Stimulation of haemoglobin synthesis in reticulocyte lysates by initiation factors

Functional relationships between a reticulocyte polypeptide-chain-initiation factor (IF-MP) and the translational inhibitor involved in regulation of protein synthesis by haemin

The rate of initiation of protein synthesis in rabbit reticulocyte lysates is regulated by a translational inhibitor protein which is activated in the absence of added haemin. The effects of this inhibitor on amino acid incorporation are overcome by the protein synthesis initiation factor IF-MP which binds Met-tRNAf in a ternary complex with GTP and which can transfer this complex to small ribosomal subunits. Addition of this factor to haemin-deficient lysates prevents loss of polysomes and regenerates polysomes from 80-S single ribosomes, thus confirming an effect at the level of polypeptide initiation. The ability of the initiation factor to overcome the effects of various concentrations of the translational inhibitor suggests that the inhibitor inactivates the factor catalytically rather than stoichiometrically. In a system in vitro consisting of salt-washed 40-S ribosomal subunits, initiator Met-tRNAf and GTP, the initiation factor IF-MP transfers Met-tRNAf to the subunits in the absence of any other factor or mRNA. Equilibrium buoyant density gradient analysis in CsCl shows that formaldehyde-fixed subunits carrying Met-tRNAf bound under these conditions have a buoyant density approximately 0.02 g/cm3 lower than the bulk of salt-washed subunits, suggesting that approximately 100000 daltons of additional protein are associated with these subunits. This is in marked contrast to the amounts of protein bound to subunits incubated with Met-tRNAf and GTP in the presence of a crude ribosomal salt-wash fraction. The translational inhibitor has no effect on formation of the ternary complex IF-MP-Met-tRNAf-GTP but does impair the factor-catalysed transfer of Met-tRNAf to washed subunits. The possible mechanisms of action of the inhibitor on polypeptide chain initiation are reviewed in the light of these results.

Met-tRNAfMet binding to 40S ribosomal subunits: a site for the regulation of initiation of protein synthesis by hemin

On incubation of reticulocyte lysates at 30 degrees in the absence of added hemin, protein synthesis declines sharply within 4-6 min, due to the action of a translational inhibitor. Partially purified preparations of this inhibitor, in concentrations that inhibit protein synthesis in the lysate, cause reduced binding of Met-tRNA(f) (Met) to derived 40S ribosomal subunits in a ribosomal-salt-wash-dependent assay system. Neither the association of salt wash proteins with the subunits nor the level of Met-tRNA(f) (Met) bound in preformed 40S complexes is reduced by the inhibitor. No Met-tRNA(f) (Met) deacylase activity could be detected in the inhibitor preparation. Protein synthesis in reticulocyte lysates lacking added hemin or containing exogenous inhibitor is maintained by addition of small amounts of an initiation preparation factor, "F-MP," which may be involved in the binding of Met-tRNA(f) (Met) to 40S subunits. This binding constitutes a site for control of protein synthesis by hemin in reticulocytes.

Separation of reticulocyte initiation factor M 2 activity into two components

IF-M(2), one of three initiation factors isolated by DEAE-cellulose chromatography from the 0.5 M KCl-wash fraction of rabbit reticulocyte ribosomes, has been separated by Sephadex G-200 chromatography into two components: IF-M(2A) and IF-M(2B). IF-M(2A) elutes near the void-volume, while IF-M(2B), which is much smaller in molecular weight than IF-M(2A), elutes slightly after a hemoglobin marker. In the presence of the other appropriate factors, both IF-M(2A) and IF-M(2B) are required to stimulate poly(U)-directed polyphenylalanine synthesis at low Mg(++) concentration, ApUpG-directed Met-tRNA(F) binding to washed reticulocyte ribosomes, and initiation of globin synthesis from endogenous mRNA. IF-M(2A) stimulates ribosome-dependent GTP hydrolysis, while IF-M(2B) does not; IF-M(2B) stimulates ApUpG-directed fMet-tRNA(F) binding in the presence of IF-M(1), while IF-M(2A) does not. Although IF-M(2A) and IF-M(2B) can be distinguished from each other by size and by activity, a distinct function for IF-M(2B) has not yet been found. Therefore, its precise role in the initiation process remains unclear.