Variants of the Xenopus laevis ribosomal transcription factor xUBF are developmentally regulated by differential splicing

The splice variants of UBF differentially regulate RNA polymerase I transcription elongation in response to ERK phosphorylation

The mammalian architectural HMGB-Box transcription factor UBF is ubiquitously expressed in two variant forms as the result of a differential splicing event, that in the UBF2 deletes 37 amino acid from the second of six HMGB-boxes. Several attempts to define a function for this shorter UBF2 protein have been less than satisfactory. However, since all mammals appear to display similar levels of the longer and shorter UBF variants, it is unlikely that UBF2 is simply nonfunctional. Previously we showed that phosphorylation of UBF by the MAP-kinase ERK regulates chromatin folding and transcription elongation, explaining the rapid response of the ribosomal RNA genes to growth factors. Here we have investigated the roles the UBF variants play in the response of these genes to ERK activity. We demonstrate that the variant HMGB-box 2 of UBF2 has lost the ability to bind bent DNA and hence to induce chromatin folding. As a result it is significantly less effective than UBF1 at arresting RNAPI elongation but at the same time is more responsive to ERK phosphorylation. Thus, UBF2 functionally simulates a hemi-phosphorylated UBF whose expression may provide a means by which to tune the response of the ribosomal RNA genes to growth factor stimulation.

Cardiac hypertrophy: a matter of translation

1. Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) of the heart is an adaptive response to sustained increases in blood pressure and hormone imbalances. Left ventricular hypertrophy is associated with programmed responses at the molecular and biochemical level in different subsets of cardiac cells, including the cardiac muscle cells (cardiomyocytes), fibroblasts, conductive tissue and coronary vasculature. 2. Regardless of the initiating cause, the actual increase in chamber enlargement is, in each case, due to an increase in size of a pre-existing cardiomyocyte population, with little or no change in their number; a process referred to as cellular hypertrophy. 3. An accelerated rate of global protein synthesis is the primary mechanism by which protein accumulation increases during cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. In turn, increased rates of synthesis are a result of increased translational rates of existing ribosomes (translational efficiency) and/or synthesis and recruitment of additional ribosomes (translational capacity). 4. The present review examines the relative importance of translational capacity and translational efficiency in the response of myocytes to acute and chronic demands for increased protein synthesis and the role of these mechanisms in the development of LVH.

Competitive recruitment of CBP and Rb-HDAC regulates UBF acetylation and ribosomal transcription

RNA polymerase I (PolI) transcription is activated by the HMG box architectural factor UBF, which loops approximately 140 bp of DNA into the enhancesome, necessitating major chromatin remodeling. Here we show that the acetyltransferase CBP is recruited to and acetylates UBF both in vitro and in vivo. CBP activates PolI transcription in vivo through its acetyltransferase domain and acetylation of UBF facilitates transcription derepression and activation in vitro. CBP activation and Rb suppression of ribosomal transcription by recruitment to UBF are mutually exclusive, regulating in vivo PolI transcription through an acetylation-deacetylation "flip-flop." Thus, PolI transcription is regulated by protein acetylation, and the competitive recruitment of CBP and Rb.

Presence of pre-rRNAs before activation of polymerase I transcription in the building process of nucleoli during early development of Xenopus laevis

During the early development of Xenopus laevis, we followed in individual nuclei the formation of a nucleolus by examining simultaneously its structural organization and its transcriptional competence. Three distinct situations were encountered with different frequencies during development. During the first period of general transcriptional quiescence, the transcription factor UBF of maternal origin, was present in most nuclei at the ribosomal gene loci. In contrast, fibrillarin, a major protein of the processing machinery, was found in multiple prenucleolar bodies (PNBs) whereas nucleolin was dispersed largely in the nucleoplasm. During the second period, for most nuclei these PNBs had fused into two domains where nucleolin concentrated, generating a structure with most features expected from a transcriptionally competent nucleolus. However, RNA polymerase I-dependent transcription was not detected using run-on in situ assays whereas unprocessed ribosomal RNAs were observed. These RNAs were found to derive from a maternal pool. Later, during a third period, an increasing fraction of the nuclei presented RNA polymerase I-dependent transcription. Thus, the structural organization of the nucleolus preceded its transcriptional competence. We conclude that during the early development of X. laevis, the organization of a defined nucleolar structure, is not associated with the transcription process per se but rather with the presence of unprocessed ribosomal RNAs.

xUBF, an RNA polymerase I transcription factor, binds crossover DNA with low sequence specificity

Xenopus UBF (xUBF) is a transcription factor for RNA polymerase I which contains multiple DNA-binding motifs. These include a short basic region adjacent to a dimer motif plus five high-mobility-group (HMG) boxes. All of these DNA-binding motifs exhibit low sequence specificity, whether assayed singly or together. In contrast, the HMG boxes recognize DNA structure that is formed when two double helices are crossed over each other. HMG box 1, in particular, requires association of two double helices before it will bind and, either by itself or in the context of the intact protein, will loop DNA and organize it into higher-order structures. We discuss how this mode of binding affects the function of xUBF as a transcription factor.

Short-range DNA looping by the Xenopus HMG-box transcription factor, xUBF

Xenopus UBF (xUBF) interacts with DNA by way of multiple HMG-box domains. When xUBF binds to the ribosomal promoter, the carboxyl-terminal acidic tail and amino-terminal HMG-box interact. Binding also leads to negative DNA supercoiling and the formation of a disk-like structure, the enhancesome. Within the enhancesome, an xUBF dimer makes a low-density protein core around which DNA is looped into a single 180-base pair turn, probably by in-phase bending. The enhancesome structure suggests a mechanism for xUBF-dependent recruitment of the TATA box-binding protein complex without direct interaction between the two factors.

xUBF, an RNA polymerase I transcription factor, binds crossover DNA with low sequence specificity

Xenopus UBF (xUBF) is a transcription factor for RNA polymerase I which contains multiple DNA-binding motifs. These include a short basic region adjacent to a dimer motif plus five high-mobility-group (HMG) boxes. All of these DNA-binding motifs exhibit low sequence specificity, whether assayed singly or together. In contrast, the HMG boxes recognize DNA structure that is formed when two double helices are crossed over each other. HMG box 1, in particular, requires association of two double helices before it will bind and, either by itself or in the context of the intact protein, will loop DNA and organize it into higher-order structures. We discuss how this mode of binding affects the function of xUBF as a transcription factor.

Mapping of a sequence essential for the nuclear transport of the Xenopus ribosomal transcription factor xUBF using a simple coupled translation-transport and acid extraction approach

The amino acid sequences directing the nuclear transport of the RNA polymerase I transcription factor xUBF have been studied by a novel combination of in oocyte-coupled translation-nuclear transport and selective HCl extraction. Synthetic mRNA was used to direct the translation of labeled xUBF and its mutants in microinjected oocytes. After manual dissection of nuclei and cytoplasm, labeled xUBF and mutants were isolated essentially pure by HCl extraction. Using deletion mutations, a sequence essential, but not necessarily sufficient, for nuclear transport was mapped to a 29-amino-acid segment lying between the most carboxy-terminal putative HMG-box DNA-binding domain, HMG-box 5, and the highly acidic carboxy-terminal domain. It was shown that deletion of only 5 amino acids from this segment eliminated xUBF transport, and it could be deduced that at least 11 of the 29 amino acids were essential for nuclear transport. The segment of xUBF necessary for nuclear transport contains a sequence conforming to the bipartite nuclear transport motif consensus, but this sequence in itself was insufficient for nuclear transport.