MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are predicted to regulate 30% of mammalian protein-encoding genes by interactions with their 3' untranslated regions (UTRs). We use partially complementary siRNAs to investigate the mechanism by which miRNAs mediate translational repression in human cells. Repressed mRNAs are associated with polyribosomes that are engaged in translation elongation, as shown by puromycin sensitivity. The inhibition appears to be postinitiation because translation driven by the cap-independent processes of HCV IRES and CrPV IRES is repressed by short RNAs. Further, metabolic labeling suggests that silencing occurs before completion of the nascent polypeptide chain. In addition, silencing by short RNAs causes a decrease in translational readthrough at a stop codon, and ribosomes on repressed mRNAs dissociate more rapidly after a block of initiation of translation than those on control mRNAs. These results suggest that repression by short RNAs, and thus probably miRNAs, is primarily due to ribosome drop off during elongation of translation.

BackgroundFlavaglines are a family of natural products from the genus Aglaia that exhibit anti-cancer activity in vitro and in vivo and inhibit translation initiation. They have been shown to modulate the activity of eIF4A, the DEAD-box RNA helicase subunit of the eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF) 4F complex, a complex that stimulates ribosome recruitment during translation initiation. One flavagline, silvestrol, is capable of modulating chemosensitivity in a mechanism-based mouse model.Methodology/Principal FindingsAmong a number of flavagline family members tested herein, we find that silvestrol is the more potent translation inhibitor among these. We find that silvestrol impairs the ribosome recruitment step of translation initiation by affecting the composition of the eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF) 4F complex. We show that silvestrol exhibits significant anticancer activity in human breast and prostate cancer xenograft models, and that this is associated with increased apoptosis, decreased proliferation, and inhibition of angiogenesis. We demonstrate that targeting translation by silvestrol results in preferential inhibition of weakly initiating mRNAs.Conclusions/SignificanceOur results indicate that silvestrol is a potent anti-cancer compound in vivo that exerts its activity by affecting survival pathways as well as angiogenesis. We propose that silvestrol mediates its effects by preferentially inhibiting translation of malignancy-related mRNAs. Silvestrol appears to be well tolerated in animals.

Cytoplasmic aggregates known as stress granules (SGs) arise as a consequence of cellular stress and contain stalled translation preinitiation complexes. These foci are thought to serve as sites of mRNA storage or triage during the cell stress response. SG formation has been shown to require induction of eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF)2␣ phosphorylation. Herein, we investigate the potential role of other initiation factors in this process and demonstrate that interfering with eIF4A activity, an RNA helicase required for the ribosome recruitment phase of translation initiation, induces SG formation and that this event is not dependent on eIF2␣ phosphorylation. We also show that inhibition of eIF4A activity does not impair the ability of eIF2␣ to be phosphorylated under stress conditions. Furthermore, we observed SG assembly upon inhibition of cap-dependent translation after poliovirus infection. We propose that SG modeling can occur via both eIF2␣ phosphorylation-dependent and -independent pathways that target translation initiation.

RNA helicases are the largest group of enzymes in eukaryotic RNA metabolism. The DEXD͞H-box putative RNA helicases form the helicase superfamily II, whose members are defined by seven highly conserved amino acid motifs, making specific targeting of selected members a challenging pharmacological problem. The translation initiation factor eIF4A is the prototypical DEAD-box RNA helicase that works in conjunction with eIF4B and eIF4H and as a subunit of eIF4F to prepare the mRNA template for ribosome binding, possibly by unwinding the secondary structure proximal to the 5 m 7 GpppN cap structure. We report the identification and characterization of a small molecule inhibitor of eukaryotic translation initiation that acts in an unusual manner by stimulating eIF4A-associated activities. Our results suggest that proper control of eIF4A helicase activity is necessary for efficient ribosome binding and demonstrate the feasibility of selectively targeting DEADbox RNA helicases with small molecules.chemical biology ͉ DEAD-box helicase ͉ pateamine T he ribosome recruitment step of translation initiation is ratelimiting and an important regulatory point whereby cellular environmental cues (e.g., amino acid starvation, mitogenic stimulation, and hypoxia) are linked to the process of translation (1). Two distinct pathways exist for recruitment of the ribosome to the mRNA template. One mechanism is cap-dependent and is facilitated by the presence of the 5Ј cap structure (m 7 GpppN, where N is any nucleotide) on the mRNA. It is catalyzed by the eIF4 class of translation initiation factors and involves the recruitment of ribosomes near the 5Ј end of the mRNA template (1). The second mode involves ribosome recruitment in a cap-independent fashion to an internal ribosome entry site (IRES). Initiation factor requirement for internal ribosome binding varies among IRESes, with some not requiring any factors (2).Preparation of the mRNA template for cap-dependent ribosome recruitment is achieved by eIF4F, eIF4A, eIF4B, eIF4H, and ATP hydrolysis (1). The eIF4F complex is comprised of three subunits: (i) eIF4E, which binds the mRNA cap structure in an ATP-independent fashion; (ii) eIF4A, an RNA helicase that exhibits RNA-dependent ATPase activity and ATPstimulated RNA binding activity (3); and (iii) eIF4G, a modular scaffold that mediates mRNA binding of the 43S preinitiation complex through interactions with eIF3. eIF4B, and eIF4H cooperate with eIF4A to make its helicase activity more processive (4, 5). eIF4A exists as a free form (referred to herein as eIF4A f ) and as a subunit of eIF4F (eIF4A c ) and is thought to cycle through the eIF4F complex during initiation (6-8). When localized in the eIF4F complex, eIF4A c is Ϸ20-fold more efficient as an RNA helicase than when found alone (4, 9), leading to the proposal that eIF4A c is the functional helicase for translation initiation (10). The helicase activity of eIF4F (via eIF4A c ) is thought to unwind local secondary structure in the 5Ј UTR of mRNAs to facilitate cap-dependent ribosome...

Two classes of viruses, namely members of the Potyviridae and Caliciviridae, use a novel mechanism for the initiation of protein synthesis that involves the interaction of translation initiation factors with a viral protein covalently linked to the viral RNA, known as VPg. The calicivirus VPg proteins can interact directly with the initiation factors eIF4E and eIF3. Translation initiation on feline calicivirus (FCV) RNA requires eIF4E because it is inhibited by recombinant 4E-BP1. However, to date, there have been no functional studies carried out with respect to norovirus translation initiation, because of a lack of a suitable source of VPg-linked viral RNA. We have now used the recently identified murine norovirus (MNV) as a model system for norovirus translation and have extended our previous studies with FCV RNA to examine the role of the other eIF4F components in translation initiation. We now demonstrate that, as with FCV, MNV VPg interacts directly with eIF4E, although, unlike FCV RNA, translation of MNV RNA is not sensitive to 4E-BP1, eIF4E depletion, or foot-and-mouth disease virus Lb protease-mediated cleavage of eIF4G. We also demonstrate that both FCV and MNV RNA translation require the RNA helicase component of the eIF4F complex, namely eIF4A, because translation was sensitive (albeit to different degrees) to a dominant negative form and to a small molecule inhibitor of eIF4A (hippuristanol). These results suggest that calicivirus RNAs differ with respect to their requirements for the components of the eIF4F translation initiation complex.