Meng Xu, Taku Ito-Kureha, Hyun-Seo Kang, Aleksandar Chernev, Timsse Raj, Kai P Hoefig, Christine Hohn, Florian Giesert, Yinhu Wang, Wenliang Pan, Natalia Ziętara, Tobias Straub, Regina Feederle, Carolin Daniel, Barbara Adler, Julian König, Stefan Feske, George C Tsokos, Wolfgang Wurst, Henning Urlaub, Michael Sattler, Jan Kisielow, F Gregory Wulczyn, Marcin Łyszkiewicz, Vigo Heissmeyer
The regulation of thymocyte development by RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) is largely unexplored. We identify 642 RBPs in the thymus and focus on Arpp21, which shows selective and dynamic expression in early thymocytes. Arpp21 is downregulated in response to T cell receptor (TCR) and Ca2+ signals. Downregulation requires Stim1/Stim2 and CaMK4 expression and involves Arpp21 protein phosphorylation, polyubiquitination and proteasomal degradation. Arpp21 directly binds RNA through its R3H domain, with a preference for uridine-rich motifs, promoting the expression of target mRNAs...
March 11, 2024: Nature Communications