RESUMO
In Alzheimer disease, elevated levels of the BACE1 enzyme are correlated with increased production of amyloid peptides and disease pathology. The increase in BACE1 levels is post-transcriptional and may involve altered translation efficiency. Earlier studies have indicated that translation of BACE1 mRNA is cap-dependent. As ribosomal subunits move from the cap-structure to the initiation codon, they fail to recognize several AUG codons in the 5' leader. In this study, we looked for physical evidence of the mechanism underlying ribosomal scanning or shunting along the BACE1 5' leader by investigating structural stability in the 5' leaders of endogenous mRNAs in vivo. To perform this analysis, we probed RNAs using lead(II) acetate, a cell-permeable chemical that induces cleavage of unpaired nucleotides having conformational flexibility. The data revealed that the ≈440-nt 5' leader was generally resistant to cleavage except for a region upstream of the initiation codon. Cleavage continued into the coding region, consistent with destabilization of secondary structures by translating ribosomes. Evidence that a large segment of the BACE1 5' leader was not cleaved indicates that this region is structurally stable and suggests that it is not scanned. The data support a mechanism of translation initiation in which ribosomal subunits bypass (shunt) part of the BACE1 5' leader to reach the initiation codon. We suggest that a nucleotide bias in the 5' leader may predispose the initiation codon to be more accessible than other AUG codons in the 5' leader, leading to an increase in its relative utilization.
RESUMO
We previously showed that translation from the rat BACE1 5' leader is cap-dependent and that four AUG codons (AUG1-4) in the 5' leader were bypassed, partially or completely, depending on the cell line. Two other groups reported comparable results with human BACE1 sequences in different cell lines, although different mechanisms were postulated. In contrast, a third group working with the human sequence reported that most translation events are initiated at AUG2. Using reporter constructs with the rat BACE1 5' leader in rat cells, we now show that this apparent discrepancy between studies can be explained by the use of different expression systems and differences in interpretation. When reporter constructs were transcribed in the nucleus, the upstream AUG codons did not affect translation, but when mRNAs were transcribed in the cytoplasm or when in vitro transcripts were transfected into cells, the upstream AUG codons inhibited translation. These findings suggest that when transcription occurs in the nucleus, the BACE1 mRNA initiates translation by a shunting mechanism. The results are less consistent with either leaky scanning or reinitiation and provide a caveat against the use of cytoplasmic expression systems or RNA transfection for analyses of translation initiation.
