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Formation of splicing machinery in the context of the cell nucleus
Stejskalová, Eva ; Staněk, David (advisor) ; Vanáčová, Štěpánka (referee) ; Malínský, Jan (referee)
Most of the protein coding genes of higher eukaryotes contain introns which have to be removed from primary transcripts to make mRNA which can be used as a template for protein synthesis. This crucial step in the pre-mRNA processing is carried out by the spliceosome, a complex ribonucleoprotein machine formed from small ribonucleoprotein particles (snRNPs). snRNPs biogenesis is a complex process composed of several steps which take place in both the cytoplasm and the nucleus. Spliceosome assembly is highly dynamic and tightly regulated and pre-mRNA splicing depends not only on the sequence of the pre-mRNA itself but also on the nuclear context, such as the chromatin modifications. How do cells regulate where and when the spliceosome would be assembled? What determines which introns will be spliced? These are fundamental, yet unanswered, biological questions. In this work we analyzed the formation of splicing machinery in the context of the cell nucleus from several different points of view. First, we investigated the unexpected connection between splicing factor U1-70K and the survival of motor neurons (SMN) complex which is a major player in the snRNP biogenesis pathway. We revealed that U1-70K interacts with the SMN complex and that this interaction is crucial for the stability of nuclear gems, small...
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Functional and biochemical characterization of elF3 and elF3j in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and human cell lines
Wagner, Susan ; Valášek, Leoš (advisor) ; Krásný, Libor (referee) ; Staněk, David (referee)
3 Abstract 3.1 english Translation is divided into initiation, elongation, termination and ribosome recycling. One of the largest eukaryotic initiation factors (eIF), eIF3, plays a role in nearly all steps of initiation and was recently also implicated in ribosomal recycling. Here we uncovered novel roles for eIF3 in translation termination in yeast, where the five core eIF3 subunits and their loosely associated eIF3j/HCR1 accessory factor control stop codon read-through in the opposite manner. In addition, we further characterized the function of eIF3j in initiation. Structural analysis revealed that the conserved tryptophan residue in the human eIF3j N-terminal acidic motif (NTA) is held in the hydrophobic pocket of the human eIF3b RNA recognition motif (RRM). This binding mode was shown to be conserved in yeast ensuring efficient 40S-binding by eIF3 and stringency of AUG recognition, where j/HCR1 seems to co-operate with eIF1A. We found that the N-terminal half of j/HCR1 in yeast is sufficient for fulfilling all functions of the full-length protein necessary for wild-type growth. Despite the logical dispensability of the j/HCR1 C- terminal half, it was shown that it bears a specific KERR motif that is evolutionary conserved and contained also within the HCR1-like domain of a/TIF32, through which it...
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U2 snRNA targeting to Cajal bodies
Roithová, Adriana ; Staněk, David (advisor) ; Mašek, Tomáš (referee)
In the cell we can find a lot of small noncoding RNAs, which are important for many processes. Among those RNAs are small nuclear RNA uridin rich, which with proteins create U snRNP.These particles play important role in pre-mRNA splicing. In this process are noncoding sequences (introns) removed and coding sequences (exons) are joined. It is catalyzed by spliceosome. The core of this spliceosome is created by U1, U2, U4, U5 and U6 snRNP. They are essential for this process. Some steps of U snRNP biogenesis proceed in nuclear structures called Cajal bodies (CB). In my thesis I focused on factors, which are important for targeting U snRNA into CB. I used U2 snRNA like a model. With the aid of microinjection of fluorescently labeled U2 snRNA mutants I found, that the Sm binding site on U2 snRNA is essential for targeting to CB. Knock down of Sm B/B'showed us, that Sm proteins are necessary for transport U2 snRNA to CB. Sm proteins are formed on U2 snRNA by SMN complex. Deletion of SMN binding site on U2 snRNA had the same inhibition effect. From these results we can see, that Sm proteins and SMN complex are important for U2 snRNA biogenesis espacially for targeting into CB. Key words: U snRNP, Cajal body, U snRNA, cell nucleus
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Mapping of SART3 interactions with spliceosomal snRNPs
Klimešová, Klára ; Staněk, David (advisor) ; Hnilicová, Jarmila (referee)
The splicing of pre-mRNA transcripts is catalyzed by a huge and dynamic machinery called spliceosome. The spliceosomal complex consists of five small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP) particles and hundreds of non-snRNP proteins. Biogenesis of spliceosomal snRNPs is a multi-step process, the final steps of which take place in a specialized sub-nuclear compartment, the Cajal body. However, molecular details of snRNP targeting to the Cajal body remain mostly unclear. Our previous results revealed that SART3 protein is important for accumulation of U4, U5 and U6 snRNPs in Cajal bodies, but how SART3 binds snRNP particles is elusive. SART3 has been identified as a U6 snRNP interaction partner and U4/U6 di-snRNP assembly factor. Here, we show that SART3 interacts with U2 snRNP as well, and that it binds specifically immature U2 particles. Next, we provide evidence that SART3 associates with U2 snRNP via Sm proteins, which are components of the stable snRNP core and are present in four out of five major snRNPs (i.e. in U1, U2, U4 and U5). We propose that the interaction between SART3 and Sm proteins represents a general SART3-snRNP binding mechanism, how SART3 recognizes immature snRNPs and quality controls the snRNP assembly process in Cajal bodies.
