Immunological reactions are propelled by ever-changing signals that alter the translational ability of the RNA in the cells involved. Such alterations are considered to be consequential modifications in the transcriptomic decoding of the genetic blueprint. The identification of RNA-binding protein (RBP) assemblies engaged in the coordinative regulation of state-specific RNAs indicates alternative and exclusive means for determining the activation, plasticity and tolerance of cells of the immune system. Here we review current knowledge about RBP-regulated post-transcriptional events involved in the reactivity of cells of the immune system and the importance of their alteration during chronic inflammatory pathology and autoimmunity.

Polypyrimidine tract binding (PTB) protein is a regulator of alternative pre-mRNA splicing, and also stimulates the initiation of translation dependent on many viral internal ribosome entry segments/sites (IRESs). It has four RNA-binding domains (RBDs), but although the contacts with many IRESs have been mapped, the orientation of binding (i.e., which RBD binds to which site in the IRES) is unknown. To answer this question, 16 derivatives of PTB1, each with a single cysteine flanking the RNA-binding surface in an RBD, were constructed and used in directed hydroxyl radical probing with the encephalomyocarditis virus IRES. The results, together with mass spectrometry data on the stoichiometry of PTB binding to different IRES derivatives, show that the minimal IRES binds a single PTB in a unique orientation, with RBD1 and RBD2 binding near the 3' end, and RBD3 contacting the 5' end, thereby constraining and stabilizing the three-dimensional structural fold of the IRES.

Picornavirus mRNAs contain IRESs that sustain their translation during infection, when host protein synthesis is shut off. The major classes of picornavirus IRESs (Types 1 and 2) have distinct structures and sequences, but initiation on both is determined by their specific interaction with eIF4G. We report here that Aichivirus (AV), a member of the Kobuvirus genus of Picornaviridae, contains an IRES that differs structurally from Type 1 and Type 2 IRESs. Its function similarly involves interaction with eIF4G, but its eIF4G‐interacting domain is structurally distinct, although it contains an apical eIF4G‐interacting motif similar to that in Type 2 IRESs. Like Type 1 and Type 2 IRESs, AV IRES function is enhanced by pyrimidine tract‐binding protein (PTB), but the pattern of PTB's interaction with each of these IRESs is distinct. Unlike all known IRESs, the AV IRES is absolutely dependent on DHX29, a requirement imposed by sequestration of its initiation codon in a stable hairpin.

Tethered hydroxyl-radical probing has been used to determine the orientation of binding of polypyrimidine tractbinding protein (PTB) to the poliovirus type 1 (Mahoney) (PV-1(M)) internal ribosome entry site/segment (IRES)-the question of which RNA-binding domain (RBD) binds to which sites on the IRES. The results show that under conditions in which PTB strongly stimulates IRES activity, a single PTB is binding to the IRES, a finding which was confirmed by mass spectrometry of PTB/IRES complexes. RBDs1 and 2 interact with the basal part of the Domain V irregular stem loop, very close to the binding site of eIF4G, and RBDs3 and 4 interact with the single-stranded regions flanking Domain V. The binding of PTB is subtly altered in the presence of the central domain (p50) of eIF4G, and p50 binding is likewise modified if PTB is present. This suggests that PTB stimulates PV-1(M) IRES activity by inducing eIF4G to bind in the optimal position and orientation to promote internal ribosome entry, which, in PV-1(M), is at an AUG triplet 30 nt downstream of the base of Domain V.

Polypyrimidine tract binding (PTB) protein is an abundant and widely expressed RNA binding protein with four RNA Recognition Motif (RRM) domains. PTB is involved in numerous post-transcriptional steps in gene expression in both the nucleus and cytoplasm, but has been bestcharacterized as a regulatory repressor of some alternative splicing events (ASEs), and as an activator of translation driven by internal ribosome entry segments (IRESs). We have used a variety of approaches to characterize the activities of PTB and its molecular interactions with RNA substrates and protein partners. Using splice-sensitive microarrays we found that PTB acts not only as a splicing repressor but also as an activator, and that these two activities are determined by the location at which PTB binds relative to target exons. We have identified minimal splicing repressor and activator domains, and have determined high resolution structures of the second RRM domain of PTB binding to peptide motifs from the co-repressor protein Raver1. Using single-molecule techniques we have determined the stoichiometry of PTB binding to a regulated splicing substrate in whole nuclear extracts. Finally, we have used tethered hydroxyl radical probing to determine the locations on viral IRESs at which each of the four RRM domains bind. We are now combining tethered probing with single molecule analyses to gain a detailed understanding of how PTB interacts with pre-mRNA substrates to effect either repression or activation of splicing. 3Polypyrimidine tract binding protein (PTB) is an abundant RNA binding protein of the hnRNP family, originally identified by its binding to the polypyrimidine tract at the 3´ splice site of mammalian introns [1, 2]. Structurally, PTB consists of four RNA Recognition Motif (RRM) domains [3], with three interdomain linkers and an N-terminal leader sequence containing nuclear localization and export signals (Fig. 1A). Early speculation that PTB was an essential pre-mRNA splicing factor was rapidly dispelled, and it was subsequently recognized as a repressive regulator of alternative splicing [4]. In vitro selection experiments showed that optimal binding substrates for PTB consisted of motifs such as UCUUC embedded within more extended pyrimidine-rich contexts [5, 6]. Such motifs were found in splicing silencer elements associated with many PTB repressed exons (Fig. 1B). PTB was also found to be involved in regulating numerous other post-transcriptional processes in both the nucleus and cytoplasm, including 3´-end processing, mRNA stability, internal ribosome entry segment (IRES) driven translation and mRNA localization [7]. Of these processes, most experimental attention has focused on the roles of PTB as a repressor of splicing and activator of IRESmediated translation initiation. Here we discuss a range of approaches that we have deployed recently to analyze the roles of PTB and its interactions with RNA targets and protein partners. PTB splicing mapsPTB has been investigated as a splicing repressor in numerous mod...