XB-ART-46212
Sci Rep
2012 Jan 01;2:842. doi: 10.1038/srep00842.
Show Gene links
Show Anatomy links
MicroRNA-mediated mRNA translation activation in quiescent cells and oocytes involves recruitment of a nuclear microRNP.
Truesdell SS
,
Mortensen RD
,
Seo M
,
Schroeder JC
,
Lee JH
,
LeTonqueze O
,
Vasudevan S
.
???displayArticle.abstract???
MicroRNAs can promote translation of specific mRNAs in quiescent (G0) mammalian cells and immature Xenopus laevis oocytes. We report that microRNA-mediated upregulation of target mRNAs in oocytes is dependent on nuclear entry of the microRNA; cytoplasmically-injected microRNA repress target mRNAs. Components of the activation microRNP, AGO, FXR1 (FXR1-iso-a) and miR16 are present in the nucleus and cytoplasm. Importantly, microRNA target mRNAs for upregulation, Myt1, TNFα and a reporter bearing the TNFα AU-rich, microRNA target sequence, are associated with AGO in immature oocyte nuclei and AGO2 in G0 human nuclei, respectively. mRNAs that are repressed or lack target sites are not associated with nuclear AGO. Crosslinking-coupled immunopurification revealed greater association of AGO2 with FXR1 in the nucleus compared to cytoplasm. Consistently, overexpression of FXR1-iso-a rescues activation of cytoplasmically-injected RNAs and in low density, proliferating cells. These data indicate the importance of a compartmentalized AGO2-FXR1-iso-a complex for selective recruitment for microRNA-mediated upregulation.
???displayArticle.pubmedLink??? 23150790
???displayArticle.pmcLink??? PMC3496365
???displayArticle.link??? Sci Rep
Species referenced: Xenopus laevis
Genes referenced: actl6a ago2 ccna1 fxr1 h4c4 igf2bp3 isyna1 mt-tr myt1 ncbp1 ren rpa1 trna xpo1
???attribute.lit??? ???displayArticles.show???
![]() |
Figure 1. Upregulated expression requires injection of the microRNA and target mRNA into the nucleus.(a) Nuclear injections (black bars) demonstrate upregulated expression of the CX reporter with miRcxcr4 and not with control let-7a while cytoplasmic injections demonstrate modest repression (gray bars).Titrating the reporter (nuclear injections at 0.3â fmols or 0.03 fmols of reporter mRNA, shown 0.03 fmols) maintains activation (injections performed with RNA as depicted above38); cytoplasmic injections (at 0.03â fmols of reporter mRNA (shown) or lower at 0.001 fmols-0.0001 fmols or higher upto 3.3 fmols) show no significant changes while increasing the injected microRNA levels does not stimulate38. MicroRNA half-lives and export were demonstrated previously38 (b) mRNA levels of the CX reporter normalized to Renilla reporter levels as analyzed by qRT-PCR do not reflect the changes observed in the translation levels with nuclear or cytoplasmic injections. (c) AGO2 and control RPA antibody immunoprecipitates (Ips, Western blots shown below) from nuclear or cytoplasmically injected (N-inj or C-inj, injected with CX reporter, Renilla reporter and miRcxcr4) oocytes were analyzed by qRT-PCR for the target CX reporter and control Renilla reporters compared to 10% Input samples. Approximately 25% of CX reporter is detected associated with AGO2 in the nuclear injected oocytes compared to 4% in the cytoplasmically injected oocytes. The average values of three replicates with standard deviations as error bars are shown in a-c. |
![]() |
Figure 2. Xenopus AGO and an endogenous microRNA, miR16, are substantially present in the nucleus in immature oocytes.All extracts (RNA and protein) and nucleus/cytoplasm isolation were prepared as described3738 (Methods). (a) Western analysis of total (T), nuclear (N) and cytoplasmic (C) sonicated extracts from 20 immature, folliculated oocytes using histone H4 as a marker for nuclei and tubulin as a cytoplasmic marker. A lane was left after each fraction loaded to preclude signals from spillover (observed with the tubulin signal in the lane between the cytoplasm and total samples). AGO is more clearly detected when cytoplasmic extracts are sonicated (shown) than in soluble cytoplasmic