Post-Translational Modifications in Polypyrimidine Tract Binding Proteins PTBP1 and PTBP2

Biochemistry. 2018 Jul 3;57(26):3873-3882. doi: 10.1021/acs.biochem.8b00256. Epub 2018 Jun 13.

Abstract

RNA binding proteins play an important role in regulating alternative pre-mRNA splicing and in turn cellular gene expression. Many of these RNA binding proteins occur as gene families with members sharing a high degree of primary structure identity and domain organization yet have tissue-specific expression patterns and regulate different sets of target exons. How highly similar members in a gene family can exert different splicing outcomes is not well understood. We conducted mass spectrometry analysis of post-translational phosphorylation and acetylation modifications for two paralogs of the polypyrimidine tract binding protein family, PTBP1 and PTBP2, to discover modifications that occur in splicing reaction mixtures and to identify discrete modifications that may direct their different splicing activities. We find that PTBP1 and PTBP2 have many distinct phosphate modifications located in the unstructured N-terminal, linker 1, and linker 2 regions. We find that the two proteins have many overlapping acetate modifications in the RNA recognition motifs (RRMs) with a few distinct sites in PTBP1 RRM2 and RRM3. Our data also reveal that lysine residues in the nuclear localization sequence of PTBP2 are acetylated. Collectively, our results highlight important differences in post-translational modifications between the paralogs and suggest a role for them in the differential splicing activity of PTBP1 and PTBP2.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

  • Acetylation
  • Amino Acid Motifs
  • Escherichia coli / genetics
  • Escherichia coli / metabolism*
  • Heterogeneous-Nuclear Ribonucleoproteins / biosynthesis*
  • Heterogeneous-Nuclear Ribonucleoproteins / genetics
  • Humans
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins / biosynthesis*
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins / genetics
  • Phosphorylation
  • Polypyrimidine Tract-Binding Protein / biosynthesis*
  • Polypyrimidine Tract-Binding Protein / genetics
  • Protein Processing, Post-Translational*
  • Recombinant Proteins / biosynthesis
  • Recombinant Proteins / genetics

Substances

  • Heterogeneous-Nuclear Ribonucleoproteins
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins
  • PTBP1 protein, human
  • PTBP2 protein, human
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • Polypyrimidine Tract-Binding Protein