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The nuclear pore complex (NPC) mediates nucleo-cytoplasmic transport of macromolecules and is an obligatory point of passage and functional bottleneck in the replication of some viruses. The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) has evolved the required mechanisms for active nuclear import of its genome through the NPC. However the mechanisms by which the NPC allows or even assists HIV translocation are still unknown. We investigated the involvement of four key nucleoporins in HIV-1 docking, translocation, and integration: Nup358/RanBP2, Nup214/CAN, Nup98 and Nup153. Although all induce defects in infectivity when depleted, only Nup153 actually showed any evidence of participating in HIV-1 translocation through the nuclear pore. We show that Nup358/RanBP2 mediates docking of HIV-1 cores on NPC cytoplasmic filaments by interacting with the cores and that the C-terminus of Nup358/RanBP2 comprising a cyclophilin-homology domain contributes to binding. We also show that Nup214/CAN and Nup98 play no role in HIV-1 nuclear import per se: Nup214/CAN plays an indirect role in infectivity read-outs through its effect on mRNA export, while the reduction of expression of Nup98 shows a slight reduction in proviral integration. Our work shows the involvement of nucleoporins in diverse and functionally separable steps of HIV infection and nuclear import.

The innate immune system senses RNA viruses by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) and protects the host from virus infection. PRRs mediate the production of immune modulatory factors and direct the elimination of RNA viruses. Here, we show a unique PRR that mediates antiviral response. Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD)-inducible poly(ADP ribose) polymerase (TIPARP), a Cysteine3 Histidine (CCCH)-type zinc finger-containing protein, binds to Sindbis virus (SINV) RNA via its zinc finger domain and recruits an exosome to induce viral RNA degradation. TIPARP typically localizes in the nucleus, but it accumulates in the cytoplasm after SINV infection, allowing targeting of cytoplasmic SINV RNA. Redistribution of TIPARP is induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS)-dependent oxidization of the nuclear pore that affects cytoplasmic-nuclear transport. BCL2-associated X protein (BAX) and BCL2 antagonist/killer 1 (BAK1), B-cell leukemia/lymphoma 2 (BCL2) family members, mediate mitochondrial damage to generate ROS after SINV infection. Thus, TIPARP is a viral RNA-sensing PRR that mediates antiviral responses triggered by BAX- and BAK1-dependent mitochondrial damage.

The nuclear export of proteins is regulated largely through the exportin/CRM1 pathway, which involves the specific recognition of leucine-rich nuclear export signals (NESs) in the cargo proteins, and modulates nuclear-cytoplasmic protein shuttling by antagonizing the nuclear import activity mediated by importins and the nuclear import signal (NLS). Although the prediction of NESs can help to define proteins that undergo regulated nuclear export, current methods of predicting NESs, including computational tools and consensus-sequence-based searches, have limited accuracy, especially in terms of their specificity. We found that each residue within an NES largely contributes independently and additively to the entire nuclear export activity. We created activity-based profiles of all classes of NESs with a comprehensive mutational analysis in mammalian cells. The profiles highlight a number of specific activity-affecting residues not only at the conserved hydrophobic positions but also in the linker and flanking regions. We then developed a computational tool, NESmapper, to predict NESs by using profiles that had been further optimized by training and combining the amino acid properties of the NES-flanking regions. This tool successfully reduced the considerable number of false positives, and the overall prediction accuracy was higher than that of other methods, including NESsential and Wregex. This profile-based prediction strategy is a reliable way to identify functional protein motifs. NESmapper is available at http://sourceforge.net/projects/nesmapper.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a subclass of noncoding RNAs widely expressed in mammalian cells. We report here the tumorigenic capacity of a circRNA derived from angiomotin-like1 (circ-Amotl1). Circ-Amotl1 is highly expressed in patient tumor samples and cancer cell lines. Single-cell inoculations using circ-Amotl1-transfected tumor cells showed a 30-fold increase in proliferative capacity relative to control. Agarose colony-formation assays similarly revealed a 142-fold increase. Tumor-take rate in nude mouse xenografts using 6-day (219 cells) and 3-day (9 cells) colonies were 100%, suggesting tumor-forming potential of every cell. Subcutaneous single-cell injections led to the formation of palpable tumors in 41% of mice, with tumor sizes >1 cm 3 in 1 month. We further found that this potent tumorigenicity was triggered through interactions between circ-Amotl1 and c-myc. A putative binding site was identified in silico and tested experimentally. Ectopic expression of circ-Amotl1 increased retention of nuclear c-myc, appearing to promote c-myc stability and upregulate c-myc targets. Expression of circ-Amotl1 also increased the affinity of c-myc binding to a number of promoters. Our study therefore reveals a novel function of circRNAs in tumorigenesis, and this subclass of noncoding RNAs may represent a potential target in cancer therapy.

AIMP2/p38 is a scaffolding protein required for the assembly of the macromolecular tRNA synthetase complex. Here, we describe a previously unknown function for AIMP2 as a positive regulator of p53 in response to genotoxic stresses. Depletion of AIMP2 increased resistance to DNA damage-induced apoptosis, and introduction of AIMP2 into AIMP2-deficient cells restored the susceptibility to apoptosis. Upon DNA damage, AIMP2 was phosphorylated, dissociated from the multi-tRNA synthetase complex, and translocated into the nuclei of cells. AIMP2 directly interacts with p53, thereby preventing MDM2-mediated ubiquitination and degradation of p53. Mutations in AIMP2, affecting its interaction with p53, hampered its ability to activate p53. Nutlin-3 recovered the level of p53 and the susceptibility to UV-induced cell death in AIMP2-deficient cells. This work demonstrates that AIMP2, a component of the translational machinery, functions as proapoptotic factor via p53 in response to DNA damage.

