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Nuclear actin and myosin 1 (NM1) are key regulators of gene transcription. Here, we show by biochemical fractionation of nuclear extracts, protein-protein interaction studies and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays that NM1 is part of a multiprotein complex that contains WICH, a chromatin remodelling complex containing WSTF (Williams syndrome transcription factor) and SNF2h. NM1, WSTF and SNF2h were found to be associated with RNA polymerase I (Pol I) and ribosomal RNA genes (rDNA). RNA interference-mediated knockdown of NM1 and WSTF reduced pre-rRNA synthesis in vivo, and antibodies to WSTF inhibited Pol I transcription on pre-assembled chromatin templates but not on naked DNA. The results indicate that NM1 cooperates with WICH to facilitate transcription on chromatin.

To determine the function of actin in the cell nucleus, we sought to identify nuclear actin-binding proteins in the dipteran Chironomus tentans using DNase I-affinity chromatography. We identified the RNA-binding protein hrp65 as an actin-binding protein and showed that the C-terminal sequence of the hrp65-2 isoform is able to interact directly with actin in vitro. In vivo crosslinking and coimmunoprecipitation experiments indicated that hrp65 and actin are also associated in the living cell. Moreover, in vivo administration of a competing peptide corresponding to the C-terminal sequence of hrp65-2 disrupted the actin-hrp65-2 interaction and caused a specific and drastic reduction of transcription as judged by puff regression and diminished bromo-UTP incorporation. Our results indicate that an actin-based mechanism is implicated in the transcription of most if not all RNA polymerase II genes and suggest that an actin-hrp65-2 interaction is required to maintain the normal transcriptional activity of the cell. Furthermore, immunoelectron microscopy experiments and nuclear run-on assays suggest that the actin-hrp65-2 complex plays a role in transcription elongation.A ctin and myosin I are present not only in the cytoplasm but also in the cell nucleus (1, 2), where they have been implicated in transcription of protein-coding genes (3-5) and nuclear export (6). Many other cytoskeletal components have also been found in the cell nucleus, and some of them have been tentatively implicated in gene expression (reviewed in ref. 1).Actin has been found associated with (pre)-messenger ribonucleoprotein (pre-mRNP) complexes in a variety of organisms, and we recently revealed that actin is a bona fide component of the Balbiani ring (BR) pre-mRNP particles in the salivary gland cells of the dipteran Chironomus tentans (7). The BR genes code for large secretory proteins that are expressed in the salivary gland cells of C. tentans (reviewed in ref. 8). The BR pre-mRNAs are assembled into large RNP particles, the BR pre-mRNPs, that can be visualized directly by transmission electron microscopy (reviewed in ref. 9). Actin is incorporated cotranscriptionally into the newly synthesized BR pre-mRNPs by binding to a subset of heterogeneous nuclear RNP (hnRNP) proteins such as the hnRNP A1-like protein hrp36 (7). Remarkably, the presence of actin in RNP complexes is not restricted to the BR particles of C. tentans, because actin has also been found associated with certain hnRNP proteins of the A͞B group in mammalian pre-mRNPs (10).The presence of actin in the cell nucleus is well documented, but the precise role of nuclear actin is still not understood. To obtain further insight into the function(s) of nuclear actin, we sought to identify additional proteins of C. tentans that bind to actin in the cell nucleus. Materials and MethodsDetailed descriptions of the materials and methods can be found in Supporting Materials and Methods, which is published as supporting information on the PNAS web site, www.pnas.org.DNase I-Sepharose Pull-Down...

Actin and nuclear myosin 1c (NM1) cooperate in RNA polymerase I (pol I) transcription. NM1 is also part of a multiprotein assembly, B-WICH, which is involved in transcription. This assembly contains the chromatin remodeling complex WICH with its subunits WSTF and SNF2h. We report here that NM1 binds SNF2h with enhanced affinity upon impairment of the actin-binding function. ChIP analysis revealed that NM1, SNF2h, and actin gene occupancies are cell cycle-dependent and require intact motor function. At the onset of cell division, when transcription is temporarily blocked, B-WICH is disassembled due to WSTF phosphorylation, to be reassembled on the active gene at exit from mitosis. NM1 gene knockdown and motor function inhibition, or stable expression of NM1 mutants that do not interact with actin or chromatin, overall repressed rRNA synthesis by stalling pol I at the gene promoter, led to chromatin alterations by changing the state of H3K9 acetylation at gene promoter, and delayed cell cycle progression. These results suggest a unique structural role for NM1 in which the interaction with SNF2h stabilizes B-WICH at the gene promoter and facilitates recruitment of the HAT PCAF. This leads to a permissive chromatin structure required for transcription activation.

