RESUMO
The RNA exosome is a multisubunit protein complex involved in RNA surveillance of all classes of RNA, and is essential for pre-rRNA processing. The exosome is conserved throughout evolution, present in archaea and eukaryotes from yeast to humans, where it localizes to the nucleus and cytoplasm. The catalytically active subunit Rrp44/Dis3 of the exosome in budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) is considered a protein present in these two subcellular compartments, and here we report that it not only localizes mainly to the nucleus, but is concentrated in the nucleolus, where the early pre-rRNA processing reactions take place. Moreover, we show by confocal microscopy analysis that the core exosome subunits Rrp41 and Rrp43 also localize largely to the nucleus and strongly accumulate in the nucleolus. These results shown here shed additional light on the localization of the yeast exosome and have implications regarding the main function of this RNase complex, which seems to be primarily in early pre-rRNA processing and surveillance.
Assuntos
Nucléolo Celular/metabolismo , Complexo Multienzimático de Ribonucleases do Exossomo/metabolismo , Exossomos/metabolismo , Precursores de RNA/metabolismo , Processamento Pós-Transcricional do RNA , RNA Fúngico/metabolismo , RNA de Transferência/metabolismo , Proteínas de Saccharomyces cerevisiae/metabolismo , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/metabolismo , Sequência de Aminoácidos , Complexo Multienzimático de Ribonucleases do Exossomo/química , Transporte Proteico , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/genética , Proteínas de Saccharomyces cerevisiae/química , Frações Subcelulares/metabolismoRESUMO
The exosome is a conserved multiprotein complex essential for RNA processing and degradation. The nuclear exosome is a key factor for pre-rRNA processing through the activity of its catalytic subunits, Rrp6 and Rrp44. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Rrp6 is exclusively nuclear and has been shown to interact with exosome cofactors. With the aim of analyzing proteins associated with the nuclear exosome, in this work, we purified the complex with Rrp6-TAP, identified the co-purified proteins by mass spectrometry, and found karyopherins to be one of the major groups of proteins enriched in the samples. By investigating the biological importance of these protein interactions, we identified Srp1, Kap95, and Sxm1 as the most important karyopherins for Rrp6 nuclear import and the nuclear localization signals recognized by them. Based on the results shown here, we propose a model of multiple pathways for the transport of Rrp6 to the nucleus.