Mechanistic interrogation of the entry‐ and exit‐channel arms of eIF3

Abstract

Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 3 (eIF3) is a pivotal player in the recruitment of mRNA to the translation pre‐initiation complex (PIC). Biochemical and genetic studies have identified interactions of eIF3 with the PIC near the mRNA entry and exit channels of the ribosome; structural studies have revealed that eIF3 binds the solvent face of the small (40S) ribosomal subunit, projecting arms into both mRNA channels and ultimately encircling the PIC. We recently probed the effects of a library of S. cerevisiae eIF3 functional variants using an in‐vitro reconstituted system. These experiments demonstrated that mutations throughout eIF3 disrupt its interaction with the PIC and diminish its ability to accelerate recruitment of a native yeast mRNA. Using a series of model mRNAs to control the amount of nucleotide sequence in either the mRNA entry or exit channel, we further revealed a critical role for eIF3 in stabilizing mRNA at the exit channel. Together, these experiments are consistent with the entry‐ and exit‐channel arms of eIF3 playing distinct roles during PIC formation, mRNA recruitment, and scanning. We have also investigated the collaboration of eIF3 with Rps3/uS3 in stabilizing mRNA within the mRNA entry channel. We found that Rps3/uS3 residues previously implicated in the helicase activity of the elongating ribosome stabilize mRNA binding within ribosomal entry channel and enhance the effects of eIF3 on mRNA binding in both channels. More recently, we have observed that eIF3i and eIF3g contribute to the PIC‐dependent enhancement of eIF4A ATPase activity, which recent work suggests may function to remodel the mRNA entry channel. Our current work is focused on dissecting the interactions between eIF3, the PIC, and other initiation factors in both the mRNA entry and exit channels, as well as on the inter‐subunit face of the PIC, using both in‐vitro and next‐generation sequencing approaches.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.