Skip to main content
PMC home page
Molecular and Cellular Biology logoLink to Molecular and Cellular Biology
. 1991 Jul;11(7):3419–3424. doi: 10.1128/mcb.11.7.3419

The multiple RNA-binding domains of the mRNA poly(A)-binding protein have different RNA-binding activities.

C G Burd 1, E L Matunis 1, G Dreyfuss 1
PMCID: PMC361068  PMID: 1675426

Abstract

The poly(A)-binding protein (PABP) is the major mRNA-binding protein in eukaryotes, and it is essential for viability of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The amino acid sequence of the protein indicates that it consists of four ribonucleoprotein consensus sequence-containing RNA-binding domains (RBDs I, II, III, and IV) and a proline-rich auxiliary domain at the carboxyl terminus. We produced different parts of the S. cerevisiae PABP and studied their binding to poly(A) and other ribohomopolymers in vitro. We found that none of the individual RBDs of the protein bind poly(A) specifically or efficiently. Contiguous two-domain combinations were required for efficient RNA binding, and each pairwise combination (I/II, II/III, and III/IV) had a distinct RNA-binding activity. Specific poly(A)-binding activity was found only in the two amino-terminal RBDs (I/II) which, interestingly, are dispensable for viability of yeast cells, whereas the activity that is sufficient to rescue lethality of a PABP-deleted strain is in the carboxyl-terminal RBDs (III/IV). We conclude that the PABP is a multifunctional RNA-binding protein that has at least two distinct and separable activities: RBDs I/II, which most likely function in binding the PABP to mRNA through the poly(A) tail, and RBDs III/IV, which may function through binding either to a different part of the same mRNA molecule or to other RNA(s).

Full text

PDF

Images in this article

3420Image
on p.3420

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Adam S. A., Nakagawa T., Swanson M. S., Woodruff T. K., Dreyfuss G. mRNA polyadenylate-binding protein: gene isolation and sequencing and identification of a ribonucleoprotein consensus sequence. Mol Cell Biol. 1986 Aug;6(8):2932–2943. doi: 10.1128/mcb.6.8.2932. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bandziulis R. J., Swanson M. S., Dreyfuss G. RNA-binding proteins as developmental regulators. Genes Dev. 1989 Apr;3(4):431–437. doi: 10.1101/gad.3.4.431. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bernstein P., Peltz S. W., Ross J. The poly(A)-poly(A)-binding protein complex is a major determinant of mRNA stability in vitro. Mol Cell Biol. 1989 Feb;9(2):659–670. doi: 10.1128/mcb.9.2.659. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Blobel G. A protein of molecular weight 78,000 bound to the polyadenylate region of eukaryotic messenger RNAs. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1973 Mar;70(3):924–928. doi: 10.1073/pnas.70.3.924. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Brewer G., Ross J. Poly(A) shortening and degradation of the 3' A+U-rich sequences of human c-myc mRNA in a cell-free system. Mol Cell Biol. 1988 Apr;8(4):1697–1708. doi: 10.1128/mcb.8.4.1697. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Burd C. G., Swanson M. S., Görlach M., Dreyfuss G. Primary structures of the heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A2, B1, and C2 proteins: a diversity of RNA binding proteins is generated by small peptide inserts. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989 Dec;86(24):9788–9792. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.24.9788. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Dreyfuss G. Structure and function of nuclear and cytoplasmic ribonucleoprotein particles. Annu Rev Cell Biol. 1986;2:459–498. doi: 10.1146/annurev.cb.02.110186.002331. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Dreyfuss G., Swanson M. S., Piñol-Roma S. Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles and the pathway of mRNA formation. Trends Biochem Sci. 1988 Mar;13(3):86–91. doi: 10.1016/0968-0004(88)90046-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Grange T., de Sa C. M., Oddos J., Pictet R. Human mRNA polyadenylate binding protein: evolutionary conservation of a nucleic acid binding motif. Nucleic Acids Res. 1987 Jun 25;15(12):4771–4787. doi: 10.1093/nar/15.12.4771. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Konarska M. M., Sharp P. A. Electrophoretic separation of complexes involved in the splicing of precursors to mRNAs. Cell. 1986 Sep 12;46(6):845–855. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90066-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Lutz-Freyermuth C., Query C. C., Keene J. D. Quantitative determination that one of two potential RNA-binding domains of the A protein component of the U1 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein complex binds with high affinity to stem-loop II of U1 RNA. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Aug;87(16):6393–6397. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.16.6393. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Munroe D., Jacobson A. mRNA poly(A) tail, a 3' enhancer of translational initiation. Mol Cell Biol. 1990 Jul;10(7):3441–3455. doi: 10.1128/mcb.10.7.3441. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Nietfeld W., Mentzel H., Pieler T. The Xenopus laevis poly(A) binding protein is composed of multiple functionally independent RNA binding domains. EMBO J. 1990 Nov;9(11):3699–3705. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1990.tb07582.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Piñol-Roma S., Choi Y. D., Matunis M. J., Dreyfuss G. Immunopurification of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles reveals an assortment of RNA-binding proteins. Genes Dev. 1988 Feb;2(2):215–227. doi: 10.1101/gad.2.2.215. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Query C. C., Bentley R. C., Keene J. D. A common RNA recognition motif identified within a defined U1 RNA binding domain of the 70K U1 snRNP protein. Cell. 1989 Apr 7;57(1):89–101. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90175-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Sachs A. B., Bond M. W., Kornberg R. D. A single gene from yeast for both nuclear and cytoplasmic polyadenylate-binding proteins: domain structure and expression. Cell. 1986 Jun 20;45(6):827–835. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90557-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Sachs A. B., Davis R. W., Kornberg R. D. A single domain of yeast poly(A)-binding protein is necessary and sufficient for RNA binding and cell viability. Mol Cell Biol. 1987 Sep;7(9):3268–3276. doi: 10.1128/mcb.7.9.3268. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Sachs A. B., Davis R. W. The poly(A) binding protein is required for poly(A) shortening and 60S ribosomal subunit-dependent translation initiation. Cell. 1989 Sep 8;58(5):857–867. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90938-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Sachs A. B., Davis R. W. Translation initiation and ribosomal biogenesis: involvement of a putative rRNA helicase and RPL46. Science. 1990 Mar 2;247(4946):1077–1079. doi: 10.1126/science.2408148. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Scherly D., Boelens W., Dathan N. A., van Venrooij W. J., Mattaj I. W. Major determinants of the specificity of interaction between small nuclear ribonucleoproteins U1A and U2B'' and their cognate RNAs. Nature. 1990 Jun 7;345(6275):502–506. doi: 10.1038/345502a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Scherly D., Boelens W., van Venrooij W. J., Dathan N. A., Hamm J., Mattaj I. W. Identification of the RNA binding segment of human U1 A protein and definition of its binding site on U1 snRNA. EMBO J. 1989 Dec 20;8(13):4163–4170. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1989.tb08601.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Swanson M. S., Dreyfuss G. Classification and purification of proteins of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles by RNA-binding specificities. Mol Cell Biol. 1988 May;8(5):2237–2241. doi: 10.1128/mcb.8.5.2237. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Swanson M. S., Nakagawa T. Y., LeVan K., Dreyfuss G. Primary structure of human nuclear ribonucleoprotein particle C proteins: conservation of sequence and domain structures in heterogeneous nuclear RNA, mRNA, and pre-rRNA-binding proteins. Mol Cell Biol. 1987 May;7(5):1731–1739. doi: 10.1128/mcb.7.5.1731. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Zelus B. D., Giebelhaus D. H., Eib D. W., Kenner K. A., Moon R. T. Expression of the poly(A)-binding protein during development of Xenopus laevis. Mol Cell Biol. 1989 Jun;9(6):2756–2760. doi: 10.1128/mcb.9.6.2756. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Molecular and Cellular Biology are provided here courtesy of Taylor & Francis

RESOURCES