Pre-mRNAs undergo splicing to remove introns, and the spliced mRNA is exported to the cytoplasm for translation. Here we investigated the mechanism for recruitment of the conserved mRNA export machinery (TREX complex) to mRNA. We show that the human TREX complex is recruited to a region near the 5' end of mRNA, with the TREX component Aly bound closest to the 5' cap. Both TREX recruitment and mRNA export require the cap, and these roles for the cap are splicing dependent. CBP80, which is bound to the cap, associates efficiently with TREX, and Aly mediates this interaction. Together, these data indicate that the CBP80-Aly interaction results in recruitment of TREX to the 5' end of mRNA, where it functions in mRNA export. As a consequence, the mRNA would be exported in a 5' to 3' direction through the nuclear pore, as observed in early electron micrographs of giant Balbiani ring mRNPs.

A major driver of the pathophysiology of sickle cell disease (SCD) is polymerization of deoxygenated haemoglobin S (HbS), which leads to sickling and destruction of red blood cells (RBCs) and end-organ damage. Pharmacologically increasing the proportion of oxygenated HbS in RBCs may inhibit polymerization, prevent sickling and provide long term disease modification. We report that GBT440, a small molecule which binds to the N-terminal a chain of Hb, increases HbS affinity for oxygen, delays in vitro HbS polymerization and prevents sickling of RBCs. Moreover, in a murine model of SCD, GBT440 extends the half-life of RBCs, reduces reticulocyte counts and prevents ex vivo RBC sickling. Importantly, oral dosing of GBT440 in animals demonstrates suitability for once daily dosing in humans and a highly selective partitioning into RBCs, which is a key therapeutic safety attribute. Thus, GBT440 has the potential for clinical use as a disease-modifying agent in sickle cell patients.

The conserved TREX mRNA export complex is known to contain UAP56, Aly, Tex1, and the THO complex. Here, we carried out proteomic analysis of immunopurified human TREX complex and identified the protein CIP29 as the only new component with a clear yeast relative (known as Tho1). Tho1 is known to function in mRNA export, and we provide evidence that CIP29 likewise functions in this process. Like the known TREX components, a portion of CIP29 localizes in nuclear speckle domains, and its efficient recruitment to mRNA is both splicingand cap-dependent. We show that UAP56 mediates an ATP-dependent interaction between the THO complex and both CIP29 and Aly, indicating that TREX assembly is ATP-dependent. Using recombinant proteins expressed in Escherichia coli, we show that UAP56, Aly, and CIP29 form an ATP-dependent trimeric complex, and UAP56 bridges the interaction between CIP29 and Aly. We conclude that the interaction of two conserved export proteins, CIP29 and Aly, with UAP56 is strictly regulated by ATP during assembly of the TREX complex. . In yeast, the THO complex consists of four tightly associated subunits (Tho2, Hpr1, Mft1, and Thp1) (Piruat and Aguilera 1998;Jimeno et al. 2006). Likewise, the metazoan THO complex consists of a set of tightly associated proteins, three of which (fSAP79, fSAP35, and fSAP24; known now as THOC5, THOC6, and THOC7, respectively) do not appear to be conserved in yeast and two of which are orthologs of Tho2 (THOC2) and Hpr1 (THOC1) (Rehwinkel et al. 2004;Masuda et al. 2005). In yeast, Aguilera and coworkers (Piruat and Aguilera 1998) identified a protein known as Tho1 during the same genetic screen that they used to identify the THO complex. Subsequent characterization of Tho1 revealed that it functions in mRNP biogenesis and export, but this protein was not identified as a component of the THO/TREX complex (Piruat and Aguilera 1998;Jimeno et al. 2006). However, Tho1 is a multicopy suppressor of THO complex mutants and is recruited to mRNA in a THO complex-dependent manner (Piruat and Aguilera 1998;Jimeno et al. 2006). In humans, a counterpart of yeast Tho1 was identified based on sequence alignment (Jimeno et al. 2006). This protein, CIP29, was first reported as a cytokine-induced protein and later was linked to several cancers (Choong et al. 2001;Fukuda et al. 2002;Hashii et al. 2004;Leaw et al. 2004). Like yeast Tho1, CIP29 contains a SAF motif and binds to DNA, which led to the speculation that CIP29 functions in transcription (Aravind and Koonin 2000; Hashii et al. 2004).3 Corresponding author. E-MAIL rreed@hms.harvard.edu; FAX (617) 432-3091. Article is online at http://www.genesdev.org/cgi

The TREX complex, which functions in mRNA export, is recruited to mRNA during splicing. Both the splicing machinery and the TREX complex are concentrated in 20–50 discrete foci known as nuclear speckle domains. Using a model system where CMV-DNA constructs were microinjected into HeLa cell nuclei, we have followed the fates of the transcripts. Here we show that transcripts lacking functional splice sites, which are inefficiently exported, do not associate with nuclear speckle domains but are instead distributed throughout the nucleoplasm. In contrast, pre-mRNAs containing functional splice sites accumulate in nuclear speckles, and our data suggest that splicing occurs in these domains. When the TREX components UAP56 or Aly are knocked down, spliced mRNA, as well as total polyA+ RNA, accumulates in nuclear speckle domains. Together, our data raise the possibility that pre-mRNA undergoes splicing in nuclear speckle domains, before release by TREX components for efficient export to the cytoplasm.