Translational offsetting as a mode of estrogen receptor α-dependent regulation of gene expression.

Lorent J, Kusnadi EP, van Hoef V, Rebello RJ, Leibovitch M, Ristau J, Chen S, Lawrence MG, Szkop KJ, Samreen B, Balanathan P, Rapino F, Close P, Bukczynska P, Scharmann K, Takizawa I, Risbridger GP, Selth LA, Leidel SA, Lin Q, Topisirovic I, Larsson O, Furic L

EMBO J. - (-) e101323 [2019-09-26; online 2019-09-26]

Estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) activity is associated with increased cancer cell proliferation. Studies aiming to understand the impact of ERα on cancer-associated phenotypes have largely been limited to its transcriptional activity. Herein, we demonstrate that ERα coordinates its transcriptional output with selective modulation of mRNA translation. Importantly, translational perturbations caused by depletion of ERα largely manifest as "translational offsetting" of the transcriptome, whereby amounts of translated mRNAs and corresponding protein levels are maintained constant despite changes in mRNA abundance. Transcripts whose levels, but not polysome association, are reduced following ERα depletion lack features which limit translation efficiency including structured 5'UTRs and miRNA target sites. In contrast, mRNAs induced upon ERα depletion whose polysome association remains unaltered are enriched in codons requiring U34-modified tRNAs for efficient decoding. Consistently, ERα regulates levels of U34-modifying enzymes and thereby controls levels of U34-modified tRNAs. These findings unravel a hitherto unprecedented mechanism of ERα-dependent orchestration of transcriptional and translational programs that may be a pervasive mechanism of proteome maintenance in hormone-dependent cancers.

NGI Stockholm (Genomics Applications) [Service]

NGI Stockholm (Genomics Production) [Service]

National Genomics Infrastructure [Service]

PubMed 31556460

DOI 10.15252/embj.2018101323

Crossref 10.15252/embj.2018101323

GEO: GSE120917
GEO: GSE107590
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GEO: GSE104399
GEO: GSE72249