AGC kinases regulate phosphorylation and activation of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4B.

Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4B (eIF4B) plays a critical role during the initiation of protein synthesis and its activity can be regulated by multiple phosphorylation events. In a search for novel protein kinase B (PKB/c-akt) substrates, we identified eIF4B as a potential target. Using an in vitro kinase assay, we found that PKB can directly phosphorylate eIF4B on serine 422 (ser422). Activation of a conditional PKB mutant, interleukin-3 (IL-3) or insulin stimulation resulted in PKB-dependent phosphorylation of this residue in vivo. This was prevented by pretreatment of cells with the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor LY294002 or pharmacological inhibition of PKB. Pretreatment of cells with rapamycin, inhibiting mTOR or U0126 to inhibit MEK, had little effect on eIF4B ser422 phosphorylation. In contrast, following amino-acid refeeding, eIF4B ser422 phosphorylation was found to be mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)-dependent. We further identified eIF4B ser406 as a novel mitogen-regulated phosphorylation site. Insulin-induced phosphorylation of eIF4B ser406 was dependent on both MEK and mTOR activity. Utilizing a novel translational control luciferase assay, we could further demonstrate that phosphorylation of ser406 or ser422 is essential for optimal translational activity of eIF4B. These data provide novel insights into complex multikinase regulation of eIF4B phosphorylation and reveal an important mechanism by which PKB can regulate translation, potentially critical for the transforming capacity of this AGC kinase family member.

Translational control of C/EBPalpha and C/EBPbeta isoform expression.

Transcription factors derived from CCAAT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBP)alpha and C/EBPbeta genes control differentiation and proliferation in a number of cell types. Various C/EBP isoforms arise from unique C/EBPbeta and C/EBPalpha mRNAs by differential initiation of translation. These isoforms retain different parts of the amino terminus and therefore display different functions in gene regulation and proliferation control. We show that PKR and mTOR signaling pathways control the ratio of C/EBP isoform expression through the eukaryotic translation initiation factors eIF-2alpha and eIF-4E, respectively. An evolutionary conserved upstream open reading frame in C/EBPalpha and C/EBPbeta mRNAs is a prerequisite for regulated initiation from the different translation initiation sites and integrates translation factor activity. Deregulated translational control leading to aberrant C/EBPalpha and C/EBPbeta isoform expression or ectopic expression of truncated isoforms disrupts terminal differentiation and induces a transformed phenotype in 3T3-L1 cells. Our results demonstrate that the translational controlled ratio of C/EBPalpha and C/EBPbeta isoform expression determines cell fate.

Differential stimulation by CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha isoforms of the estrogen-activated promoter of the very-low-density apolipoprotein II gene.

The transcription factors CCAAT/enhancer-binding proteins alpha and beta (C/EBP alpha and C/EBP beta) are highly expressed in liver and are believed to function in maintaining the differentiated state of the hepatocytes. C/EBP alpha appears to be a critical regulator of genes involved in metabolic processes. We are interested in the roles of C/EBP in the expression of the very-low-density apolipoprotein II (apoVLDL II) gene. This gene encodes an avian yolk protein, is induced by estrogens and is only expressed in liver. To examine the role of C/EBP in apoVLDL II expression, footprinting and electromobility-shift analysis were performed. For three of the protein-binding sites in the apoVLDL II promoter region, C/EBP alpha and C/EBP beta were identified as the major DNA-binding activities. For one of the C/EBP genes, C/EBP alpha, the effect of the gene products on apoVLDL II transcription was examined. From transfection experiments we conclude that maximal estrogen-dependent activity of the apoVLDL II promoter requires the dual action of the estrogen receptor and C/EBP. The level of activity is different depending on the nature of the C/EBP alpha translational isoform transfected, the full-length C/EBP alpha polypeptide being the most active isoform and the N-terminally truncated isoform being moderately active. The present results suggest a role of C/EBP alpha translational isoform ratio in the modulation of expression of C/EBP target genes, such as those involved in metabolic processes.

The chicken CCAAT/enhancer binding protein alpha gene. Cloning, characterisation and tissue distribution.

We present the cloning and sequencing of the gene encoding the chicken CCAAT/Enhancer Binding Protein alpha (cC/EBP alpha). The coding region and 1.5 kb of 5' flanking DNA from a CpG island. Comparison of the chicken C/EBP alpha sequence to the homologous proteins of other species reveals several evolutionary conserved regions. cC/EBP alpha mRNA expression is restricted to a subset of tissues with high expression in liver, lung and small intestine. Recombinant cC/EBP alpha binds to its cognate C/EBP binding site as a homodimer or as a heterodimer with the related cC/EBP beta/NF-M.

Multiple steps in the regulation of transcription-factor level and activity.

This review focuses on the regulation of transcription factors, many of which are DNA-binding proteins that recognize cis-regulatory elements of target genes and are the most direct regulators of gene transcription. Transcription factors serve as integration centres of the different signal-transduction pathways affecting a given gene. It is obvious that the regulation of these regulators themselves is of crucial importance for differential gene expression during development and in terminally differentiated cells. Transcription factors can be regulated at two, principally different, levels, namely concentration and activity, each of which can be modulated in a variety of ways. The concentrations of transcription factors, as of intracellular proteins in general, may be regulated at any of the steps leading from DNA to protein, including transcription, RNA processing, mRNA degradation and translation. The activity of a transcription factor is often regulated by (de) phosphorylation, which may affect different functions, e.g. nuclear localization DNA binding and trans-activation. Ligand binding is another mode of transcription-factor activation. It is typical for the large super-family of nuclear hormone receptors. Heterodimerization between transcription factors adds another dimension to the regulatory diversity and signal integration. Finally, non-DNA-binding (accessory) factors may mediate a diverse range of functions, e.g. serving as a bridge between the transcription factor and the basal transcription machinery, stabilizing the DNA-binding complex or changing the specificity of the target sequence recognition. The present review presents an overview of different modes of transcription-factor regulation, each illustrated by typical examples.

Translation start site multiplicity of the CCAAT/enhancer binding protein alpha mRNA is dictated by a small 5' open reading frame.

The CCAAT/enhancer binding proteins (C/EBP) alpha and beta of the bZIP family of transcription factors each occur as multiple forms due to translation initiation at different in-frame AUG codons from the same messenger RNA. The C/EBP alpha mRNAs of chicken, rat and Xenopus all contain a small 5' open reading frame (5'ORF) whose size (18 nucleotides) and distance (seven nucleotides) to the C/EBP alpha cistron has been conserved in vertebrate evolution. The present studies shows that the small 5'ORF is crucial to the leaky scanning mechanism of ribosomes causing a fraction of them to ignore the first C/EBP alpha AUG codon and to start at internal AUGs. Our data challenge the view that translational start site multiplicity is mainly governed by the sequence context of the potential initiation codons. Western analysis showed that the two major chicken C/EBP alpha translation products, the full-length cC/EBP alpha-42 which acts a trans-activator in liver and the N-terminally truncated cC/EBP alpha-29 which lacks transcription activation potential, occur in a fixed ratio which is similar in different expressing tissues, like liver, lung and small intestine. The presence of a similar, thusfar unnoticed, small ORF 5' to the major initiation codon of C/EBP beta mRNA suggests that start site multiplicity from this mRNA may be governed by the same mechanism.