Discovery and functional interrogation of SARS-CoV-2 protein-RNA interactions.

The COVID-19 pandemic is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). The betacoronvirus has a positive sense RNA genome which encodes for several RNA binding proteins. Here, we use enhanced crosslinking and immunoprecipitation to investigate SARS-CoV-2 protein interactions with viral and host RNAs in authentic virus-infected cells. SARS-CoV-2 proteins, NSP8, NSP12, and nucleocapsid display distinct preferences to specific regions in the RNA viral genome, providing evidence for their shared and separate roles in replication, transcription, and viral packaging. SARS-CoV-2 proteins expressed in human lung epithelial cells bind to 4773 unique host coding RNAs. Nine SARS-CoV-2 proteins upregulate target gene expression, including NSP12 and ORF9c, whose RNA substrates are associated with pathways in protein N-linked glycosylation ER processing and mitochondrial processes. Furthermore, siRNA knockdown of host genes targeted by viral proteins in human lung organoid cells identify potential antiviral host targets across different SARS-CoV-2 variants. Conversely, NSP9 inhibits host gene expression by blocking mRNA export and dampens cytokine productions, including interleukin-1α/ß. Our viral protein-RNA interactome provides a catalog of potential therapeutic targets and offers insight into the etiology of COVID-19 as a safeguard against future pandemics.

Discovery and functional interrogation of SARS-CoV-2 protein-RNA interactions.

The COVID-19 pandemic is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). The betacoronvirus has a positive sense RNA genome which encodes for several RNA binding proteins. Here, we use enhanced crosslinking and immunoprecipitation to investigate SARS-CoV-2 protein interactions with viral and host RNAs in authentic virus-infected cells. SARS-CoV-2 proteins, NSP8, NSP12, and nucleocapsid display distinct preferences to specific regions in the RNA viral genome, providing evidence for their shared and separate roles in replication, transcription, and viral packaging. SARS-CoV-2 proteins expressed in human lung epithelial cells bind to 4773 unique host coding RNAs. Nine SARS-CoV-2 proteins upregulate target gene expression, including NSP12 and ORF9c, whose RNA substrates are associated with pathways in protein N-linked glycosylation ER processing and mitochondrial processes. Furthermore, siRNA knockdown of host genes targeted by viral proteins in human lung organoid cells identify potential antiviral host targets across different SARS-CoV-2 variants. Conversely, NSP9 inhibits host gene expression by blocking mRNA export and dampens cytokine productions, including interleukin-1α/ß. Our viral protein-RNA interactome provides a catalog of potential therapeutic targets and offers insight into the etiology of COVID-19 as a safeguard against future pandemics.

Inhibition of YTHDF2 triggers proteotoxic cell death in MYC-driven breast cancer.

RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) are critical regulators of post-transcriptional gene expression, and aberrant RBP-RNA interactions can promote cancer progression. Here, we interrogate the function of RBPs in cancer using pooled CRISPR-Cas9 screening and identify 57 RBP candidates with distinct roles in supporting MYC-driven oncogenic pathways. We find that disrupting YTHDF2-dependent mRNA degradation triggers apoptosis in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells and tumors. eCLIP and m6A sequencing reveal that YTHDF2 interacts with mRNAs encoding proteins in the MAPK pathway that, when stabilized, induce epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and increase global translation rates. scRibo-STAMP profiling of translating mRNAs reveals unique alterations in the translatome of single cells within YTHDF2-depleted solid tumors, which selectively contribute to endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced apoptosis in TNBC cells. Thus, our work highlights the therapeutic potential of RBPs by uncovering a critical role for YTHDF2 in counteracting the global increase of mRNA synthesis in MYC-driven breast cancers.

Atg32-dependent mitophagy sustains spermidine and nitric oxide required for heat-stress tolerance in Saccharomycescerevisiae.

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the selective autophagic degradation of mitochondria, termed mitophagy, is critically regulated by the adapter protein Atg32. Despite our knowledge about the molecular mechanisms by which Atg32 controls mitophagy, its physiological roles in yeast survival and fitness remains less clear. Here, we demonstrate a requirement for Atg32 in promoting spermidine production during respiratory growth and heat-induced mitochondrial stress. During respiratory growth, mitophagy-deficient yeast exhibit profound heat-stress induced defects in growth and viability due to impaired biosynthesis of spermidine and its biosynthetic precursor S-adenosyl methionine. Moreover, spermidine production is crucial for the induction of cytoprotective nitric oxide (NO) during heat stress. Hence, the re-addition of spermidine to Atg32 mutant yeast is sufficient to both enhance NO production and restore respiratory growth during heat stress. Our findings uncover a previously unrecognized physiological role for yeast mitophagy in spermidine metabolism and illuminate new interconnections between mitophagy, polyamine biosynthesis and NO signaling.

Autophagic Degradation of NBR1 Restricts Metastatic Outgrowth during Mammary Tumor Progression.

Although autophagy is being pursued as a therapeutic target in clinical oncology trials, its effects on metastasis, the principal cause of cancer mortality, remain unclear. Here, we utilize mammary cancer models to temporally delete essential autophagy regulators during carcinoma progression. Though genetic ablation of autophagy strongly attenuates primary mammary tumor growth, impaired autophagy promotes spontaneous metastasis and enables the outgrowth of disseminated tumor cells into overt macro-metastases. Transcriptomic analysis reveals that autophagy deficiency elicits a subpopulation of otherwise luminal tumor cells exhibiting basal differentiation traits, which is reversed upon preventing accumulation of the autophagy cargo receptor, Neighbor to BRCA1 (NBR1). Furthermore, pharmacological and genetic induction of autophagy suppresses pro-metastatic differentiation and metastatic outgrowth. Analysis of human breast cancer data reveal that autophagy gene expression inversely correlates with pro-metastatic differentiation signatures and predicts overall and distant metastasis-free survival. Overall, these findings highlight autophagy-dependent control of NBR1 as a key determinant of metastatic progression.

RIT1 oncoproteins escape LZTR1-mediated proteolysis.

RIT1 oncoproteins have emerged as an etiologic factor in Noonan syndrome and cancer. Despite the resemblance of RIT1 to other members of the Ras small guanosine triphosphatases (GTPases), mutations affecting RIT1 are not found in the classic hotspots but rather in a region near the switch II domain of the protein. We used an isogenic germline knock-in mouse model to study the effects of RIT1 mutation at the organismal level, which resulted in a phenotype resembling Noonan syndrome. By mass spectrometry, we detected a RIT1 interactor, leucine zipper-like transcription regulator 1 (LZTR1), that acts as an adaptor for protein degradation. Pathogenic mutations affecting either RIT1 or LZTR1 resulted in incomplete degradation of RIT1. This led to RIT1 accumulation and dysregulated growth factor signaling responses. Our results highlight a mechanism of pathogenesis that relies on impaired protein degradation of the Ras GTPase RIT1.