extracts (all other figures)38. (b) The antibody used for AGO analysis, detects expression from Flag-tagged Xenopus AGO and human (hAGO2) clones. In vitro transcription coupled translation RRL extracts (Promega) were used to express control GFP, Flag-tagged Xenopus AGO and human AGO2 (hAGO2) that were further subject to Flag purification and subsequent Western analyses with the AGO2 antibody used (Millipore, AGO2 antibody) and cross-checked with Flag antibody. (c) Northern analysis of endogenous miR16 in nuclei and cytoplasm of immature oocytes using probes against U6 as a nuclear marker and 5.8S rRNA as a cytoplasmic marker. Endogenous miR16 is substantially nuclear. (d) Splint ligation reactions for detection of miR16/B3 5â² trimmed form using a specific B3 or a control bridging oligonucleotide (bridge splint) as described previously38 with nuclear and cytoplasmic oocyte RNA samples from 20 oocytes each. In vitro synthesized miR16/B3 form was used as a positive control and tRNA as a negative control. |
![]() |
Figure 3. Upregulated expression requires injection of the microRNA into the nucleus.(a) Nuclear injections (black bars) of miRcxcr4 but not control let-7a (miRcontrol) with cytoplasmic injection of the CX and Renilla reporters rescues upregulated expression of the CX reporter unlike cytoplasmic injections of miRcxcr4, where modest repression is observed (gray bars); injections were performed with transcribed RNA as depicted above.(b) mRNA levels of the CX reporter normalized to Renilla reporter levels as analyzed by qRT-PCR with nuclear or cytoplasmic injections of the microRNA do not correlate with translation changes. The average values of three replicates with standard deviations as error bars are shown in a-b. |
![]() |
Figure 4. Myt1, an endogenous target mRNA for activation by miR16, associates with AGO in the nucleus where AGO interacts substantially with FXR1, a co-factor required for activation.(a) Immunoprecipitation of Xenopus AGO (anti-AGO/2A8 antibody39) or control RPA from nuclear extracts followed by RT-PCR analysis demonstrated that Myt1 mRNA was specifically associated with AGO in the nucleus; Cyclin A1 mRNA, which is repressed in immature oocytes32 and tRNAlys served as negative controls to test specificity.(b) Immunoprecipitation of AGO (anti-AGO/2A8 antibody39) or control (RPA antibody) from nuclear and cytoplasmic extracts followed by Western blot analyses using anti-AGO2 (Millipore) and anti-FXR1 (Abcam). AGO immunoprecipitates demonstrated association with FXR1 in both the nucleus and cytoplasm, with more substantial co-immunoprecipitation of FXR1 with AGO in the nucleus, indicating the presence of a prominent nuclear AGO-FXR1 complex. |
![]() |
Figure 5. Expression of FXR1-iso-a to overexpress FXR1 levels increases the cytoplasmic levels of AGO and rescues translation activation of CX mRNA by miRcxcr4, injected cytoplasmically into oocytes.(a) Oocytes were nuclear injected with DNA plasmids to express either GFP control or FXR1-iso-a in oocytes and were subsequently cytoplasmically injected with miRcxcr4 or control let-7a, CX and Renilla reporters.Upregulated expression of the CX reporter in the presence of miRcxcr4 was rescued upon overexpression of FXR1-iso-a but not with GFP control or with the control microRNA. (b) Western blot analysis of nuclei (N) and cytoplasm (C) extracts (soluble extracts that were not sonicated) from 20 immature, folliculated oocytes each that were injected with DNA plasmids to express either GFP control or FXR1-iso-a. Histone H4 and actin served as controls. FXR1-iso-a expression leads to increased FXR1 levels as well as increased cytoplasmic levels of AGO. AGO is more clearly detected when cytoplasmic extracts are sonicated (Fig. 2a) compared to soluble cytoplasmic extracts (this figure)38. (c) mRNA levels of the CX reporter normalized to Renilla reporter levels as analyzed by qRT-PCR with GFP or FXR1-iso-a expression do not correlate with translation changes in (a). (d) AGO2 (Wako) immunoprecipitates from cytoplasmic samples expressing either GFP control or FXR1-iso-a were analyzed for co-immunoprecipitation of FXR1. Increased levels of FXR1 were immunoprecipitated with samples overexpressing FXR1-iso-a. RPA antibody immunoprecipitation served as an antibody control. Increased AGO and FXR1 levels can be observed in the Input lane of the samples overexpressing FXR1-iso-a compared to Actin levels used as a loading control; the AGO antibody amounts (1/3) used for immunoprecipitation are limiting. The average values of three replicates with standard deviations as error bars are shown in a, c. |
![]() |
Figure 6. AGO2, FXR1 and microRNAs like miR16 are present in mammalian nuclei and are partially restricted by LMB inhibition of the CRM1 export pathway.(a) Western analysis of AGO2 and FXR1 in nuclear and cytoplasmic extracts from proliferating (Cycling) and G0 THP1 cells that were untreated or treated (+)with LMB to inhibit the CRM1 pathway849.CBP80 served as a marker for nuclei and tubulin as a cytoplasmic marker. (b) MicroRNAs are present in the nucleus and cytoplasm as previously published82330445760. MiR16 levels in proliferating (non-G0) and G0 cell nuclei and cytoplasm as analyzed by qRT-PCR. The average values of three replicates with standard deviations as error bars are shown. |
![]() |
Figure 7. AGO2 interacts substantially with FXR1 and associates with activated but not repressed targets in G0 human cell nuclei.All interactions were observed after in vivo formaldehyde crosslinking4054 followed by nuclear-cytoplasmic fractionation and immunoprecipitation. (a) Immunoprecipitation of AGO2 (Wako) or control IgG from nuclear and cytoplasmic extracts of proliferating (Cycling) and G0 THP1 cells followed by RT-PCR analysis demonstrated that TNFα mRNA was specifically associated with AGO2 exclusively in G0 nuclei after 4â hrs of serum-starvation induction of G0 (TNFα, first panel, 4â hrs G0) and also in the G0 cytoplasm later at 8â hrs of serum-starvation (TNFα, third panel, 8â hrs G0). Cyclin E mRNA, which is repressed in G034, served as a control and is not present in the nuclear complex but in the G0 cytoplasmic complex (Cyclin E, second panel, 4â hrs G0; the mRNA is downregulated and below detection by 8â hrs). Input (INP) = 10% of the sample. (b) G0 HEK293 cells were transfected with reporters that bear the AU-rich target sequence of TNFα mRNA (TNFα ARE, sufficient for activation in G05455) or a mutated sequence (mtARE, non-functional for activation)5455. Immunoprecipitation of AGO2 or control IgG from nuclear and cytoplasmic extracts from transfected late G0 cells followed by RT-PCR analysis demonstrated that the ARE reporter was associated substantially with AGO2 in G0 nuclei, with some association in G0 cytoplasm as expected at late G0, similar to (a). No association was observed with the mutated (mtARE) reporter; tRNAlys and Renilla served as controls. The average values of three replicates with standard deviations as error bars are shown. (c) Western analyses of immunoprecipitates from 4hr G0 and cycling (Cyc) samples from (a) using anti-AGO2 (Millipore) and anti-FXR1. Input (INP) = 10% of the sample. A non-specific band immunoprecipitated with anti-AGO2 and IgG in the AGO2 Western blot analysis below the specific AGO2 band. Anti-FXR1 recognizes several bands in the Input lane representing seven isoforms and modifications. In G0 cytoplasmic fractions (Cyto-G0), the antibody immunoprecipitated less AGO, possibly due to the epitope being masked. In cycling cell cytoplasmic fractions (Cyto-Cyc), AGO is immunoprecipitated at equal levels to that in the nucleus but FXR1association is clearly reduced. AGO2-FXR1 complex is substantially present in the nucleus. |
![]() |
