PTBP1 regulates injury responses and sensory pathways in adult peripheral neurons.

Polypyrimidine tract binding protein 1 (PTBP1) is thought to be expressed only at embryonic stages in central neurons. Its down-regulation triggers neuronal differentiation in precursor and non-neuronal cells, an approach recently tested for generation of neurons de novo for amelioration of neurodegenerative disorders. Moreover, PTBP1 is replaced by its paralog PTBP2 in mature central neurons. Unexpectedly, we found that both proteins are coexpressed in adult sensory and motor neurons, with PTBP2 restricted mainly to the nucleus, while PTBP1 also shows axonal localization. Levels of axonal PTBP1 increased markedly after peripheral nerve injury, and it associates in axons with mRNAs involved in injury responses and nerve regeneration, including importin ß1 (KPNB1) and RHOA. Perturbation of PTBP1 affects local translation in axons, nociceptor neuron regeneration and both thermal and mechanical sensation. Thus, PTBP1 has functional roles in adult axons. Hence, caution is required before considering targeting of PTBP1 for therapeutic purposes.

A New Monoclonal Antibody Enables BAR Analysis of Subcellular Importin ß1 Interactomes.

Importin ß1 (KPNB1) is a nucleocytoplasmic transport factor with critical roles in both cytoplasmic and nucleocytoplasmic transport, hence there is keen interest in the characterization of its subcellular interactomes. We found limited efficiency of BioID in the detection of importin complex cargos and therefore generated a highly specific and sensitive anti-KPNB1 monoclonal antibody to enable biotinylation by antibody recognition analysis of importin ß1 interactomes. The monoclonal antibody recognizes an epitope comprising residues 301-320 of human KPBN1 and strikingly is highly specific for cytoplasmic KPNB1 in diverse applications, with little reaction with KPNB1 in the nucleus. Biotinylation by antibody recognition with this novel antibody revealed numerous new interactors of importin ß1, expanding the KPNB1 interactome to cytoplasmic and signaling complexes that highlight potential new functions for the importins complex beyond nucleocytoplasmic transport. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD032728.

The glycine arginine-rich domain of the RNA-binding protein nucleolin regulates its subcellular localization.

Nucleolin is a multifunctional RNA Binding Protein (RBP) with diverse subcellular localizations, including the nucleolus in all eukaryotic cells, the plasma membrane in tumor cells, and the axon in neurons. Here we show that the glycine arginine rich (GAR) domain of nucleolin drives subcellular localization via protein-protein interactions with a kinesin light chain. In addition, GAR sequences mediate plasma membrane interactions of nucleolin. Both these modalities are in addition to the already reported involvement of the GAR domain in liquid-liquid phase separation in the nucleolus. Nucleolin transport to axons requires the GAR domain, and heterozygous GAR deletion mice reveal reduced axonal localization of nucleolin cargo mRNAs and enhanced sensory neuron growth. Thus, the GAR domain governs axonal transport of a growth controlling RNA-RBP complex in neurons, and is a versatile localization determinant for different subcellular compartments. Localization determination by GAR domains may explain why GAR mutants in diverse RBPs are associated with neurodegenerative disease.

Importin α3 regulates chronic pain pathways in peripheral sensory neurons.

How is neuropathic pain regulated in peripheral sensory neurons? Importins are key regulators of nucleocytoplasmic transport. In this study, we found that importin α3 (also known as karyopherin subunit alpha 4) can control pain responsiveness in peripheral sensory neurons in mice. Importin α3 knockout or sensory neuron-specific knockdown in mice reduced responsiveness to diverse noxious stimuli and increased tolerance to neuropathic pain. Importin α3-bound c-Fos and importin α3-deficient neurons were impaired in c-Fos nuclear import. Knockdown or dominant-negative inhibition of c-Fos or c-Jun in sensory neurons reduced neuropathic pain. In silico screens identified drugs that mimic importin α3 deficiency. These drugs attenuated neuropathic pain and reduced c-Fos nuclear localization. Thus, perturbing c-Fos nuclear import by importin α3 in peripheral neurons can promote analgesia.

