The Y-box binding protein 1 (YB-1, YBX1) is a member of the family of DNA- and RNA-binding proteins with an evolutionarily ancient and conserved cold shock domain. It falls into a group of intrinsically disordered proteins that do not follow the classical rule 'one protein-one function' but introduce a novel principle stating that a disordered structure suggests many functions. YB-1 participates in a wide variety of DNA/RNA-dependent events, including DNA reparation, pre-mRNA transcription and splicing, mRNA packaging, and regulation of mRNA stability and translation. At the cell level, the multiple activities of YB-1 are manifested as its involvement in cell proliferation and differentiation, stress response, and malignant cell transformation. WIREs RNA 2014, 5:95-110. doi: 10.1002/wrna.1200 CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors have declared no conflicts of interest for this article. For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.

According to recent models, as yet poorly studied architectural proteins appear to be required for local regulation of enhancer–promoter interactions, as well as for global chromosome organization. Transcription factors ZIPIC, Pita and Zw5 belong to the class of chromatin insulator proteins and preferentially bind to promoters near the TSS and extensively colocalize with cohesin and condensin complexes. ZIPIC, Pita and Zw5 are structurally similar in containing the N-terminal zinc finger-associated domain (ZAD) and different numbers of C2H2-type zinc fingers at the C-terminus. Here we have shown that the ZAD domains of ZIPIC, Pita and Zw5 form homodimers. In Drosophila transgenic lines, these proteins are able to support long-distance interaction between GAL4 activator and the reporter gene promoter. However, no functional interaction between binding sites for different proteins has been revealed, suggesting that such interactions are highly specific. ZIPIC facilitates long-distance stimulation of the reporter gene by GAL4 activator in yeast model system. Many of the genomic binding sites of ZIPIC, Pita and Zw5 are located at the boundaries of topologically associated domains (TADs). Thus, ZAD-containing zinc-finger proteins can be attributed to the class of architectural proteins.

RNA-binding proteins are of vital importance for mRNA functioning. Among these, poly(A)-binding proteins (PABPs) are of special interest due to their participation in virtually all mRNA-dependent events that is caused by their high affinity for A-rich mRNA sequences. Apart from mRNAs, PABPs interact with many proteins, thus promoting their involvement in cellular events. In the nucleus, PABPs play a role in polyadenylation, determine the length of the poly(A) tail, and may be involved in mRNA export. In the cytoplasm, they participate in regulation of translation initiation and either protect mRNAs from decay through binding to their poly(A) tails or stimulate this decay by promoting mRNA interactions with deadenylase complex proteins. This review presents modern notions of the role of PABPs in mRNA-dependent events; peculiarities of regulation of PABP amount in the cell and activities are also discussed.

Y-box binding proteins (YB proteins) are DNA/RNA-binding proteins belonging to a large family of proteins with the cold shock domain. Functionally, these proteins are known to be the most diverse, although the literature hardly offers any molecular mechanisms governing their activities in the cell, tissue, or the whole organism. This review describes the involvement of YB proteins in RNA-dependent processes, such as mRNA packaging into mRNPs, mRNA translation, and mRNA stabilization. In addition, recent data on the structural peculiarities of YB proteins underlying their interactions with nucleic acids are discussed.

YB-1 is a DNA- and RNA-binding protein that regulates expression of many important genes. Its deficiency or excess may pose threats, including malignant cellular transformation and metastasis, which explains the necessity of strict control over its amount at every level. As we showed previously, the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of YB-1 mRNA contains a regulatory element specifically binding to YB-1 and PABP (PABPC1). Also, we showed that YB-1 selectively inhibits YB-1 mRNA translation, while PABP stimulates it in a poly(A) tail-independent manner. It was suggested that regulation of YB-1 mRNA translation involves competition between PABP and YB-1 for binding to the regulatory element. Here we offer cogent evidence for this model and add novel details to the mechanism of regulation of YB-1 synthesis. In experiments on regulatory element deletion we showed that it is this element that is responsible for a specific effect of YB-1 and PABP on YB-1 mRNA translation. Mutations eliminating only specific YB-1 affinity for this element suppressed the inhibitory effect of YB-1 and concurrently dramatically decreased the PABP stimulating effect. Mutations reducing only specific PABP affinity for this element, as well as spatial separation of the YB-1- and PABP binding sites, did not affect the YB-1 inhibitory action but completely abolished the positive PABP effect. Together, these results unambiguously prove direct inhibitory action of YB-1 on its mRNA translation, while the positive effect of PABP is realized through displacing YB-1 from the regulatory element.