Figure 8. Expression of FXR1-iso-a to overexpress FXR1 levels increases the cytoplasmic levels of AGO2 and rescues translation activation of CX mRNA by miRcxcr4 in asynchronous, low density proliferating cells.(a) Western analysis of nuclear and cytoplasmic extracts from asynchronous, low density proliferating HEK293 cells (slowly proliferating, mostly lag phase cells) that express either GFP control or FXR1-iso-a (FXR1, 1µg transfected/ 1x105 cells/ml).FXR1-iso-a overexpression leads to increased FXR1 levels as well as increased cytoplasmic AGO2 levels with some increase in the nucleus (short exp = short exposure of the saturated levels present in the original exposure above). Histone H4 and tubulin served as nuclear and cytoplasmic markers, respectively. (b) Immunoprecipitation of AGO2 from cytoplasmic extracts expressing FXR1-iso-a or GFP in asynchronous, low density proliferating cells demonstrated increased interaction between AGO2 and FXR1-iso-a upon FXR1-iso-a but not GFP expression. (c) Expression of either GFP control or FXR1-iso-a in asynchronous, low density proliferating cells that were subsequently transfected with miRcxcr4 or let-7a (control), CX and Renilla (Ren) reporters, demonstrated rescued upregulated expression of the CX reporter in the presence of miRcxcr4 upon overexpression of FXR1-iso-a but not GFP control. The fold activation depicted (fold activation = the Firefly Luciferase translation value of CX reporter observed in the presence of miRcxcr4 normalized to Renilla over the Luciferase value of CX with control Let-7a microRNA normalized to Renilla that were further normalized to their RNA levels, which do not change significantly as described previously)54 are compared between samples overexpressing GFP or FXR1-iso-a. The average values of three replicates with standard deviations as error bars are shown. |
References [+] :
Alló,
Control of alternative splicing through siRNA-mediated transcriptional gene silencing.
2009, Pubmed
Alló, Control of alternative splicing through siRNA-mediated transcriptional gene silencing. 2009, Pubmed
Bardoni, Analysis of domains affecting intracellular localization of the FMRP protein. 1997, Pubmed
Bartel, MicroRNAs: target recognition and regulatory functions. 2009, Pubmed
Behm-Ansmant, mRNA degradation by miRNAs and GW182 requires both CCR4:NOT deadenylase and DCP1:DCP2 decapping complexes. 2006, Pubmed
Bhattacharyya, Relief of microRNA-mediated translational repression in human cells subjected to stress. 2006, Pubmed
Bravo, Amphibian oocyte maturation and protein synthesis: related inhibition by cyclic AMP, theophylline, and papaverine. 1978, Pubmed , Xenbase
Carthew, Origins and Mechanisms of miRNAs and siRNAs. 2009, Pubmed
Castanotto, CRM1 mediates nuclear-cytoplasmic shuttling of mature microRNAs. 2009, Pubmed
Caudy, Fragile X-related protein and VIG associate with the RNA interference machinery. 2002, Pubmed
Chekulaeva, miRNA repression involves GW182-mediated recruitment of CCR4-NOT through conserved W-containing motifs. 2011, Pubmed
Cheung, Maintenance of muscle stem-cell quiescence by microRNA-489. 2012, Pubmed
Coller, A new description of cellular quiescence. 2006, Pubmed
Ding, Repression of C. elegans microRNA targets at the initiation level of translation requires GW182 proteins. 2009, Pubmed
Dubé, Muscle specific fragile X related protein 1 isoforms are sequestered in the nucleus of undifferentiated myoblast. 2000, Pubmed
Eberhart, The fragile X mental retardation protein is a ribonucleoprotein containing both nuclear localization and nuclear export signals. 1996, Pubmed
Fabian, Mammalian miRNA RISC recruits CAF1 and PABP to affect PABP-dependent deadenylation. 2009, Pubmed
Fehr, Differential stimulation of hepatitis C virus RNA translation by microRNA-122 in different cell cycle phases. 2012, Pubmed
Flemr, P-body loss is concomitant with formation of a messenger RNA storage domain in mouse oocytes. 2010, Pubmed
Furuno, Expression of cell-cycle regulators during Xenopus oogenesis. 2003, Pubmed , Xenbase
Giorgi, The nuclear nurture and cytoplasmic nature of localized mRNPs. 2007, Pubmed
Guang, An Argonaute transports siRNAs from the cytoplasm to the nucleus. 2008, Pubmed
Henke, microRNA-122 stimulates translation of hepatitis C virus RNA. 2008, Pubmed
