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La-related protein 1 (LARP1) has been identified as a key translational inhibitor of terminal oligopyrimidine (TOP) mRNAs downstream of the nutrient sensing protein kinase complex, mTORC1. LARP1 exerts this inhibitory effect on TOP mRNA translation by binding to the mRNA cap and the adjacent 5'TOP motif, resulting in the displacement of the cap-binding protein eIF4E from TOP mRNAs. However, the involvement of additional signaling pathway in regulating LARP1-mediated inhibition of TOP mRNA translation is largely unexplored. In the present study, we identify a second nutrient sensing kinase GCN2 that converges on LARP1 to control TOP mRNA translation. Using chromatin-immunoprecipitation followed by massive parallel sequencing (ChIP-seq) analysis of activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4), an effector of GCN2 in nutrient stress conditions, in WT and GCN2 KO mouse embryonic fibroblasts, we determined that LARP1 is a GCN2-dependent transcriptional target of ATF4. Moreover, we identified GCN1, a GCN2 activator, participates in a complex with LARP1 on stalled ribosomes, suggesting a role for GCN1 in LARP1-mediated translation inhibition in response to ribosome stalling. Therefore, our data suggest that the GCN2 pathway controls LARP1 activity via two mechanisms: ATF4-dependent transcriptional induction of LARP1 mRNA and GCN1-mediated recruitment of LARP1 to stalled ribosomes., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest with the contents of this article., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The orphan nuclear estrogen-related receptor alpha (ERRalpha) and transcriptional cofactor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1alpha (PGC-1alpha) are involved in the regulation of energy metabolism. Recently, extensive cross-talk between PGC-1alpha and ERRalpha has been demonstrated. The presence of PGC-1alpha is associated with an elevated expression of ERRalpha, and the two proteins can influence the transcriptional activities of one another. Using a candidate gene approach to detect regulatory variants within genes encoding nuclear receptors, we have identified a 23-bp sequence (ESRRA23) containing two nuclear receptor recognition half-site motifs that is present in 1-4 copies within the promoter of the human ESRRA gene encoding ERRalpha. The ESRRA23 sequence contains a functional ERR response element that is specifically bound by ERRalpha, and chromatin immunoprecipitation shows that endogenous ERRalpha occupies its own promoter in vivo. Strikingly, introduction of PGC-1alpha in HeLa cells by transient transfection induces the activity of the ESRRA promoter in a manner that is dependent on the presence of the ESRRA23 element and on its dosage. Coexpression of ERRalpha and PGC-1alpha results in a synergistic activation of the ESRRA promoter. In experiments using ERRalpha null fibroblasts, the ability of PGC-1alpha to stimulate the ESRRA promoter is considerably reduced but can be restored by addition of ERRalpha. Taken together, these results demonstrate that an interdependent ERRalpha/PGC-1alpha-based transcriptional pathway targets the ESRRA23 element to dictate the level of ERRalpha expression. This study further suggests that this regulatory polymorphism may provide differential responses to ERRalpha/PGC-1alpha-mediated metabolic cues in the human population.