Toll-like receptors （TLRs） are sentinels of the host defense system, which recognize a large number of microbial pathogens. The host defense system may be inefficient or inflammatory diseases may develop if microbial recognition by TLRs and subsequent TLR-triggered cytokine production are deregulated. Activating transcription factor 4 （ATF4）, a member of the ATF/CREB transcription factor family, is an important factor that participates in several pathophysiological processes. In this report, we found that ATF4 is also involved in the TLR-mediated innate immune response, which participates in TLR4 signal transduction and mediates the secretion of a variety of cytokines. We observed that ATF4 is activated and translocates to the nucleus following l ipopolysaccharide （LPS） stimulation via the TLR4-MyD88-dependent pathway. Additionally, a cytokine array assay showed that some key inflammatory cytokines, such as I L-6, I L-8 and RANTES, are positively regulated by ATF4. We also demonstrate that c-Jun directly binds to ATF4, thereby promoting the secretion of inflammatory cytokines. Taken together, these results indicate that ATF4 acts as a positive regulator in TLR4-triggered cytokine production.

The cytoplasmic mislocalization and aggregation of TAR DNA-binding protein-43 (TDP-43) is a common histopathological hallmark of the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia disease spectrum (ALS/FTD). However, the composition of aggregates and their contribution to the disease process remain unknown. Here we used proximity-dependent biotin identification (BioID) to interrogate the interactome of detergent-insoluble TDP-43 aggregates and found them enriched for components of the nuclear pore complex and nucleocytoplasmic transport machinery. Aggregated and disease-linked mutant TDP-43 triggered the sequestration and/or mislocalization of nucleoporins and transport factors, and interfered with nuclear protein import and RNA export in mouse primary cortical neurons, human fibroblasts and induced pluripotent stem cell–derived neurons. Nuclear pore pathology is present in brain tissue in cases of sporadic ALS and those involving genetic mutations in TARDBP and C9orf72. Our data strongly implicate TDP-43-mediated nucleocytoplasmic transport defects as a common disease mechanism in ALS/FTD.

Exportin 1 (XPO1) is a nuclear transport receptor involved in the nuclear export ofmajority proteins in somatic cells. In mammalian oocytes, however, only the presence of XPO1 has been reported at mRNA and protein levels, and the definitive functions of XPO1 and its effects on the meiotic maturation of oocytes have never been directly examined. In the present study, the expression state and the nuclear-export function of porcine XPO1 were analyzed in porcine oocytes. In addition, we investigated the effects of the overexpression and inhibition of XPO1 on meiotic regulation in fullgrown and growing oocytes by mRNA injection and inhibitor treatment. Endogenous XPO1 was stably expressed in porcine oocytes during the germinal vesicle (GV) stage, and the expression of exogenous XPO1 significantly decreased the nuclear localization of XPO1 cargos, snurportin 1, and WEE1B. Inhibition of XPO1 by a specific inhibitor, leptomycin B, delayed the GV breakdown (GVBD), whereas the overexpression of XPO1 by mRNA injection accelerated the GVBD. XPO1 overexpression overcame the meiotic arrest induced by WEE1B expression in full-grown oocytes. Surprisingly, the GVBD of porcine growing oocytes, which could not resume meiosis by the maturation culture in vitro, was induced by the expression of exogenous XPO1. These results showed the presence of XPO1 and its function as a nuclear export receptor in mammalian oocytes, including growing oocytes, and they suggest that the regulation of nuclear transport has a large influence on the GV maintenance and meiotic resumption of oocytes. Summary Sentence Exportin 1 functions as a nuclear export receptor and is involved in meiotic resumption of porcine full-grown and growing oocytes via its nuclear-export function.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused a devastating global pandemic, infecting over 43 million people and claiming over 1 million lives, with these numbers increasing daily. Therefore, there is urgent need to understand the molecular mechanisms governing SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis, immune evasion, and disease progression. Here, we show that SARS-CoV-2 can block IRF3 and NF-κB activation early during virus infection. We also identify that the SARS-CoV-2 viral proteins NSP1 and NSP13 can block interferon activation via distinct mechanisms. NSP1 antagonizes interferon signaling by suppressing host mRNA translation, while NSP13 downregulates interferon and NF-κB promoter signaling by limiting TBK1 and IRF3 activation, as phospho-TBK1 and phospho-IRF3 protein levels are reduced with increasing levels of NSP13 protein expression. NSP13 can also reduce NF-κB activation by both limiting NF-κB phosphorylation and nuclear translocation. Last, we also show that NSP13 binds to TBK1 and downregulates IFIT1 protein expression. Collectively, these data illustrate that SARS-CoV-2 bypasses multiple innate immune activation pathways through distinct mechanisms.

Heat shock proteins (HSPs), particularly HSP70, help restore normal cellular function following damage caused by stressors. HSP expression in tumor tissues indicates cancer progression, and while the development of HSP inhibitors is progressing, these substances are not widely used to treat cancer. HIKESHI (C11orf73) does not control the intracellular movement of HSP70 at normal temperatures; however, it does regulate the function and movements of HSP70 during heat shock. In this study, we examined the intracellular movement of HSP70 during heat shock to investigate the significance of HIKESHI expression in gastric cancer (GC) and determine if HIKESHI inhibition has cytotoxic effects. We examined HIKESHI using GC cell lines and immunostaining in 207 GC tissue samples. HIKESHI expression in GC tissues was associated with the progression of lymphatic invasion. Suppressing HIKESHI using siRNA did not affect cell viability at normal temperatures. However, suppressing HIKESHI during heat shock inhibited HSP70 nuclear transport and suppressed cell viability. Our results suggest that HIKESHI is a marker of cancer progression and that the combination of HIKESHI inhibition and hyperthermia is a therapeutic tool for refractory GC.