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Molecular and Cellular Biology, September 2003, p. 6685-6693, Vol. 23, No. 18
0270-7306/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/MCB.23.18.6685-6693.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Selective Degradation of AU-Rich mRNAs Promoted by the p37 AUF1 Protein Isoform

Bedabrata Sarkar, Qiaoran Xi, Cheng He, and Robert J. Schneider*

Department of Microbiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016

Received 7 May 2003/ Accepted 10 June 2003

An AU-rich element (ARE) consisting of repeated canonical AUUUA motifs confers rapid degradation to many cytokine mRNAs when present in the 3' untranslated region. Destabilization of mRNAs with AREs (ARE-mRNAs) is consistent with the interaction of ARE-binding proteins such as tristetraprolin and the four AUF1 isoforms. However, the association of the AUF1-mRNA interaction with decreased ARE-mRNA stability is correlative and has not been directly tested. We therefore determined whether overexpression of AUF1 isoforms promotes ARE-mRNA destabilization and whether AUF1 isoforms are limiting components for ARE-mRNA decay. We show that the p37 AUF1 isoform and, to a lesser extent, the p40 isoform possess ARE-mRNA-destabilizing activity when overexpressed. Surprisingly, overexpressed p37 AUF1 also destabilized reporter mRNAs containing a noncanonical but AU-rich 3' untranslated region. Since overexpressed p37 AUF1 could interact in vivo with the AU-rich reporter mRNA, AUF1 may be involved in rapid turnover of mRNAs that lack canonical AREs. Moreover, overexpression of p37 AUF1 restored the ability of cells to rapidly degrade ARE-mRNAs when that ability was saturated and inhibited by overexpression of ARE-mRNAs. Finally, activation of ARE-mRNA decay often involves a translation-dependent step, which was eliminated by overexpression of p37 AUF1. These data indicate that the p37 AUF1 isoform and, to some extent, the p40 isoform are limiting factors that facilitate rapid decay of AU-rich mRNAs.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology, New York University School of Medicine, 550 First Ave., New York, NY 10016. Phone: (212) 263-6006. Fax: (212) 263-8276. E-mail: schner01{at}popmail.med.nyu.edu.

Molecular and Cellular Biology, September 2003, p. 6685-6693, Vol. 23, No. 18
0022-538X/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/MCB.23.18.6685-6693.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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