In S. cerevisiae, the ASH1 mRNA is localized at the bud tip of late-anaphase cells, resulting in the exclusive sorting of Ash1p to the daughter cell nucleus. While the mechanism behind the localization of this transcript has been well studied, the regulation of its translation is still poorly understood. We now report that the RNA binding protein Khd1 interacts with the ASH1 mRNA localization element E1 and with the C-terminal domain of eIF4G1 to regulate the translation of this transcript. Khd1p reduces translation initiation on the ASH1 mRNA and diminishes Ash1p leakage into the mother cell nucleus. Furthermore, we show that the casein kinase Yck1p phosphorylates Khd1p at the plasma membrane, disrupting the Khd1p-RNA complex and releasing its translational repression on the ASH1 mRNA. This study reveals how, by linking mRNA sorting and translational activation, Khd1p and Yck1p regulate the spatiotemporal expression of a cell fate determinant.

The transport and localization of mRNAs results in the asymmetric synthesis of specific proteins. In yeast, the nucleocytoplasmic shuttling protein She2 binds the ASH1 mRNA and targets it for localization at the bud tip by recruiting the She3p-Myo4p complex. Although the cytoplasmic role of She2p in mRNA localization is well characterized, its nuclear function is still unclear. Here, we show that She2p contains a nonclassical nuclear localization signal (NLS) that is essential for its nuclear import via the importin ␣ Srp1p. Exclusion of She2p from the nucleus by mutagenesis of its NLS leads to defective ASH1 mRNA localization and Ash1p sorting. Interestingly, these phenotypes mimic knockouts of LOC1 and PUF6, which encode for nuclear RNA-binding proteins that bind the ASH1 mRNA and control its translation. We find that She2p interacts with both Loc1p and Puf6p and that excluding She2p from the nucleus decreases this interaction. Absence of nuclear She2p disrupts the binding of Loc1p and Puf6p to the ASH1 mRNA, suggesting that nuclear import of She2p is necessary to recruit both factors to the ASH1 transcript. This study reveals that a direct coupling between localization and translation regulation factors in the nucleus is required for proper cytoplasmic localization of mRNAs.

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Summary The modification of behavior in response to experience is crucial for animals to adapt to environmental changes. Although factors such as neuropeptides and hormones are known to function in the switch between alternative behavioral states, the mechanisms by which these factors transduce, store, retrieve and integrate environmental signals to regulate behavior are poorly understood. The rate of locomotion of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans depends on both current and past food availability. Specifically, C. elegans slows its locomotion when it encounters food, and animals in a food-deprived state slow even more than animals in a well-fed state. The slowing responses of well-fed and food-deprived animals in the presence of food represent distinct behavioral states, as they are controlled by different sets of genes, neurotransmitters and neurons. Here we describe an evolutionarily conserved C. elegans protein, VPS-50, that is required for animals to assume the well-fed behavioral state. Both VPS-50 and its murine homolog mVPS50 are expressed in neurons, are associated with synaptic and dense-core vesicles and control vesicle acidification and hence synaptic function, likely through regulation of the assembly of the V-ATPase complex. We propose that dense-core vesicle acidification controlled by the evolutionarily conserved protein VPS-50/mVPS50 affects behavioral state by modulating neuropeptide levels and presynaptic neuronal function in both C. elegans and mammals.