SUMMARYProtein synthesis involves the translation of ribonucleic acid information into proteins, the building blocks of life. The initial step of protein synthesis consists of the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) binding to the 7-methylguanosine (m7-GpppG) 5′cap of mRNAs1,2. Low oxygen tension (hypoxia) represses cap-mediated translation by sequestering eIF4E through mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)-dependent mechanisms3–6. While the internal ribosome entry site is an alternative translation initiation mechanism, this pathway alone cannot account for the translational capacity of hypoxic cells7,8. This raises a fundamental question in biology as to how proteins are synthesized in periods of oxygen scarcity and eIF4E inhibition9. Here, we uncover an oxygen-regulated translation initiation complex that mediates selective cap-dependent protein synthesis. Hypoxia stimulates the formation of a complex that includes the oxygen-regulated hypoxia-inducible factor 2α (HIF-2α), the RNA binding protein RBM4 and the cap-binding eIF4E2, an eIF4E homologue. PAR-CLIP10 analysis identified an RNA hypoxia response element (rHRE) that recruits this complex to a wide array mRNAs, including the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Once assembled at the rHRE, HIF-2α/RBM4/eIF4E2 captures the 5′cap and targets mRNAs to polysomes for active translation thereby evading hypoxia-induced repression of protein synthesis. These findings demonstrate that cells have evolved a program whereby oxygen tension switches the basic translation initiation machinery.

Cellular pathways are established and maintained by stochastic interactions of highly mobile molecules. The nucleolus plays a central role in the regulation of these molecular networks by capturing and immobilizing proteins. Here, we report a function for noncoding RNA (ncRNA) in the regulation of protein dynamics of key cellular factors, including VHL, Hsp70 and MDM2/PML. Stimuli-specific loci of the nucleolar intergenic spacer produce ncRNA capable of capturing and immobilizing proteins that encode a discrete peptidic code referred to as the nucleolar detention sequence (NoDS). Disruption of the NoDS/intergenic RNA interaction enables proteins to evade nucleolar sequestration and retain their dynamic profiles. Mislocalization of intergenic ncRNA triggers protein immobilization outside of the nucleolus, demonstrating that these ncRNA species can operate independently from the nucleolar architecture. We propose a model whereby protein immobilization by ncRNA is a posttranslational regulatory mechanism.

Summary The amyloid state of protein organization is typically associated with debilitating human neuropathies and seldom observed in physiology. Here, we uncover a systemic program that leverages the amyloidogenic propensity of proteins to regulate cell adaptation to stressors. On stimulus, cells assemble the Amyloid-bodies (A-bodies), nuclear foci containing heterogeneous proteins with amyloid-like biophysical properties. A discrete peptidic sequence, termed the amyloid-converting motif (ACM), is capable of targeting proteins to the A-bodies by interacting with ribosomal intergenic noncoding RNA (rIGSRNA). The pathological β-amyloid peptide, involved in Alzheimer’s disease, displays ACM-like activity and undergoes stimuli-mediated amyloidogenesis in vivo. Upon signal termination, elements of the heat shock chaperone pathway disaggregate the A-bodies. Physiological amyloidogenesis enables cells to store large quantities of proteins and enter a dormant state in response to stressors. We suggest that cells have evolved a post-translational pathway that rapidly and reversibly converts native-fold proteins to an amyloid-like solid phase.

Environmental signals, such heat shock and acidosis, induce a structural and functional remodeling of the nucleolus. This process, which depends on the expression of intergenic long noncoding RNA, reversibly converts the nucleolus from a transcriptionally active ribosome factory into a transcriptionally inert prison for proteins.

SUMMARY Amyloid bodies (A-bodies) are inducible membraneless nuclear compartments composed of heterogeneous proteins that adopt an amyloid-like state. A-bodies are seeded by noncoding RNA derived from stimuli-specific loci of the rDNA intergenic spacer (rIGSRNA). This raises the question of how rIGSRNA recruits a large population of diverse proteins to confer A-body identity. Here, we show that long low-complexity dinucleotide repeats operate as the architectural determinants of rIGSRNA. On stimulus, clusters of rIGSRNA with simple cytosine/ uracil (CU) or adenosine/guanine (AG) repeats spanning hundreds of nucleotides accumulate in the nucleolar area. The low-complexity sequences facilitate charge-based interactions with short cationic peptides to produce multiple nucleolar liquid-like foci. Local concentration of proteins with fibrillation propensity in these nucleolar foci induces the formation of an amyloidogenic liquid phase that seeds Abodies. These results demonstrate the physiological importance of low-complexity RNA and repetitive regions of genomethe genome often dismissed as “junk” DNA.