Translation initiation is the ribosome-mediated pairing of the methionyl initiator tRNA (met-tRNAi) anti-codon with the AUG start codon of the mRNA. This essential and highly conserved process is mediated by interactions of numerous multi-subunit eukaryotic initiation factors (eIFs) with the ribosome, mRNA, and tRNAs. In the first step, a ternary complex consisting of eIF2 bound to GTP and met-tRNAi is recruited to the 40S ribosomal subunit to form the 43S pre-initiation complex
1,2.
In vitro experiments suggest that this interaction is promoted by eIF1, eIF1A, and eIF3
3–9. In the next step, eIF4F, which is composed of eIF4A (RNA helicase), eIF4E (5´ m
7GTP cap binding protein), and eIF4G (scaffold protein)
10 facilitates interaction of the 43S pre-initiation complex with the 5’ cap structure of the mRNA producing the 48S pre-initiation complex. Efficient formation of the 48S pre-initiation complex is also dependent on eIF3
11. The 40S complex scans the mRNA from the 5’ end for the start codon in a process mediated by eIF1 and eIF1A
12. Once the met-tRNAi anti-codon pairs with the AUG codon, eIF2-bound GTP is hydrolyzed in a reaction stimulated by eIF5
13. The GTP hydrolysis triggers the release of the bound eIFs and the joining of the 60S subunit to create the 80S ribosome
14. At this point, the 80S complex accepts the next aminoacyl-tRNA in the A site of the ribosome and the process of translation elongation begins.
A key player in the assembly and function of the 48S pre-initiation complex is the multi-protein eIF3 complex. While the mammalian eIF3 complex contains thirteen subunits, much of what is known about the mechanisms of eIF3 function have been characterized in studies of the five-subunit eIF3 complex in
S. cerevisiae
11. The yeast eIF3 subunits Rpg1, Nip1, Prt1, Tif34, and Tif35 are homologs of the human eIF3 subunits eIF3a, eIF3c, eIF3b, eIF3i, and eIF3g, respectively
15. Yeast Hcr1 is homologous to human eIF3j, and appears to associate with the core comples of eIF3 at non-stoichiometric levels
16. The eIF3 complex, as well as eIF1, eIF5, and the eIF2 ternary complex, have been identified as part of a multifactor complex (MFC) that mediates the assembly of the 48S pre-initiation complex
4,11. Within eIF3, Rpg1 and Hcr1 interact with Prt1
via an N-terminal RNA recognition motif (RRM)
16, which mediates protein-protein interactions despite the name. These interactions are crucial for the structural integrity of the eIF3 complex and its stable association with the MFC and 40S ribosome complex
16. Nip1 and Prt1 play key roles in both the assembly and maintenance of the 48S pre-initiation complex
11. Nip1 interacts directly with eIF1 and eIF5, suggesting that it coordinates both AUG start codon recognition (in conjunction with eIF1, which interacts with the met-tRNAi) and eIF2-GTP hydrolysis (in conjunction with eIF5)
6,17. The smallest of the eIF3 subunits, Tif34 and Tif35, have recently been shown to promote the linear scanning of mRNA
18.
Protein kinases are key regulators of cell function and are believed to directly affect translation efficiency
19,20. By phosphorylating a protein, kinases can alter the substrate’s activity, interactions, and stability. The functions of several eIF complexes are regulated by phosphorylation. The best characterized of these phosphorylation events involve regulation of eIF2 and eIF4E
21. eIF2 is bound to GDP in an inactive state at the end of each round of translation initiation. To reconstitute a functional ternary complex for a new round of translation initiation, eIF2B catalyzes the exchange of GDP for GTP
2. Phosphorylation of the eIF2 subunit eIF2α effectively blocks eIF2B-mediated GDP-GTP exchange, thus inhibiting protein synthesis
22. Phosphorylation also regulates association of eIF4E with the eIF4F mRNA-cap binding complex. This interaction is required for cap-dependent mRNA translation initiation and is inhibited by the eIF4E-binding protein (4E-BP)
10. Phosphorylation of 4E-BP attenuates this inhibition
23. In its hypophorphorylated state, 4E-BP binds to eIF4E and prevents its association with eIF4F
24. In its hyperphosphoryated state, 4E-BP binds poorly to eIF4E. 4E-BP phosphorylation is stimulated by many different external stimuli including growth factors, hormones, and mitogens
24. Finally, eIF4E is also phosphorylated. Phosphorylation of S209 is stimulated by different mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways and correlates with increased translation rates
23,25,26.
We have used mass spectrometry techniques to identify the components of eIF3 and specific residues that are phosphorylated
in vivo. Mass spectrometry has become the method of choice for identifying the composition of a protein complex
27. However, although protein identification by mass spectrometry has become routine, protein phosphorylation analysis remains a challenging problem. Low phosphorylation stoichiometry, heterogeneous phosphorylation sites, and low protein abundance contribute to the difficulty of phosphoprotein analysis
28. In addition, phosphopeptides are generally difficult to analyze by mass spectrometry for a number of reasons
29. Reduced ionization efficiency in positive ionization mode and suppression by nonphosphorylated peptides exacerbate the problems. To improve the efficiency of phosphopeptide analysis, various strategies have been developed to enrich for phosphopeptides including strong cation exchange chromatography (SCX), immunoaffinity capture using antiphosphotyrosine antibodies, and immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC)
30–32. IMAC was initially plagued by the nonspecific retention of peptides rich in acidic amino acids, but improvements have increased both the specificity and sensitivity of IMAC
33–35. The direct coupling of IMAC with high sensitivity reversed-phase liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry has enabled us to identify phosphopeptides starting with small amounts of material.
Using tandem mass spectrometry analysis of tandem affinity-purified (TAP) eIF3 complexes, we detected the core yeast components Rpg1, Nip1, Prt1, Tif34, and Tif35. Several other initiation factors co-purified, including Fun12, Tif5, Sui3, Pab1, Hcr1, Sui1, and the casein kinase 2 complex (CK2). Using phosphorylation assays and IMAC enrichment prior to mass spectrometry, we found that Prt1, Nip1, and Tif5 are phosphorylated in vivo and identified three specific sites on Nip1, two on Prt1 and one on Tif5. We used an in vitro kinase assay to test individual kinases for their ability to phosphorylate eIF3 in vitro. CK2, which associates with the eIF3 complex, phosphorylates the eIF3 component Nip1. A synthetic NIP1 peptide containing the three serine residues identified as phosphorylated inhibits in vitro phosphorylation of Nip1 by CK2. Mutagenesis of these three phosphorylation sites in Nip1 indicates that they are important for a normal growth rate.