Insights on Regulation and Function of the Iron Regulatory Protein 1 (IRP1)* (original) (raw)
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Iron regulatory protein 1 (IRP1) controls the translation or stability of several mRNAs by binding to iron responsive elements (IREs) within their untranslated regions. Its activity is regulated by an unusual iron-sulfur cluster (ICS) switch. Thus, in iron-replete cells, IRP1 assembles a cubane [4Fe-4S] cluster that prevents RNA-binding activity and renders the protein to cytosolic aconitase. We show that wild type or mutant forms of IRP1 that fail to assemble a [4Fe-4S] cluster are sensi-tized for iron-dependent degradation by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. The regulation of IRP1 abundance poses an alternative mechanism to prevent accumulation of inappropriately high IRE-binding activity when the ICS assembly pathway is impaired. To study functional aspects of IRP1, we overexpressed wild type or mutant forms of the protein in human H1299 lung cancer cells in a tetracycline-inducible fashion, and analyzed how this affects cell growth. While the induction of IRP1 did not affect cell proliferation in culture, it dramatically reduced the capacity of the cells to form solid tumor xenografts in nude mice. These data provide a first link between IRP1 and cancer.
Iron-Dependent Degradation of Apo-IRP1 by the Ubiquitin-Proteasome Pathway
Molecular and Cellular Biology, 2007
Iron regulatory protein 1 (IRP1) controls the translation or stability of several mRNAs by binding to "iron-responsive elements" within their untranslated regions. In iron-replete cells, IRP1 assembles a cubane iron-sulfur cluster (ISC) that inhibits RNA-binding activity and converts the protein to cytosolic aconitase. We show that the constitutive IRP1 C437S mutant, which fails to form an ISC, is destabilized by iron. Thus, exposure of H1299 cells to ferric ammonium citrate reduced the half-life of transfected IRP1 C437S from ϳ24 h to ϳ10 h. The iron-dependent degradation of IRP1 C437S involved ubiquitination, required ongoing transcription and translation, and could be efficiently blocked by the proteasomal inhibitors MG132 and lactacystin. Similar results were obtained with overexpressed wild-type IRP1, which predominated in the apo-form even in ironloaded H1299 cells, possibly due to saturation of the ISC assembly machinery. Importantly, inhibition of ISC biogenesis in HeLa cells by small interfering RNA knockdown of the cysteine desulfurase Nfs1 sensitized endogenous IRP1 for iron-dependent degradation. Collectively, these data uncover a mechanism for the regulation of IRP1 abundance as a means to control its RNA-binding activity, when the ISC assembly pathway is impaired.
Blood, 2011
Iron regulatory proteins (IRPs) 1 and 2 are RNA-binding proteins that control cellular iron metabolism by binding to conserved RNA motifs called iron-responsive elements (IREs). The currently known IRP-binding mRNAs encode proteins involved in iron uptake, storage, and release as well as heme synthesis. To systematically define the IRE/IRP regulatory network on a transcriptome-wide scale, IRP1/IRE and IRP2/IRE messenger ribonucleoprotein complexes were immunoselected, and the mRNA composition was determined using microarrays. We identify 35 novel mRNAs that bind both IRP1 and IRP2, and we also report for the first time cellular mRNAs with exclusive specificity for IRP1 or IRP2. To further explore cellular iron metabolism at a system-wide level, we undertook proteomic analysis by pulsed stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture in an iron-modulated mouse hepatic cell line and in bone marrow-derived macrophages from IRP1- and IRP2-deficient mice. This work investigates cellular iron metabolism in unprecedented depth and defines a wide network of mRNAs and proteins with iron-dependent regulation, IRP-dependent regulation, or both.
Iron-responsive degradation of iron-regulatory protein 1 does not require the Fe–S cluster
2006
The generally accepted role of iron-regulatory protein 1 (IRP1) in orchestrating the fate of iron-regulated mRNAs depends on the interconversion of its cytosolic aconitase and RNA-binding forms through assembly/disassembly of its Fe-S cluster, without altering protein abundance. Here, we show that IRP1 protein abundance can be ironregulated. Modulation of IRP1 abundance by iron did not require assembly of the Fe-S cluster, since a mutant with all cluster-ligating cysteines mutated to serine underwent iron-induced protein degradation. Phosphorylation of IRP1 at S138 favored the RNA-binding form and promoted iron-dependent degradation. However, phosphorylation at S138 was not required for degradation. Further, degradation of an S138 phosphomimetic mutant was not blocked by mutation of cluster-ligating cysteines. These findings were confirmed in mouse models with genetic defects in cytosolic Fe-S cluster assembly/disassembly. IRP1 RNAbinding activity was primarily regulated by IRP1 degradation in these animals. Our results reveal a mechanism for regulating IRP1 action relevant to the control of iron homeostasis during cell proliferation, inflammation, and in response to diseases altering cytosolic Fe-S cluster assembly or disassembly.
