Phosphorylation of Stem-Loop Binding Protein (SLBP) on Two Threonines Triggers Degradation of SLBP, the Sole Cell Cycle-Regulated Factor Required for Regulation of Histone mRNA Processing, at the End of S Phase

Abstract

The replication-dependent histone mRNAs, the only eukaryotic mRNAs that do not have poly(A) tails, are present only in S-phase cells. Coordinate posttranscriptional regulation of histone mRNAs is mediated by the stem-loop at the 3′ end of histone mRNAs. The protein that binds the 3′ end of histone mRNA, stem-loop binding protein (SLBP), is required for histone pre-mRNA processing and is involved in multiple aspects of histone mRNA metabolism. SLBP is also regulated during the cell cycle, accumulating as cells enter S phase and being rapidly degraded as cells exit S phase. Mutation of any residues in a TTP sequence (amino acids 60 to 62) or mutation of a consensus cyclin binding site (amino acids 99 to 104) stabilizes SLBP in G₂ and mitosis. These two threonines are phosphorylated in late S phase, as determined by mass spectrometry (MS) of purified SLBP from late S-phase cells, triggering SLBP degradation. Cells that express a stable SLBP still degrade histone mRNA at the end of S phase, demonstrating that degradation of SLBP is not required for histone mRNA degradation. Nuclear extracts from G₁ and G₂ cells are deficient in histone pre-mRNA processing, which is restored by addition of recombinant SLBP, indicating that SLBP is the only cell cycle-regulated factor required for histone pre-mRNA processing.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was supported in part by NIH grant GM29832 to W.F.M.

We thank Bob Duronio, Judy Erkmann, and Handan Kaygun for critical review of the manuscript.