Axonal G3BP1 stress granule protein limits axonal mRNA translation and nerve regeneration.

Critical functions of intra-axonally synthesized proteins are thought to depend on regulated recruitment of mRNA from storage depots in axons. Here we show that axotomy of mammalian neurons induces translation of stored axonal mRNAs via regulation of the stress granule protein G3BP1, to support regeneration of peripheral nerves. G3BP1 aggregates within peripheral nerve axons in stress granule-like structures that decrease during regeneration, with a commensurate increase in phosphorylated G3BP1. Colocalization of G3BP1 with axonal mRNAs is also correlated with the growth state of the neuron. Disrupting G3BP functions by overexpressing a dominant-negative protein activates intra-axonal mRNA translation, increases axon growth in cultured neurons, disassembles axonal stress granule-like structures, and accelerates rat nerve regeneration in vivo.

Nucleolin-Mediated RNA Localization Regulates Neuron Growth and Cycling Cell Size.

How can cells sense their own size to coordinate biosynthesis and metabolism with their growth needs? We recently proposed a motor-dependent bidirectional transport mechanism for axon length and cell size sensing, but the nature of the motor-transported size signals remained elusive. Here, we show that motor-dependent mRNA localization regulates neuronal growth and cycling cell size. We found that the RNA-binding protein nucleolin is associated with importin ß1 mRNA in axons. Perturbation of nucleolin association with kinesins reduces its levels in axons, with a concomitant reduction in axonal importin ß1 mRNA and protein levels. Strikingly, subcellular sequestration of nucleolin or importin ß1 enhances axonal growth and causes a subcellular shift in protein synthesis. Similar findings were obtained in fibroblasts. Thus, subcellular mRNA localization regulates size and growth in both neurons and cycling cells.

Isolation and analyses of axonal ribonucleoprotein complexes.

Cytoskeleton-dependent RNA transport and local translation in axons are gaining increased attention as key processes in the maintenance and functioning of neurons. Specific axonal transcripts have been found to play roles in many aspects of axonal physiology including axon guidance, axon survival, axon to soma communication, injury response and regeneration. This axonal transcriptome requires long-range transport that is achieved by motor proteins carrying transcripts as messenger ribonucleoprotein (mRNP) complexes along microtubules. Other than transport, the mRNP complex plays a major role in the generation, maintenance, and regulation of the axonal transcriptome. Identification of axonal RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) and analyses of the dynamics of their mRNPs are of high interest to the field. Here, we describe methods for the study of interactions between RNA and proteins in axons. First, we describe a protocol for identifying binding proteins for an RNA of interest by using RNA affinity chromatography. Subsequently, we discuss immunoprecipitation (IP) methods allowing the dissection of protein-RNA and protein-protein interactions in mRNPs under various physiological conditions.

Nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFATc4) is required for BDNF-dependent survival of adult-born neurons and spatial memory formation in the hippocampus.

New neurons generated in the adult dentate gyrus are constantly integrated into the hippocampal circuitry and activated during encoding and recall of new memories. Despite identification of extracellular signals that regulate survival and integration of adult-born neurons such as neurotrophins and neurotransmitters, the nature of the intracellular modulators required to transduce those signals remains elusive. Here, we provide evidence of the expression and transcriptional activity of nuclear factor of activated T cell c4 (NFATc4) in hippocampal progenitor cells. We show that NFATc4 calcineurin-dependent activity is required selectively for survival of adult-born neurons in response to BDNF signaling. Indeed, cyclosporin A injection and stereotaxic delivery of the BDNF scavenger TrkB-Fc in the mouse dentate gyrus reduce the survival of hippocampal adult-born neurons in wild-type but not in NFATc4(-/-) mice and do not affect the net rate of neural precursor proliferation and their fate commitment. Furthermore, associated with the reduced survival of adult-born neurons, the absence of NFATc4 leads to selective defects in LTP and in the encoding of hippocampal-dependent spatial memories. Thus, our data demonstrate that NFATc4 is essential in the regulation of adult hippocampal neurogenesis and identify NFATc4 as a central player of BDNF-driven prosurvival signaling in hippocampal adult-born neurons.