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Mapping the contact points between eukaryotic translation initiation factor eIF3 and the 40S ribosomal subunit.
Kouba, Tomáš ; Valášek, Leoš (advisor) ; Pospíšek, Martin (referee) ; Staněk, David (referee)
Translation initiation in eukaryotes is a multistep process requiring the orchestrated interaction of several eukaryotic initiation factors (eIFs) together with the small ribosomal subunit to locate the mRNA's translational start and to properly decode the genetic message that it carries. The largest of these factors, eIF3, forms the scaffold for other initiation factors to promote their spatially coordinated placement on the ribosomal surface. It is our long-standing pursuit to map the 40S-binding site of the yeast multisubunit eIF3 and here we present three new mutual interactions between these two macromolecules (i) The C-terminal region of the eIF3c/NIP1 subunit is comprised of the conserved bipartite PCI domain and we show that a short C-terminal truncation and two clustered mutations directly disturbing the PCI domain produce lethal or slow growth phenotypes and significantly reduce amounts of 40S-bound eIF3 in vivo. The extreme C-terminus directly interacts with small subunit ribosomal protein RACK1/ASC1, which is a part of the 40S head, and, consistently, deletion of ASC1 impairs eIF3 association with ribosomes. The PCI domain per se shows strong but unspecific binding to RNA, for the first time implicating this protein fold in protein-RNA interactions. We conclude that the c/NIP1...
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Regulation of alternative splicing via chromatin modifications
Hozeifi, Samira ; Staněk, David (advisor) ; Krásný, Libor (referee) ; Lanctôt, Christian (referee)
Alternative splicing (AS) is involved in expansion of transcriptome and proteome during cell growth, cell death, pluripotency, cell differentiation and development. There is increasing evidence to suggest that splicing decisions are made when the nascent RNA is still associated with chromatin. Here, I studied regulation of AS via chromatin modification with main focus on histone acetylation. First, we demonstrate that activity of histone deacetylases (HDACs) influences splice site selection in 700 genes. We provided evidence that HDAC inhibition induces histone H4 acetylation and increases RNA Polymerase II (RNA Pol II) processivity along an alternatively spliced element. In addition, HDAC inhibition reduces co-transcriptional association of the splicing regulator SRp40 with the target fibronectin exon. Further we showed that histone acetylation reader, Brd2 protein, affect transcription of 1450 genes. Besides, almost 290 genes change their AS pattern upon Brd2 depletion. We study distribution of Brd2 along the target and control genes and find that Brd2 is specifically localized at promoters of target genes only. Surprisingly, Brd2 interaction with chromatin cannot be explained solely by histone acetylation, which suggests that other protein-domains (in addition to bromodomains) are important for...
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Recycling of spliceosomal complexes
Klimešová, Klára ; Staněk, David (advisor) ; Hálová, Martina (referee)
Most human genes are composed of coding sequences (exons) that are interrupted by non-coding sequences (introns). After gene transcription into pre-mRNA, these introns have to be removed in a process called splicing. Splicing is mediated by a very complex and dynamic complex called the spliceosome, which consists of five small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles (snRNPs) and numerous additional splicing proteins. Each particle contains single small nuclear RNA and a set of specific proteins. SnRNPs are assembled by a stepwise process that takes place both in the nucleus and the cytoplasm and final maturation steps occur in nuclear Cajal bodies. The mature snRNPs interact with pre-mRNA in an ordered pathway and form the spliceosome that catalyzes two trans-esterification reactions leading to intron excision and exons ligation. Subsequently, the spliceosome disassembles again into individual snRNPs that have undergone diverse conformational and compositional transformations during splicing. Thus, before the particles can participate in another round of splicing they have to go through recycling to recover their original form. However, currently the recycling phase of the splicing cycle is surrounded by more questions than answers. The purpose of this work is to discuss latest findings that shed some light on...
