Selective Translation Complex Profiling Reveals Staged Initiation and Co-translational Assembly of Initiation Factor Complexes.

Translational control targeting the initiation phase is central to the regulation of gene expression. Understanding all of its aspects requires substantial technological advancements. Here we modified yeast translation complex profile sequencing (TCP-seq), related to ribosome profiling, and adapted it for mammalian cells. Human TCP-seq, capable of capturing footprints of 40S subunits (40Ss) in addition to 80S ribosomes (80Ss), revealed that mammalian and yeast 40Ss distribute similarly across 5'TRs, indicating considerable evolutionary conservation. We further developed yeast and human selective TCP-seq (Sel-TCP-seq), enabling selection of 40Ss and 80Ss associated with immuno-targeted factors. Sel-TCP-seq demonstrated that eIF2 and eIF3 travel along 5' UTRs with scanning 40Ss to successively dissociate upon AUG recognition; notably, a proportion of eIF3 lingers on during the initial elongation cycles. Highlighting Sel-TCP-seq versatility, we also identified four initiating 48S conformational intermediates, provided novel insights into ATF4 and GCN4 mRNA translational control, and demonstrated co-translational assembly of initiation factor complexes

Rocaglates convert DEAD-box protein eIF4A into a sequence-selective translational repressor

Rocaglamide A (RocA) typifies a class of protein synthesis inhibitors that selectively kill aneuploid tumor cells and repress translation of specific mRNAs(1-4). RocA targets eukaryotic initiation factor 4A (eIF4A), an ATP-dependent DEAD-box RNA helicase; its mRNA selectivity is proposed to reflect highly structured 5′ UTRs that depend strongly on eIF4A-mediated unwinding(5). However, rocaglate treatment may not phenocopy the loss of eIF4A activity, as these drugs actually increase the affinity between eIF4A and RNA(1,2,6). Here, we show that secondary structure in 5′ UTRs is only a minor determinant for RocA selectivity and RocA does not repress translation by reducing eIF4A availability. Rather, in vitro and in cells, RocA specifically clamps eIF4A onto polypurine sequences in an ATP-independent manner. This artificially clamped eIF4A blocks 43S scanning, leading to premature, upstream translation initiation and reducing protein expression from transcripts bearing the RocA-eIF4A target sequence. In elucidating the mechanism of selective translation repression by this lead anti-cancer compound, we provide an example of a drug stabilizing sequence-selective RNA-protein interactions