ABSTRACT
BRF1 posttranscriptionally regulates mRNA levels by targeting ARE-bearing transcripts to the decay machinery. We previously showed that protein kinase B (PKB) phosphorylates BRF1 at Ser92, resulting in binding to 14-3-3 and impairment of mRNA decay activity. Here we identify an additional regulatory site at Ser203 that cooperates in vivo with Ser92. In vitro kinase labeling and wortmannin sensitivity indicate that Ser203 phosphorylation is also performed by PKB. Mutation of both serines to alanine uncouples BRF1 from PKB regulation, leading to constitutive mRNA decay even in the presence of stabilizing signals. BRF1 protein is labile because of proteasomal degradation (half-life, <3 h) but becomes stabilized upon phosphorylation and is less stable in PKBalpha(-/-) cells. Surprisingly, phosphorylation-dependent protein stability is also regulated by Ser92 and Ser203, with parallel phosphorylation required at these sites. Phosphorylation-dependent binding to 14-3-3 is abolished only when both sites are mutated. Cell compartment fractionation experiments support a model in which binding to 14-3-3 sequesters BRF1 through relocalization and prevents it from executing its mRNA decay activity, as well as from proteasomal degradation, thereby maintaining high BRF1 protein levels that are required to reinstate decay upon dissipation of the stabilizing signal.
Subject(s)
Nuclear Proteins/genetics , Nuclear Proteins/metabolism , Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/physiology , RNA Stability/genetics , RNA, Messenger/metabolism , RNA-Binding Proteins/genetics , RNA-Binding Proteins/metabolism , Alanine/genetics , Amino Acid Substitution/genetics , Animals , Butyrate Response Factor 1 , Cell Line, Tumor , Humans , Mice , Mice, Knockout , Mutagenesis, Site-Directed , NIH 3T3 Cells , Nuclear Proteins/deficiency , Phosphorylation , Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/deficiency , Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/genetics , Serine/genetics , Signal Transduction/genetics , Transcription Factor TFIIIBABSTRACT
Butyrate response factor (BRF1) belongs to the Tis11 family of CCCH zinc-finger proteins, which bind to mRNAs containing an AU-rich element (ARE) in their 3' untranslated region and promote their deadenylation and rapid degradation. Independent signal transduction pathways have been reported to stabilize ARE-containing transcripts by a process thought to involve phosphorylation of ARE-binding proteins. Here we report that protein kinase B (PKB/Akt) stabilizes ARE transcripts by phosphorylating BRF1 at serine 92 (S92). Recombinant BRF1 promoted in vitro decay of ARE-containing mRNA (ARE-mRNA), yet phosphorylation by PKB impaired this activity. S92 phosphorylation of BRF1 did not impair ARE binding, but induced complex formation with the scaffold protein 14-3-3. In vivo and in vitro data support a model where PKB causes ARE-mRNA stabilization by inactivating BRF1 through binding to 14-3-3.
Subject(s)
Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases/metabolism , Proto-Oncogene Proteins/metabolism , RNA Stability , RNA, Messenger/metabolism , TATA-Binding Protein Associated Factors/metabolism , 14-3-3 Proteins/metabolism , Animals , Genes, Reporter , Insulin/metabolism , Mice , NIH 3T3 Cells , Phosphorylation , Protein Binding , Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt , Recombinant Proteins/genetics , Recombinant Proteins/metabolism , Serine/metabolism , TATA-Binding Protein Associated Factors/geneticsABSTRACT
To identify regulators of AU-rich element (ARE)-dependent mRNA turnover we have followed a genetic approach using a mutagenized cell line (slowC) that fails to degrade cytokine mRNA. Accordingly, a GFP reporter construct whose mRNA is under control of the ARE from interleukin-3 gives an increased fluorescence signal in slowC. Here we describe rescue of slowC by a retroviral cDNA library. Flow cytometry allowed us to isolate revertants with reconstituted rapid mRNA decay. The cDNA was identified as butyrate response factor-1 (BRF1), encoding a zinc finger protein homologous to tristetraprolin. Mutant slowC carries frame-shift mutations in both BRF1 alleles, whereas slowB with intermediate decay kinetics is heterozygous. By use of small interfering (si)RNA, independent evidence for an active role of BRF1 in mRNA degradation was obtained. In transiently transfected NIH 3T3 cells, BRF1 accelerated mRNA decay and antagonized the stabilizing effect of PI3-kinase, while mutation of the zinc fingers abolished both function and ARE-binding activity. This approach, which identified BRF1 as an essential regulator of ARE-dependent mRNA decay, should also be applicable to other cis-elements of mRNA turnover.