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Chromatin modifiers and their relation to transcription regulation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Hálová, Martina ; Folk, Petr (advisor) ; Staněk, David (referee)
Relations among transcription, pre-mRNA processing and chromatin modifications are only partially understood. The human protein SNW1/SKIP belongs to factors which couple these processes. The protein plays role in pre-mRNA splicing and transcription on the level of both initiation and elongation. According to the hypothesis of K. Jones laboratory, it physically and functionally interacts with positive transcription elongation factor b during transcription elongation and influences methylation of histone H3 on lysine 4, a modification characteristic for active transcription (Bres et al., Genes Dev. 19:1211-26, 2005, Bres et al., Mol Cell. 36:75-87, 2009). The yeast ortholog of SNW1/SKIP, Prp45, was until now reported only in connection with splicing regulation. However, unpublished results from our Laboratory and others showed that it is employed in transcription elongation as well. The aim of the diploma project was to search for the relations between Prp45 and the factors regulating transcription. It was confirmed that the mutation prp45(1 169) results in the delay of PHO5 and PHO84 expression during transcriptional induction. Next, we discovered new genetic interactions between PRP45 and several genes encoding the effectors of chromatin modifications. How Prp45 influences the expression of PHO5 and PHO84...
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Analýza regulace komplexů cytoplazmatických poly(A) polymeráz
Novák, Jakub ; Staněk, David (advisor) ; Hrossová, Dominika (referee)
The regulation of gene expression is achieved at many levels. Chromatin-based gene regulation has been the central focus of many decades of research; however, posttranscriptional control mechanisms are emerging as a fundamental complement to direct protein synthesis. This thesis is focused on a specific mechanism of posttranscriptional control - the translational regulation of mRNAs in the cell cytoplasm. This control is a consequence of the balance between translational repression and activation and hinges on the selective recognition of regulated mRNAs by RNA-binding proteins and their ability to recruit RNA modifying proteins. In this thesis, Caenorhabditis elegans germline was used to study translational control of the germ cell-enriched gene, gld-2. Mutants of known RNA-binding proteins of the PUF and CPB protein families were analyzed by performing Western blots, using anti-GLD-2 antibodies. Yeast 3-Hybrid system was used to identify the cis-regulatory sites in the gld-2 mRNA conferring translational regulation by members of PUF and CPB protein families. Potential autoregulatory loop of gld-2 gene expression was also investigated. This thesis shows that FBF proteins positively regulate expression of gld-2 and bind to a conserved sequence in the 3'UTR of its mRNA. Mutations of gld-2 negatively affect...
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Spliceosome assembly
Hausnerová, Viola ; Staněk, David (advisor) ; Chalupníková, Kateřina (referee)
Pre-mRNA splicing is a process in which introns are removed from eukaryotic transcripts and exons are ligated together. Splicing is catalyzed by spliceosome, a large ribonucleoprotein complex composed of five small nuclear RNAs and more than 100 additional proteins, which recognizes 5' splice site, branch point site and 3' splice site and performs two transesterification reactions to produce mRNA molecules. 5' splice site is recognized by U1 snRNP and U2 auxiliary factor (U2AF) is involved in branch point and 3' splice site recognition in the early splicing complex. There is some evidence of splice sites cooperation during intron recognition in vitro but little is known about the situation in vivo. Using Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) methods, we have investigated the early stages of spliceosome assembly. We have employed splicing reporters based on -globin gene and MS2 stem loops to detect interactions of proteins on RNA molecule directly in the cell nucleus. Results of FRET indicate that intact 5' splice site is required for U2AF35 interaction with 3' splice site and that U1C recruitment to 5' splice site is partially limited upon 3' splice site mutation. We have also confirmed by RIP that U2 snRNP association with pre-mRNA molecule requires presence of 5'...
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