Y-box binding proteins are DNA-and RNA-binding proteins with an evolutionarily ancient and conserved cold shock domain. The Y-box binding protein 1 (YB-1) is the most studied due to its abundance in somatic cells. YB-1 is involved in a variety of cellular processes, including proliferation, differentiation and stress response. Here, using Ribo-Seq and RIP-Seq we confirm that YB-1 binds a wide range of mRNAs and globally acts as a translation inhibitor. Surprisingly, YBX1 knockout results in only minor alterations in the expression of other genes, mostly caused by changes in RNA abundance. But YB-3 mRNA is an exception: it is better translated in the absence of YB-1, thereby producing an increased amount of YB-3 and thus suggesting that its synthesis is under YB-1 negative control. We have shown that the set of mRNAs bound to YB-3 is strikingly similar to that of YB-1, and that the mRNA-binding by YB-3 is enhanced in the absence of YB-1, resulting in a similar global reduction of translation of bound mRNAs in YB-1-null cells. Thus, YB-3 acts as a substitute for YB-1 in mRNA binding and, probably, in global translational control. ARTICLE HISTORY

YB-1 is a eukaryotic protein with numerous intra- and extracellular functions based on its ability to interact with RNA, DNA, and many proteins. In spite of achievements in studying its functions, regulation of YB-1 synthesis in the cell remains poorly understood. In the current study Western and Northern blotting were used to determine the amounts of YB-1 and YB-1 mRNA in rabbit organs and several cell lines. As found, in the majority of studied eukaryotic cells a considerable proportion of YB-1 mRNA was stored in free mRNPs, i.e., was poorly translated. Also, we demonstrated that YB-1 synthesis depended on conditions that determined the rate of cell division. Specific suppression of YB-1 synthesis resulted from inhibition of the mTOR signaling pathway with inhibitor PP242, but not rapamycin. Experiments on reporter constructs showed that dependence of YB-1 mRNA translation on activity of the mTOR signaling pathway was dictated by 5′ untranslated regions of this mRNA, irrelatively of the TOP-like sequences at the beginning of 5′ UTR.

Insulin is a commonly used protein for studies of amyloidogenesis. There are a few insulin analogues with different pharmacokinetic characteristics, in particular the onset and duration of action. One of them is LysPro insulin. The behavior of LysPro insulin in the process of amyloid formation has not been studied in detail yet. To quantitatively investigate the differences between insulin and LysPro insulin in the aggregation reaction, we used thioflavin T fluorescence assay, electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction methods, and theoretical modeling. Kinetic experimental data for both insulin samples demonstrated the increase of the lag-time for LysPro insulin at low concentrations of monomers, particularly at 2 and 4 mg/mL, which corresponds to the pharmaceutical concentration. However, the morphology of insulin and LysPro insulin fibrils and their X-ray diffraction patterns is identical. Mature fibrils reach 10-12 μm in length and about 3-4 nm in diameter. The obtained analytical solution allow us to determine the sizes of the primary and secondary nuclei from the experimentally obtained concentration dependences of the time of growth and the ratio of the lag-time duration to the time of growth of amyloid protofibrils. In the case of insulin and LysPro insulin, we have exponential growth of amyloid protofibrils following the "bifurcation + lateral growth" scenario. In accord with the developed theory and the experimental data, we obtained that the size of the primary nucleus is equal to one monomer and the size of the secondary nucleus is zero in both insulin and LysPro insulin.