Global phosphoproteomics pinpoints uncharted Gcn2-mediated mechanisms of translational control

The conserved Gcn2 protein kinase mediates cellular adaptations to amino acid limitation through translational control of gene expression that is exclusively executed by phosphorylation of the a-subunit of the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 (eIF2 alpha). Using quantitative phosphoproteomics, however, we discovered that Gcn2 targets auxiliary effectors to modulate translation. Accordingly, Gcn2 also phosphorylates the beta-subunit of the trimeric eIF2 G protein complex to promote its association with eIF5, which prevents spontaneous nucleotide exchange on eIF2 and thereby restricts the recycling of the initiator methionyl-tRNA-bound eIF2-GDP ternary complex in amino-acid-starved cells. This mechanism contributes to the inhibition of translation initiation in parallel to the sequestration of the nucleotide exchange factor eIF2B by phosphorylated eIF2 alpha. Gcn2 further phosphorylates Gcn20 to antagonize, in an inhibitory feedback loop, the formation of the Gcn2-stimulatory Gcn1-Gcn20 complex. Thus, Gcn2 plays a substantially more intricate role in controlling translation initiation than hitherto appreciated.

Automated summary

Gcn2 protein kinase mediates cellular adaptations to amino acid limitation by phosphorylating eIF2 alpha, as well as targeting auxiliary effectors such as eIF2 G protein complex for translational control. This mechanism contributes to the inhibition of translation initiation in amino-acid-starved cells and plays a more intricate role in translation control than previously understood.