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TREX is a conserved complex coupling transcription with messenger RNA export

Nature volume 417, pages 304–308 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

The essential yeast proteins Yra1 and Sub2 are messenger RNA export factors that have conserved counterparts in metazoans, designated Aly and UAP56, respectively1,2,3,4,5,6,7. These factors couple the machineries that function in splicing and export of mRNA1,2,3,4,5,6,7. Here we show that both Yra1 and Sub2 are stoichiometrically associated with the heterotetrameric THO complex8, which functions in transcription in yeast8,9,10,11. We also show that Sub2 and Yra1 interact genetically with all four components of the THO complex (Tho2, Hpr1, Mft1 and Thp2). Moreover, these components operate in the export of bulk poly(A)+ RNA as well as of mRNA derived from intronless genes. Both Aly and UAP56 associate with human counterparts of the THO complex. Together, these data define a conserved complex, designated the TREX (‘transcription/export’) complex. The TREX complex is specifically recruited to activated genes during transcription and travels the entire length of the gene with RNA polymerase II. Our data indicate that the TREX complex has a conserved role in coupling transcription to mRNA export.

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Figure 1: Identification of the conserved TREX complex.
Figure 2: SUB2 and YRA1 interact genetically with the genes encoding the four components of the THO complex.
Figure 3: Deletion of THO2, HPR1, MFT1 or THP2 results in an mRNA export defect.
Figure 4: TREX components are recruited to active genes.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to J. Lechner for assistance in the mass spectrometry, J. Bassler for initial help in this project and G. B. Winkler and J. Q. Svejstrup for their help in the isolation of the His-tagged THO complex. E.H. was supported by grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz-Program) and Fonds der Chemischen Industrie; A.A. by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology and the Human Frontier Science Program; R.R. and K.S. by National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants. S.M. is supported by the fellowship programme for Japanese scholars and researchers and P.M. is supported by an NIH postdoctoral fellowship.

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Author notes

  1. Katja Sträßer, Seiji Masuda, Paul Mason, Ana G. Rondón and Andres Aguilera: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. BZH, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 328, Heidelberg, D-69120, Germany

    Katja Sträßer, Jens Pfannstiel, Marisa Oppizzi, Susana Rodriguez-Navarro & Ed Hurt

  2. Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, 02115, Massachusetts, USA

    Seiji Masuda & Robin Reed

  3. Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, 02115, Massachusetts, USA

    Paul Mason & Kevin Struhl

  4. Department of Genetics, University of Sevilla, Sevilla, E-41012, Spain

    Ana G. Rondón & Andres Aguilera

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  1. Katja Sträßer
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Correspondence to Robin Reed or Ed Hurt.

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Sträßer, K., Masuda, S., Mason, P. et al. TREX is a conserved complex coupling transcription with messenger RNA export. Nature 417, 304–308 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature746

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