NOA36 protein contains a highly conserved nucleolar localization signal capable of directing functional proteins to the nucleolus, in mammalian cells.

NOA36/ZNF330 is an evolutionarily well-preserved protein present in the nucleolus and mitochondria of mammalian cells. We have previously reported that the pro-apoptotic activity of this protein is mediated by a characteristic cysteine-rich domain. We now demonstrate that the nucleolar localization of NOA36 is due to a highly-conserved nucleolar localization signal (NoLS) present in residues 1-33. This NoLS is a sequence containing three clusters of two or three basic amino acids. We fused the amino terminal of NOA36 to eGFP in order to characterize this putative NoLS. We show that a cluster of three lysine residues at positions 3 to 5 within this sequence is critical for the nucleolar localization. We also demonstrate that the sequence as found in human is capable of directing eGFP to the nucleolus in several mammal, fish and insect cells. Moreover, this NoLS is capable of specifically directing the cytosolic yeast enzyme polyphosphatase to the target of the nucleolus of HeLa cells, wherein its enzymatic activity was detected. This NoLS could therefore serve as a very useful tool as a nucleolar marker and for directing particular proteins to the nucleolus in distant animal species.

NOA36/ZNF330 is a conserved cystein-rich protein with proapoptotic activity in human cells.

Translocations of regulator proteins from or to the mitochondria are key events in apoptosis regulation. NOA36/ZNF330 is a highly evolutionary conserved protein with a characteristic cystein-rich domain. In this work we address its mitochondrial localization and we demonstrate that a blockage of endogenous NOA36/ZNF330 expression by small-interfering RNA (siRNA) reduced apoptotic response to etoposide (ETO), camptothecin (CPT) and staurosporine (STS) but not to CH11 anti-Fas antibody or tumour-necrosis-factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) in HeLa cells. In contrast, when ectopically expressed in the cytoplasm, NOA36/ZNF330 induces apoptotic cell death. We also found that the domain responsible for this proapoptotic activity is located its cystein-rich region. We propose that NOA36/ZNF330 is translocated from the mitochondria to the cytoplasm when apoptosis is induced and that it contributes to cytochrome c release.