Françoise Stutz

Transcription activation of some Saccharomyces cerevisiae genes is paralleled by their repositioning to the nuclear periphery, but the mechanism underlying gene anchoring is poorly defined. We show that the nuclear pore complex-associated Mlp1p and the shuttling mRNA export receptor Mex67p contribute to the stable association of the activated GAL10 and HSP104 genes with the nuclear periphery. However, we find no obligatory link between gene positioning and gene expression. Furthermore, gene anchoring correlates with the cotranscriptional recruitment of Mex67p to transcribing genes. Notably, the association of Mex67p with chromatin is not mediated by RNA. Interestingly, a mutant GAL2 gene lacking the coding region is still able to recruit Mex67p upon transcriptional activation and to relocate to the nuclear periphery. Together these data suggest that, at least for GAL2, nascent messenger ribonucleoprotein does not play a major role in gene anchoring and that the early recruitment of Mex67p contributes to gene repositioning by virtue of an RNA-independent process.

The mRNA nuclear export receptor Mex67/Mtr2 is recruited to mRNAs through RNA-binding adaptors, including components of the THO/TREX complex that couple transcription to mRNA export. Here we show that the ubiquitin-associated (UBA) domain of Mex67 is not only required for proper nuclear export of mRNA but also contributes to recruitment of Mex67 to transcribing genes. Our results reveal that the UBA domain of Mex67 directly interacts with polyubiquitin chains and with Hpr1, a component of the THO/TREX complex, which is regulated by ubiquitylation in a transcription-dependent manner. This interaction transiently protects Hpr1 from ubiquitin/proteasome-mediated degradation and thereby coordinates recruitment of the mRNA export machinery with transcription and early messenger ribonucleoproteins assembly.

The mRNA export adaptor Yra1p/REF contributes to nascent mRNP assembly and recruitment of the export receptor Mex67p. yra1 mutants exhibit mRNA export defects and a decrease in LacZ reporter and certain endogenous transcripts. The loss of Mlp1p/Mlp2p, two TPR‐like proteins attached to nuclear pores, rescues LacZ mRNA levels and increases their appearance in the cytoplasm, without restoring bulk poly(A)+ RNA export. Chromatin immunoprecipitation, FISH and pulse‐chase experiments indicate that Mlps downregulate LacZ mRNA synthesis in a yra1 mutant strain. Microarray analyses reveal that Mlp2p also reduces a subset of cellular transcripts in the yra1 mutant. Finally, we show that Yra1p genetically interacts with the shuttling mRNA‐binding protein Nab2p and that loss of Mlps rescues the growth defect of yra1 and nab2 but not other mRNA export mutants. We propose that Nab2p and Yra1p are required for proper mRNP docking to the Mlp platform. Defects in Yra1p prevent mRNPs from crossing the Mlp gate and this block negatively feeds back on the transcription of a subset of genes, suggesting that Mlps link mRNA transcription and export.