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Heme deficiency in rabbit reticulocytes and their lysates leads to the activation of a heme-regulated translational inhibitor (HRI) which causes the cessation of polypeptide initiation. HRI is a protein kinase that specifically phosphorylates the 38,000-dalton subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF-2). eIF-2 binds Met-tRNA f and GTP in ternary complex. As a continuation of the studies on the molecular basis of the inhibition of the formation of 40S ribosomal subunit-Met-tRNA f complexes by HRI [Ranu, R. S., London, I. M., Das, A., Dasgupta, A., Majumdar, A., Ralston, R., Roy, R. & Gupta, N. K. (1978) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 75, 745-749], we describe here the isolation and some characteristics of a factor that is required for the HRI-catalyzed inhibition of eIF-2-promoted ternary complex formation. In the presence of 1 mM Mg 2+ , ternary complex formation by eIF-2 is dependent on the presence of this stabilization factor (SF). Under these conditions, SF increases the rate and the extent of ternary complex formation. This finding suggests that the interaction of SF with eIF-2 causes a conformational change that stabilizes eIF-2 and promotes efficient ternary complex formation by increasing the affinity of eIF-2 for GTP and Met-tRNA f . In the absence of Mg 2+ , however, eIF-2 efficiently forms the ternary complex and SF has little effect on its ternary complex formation capacity—hence, the name eIF-2 stabilization factor (SF). In the presence of SF, HRI markedly inhibits (70-80%) the ternary complex formation capacity of eIF-2. The inhibitory effect requires both HRI and ATP. Under these conditions, HRI phosphorylates only the 38,000-dalton subunit of eIF-2. Both the rate and the extent of the SF-dependent ternary complex formation are inhibited. These findings are consistent with the idea that phosphorylation causes a conformational change in eIF-2 such that its interactions with other initiation factors in the formation and the binding of ternary complex to 40S ribosomal subunits are inhibited.

A previous study demonstrated that the translational inhibitor from lysates of heme-deficient rabbit reticulocytes is associated with a protein kinase activity. Chromatography of this inhibitor preparation on phosphocellulose yields two distinct protein kinase activities, PC1 and PC2. PC1, which consitutes about 90% of the activity in the unresolved preparation, does not inhibit protein synthesis in lysates, but actively phosporylates calf thymus histone II in a 3':5'-cyclic AMP-denpendent reaction. PC2 contains the translational inhibitor, phosphorylates histone poorly, and is not cyclic AMP-dependent. While [gamma-32P]ATP as the phosphate donor, the two kinase fractions were analyzed with the putative substrates, salt-washed 40S ribosomal subunits, and the initiation factor that mediates the binding of Met-tRNAf to the 40S subunit. PC1 is inactive with the initiation factor, but phosphorylates 40S subunits at a single major site that migrates as a 31,000-dalton band in sodium dodecyl sulfate-acrylamide gels; phosphorylation requires cyclic AMP. Similar phosphorylation of the reticulocyte 40S site (31,000 daltons) can be demonstrated with other cyclic AMP-dependent kinases from reticulocytes, rat liver, and bovine heart muscle. PC2 phosphorylates the small subunit (38,000 daltons) but not the large subunit(s) of the initiation factor; the reaction does not require cyclic AMP. PC2 does not phosphorylate 40S subunits. In the presence of 40S subunits, the initiation factor appears to be rapidly bound in a manner that effectively blocks phosphorylation of the initiation factor by PC2; under the same conditions phosphorylation of the 40S subunit by PC1 is not affected. The initiation factor has been shown to reverse the inhibitions of protein chain initiation induced in lysates by heme deficiency, double-stranded RNA, oxidized glutathione, or the purified translational inhibitor. The observation that the Met-tRNAf binding factor is phosphorylated by PC2 supports the hypothesis that this initiation factor is a target for the action of the translational inhibitor activated in heme deficiency.

Protein synthesis in rabbit reticulocytes and their lysates is regulated by heme. In heme-deficient reticulocyte lysates, protein synthesis proceeds at the initial rate for several minutes and then declines abruptly. Inhibition of protein synthesis is due to the activation of a heme-regulated translational inhibitor (HRI) which blocks the initiation of protein synthesis. Addition of the isolated HRI to hemin-supplemented lysates causes inhibition of initiation similar to that observed in heme-deficiency. HRI has been shown to be a protein kinase that specifically phosphorylates the Met-tRNA f binding factor (eIF-2). We have isolated an inhibitor (LI) of protein chain initiation from rat liver which displays properties similar to those of HRI: ( i ) the chromatographic behavior of LI on DEAE-Sephadex, DEAE-cellulose, and phosphocellulose is similar to that of HRI; ( ii ) both LI and HRI inhibit protein chain initiation in rabbit reticulocyte lysates with the same kinetics of inhibition—i.e., an initial period of synthesis for several minutes at the control rate followed by an abrupt decline in the rate of initiation; ( iii ) both inhibitions are prevented or reversed by eIF-2; ( iv ) GTP (2 mM) prevents, and ATP (2 mM) potentiates, the inhibition of protein synthesis induced by either inhibitor; ( v ) LI is associated with a protein kinase that also phosphorylates the 38,000-dalton subunit of elF-2. These findings indicate that a mechanism for the regulation of protein synthesis similar to that found in rabbit reticulocytes may be present in rat liver.