Requirements for iron-regulated degradation of the RNA binding protein, iron regulatory protein 2
The EMBO Journal, 1995
Iron regulatory proteins (IRPs) regulate the expression of genes involved in iron metabolism whose transcripts contain RNA stem-loop motifs known as ironresponsive elements (IREs). When iron concentrations are low, IRPs bind to IREs in the 5' untranslated region (UTR) of transcripts where they repress translation, or the 3' UTR of transcripts where they inhibit degradation. The RNA binding activities of the homologous proteins IRP1 and IRP2 are both regulated posttranslationally. The binding activity of IRP2 is regulated by the degradation of the protein when cells are iron-replete. Here, we demonstrate that a 73 amino acid sequence that corresponds to a unique exon in IRP2 contains a sequence required for rapid degradation in iron-replete cells. The deletion of this sequence eliminates the rapid turnover of IRP2, whereas the transfer of this sequence to the corresponding position in the homologous protein IRP1 confers the capacity for iron-dependent degradation upon IRP1. Site-directed mutagenesis has demonstrated that specific cysteines within the IRP2 exon are required for iron-dependent degradation. The degradation of IRP2 appears to be mediated by the proteasome in iron-replete cells. When degradation is prevented, the RNA binding activity of IRP2 is not regulated by iron concentration. Thus, degradation is required for the regulation of the RNA binding activity of IRP2.
Post-transcriptional regulation of cellular iron homeostasis
Cellular iron homeostasis is achieved by the coordinate and reciprocal post-transcriptional regulation of transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1) and ferritin expression, which are key molecules for iron acquisition and storage, respectively. The mechanism involves interactions between cytoplasmic iron regulatory proteins (IRP1 and IRP2) and iron responsive elements (IREs) located within non-coding sequences of TfR1 and ferritin mRNAs. In iron-deficient cells, IRE/IRP interactions stabilize TfR1 mRNA and inhibit the translation of the mRNAs encoding H-and L-ferritin. The RNA-binding activities of IRP1 and IRP2 are induced in iron deficiency. In iron-replete cells, IRP1 assembles a cubane [4Fe-4S] iron sulfur cluster (ISC), which Correspondence/Reprint request: Dr. K. Carine Fillebeen et al. # % prevents the binding to IREs and converts the protein to a (cytosolic) c-aconitase. By contrast, IRP2 undergoes ubiquitination and degradation by the proteasome. IRPs respond not only to cellular iron ...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 1992
Several mech s of posttranscriptional gene regulation are involved in regulation of the expression of essential proteins of iron metabolism. Coordinate regulation of ferritin and transferrin receptor expression is produced by binding of a cytosolic protein, the iron-responsive element binding protein (IRE-BP) to specific stem-oop structures present in target RNAs. The affinity of this protein for its cognate RNA is regulated by the cell in response to changes in iron availability. The IRE-BP demonstrates a striking level of amino acid sequence identity to the iron-sulfur (Fe-S) protein mitochondrial aconitase. Moreover, the recombinant IRE-BP has aconitase function. The lability of the Fe-S cluster in mitochondrial aconitase has led us to propose that the mechnism by which iron levels are sensed by the IRE-BP involves changes in an Fe-S cluster in the IRE-BP. In this study, we demonstrate that procedures aimed at altering the IRE-BP Fe-S cluster in vitro reciprocally alter the RNA binding and aconitase activity of the IRE-BP. The changes in the RNA big of the protein produced in vitro appear to match the previously described alterations of the protein in response to iron availability in the cell. Furthermore, iron manipulation ofcells correlates with the activation or inactivation of the IRE-BP aoitas activity. The results are consistent with a model for the ponslatonal regulation of the IRE-BP in which the Fe-S cluster is altered in response to the availability of intracellular iron and this, in turn, regulates the RNA-binding activity.
Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1999
Iron regulatory protein-1 (IRP-1) controls the expression of several mRNAs by binding to iron-responsive elements (IREs) in their untranslated regions. In ironreplete cells, a 4Fe-4S cluster converts IRP-1 to cytoplasmic aconitase. IRE binding activity is restored by cluster loss in response to iron starvation, NO, or extracellular H 2 O 2. Here, we study the effects of intracellular quinone-induced oxidative stress on IRP-1. Treatment of murine B6 fibroblasts with menadione sodium bisulfite (MSB), a redox cycling drug, causes a modest activation of IRP-1 to bind to IREs within 15-30 min. However, IRE binding drops to basal levels within 60 min. Surprisingly, a remarkable loss of both IRE binding and aconitase activities of IRP-1 follows treatment with MSB for 1-2 h. These effects do not result from alterations in IRP-1 half-life, can be antagonized by the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine, and regulate IREcontaining mRNAs; the capacity of iron-starved MSBtreated cells to increase transferrin receptor mRNA levels is inhibited, and MSB increases the translation of a human growth hormone indicator mRNA bearing an IRE in its 5-untranslated region. Nonetheless, MSB inhibits ferritin synthesis. Thus, menadione-induced oxidative stress leads to post-translational inactivation of both genetic and enzymatic functions of IRP-1 by a mechanism that lies beyond the "classical" Fe-S cluster switch and exerts multiple effects on cellular iron metabolism.
Molecular and cellular biology, 1989
The 5' untranslated region of the ferritin heavy-chain mRNA contains a stem-loop structure called an iron-responsive element (IRE), that is solely responsible for the iron-mediated control of ferritin translation. A 90-kilodalton protein, called the IRE binding protein (IRE-BP), binds to the IRE and acts as a translational repressor. IREs also explain the iron-dependent control of the degradation of the mRNA encoding the transferrin receptor. Scatchard analysis reveals that the IRE-BP exists in two states, each of which is able to specifically interact with the IRE. The higher-affinity state has a Kd of 10 to 30 pM, and the lower affinity state has a Kd of 2 to 5 nM. The reversible oxidation or reduction of a sulfhydryl is critical to this switching, and the reduced form is of the higher affinity while the oxidized form is of lower affinity. The in vivo rate of ferritin synthesis is correlated with the abundance of the high-affinity form of the IRE-BP. In lysates of cells treate...