title: The yeast ζ-crystallin/NADPH:quinone oxidoreductase (Zta1p) is under nutritional control by the target of rapamycin pathway and is involved in the regulation of argininosuccinate lyase mRNA half-life.
abstract: The yeast ζ-crystallin (Zta1p) is a quinone oxidoreductase belonging to the ζ-crystallin family, with activity in the reduction of alkenal/alkenone compounds. Various biological functions have been ascribed to the members of this protein family, such as their ability to interact specifically with AU-rich sequences in mRNA, and thus they have been proposed to act as AU-rich element-binding proteins (AREBPs). In this study, we evaluated the specificity of Zta1p for RNA versus DNA by means of a novel nonisotopic method for the in vitro quantitative detection of protein · RNA complexes. Through comparative transcriptomic analysis, we found that the lack of Zta1p negatively affects the expression of a group of genes involved in amino acid biosynthesis, the argininosuccinate lyase (ARG4) gene being one of them. Here, we propose that Zta1p participates in the post-transcriptional regulation of ARG4 expression by increasing the ARG4 mRNA half-life. In addition, expression of the ζ-crystallin gene (ZTA1) is itself regulated by nutrient availability through the general amino acid control and target of rapamycin pathways. Our results shed new light on the ζ-crystallin family members from yeast to humans as stress response proteins with a bifunctional role in the detoxification of alkenal and alkenone compounds, and the regulation of gene expression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.|ALBA Synchrotron Light Source, NCD Beamline - Experiments Division, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Crosas
authors.affiliation: Microarray Unit, Genomics Core Facility, Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG) - Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain.|Institut de Medicina Predictiva i Personalitzada del Càncer, IGTP, Campus Can Ruti, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Lauro
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sumoy
authors.affiliation: Microarray Unit, Genomics Core Facility, Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG) - Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: González
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Maykelis
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Díaz
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Luminescence and Spectroscopy of Biomolecules (LLEB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Salvador
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bartolomé
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Jaume
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Farrés
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Parés
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Josep Antoni
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Biosca
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: María Rosario
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Fernández
mesh_terms: D001123:Argininosuccinate Lyase / Q000378:metabolism; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism; D005686:Galactokinase / Q000378:metabolism; D009249:NADP / Q000378:metabolism*; D011808:Quinone Reductases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012313:RNA / Q000378:metabolism; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000378:metabolism; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D038226:zeta-Crystallins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D038226:zeta-Crystallins; D009249:NADP; D012313:RNA; D004247:DNA; D011808:Quinone Reductases; C524219:GAL1 protein, S cerevisiae; D005686:Galactokinase; C087900:Arg4 protein, S cerevisiae; D001123:Argininosuccinate Lyase
keywords: AU-rich binding protein; amino acid starvation; argininosuccinate lyase; crystallins; medium-chain dehydrogenase/reductase