title: Schizosaccharomyces pombe has a novel eukaryotic initiation factor 4F complex containing a cap-binding protein with the human eIF4E C-terminal motif KSGST.
abstract: Genetic and biochemical analyses were performed on the cytoplasmic cap-binding complex (eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF) 4F) of Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Genomic and cDNA sequencing of the S. pombe gene (tif1) encoding the cap-binding component eIF4E revealed the presence of two introns in a reading frame of 219 codons. The encoded sequence of 218 amino acids shows a greater degree of identity to the mammalian eIF4E sequence than does its counterpart from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In particular, unlike its S. cerevisiae counterpart, S.pombe eIF4E has a C-terminal Ser209 within the motif KSGST that is a site of phosphorylation in hamster and rabbit eIF4E. Of relevance to its potential regulatory role, eIF4E was found to be encoded by an mRNA with a six-nucleotide leader and to be of low abundance in vivo. Cross-linking experiments identified S. pombe eIF4E as the major cap-binding protein while a further protein, p36, also showed cap-dependent binding. eIF4A was not associated with the cap-binding complex. While S. pombe eIF4E was shown capable of binding S. cerevisiae p20, an equivalent protein was absent from the eIF4F complex isolated from S. pombe cells. S. pombe 4F therefore shows a remarkable combination of structural and functional properties, some of which it shares with its higher and its lower eukaryotic counterparts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gene Expression, National Biotechnology Research Centre (GBF), Mascheroder Weg 1, D-38124 Braunschweig, Federal Republic of Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ptushkina
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fierro-Monti
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van den Heuvel
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vasilescu
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Birkenhäger
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mita
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: McCarthy
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster; D039562:Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-4F; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D006801:Humans; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D039502:Nuclear Cap-Binding Protein Complex; D010442:Peptide Chain Initiation, Translational; D010448:Peptide Initiation Factors / Q000737:chemistry*; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D011485:Protein Binding; D039381:RNA Cap-Binding Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D011817:Rabbits; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D012568:Schizosaccharomyces / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: C100383:CBC2 protein, S cerevisiae; D004271:DNA, Fungal; D039562:Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-4F; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D039502:Nuclear Cap-Binding Protein Complex; D010448:Peptide Initiation Factors; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D039381:RNA Cap-Binding Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins