O-Linked- N-Acetylglucosaminylation of the RNA-Binding Protein EWS N-Terminal Low Complexity Region Reduces Phase Separation and Enhances Condensate Dynamics

J Am Chem Soc. 2021 Aug 4;143(30):11520-11534. doi: 10.1021/jacs.1c04194. Epub 2021 Jul 25.

Abstract

Many membraneless organelles are thought to be biomolecular condensates formed by phase separation of proteins and other biopolymers. Post-translational modifications (PTMs) can impact protein phase separation behavior, although for many PTMs this aspect of their function is unknown. O-linked β-D-N-acetylglucosaminylation (O-GlcNAcylation) is an abundant form of intracellular glycosylation whose roles in regulating biomolecular condensate assembly and dynamics have not been delineated. Using an in vitro approach, we found that O-GlcNAcylation reduces the phase separation propensity of the EWS N-terminal low complexity region (LCRN) under different conditions, including in the presence of the arginine- and glycine-rich RNA-binding domains (RBD). O-GlcNAcylation enhances fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) within EWS LCRN condensates and causes the droplets to exhibit more liquid-like relaxation following fusion. Following extended incubation times, EWS LCRN+RBD condensates exhibit diminished FRAP, indicating a loss of fluidity, while condensates containing the O-GlcNAcylated LCRN do not. In HeLa cells, EWS is less O-GlcNAcylated following OGT knockdown, which correlates with its increased accumulation in a filter retardation assay. Relative to the human proteome, O-GlcNAcylated proteins are enriched with regions that are predicted to phase separate, suggesting a general role of O-GlcNAcylation in regulation of biomolecular condensates.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acetylglucosamine / chemistry
  • Acetylglucosamine / metabolism*
  • Biomolecular Condensates
  • HeLa Cells
  • Humans
  • Protein Domains
  • Protein Processing, Post-Translational
  • RNA-Binding Protein EWS / chemistry
  • RNA-Binding Protein EWS / metabolism*
  • Tumor Cells, Cultured

Substances

  • EWSR1 protein, human
  • RNA-Binding Protein EWS
  • Acetylglucosamine