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Sheu-Gruttadauria, J.

Publications and source records attributed to Sheu-Gruttadauria, J..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Protein-protein interactions with G3BPs drive stress granule condensation and gene expression changes under cellular stress

Stress granules (SGs) are macromolecular assemblies that form under cellular stress. Formation of these condensates is driven by the condensation of RNA and RNA-binding proteins such as G3BPs. G3BPs condense into SGs following stress-induced translational arrest. Three G3BP paralogs (G3BP1, G3BP2A, and G3BP2B) have been identified in vertebrates. However, the contribution of different G3BP paralogs to stress granule formation and stress-induced gene expression changes is incompletely understood. Here, we identified key residues for G3BP condensation such as V11. This conserved amino acid is required for formation of the G3BP-Caprin-1 complex, hence promoting SG assembly. Total RNA sequencing and ribosome profiling revealed that disruption of G3BP condensation corresponds to changes in mRNA levels and ribosome engagement during the integrated stress response (ISR). Moreover, we found that G3BP2B preferentially condenses and promotes changes in mRNA expression under endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Together, this work suggests that stress granule assembly promotes changes in gene expression under cellular stress, which is differentially regulated by G3BP paralogs.

cell biology↗

Nucleolar dynamics are determined by the ordered assembly of the ribosome

Ribosome biogenesis occurs in the nucleolus, a biomolecular condensate whose material properties are thought to be important for function. However, the molecular basis of nucleolar dynamics and their relationship to ribosome assembly remain incompletely understood. We present a platform for high-throughput fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (HiT-FRAP) and use it to screen hundreds of genes for their impact on dynamics of the nucleolar scaffold nucleophosmin (NPM1). We find that NPM1 dynamics and nucleolar morphology are sensitive to ribosome assembly state: accumulation of early preribosomal intermediates slows NPM1 dynamics and compacts the condensate, while accumulation of abortive late precursors accelerates dynamics and disrupts condensate integrity. These opposing biophysical states correlate with the strength of NPM1-pre-ribosome interactions. Importantly, mutations in the NPM1 intrinsically disordered region that alter pre-ribosome binding directly tune nucleolar dynamics. These results establish that ribosomal precursor assembly state determines nucleolar material properties through the valency of scaffold-pre-ribosome interactions and introduce HiT-FRAP as a platform for interrogating condensate dynamics broadly. TOCSheu-Gruttadauria et al. show that the material properties of the nucleolus are shaped by the assembly state of ribosomal precursors, which tune nucleolar dynamics and morphology through their interactions with the nucleolar scaffolding protein NPM1.

molecular biology↗

Beyond the seed: structural basis for supplementary mircoRNA targeting

microRNAs (miRNA) guide Argonaute proteins to mRNAs targeted for repression. Target recognition occurs primarily through the miRNA seed region, composed of guide (g) nucleotides g2-g8. However, nucleotides beyond the seed are also important for some known miRNA-target interactions. Here, we report the structure of human Argonaute2 (Ago2) engaged with a target RNA recognized through both miRNA seed and supplementary (g13-g16) regions. Ago2 creates a \"supplementary chamber\" that accommodates up to 5 miRNA-target base pairs. Seed and supplementary chambers are adjacent to each other, and can be bridged by an unstructured target loop of 1-15 nucleotides. Opening of the supplementary chamber may be constrained by tension in the miRNA 3' tail as increases in miRNA length stabilize supplementary interactions. Contrary to previous reports, we demonstrate optimal supplementary interactions can increase target affinity >20-fold. These results provide a mechanism for extended miRNA-targeting, suggest a function for 3' isomiRs in tuning miRNA targeting specificity, and indicate that supplementary interactions may contribute more to target recognition than is widely appreciated.

biochemistry↗