Paip2A inhibits translation by competitively binding to the RNA recognition motifs of PABPC1 and promoting its dissociation from the poly(A) tail.

Eukaryotic mRNAs possess a poly(A) tail at their 3'-end, to which poly(A)-binding protein C1 (PABPC1) binds and recruits other proteins that regulate translation. Enhanced poly(A)-dependent translation, which is also PABPC1 dependent, promotes cellular and viral proliferation. PABP-interacting protein 2A (Paip2A) effectively represses poly(A)-dependent translation by causing the dissociation of PABPC1 from the poly(A) tail; however, the underlying mechanism remains unknown. This study was conducted to investigate the functional mechanisms of Paip2A action by characterizing the PABPC1-poly(A) and PABPC1-Paip2A interactions. Isothermal titration calorimetry and NMR analyses indicated that both interactions predominantly occurred at the RNA recognition motif (RRM)2-RRM3 regions of PABPC1, which have comparable affinities for poly(A) and Paip2A (dissociation constant, Kd = 1 nM). However, the Kd values of isolated RRM2 were 200 and 4 µM in their interactions with poly(A) and Paip2A, respectively; Kd values of 5 and 1 µM were observed for the interactions of isolated RRM3 with poly(A) and Paip2A, respectively. NMR analyses also revealed that Paip2A can bind to the poly(A)-binding interfaces of the RRM2 and RRM3 regions of PABPC1. Based on these results, we propose the following functional mechanism for Paip2A: Paip2A initially binds to the RRM2 region of poly(A)-bound PABPC1, and RRM2-anchored Paip2A effectively displaces the RRM3 region from poly(A), resulting in dissociation of the whole PABPC1 molecule. Together, our findings provide insight into the translation repression effect of Paip2A and may aid in the development of novel anticancer and/or antiviral drugs.

Ribonuclease inhibitor and angiogenin system regulates cell type-specific global translation.

Translation of mRNAs is a fundamental process that occurs in all cell types of multicellular organisms. Conventionally, it has been considered a default step in gene expression, lacking specific regulation. However, recent studies have documented that certain mRNAs exhibit cell type-specific translation. Despite this, it remains unclear whether global translation is controlled in a cell type-specific manner. By using human cell lines and mouse models, we found that deletion of the ribosome-associated protein ribonuclease inhibitor 1 (RNH1) decreases global translation selectively in hematopoietic-origin cells but not in the non-hematopoietic-origin cells. RNH1-mediated cell type-specific translation is mechanistically linked to angiogenin-induced ribosomal biogenesis. Collectively, this study unravels the existence of cell type-specific global translation regulators and highlights the complex translation regulation in vertebrates.