Triptolide (1) is a structurally unique diterpene triepoxide isolated from a traditional Chinese medicinal plant with anti-inflammatory, immunosuppressive, contraceptive and antitumor activities. Its molecular mechanism of action, however, has remained largely elusive to date. We report that triptolide covalently binds to human XPB/ERCC3, a subunit of the transcription factor TFIIH, and inhibits its DNA-dependent ATPase activity, which leads to the inhibition of RNA Polymerase II mediated transcription and likely nucleotide excision repair. The identification of XPB as the target of triptolide accounts for the majority of the known biological activities of triptolide. These findings also suggest that triptolide can serve as a novel molecular probe for studying transcription and, potentially, as a new type of anticancer agents through inhibition of the ATPase activity of XPB.

Translation initiation in eukaryotes is accomplished through the coordinated and orderly action of a large number of proteins, including the eIF4 initiation factors. Herein, we report that pateamine A (PatA), a potent antiproliferative and proapoptotic marine natural product, inhibits cap-dependent eukaryotic translation initiation. PatA bound to and enhanced the intrinsic enzymatic activities of eIF4A, yet it inhibited eIF4A-eIF4G association and promoted the formation of a stable ternary complex between eIF4A and eIF4B. These changes in eIF4A affinity for its partner proteins upon binding to PatA caused the stalling of initiation complexes on mRNA in vitro and induced stress granule formation in vivo. These results suggest that PatA will be a valuable molecular probe for future studies of eukaryotic translation initiation and may serve as a lead compound for the development of anticancer agents.

Stress granules are aggregates of small ribosomal subunits, mRNA, and numerous associated RNA-binding proteins that include several translation initiation factors. Stress granule assembly occurs in the cytoplasm of higher eukaryotic cells under a wide variety of stress conditions, including heat shock, UV irradiation, hypoxia, and exposure to arsenite. Thus far, a unifying principle of eukaryotic initiation factor 2␣ phosphorylation prior to stress granule formation has been observed from the majority of experimental evidence. Pateamine A, a natural product isolated from marine sponge, was recently reported to inhibit eukaryotic translation initiation and induce the formation of stress granules. In this report, the protein composition and fundamental progression of stress granule formation and disassembly induced by pateamine A was found to be similar to that for arsenite. However, pateamine A-induced stress granules were more stable and less prone to disassembly than those formed in the presence of arsenite. Most significantly, pateamine A induced stress granules independent of eukaryotic initiation factor 2␣ phosphorylation, suggesting an alternative mechanism of formation from that previously described for other cellular stresses. Taking into account the known inhibitory effect of pateamine A on eukaryotic translation initiation, a model is proposed to account for the induction of stress granules by pateamine A as well as other stress conditions through perturbation of any steps prior to the rejoining of the 60S ribosomal subunit during the entire translation initiation process. Stress granules (SGs)2 were first observed as cellular bodies visible by microscopy in tomato cells subjected to heat shock (1-3). Subsequently, SGs were identified in mammalian cells exposed to a variety of stress conditions, including oxidative stress, energy depletion, UV irradiation, and hypoxia (4). SG assembly is part of an adaptive response that recruits selected mRNAs and associated proteins for storage or triage to processing bodies (PBs) (5) that are sites of mRNA decay, allowing survival under adverse conditions. Sequestration of these components may help cells to recover post-stress by replenishing the cellular pool of mRNA without the need for new transcription. The physiological relevance of SGs is underscored by the presence of SGs in tissues of animals under stress (4), and SGs have been implicated in radioresistance of tumor cells (6) and tumor necrosis factor ␣ signaling (7). The study of SGs, their mechanism of formation, and biological role is a relatively new field in cell biology. Thus, a deeper understanding of the mechanism of SG formation and cellular functions may be clinically relevant.A critical step in SG formation shared by most stress conditions is phosphorylation of the ␣ subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF2) (8), which is a component of the eIF2-GTPtRNAi Met ternary complex. The ternary complex is part of the 43S complex (40S particle, eIF3, and ternary complex) that is recruited to mRNA by ...