RNA-binding activity of the rat calmodulin-binding PEP-19 protein and of the long PEP-19 isoform

Int J Mol Med. 2012 Feb;29(2):141-5. doi: 10.3892/ijmm.2011.819. Epub 2011 Oct 20.

Abstract

Synthesis of H1˚ histone protein, in the developing rat brain, seems to be regulated mainly at the post-transcriptional level. Since regulation of RNA metabolism depends on a series of RNA-binding proteins, we have been searching for RNA-binding proteins involved in the post-transcriptional regulation of the H1˚ gene. We recently reported isolation, from a cDNA expression library, of an insert encoding a novel protein, the C-terminal half of which is identical to that of PEP-19, a brain-specific protein involved in calcium metabolism. The novel protein was called long PEP-19 isoform (LPI). Herein we show that LPI, as well as PEP-19, can bind H1˚ RNA. Moreover, in order to improve production of functional LPI/PEP-19, we modified the protocol normally adopted for preparing histidine tagged-proteins from bacteria, by adding an additional purification step. We also found that both LPI and PEP can compete for H1˚ RNA binding with PIPPin (CSD-C2), another RNA-binding protein previously discovered in our laboratory. Since PEP19/LPI contain a calmodulin binding domain, we finally investigated whether their ability to bind RNA is affected by calmodulin. Our results show that calmodulin interferes with binding of H1˚ RNA to both PEP-19 and LPI, while it is not able to bind RNA on its own. This finding suggests that calcium/calmodulin may have a role in controlling H1˚ mRNA metabolism in the developing brain.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Binding, Competitive
  • Calmodulin / metabolism*
  • Calmodulin-Binding Proteins / metabolism*
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins / metabolism*
  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Isoforms / metabolism
  • RNA / metabolism*
  • RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional
  • RNA-Binding Proteins / metabolism*
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Substances

  • Calmodulin
  • Calmodulin-Binding Proteins
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins
  • Pcp4 protein, rat
  • Protein Isoforms
  • RNA-Binding Proteins
  • RNA