The Ligand of Ate1 is intrinsically disordered and participates in nucleolar phase separation regulated by Jumonji Domain Containing 6.

Akshaya Arva, Yasar Arfat T Kasu, Jennifer Duncan, Mosleh A Alkhatatbeh, Christopher S Brower

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2021 Jan 05

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The Ligand of Ate1 (Liat1) is a protein of unknown function that was originally discovered through its interaction with arginyl-tRNA protein transferase 1 (Ate1), a component of the Arg/N-degron pathway of protein degradation. Here, we characterized the functional domains of mouse Liat1 and found that its N-terminal half comprises an intrinsically disordered region (IDR) that facilitates its liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) in the nucleolus. Using bimolecular fluorescence complementation and immunocytochemistry, we found that Liat1 is targeted to the nucleolus by a low-complexity poly-K region within its IDR. We also found that the lysyl-hydroxylase activity of Jumonji Domain Containing 6 (Jmjd6) modifies Liat1, in a manner that requires the Liat1 poly-K region, and inhibits its nucleolar targeting and potential functions. In sum, this study reveals that Liat1 participates in nucleolar LLPS regulated by Jmjd6.

Citation

Akshaya Arva, Yasar Arfat T Kasu, Jennifer Duncan, Mosleh A Alkhatatbeh, Christopher S Brower. The Ligand of Ate1 is intrinsically disordered and participates in nucleolar phase separation regulated by Jumonji Domain Containing 6. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2021 Jan 05;118(1)