The Deubiquitylase Ubp15 Couples Transcription to mRNA Export

Abstract

Nuclear export of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) is intimately coupled to their synthesis. pre-mRNAs assemble into dynamic ribonucleoparticles as they are being transcribed, processed and exported. The role of ubiquitylation in this process is increasingly recognized but, while a few E3 ligases have been shown to regulate nuclear export, evidence for deubiquitylases is currently lacking. Here, we identified the deubiquitylase Ubp15 as a regulator of nuclear export in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Ubp15 interacts both with RNA polymerase II and with the nuclear pore complex, and its deletion reverts the nuclear export defect of mutants of the E3 ligase Rsp5. The deletion of UBP15 leads to hyper-ubiquitylation of the main nuclear export receptor Mex67 and affects its association with THO, a complex coupling transcription to mRNA processing and involved in the recruitment of mRNA export factors to nascent transcripts. Collectively, our data support a role for Ubp15 in coupling transcription to mRNA export.