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An essential constituent of the integrated stress response (ISR) is a reversible translational suppression. This mRNA silencing occurs in distinct cytoplasmic foci called stress granules (SGs), which transiently associate with processing bodies (PBs), typically serving as mRNA decay centers. How mRNAs are protected from degradation in these structures remains elusive. We identify that Zipcode-binding protein 1 (ZBP1) regulates the cytoplasmic fate of specific mRNAs in nonstressed cells and is a key regulator of mRNA turnover during the ISR. ZBP1 association with target mRNAs in SGs was not essential for mRNA targeting to SGs. However, ZBP1 knockdown induced a selective destabilization of target mRNAs during the ISR, whereas forced expression increased mRNA stability. Our results indicate that although targeting of mRNAs to SGs is nonspecific, the stabilization of mRNAs during cellular stress requires specific protein-mRNA interactions. These retain mRNAs in SGs and prevent premature decay in PBs. Hence, mRNA-binding proteins are essential for translational adaptation during cellular stress by modulating mRNA turnover. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

14-3-3 proteins are phosphoserine/threonine-binding proteins that play important roles in many regulatory processes, including intracellular protein targeting. 14-3-3 proteins can anchor target proteins in the cytoplasm and in the nucleus or can mediate their nuclear export. So far, no role for 14-3-3 in mediating nuclear import has been described. There is also mounting evidence that nuclear import is regulated by the phosphorylotion of cargo proteins, but the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Myopodin is a dual-comportment, actin-bundling protein that functions as a tumor suppressor in human bladder cancer. In muscle cells, myopodin redistributes between the nucleus and the cytoplasm in a differentiation-dependent and stress-induced fashion. We show that importin a binding and the subsequent nuclear import of myopodin are regulated by the serine/threonine phosphorylation-dependent binding of myopodin to 14-3-30 These results establish a novel paradigm for the promotion of nuclear import by 14-3-3 binding. They provide a molecular explanation for the phosphorylation-dependent nuclear import of nuclear localization signal-containing cargo proteins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]