Bop1 Is a Mouse WD40 Repeat Nucleolar Protein Involved in 28S and 5.8S rRNA Processing and 60S Ribosome Biogenesis

Abstract

We have identified and characterized a novel mouse protein, Bop1, which contains WD40 repeats and is highly conserved through evolution. bop1 is ubiquitously expressed in all mouse tissues examined and is upregulated during mid-G₁ in serum-stimulated fibroblasts. Immunofluorescence analysis shows that Bop1 is localized predominantly to the nucleolus. In sucrose density gradients, Bop1 from nuclear extracts cosediments with the 50S-80S ribonucleoprotein particles that contain the 32S rRNA precursor. RNase A treatment disrupts these particles and releases Bop1 into a low-molecular-weight fraction. A mutant form of Bop1, Bop1Δ, which lacks 231 amino acids in the N- terminus, is colocalized with wild-type Bop1 in the nucleolus and in ribonucleoprotein complexes. Expression of Bop1Δ leads to cell growth arrest in the G₁phase and results in a specific inhibition of the synthesis of the 28S and 5.8S rRNAs without affecting 18S rRNA formation. Pulse-chase analyses show that Bop1Δ expression results in a partial inhibition in the conversion of the 36S to the 32S pre-rRNA and a complete inhibition of the processing of the 32S pre-rRNA to form the mature 28S and 5.8S rRNAs. Concomitant with these defects in rRNA processing, expression of Bop1Δ in mouse cells leads to a deficit in the cytosolic 60S ribosomal subunits. These studies thus identify Bop1 as a novel, nonribosomal mammalian protein that plays a key role in the formation of the mature 28S and 5.8S rRNAs and in the biogenesis of the 60S ribosomal subunit.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank members of our laboratory for helpful discussions, Michael Pollard for providing the antifibrillarin antibody (72B9), Alisa Katzen and Gary Ramsey for helping with microscopy, and Robert Costa, Nissim Hay, Susan Liebman, and Jeff Greenspan for critical reading of the manuscript.

This work was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (CA52220).