Hwang, A hexanucleotide element directs microRNA nuclear import. 2007, Pubmed
Hwang, Cell-cell contact globally activates microRNA biogenesis. 2009, Pubmed
Ishizuka, A Drosophila fragile X protein interacts with components of RNAi and ribosomal proteins. 2002, Pubmed
Iwasaki, Argonaute-mediated translational repression (and activation). 2009, Pubmed
Kedde, RNA-binding protein Dnd1 inhibits microRNA access to target mRNA. 2007, Pubmed
Kim, Fragile X mental retardation protein FMRP binds mRNAs in the nucleus. 2009, Pubmed , Xenbase
Kress, Nuclear RNP complex assembly initiates cytoplasmic RNA localization. 2004, Pubmed , Xenbase
Liao, Deep sequencing of human nuclear and cytoplasmic small RNAs reveals an unexpectedly complex subcellular distribution of miRNAs and tRNA 3' trailers. 2010, Pubmed
Lin, The nuclear experience of CPEB: implications for RNA processing and translational control. 2010, Pubmed , Xenbase
Lin, A KLF4-miRNA-206 autoregulatory feedback loop can promote or inhibit protein translation depending upon cell context. 2011, Pubmed
Liu, miR-16 family induces cell cycle arrest by regulating multiple cell cycle genes. 2008, Pubmed
Liu, A role for the P-body component GW182 in microRNA function. 2005, Pubmed
Lund, Limiting Ago protein restricts RNAi and microRNA biogenesis during early development in Xenopus laevis. 2011, Pubmed , Xenbase
Ma, MicroRNA activity is suppressed in mouse oocytes. 2010, Pubmed
Moon, Pre-mRNA splicing in the nuclei of Xenopus oocytes. 2006, Pubmed , Xenbase
Mortensen, Posttranscriptional activation of gene expression in Xenopus laevis oocytes by microRNA-protein complexes (microRNPs). 2011, Pubmed , Xenbase
Nelson, A novel monoclonal antibody against human Argonaute proteins reveals unexpected characteristics of miRNAs in human blood cells. 2007, Pubmed
Niranjanakumari, Reversible cross-linking combined with immunoprecipitation to study RNA-protein interactions in vivo. 2002, Pubmed
Ohrt, Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy reveal the cytoplasmic origination of loaded nuclear RISC in vivo in human cells. 2008, Pubmed
Ørom, MicroRNA-10a binds the 5'UTR of ribosomal protein mRNAs and enhances their translation. 2008, Pubmed
Pardee, A restriction point for control of normal animal cell proliferation. 1974, Pubmed
Politz, MicroRNAs with a nucleolar location. 2009, Pubmed
Radford, Translational control by cytoplasmic polyadenylation in Xenopus oocytes. 2008, Pubmed , Xenbase
Roberts, miR-122 activates hepatitis C virus translation by a specialized mechanism requiring particular RNA components. 2011, Pubmed
Schratt, A brain-specific microRNA regulates dendritic spine development. 2006, Pubmed
Tamanini, Different targets for the fragile X-related proteins revealed by their distinct nuclear localizations. 1999, Pubmed
Tan, Expanded RNA-binding activities of mammalian Argonaute 2. 2009, Pubmed
Till, A conserved motif in Argonaute-interacting proteins mediates functional interactions through the Argonaute PIWI domain. 2007, Pubmed
Tserel, MicroRNA expression profiles of human blood monocyte-derived dendritic cells and macrophages reveal miR-511 as putative positive regulator of Toll-like receptor 4. 2011, Pubmed
Vasudevan, Cell-cycle control of microRNA-mediated translation regulation. 2008, Pubmed
Vasudevan, Posttranscriptional upregulation by microRNAs. 2012, Pubmed
Vasudevan, AU-rich-element-mediated upregulation of translation by FXR1 and Argonaute 2. 2007, Pubmed
Vasudevan, Switching from repression to activation: microRNAs can up-regulate translation. 2007, Pubmed
Weinmann, Importin 8 is a gene silencing factor that targets argonaute proteins to distinct mRNAs. 2009, Pubmed
Yang, GW182 is critical for the stability of GW bodies expressed during the cell cycle and cell proliferation. 2004, Pubmed
Yu, Ge-1 is a central component of the mammalian cytoplasmic mRNA processing body. 2005, Pubmed
Zisoulis, Autoregulation of microRNA biogenesis by let-7 and Argonaute. 2012, Pubmed