the helicase unwinds mRNA structure ahead of the scanning pre-initiation complex. Defective Ded1p causes pervasive translation in 5’UTRs, starting from near-cognate initiation codons located 5' of mRNA structures and concomitant decrease of protein synthesis from of the main ORFs. The data indicate that Ded1p functions to suppress translation initiation on near-cognate codons proximal to mRNA structure and show how the helicase is targeted to specific RNA sites without common sequence signatures. Our results reveal a straightforward mechanism for the activation of upstream open reading frames and suggest that mRNA structure and proximal near-cognate initiation codons encode a widespread regulatory program for translation initiation that is sensitive to RNA helicase function.
Project description:Small molecule compounds that sense the nucleic acid sequences, promise the attractive venue for drug development. Such an unusual effect has been observed in the natural product Rocaglamide A (RocA) from Aglaia plant, proving to exhibit anti-tumor effects by clamping eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF) 4A onto mRNA polypurine sequences. Although eIF4A has been speculated the unique target of RocA, the insensitization of eIF4A in human cells only partially rescued the translation repression from RocA, suggesting another alternative target of this compound. Here, we revealed that DDX3 is an alternative target of RocA. Developing a RocA derivative with an O-nitrobenzoxadiazole unit (RocA-O-NBD), which can covalently bind to proximate proteins and provide fluorescence to them, we identified DDX3 bound to RocA. As observed in eIF4A, RocA locked the DDX3 protein onto polypurine sequences of RNA in an ATP-independent manner. De novo assembled Aglaia plant transcriptome uncovered the natural amino acid substitutions in Aglaia DDX3 to protect itself from RocA toxicity. Because of the dominant negative effect of RocA, we also proved the protein abundance of eIF4A and DDX3 in cancer cells determines their sensitivity to RocA. Overall, this study discovered DDX3 as another target of RocA and suggests the probability to predict tumor toxicity of RocA by the target abundance.