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A specific messenger ribonucleoprotein (RNP) particle, Balbiani ring (BR) granules in the dipteran Chironomus tentans, can be visualized during passage through the nuclear pore complex (NPC). We have now examined the transport through the nuclear basket preceding the actual translocation through the NPC. The basket consists of eight fibrils anchored to the NPC core by nucleoprotein Nup153. On nuclear injection of anti-Nup153, the transport of BR granules is blocked. Many granules are retained on top of the nuclear basket, whereas no granules are seen in transit through NPC. Interestingly, the effect of Nup153 seems distant from the antibody-binding site at the base of the basket. We conclude that the entry into the basket is a two-step process: an mRMP first binds to the tip of the basket fibrils and only then is it transferred into the basket by a Nup153-dependent process. It is indicated that ribosomal subunits follow a similar pathway. INTRODUCTIONRNA molecules are exported from nucleus to cytoplasm as ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes (Daneholt, 2001;Dreyfuss et al., 2002;Lei and Silver, 2002). The translocation of RNPs through nuclear pores has been visualized in the electron microscope both for messenger RNPs (Stevens and Swift 1966;Mehlin et al., 1992;Kiseleva et al., 1998) and for ribosomes/ribosomal subunits (Franke and Scheer, 1974). The pores contain a specific supramolecular assembly, the nuclear pore complex (NPC), and the passage occurs through the central channel of the complex (Dworetzky and Feldherr, 1988). During the last decade, it has been revealed that the translocation apparently takes place in discrete steps (Daneholt, 1997). The molecular mechanisms involved are currently being revealed.The NPC is a three-layered structure with a central spoke assembly sandwiched between a nuclear and cytoplasmic ring (Allen et al., 2000;Vasu and Forbes, 2001;Fahrenkrog and Aebi, 2003;Suntharalingam and Wente, 2003). In the center, there is a 25-nm-wide channel filled with a meshwork of very thin fibrils, often designated as the central plug. Additional auxiliary components are attached to the NPC periphery. On the nuclear side, eight longer fibrils emanate from the nuclear ring. At their distal ends, these fibrils seem to bifurcate and laterally interdigitate with their neighboring fibrils, thereby forming another ringlike structure referred to as the terminal ring. Together, nuclear fibrils and terminal ring are considered a structural and functional entity, called the nuclear basket. On the cytoplasmic side, eight short fibrils extend from the cytoplasmic ring into cytoplasm.The NPC contains ϳ30 proteins designated nucleoporins, the majority of which are symmetrically organized in the core of the NPC (Rout et al., 2000;Cronshaw et al., 2002). The central plug material is composed of a group of nucleoporins containing multiple repeats of the dipeptide sequence FG. These repeats are involved in the actual translocation of macromolecules and supramolecular assemblies through the pore (see further below i...

In mammalian cells, the nucleoli disintegrate during mitosis and some nucleolar proteins disperse at the periphery of all chromosomes forming a novel class of chromosomal passenger proteins. The nucleolar components which participate in the formation of this perichromosomal layer have been investigated to elucidate the role of these perichromosomal proteins in the assembly and disassembly of the nucleoli. i) Electron microscopy immunolabelling reveals that these proteins are predominantly located in the granular component of the nucleoli during interphase. ii) Immunoprecipitation data suggest that they are distributed at the chromosome periphery in association with U3 small nucleolar RNA (snoRNA). In addition, the distribution of U3 snoRNA visualized by in situ hybridization, is similar to that observed for the perichromosomal proteins. iii) In cells which possess a nucleolar remnant during mitosis, U3 snoRNA and perichromosomal proteins were found both in the perichromosomal layer and in the nucleolar remnant. iv) Some of these proteins are conserved from yeast to man such as fibrillarin and a protein of 52 kDa. v) The location of these proteins observed in yeast by confocal microscopy shows that they are not dispersed during mitosis. Their partition between the two daughter cells is performed by scission of nucleolar structures forming a rod during the budding process. Therefore RNP complexes related to the processing steps of ribosome biogenesis in mammalian cells quit the nucleolus in late G2 and associate with the chromosome periphery until late telophase. They associate in the perichromosomal layer in human and PtK1 cells and both in the perichromosomal layer and the nucleolar remnant in CHO cells.

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