bioRxiv Science⌕ Search

bioRxiv · 10.1101/301341

Vms1p is a release factor for the Ribosome-associated Quality control Complex

Abstract

Eukaryotic cells employ the Ribosome-associated Quality control Complex (RQC) to maintain homeostasis despite defects that cause ribosomes to stall. The RQC comprises the E3 ubiquitin ligase Ltn1p, the ATPase Cdc48p, and the novel proteins Rqc1p and Rqc2p1-3. Following recognition and subunit splitting of stalled ribosomes, the RQC detects and assembles on 60S subunits that hold incomplete polypeptides linked to a tRNA (60S:peptidyl-tRNA)4-8. Ltn1p cooperates with Rqc1p to facilitate ubiquitination of the incomplete nascent chain, marking it for degradation7,9,10. Rqc2p stabilizes Ltn1p on the 60S3-5,8 and recruits charged tRNAs to the 60S to catalyze elongation of the nascent protein with Carboxy-terminal Alanine and Threonine extensions, or CAT tails, via a mechanism that is distinct from canonical translation4,10. CAT-tailing mobilizes and exposes lysine residues in the nascent chain, especially those stalled within the exit tunnel, thereby supporting efficient ubiquitination10,11. If the ubiquitin-proteasome system is overwhelmed or unavailable, CAT-tailed nascent chains aggregate in the cytosol or within organelles like the mitochondria12-14. Here we identify Vms1p as the tRNA hydrolase that releases nascent polypeptides for extraction and degradation in the RQC pathway.

Source connections

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Rendon, O. Z., Fredrickson, E. K., Howard, C. J., Vranken, J. V., Fogarty, S., Tolley, N. D., Kalia, R., Osuna, B. A., Shen, P. S., Hill, C. P., Frost, A., Rutter, J.. 2018-04-14. Vms1p is a release factor for the Ribosome-associated Quality control Complex. https://doi.org/10.1101/301341

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related preprints

Structure of influenza D virus NS1 reveals a novel Zn-binding site and ssRNA-binding activity

Influenza D virus (IDV) is an emerging pathogen associated with bovine respiratory disease and has potential for zoonotic transmission. Although nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) is a major virulence factor in influenza A and B viruses, the structure and function of IDV NS1 remain poorly defined. Here, we determined crystal structures of the IDV NS1 N-terminal RNA-binding domain (NTD) and C-terminal effector domain (CTD). The NTD retains the conserved homodimeric six-helix fold, whereas the CTD adopts a distinct architecture containing a novel Zn2+-binding site. IDV NS1 CTD preferentially binds single-stranded RNA, and mutagenesis identified lysine and arginine residues critical for this activity. Single-residue substitutions disrupting either the Zn2+-binding site or RNA-binding interface prevented recovery of infectious recombinant IDV. These findings reveal distinct structural and functional features of IDV NS1 and establish the importance of CTD integrity for viral replication. Conservation of key CTD residues in influenza C virus NS1 suggests shared structural features that distinguish influenza C and D virus NS1 proteins from their influenza A and B counterparts.

biochemistry↗

QC-espresso: Brewing quality in proteomics

Data-independent acquisition (DIA) proteomics has become a standard approach for high-throughput proteomics, with DIA-NN emerging as one of the most widely adopted data-analysis platforms. However, despite the detailed information available in DIA-NN output reports, proteomics researchers may lack a streamlined and reproducible approach for assessing acquisition quality, identification consistency, and quantitative reliability across experiments. QC-espresso addresses this need through an automated, report-centered quality-control workflow implemented in R and Quarto. The tool processes a DIA-NN report.parquet file together with the corresponding FASTA database and generates a structured HTML report containing plots, run-level statistics, and exportable summary tables. Application to three experimental datasets allowed the visualization of lower identification depth related to high contaminant content; a chromatographic transition accompanied by altered retention-time and peak-width behavior; and the co-occurrence of systematic mass-error bias with changes in precursor- and protein-level quantitative-quality metrics. QC-espresso can be executed directly in R or through a portable Windows distribution with a graphical launcher, with both modes using the same analytical modules and report-generation workflow. The resulting report provides a consistent record for local inspection and troubleshooting of quality-control metrics within individual DIA proteomics experiments. QC-espresso is freely available at https://github.com/lanfredig/QC-espresso_DIA.

biochemistry↗

Molecular crowding differentially regulates magnetic field-dependent fluorescence, recovery kinetics, and photostability of the magnetosensitive protein MagLOV2

Macromolecular crowding and solvent composition can alter protein conformation, diffusion, hydration, and cofactor photophysics, yet their influence on magnetically sensitive flavoproteins is poorly understood. We tested seven molecular environments in MagLOV2-overexpressing Escherichia coli lysate using a custom-built, high-intensity magnetofluorescence platform. Five-point concentration series of Dextran 70, Ficoll PM70, PEG6000, PEG3350, glycerol, ethylene glycol, and bovine serum albumin (BSA) were measured at 22 mT under continuous 6.12 W/cm2 blue-light excitation. Dextran 70, Ficoll PM70, and PEG6000 progressively attenuated the negative magnetic field effect (MFE), whereas PEG3350 shifted toward mild enhancement at higher concentrations. Glycerol and ethylene glycol enhanced the negative MFE despite producing the strongest slowing of recovery upon the field being switched off (OFF-recovery), while BSA modestly enhanced MFE and accelerated OFF-recovery. Across 105 treatment cuvettes, the change in MFE was not globally correlated with changes in the OFF-recovery time constant (r = -0.07, p = 0.449). The initial pre-field illumination period revealed a second phenotype: Dextran and Ficoll increased late fluorescence loss, whereas glycerol and BSA were photoprotective. Pre-field fluorescence loss correlated moderately with MFE change across the full dataset (r = 0.474, p = 3.28 x 10-7) but not consistently within crowder classes. These findings show that MagLOV2 spin-dependent magnetofluorescence is shaped by crowder chemistry, polymer size, solvent environment, recovery kinetics, and photostability rather than by a single generic crowding or viscosity mechanism.

biochemistry↗