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Ribonucleoprotein (RNP) granules are higher order assemblies of RNA, RNA-binding proteins, and other proteins, that regulate the transcriptome and protect RNAs from environmental challenge. There is a diverse range of RNP granules, many cytoplasmic, which provide various levels of regulation of RNA metabolism. Here we present evidence that the yeast transcription termination factor, Nab3, is targeted to intranuclear granules in response to glucose starvation by Nab3's proline/glutamine-rich, prion-like domain (PrLD) which can assemble into amyloid in vitro. Localization to the granule is reversible and sensitive to the chemical probe 1,6 hexanediol suggesting condensation is driven by phase separation. Nab3's RNA recognition motif is also required for localization as seen for other PrLD-containing RNA-binding proteins that phase separate. Although the PrLD is necessary, it is not sufficient to localize to the granule. A heterologous PrLD that functionally replaces Nab3's essential PrLD, directed localization to the nuclear granule, however a chimeric Nab3 molecule with a heterologous PrLD that cannot restore termination function or viability, does not form granules. The Nab3 nuclear granule shows properties similar to well characterized cytoplasmic compartments formed by phase separation, suggesting that, as seen for other elements of the transcription machinery, termination factor condensation is functionally important.

Termination of transcription of short non-coding RNAs is carried out in yeast by the Nab3-Nrd1-Sen1 complex. Nab3 and Nrd1 are hnRNP-like proteins that dimerize and bind RNA with sequence specificity. We show here that an essential region of Nab3 that is predicted to be prion-like based upon its sequence bias, formed amyloid-like filaments. A similar region from Nrd1 also assembled into filaments in vitro. The purified Nab3 domain formed a macroscopic gel whose lattice organization was observed by X-ray fiber diffraction. Filaments were resistant to dissociation in anionic detergent, bound the fluorescent dye thioflavin T, and showed a β-sheet rich structure by circular dichroism spectroscopy, similar to human amyloid β which served as a reference amyloid. A version of the Nab3 domain with a mutation that impairs its termination function, also formed fibers as observed by electron microscopy. Using a protein fragment interaction assay, the purified Nab3 domain was seen to interact with itself in living yeast. A similar observation was made for full length Nab3. These results suggest that the Nab3 and Nrd1 RNA-binding proteins can attain a complex polymeric form and raise the possibility that this property is important for organizing their functional state during termination. These findings are congruent with recent work showing that RNA binding proteins with low complexity domains form a dynamic subcellular matrix in which RNA metabolism takes place but can also aberrantly yield pathological aggregated particles.

Many RNA-binding proteins possess domains with a biased amino acid content. A common property of these low complexity domains (LCDs) is that they assemble into an ordered amyloid form, juxtaposing RNA recognition motifs in a subcellular compartment in which RNA metabolism is focused. Yeast Nab3 is one such protein that contains RNA-binding domains and a low complexity, glutamine/proline-rich, prion-like domain that can self-assemble. Nab3 also contains a region of structural homology to human hnRNP-C that resembles a leucine zipper which can oligomerize. Here we show that the LCD and the human hnRNP-C homology domains of Nab3 were experimentally separable, as cells were viable with either segment, but not when both were missing. In exploiting the lethality of deleting these regions of Nab3, we were able to test if heterologous prion-like domains known to assemble into amyloid, could substitute for the native sequence. Those from the hnRNP-like protein Hrp1, the canonical prion Sup35, or the epsin-related protein Ent2, could rescue viability and enable the new Nab3 chimeric protein to support transcription termination. Other low complexity domains from RNA-binding, termination-related proteins or a yeast prion, could not. As well, an unbiased genetic selection revealed a new protein sequence that could rescue the loss of Nab3’s essential domain via multimerization. This new sequence and Sup35’s prion domain could also rescue the lethal loss of Hrp1’s prion-like domain when substituted for it. This suggests there are different cross-functional classes of amyloid-forming LCDs and that appending merely any assembly-competent LCD to Nab3 does not restore function or rescue viability. The analysis has revealed the functional complexity of LCDs and provides a means by which the differing classes of LCD can be dissected and understood.

Nab3 and Nrd1 are yeast heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP)-like proteins that heterodimerize and bind RNA. Genetic and biochemical evidence reveals that they are integral to the termination of transcription of short non-coding RNAs by RNA polymerase II. Here we define a Nab3 mutation (nab3Δ134) that removes an essential part of the protein's C terminus but nevertheless can rescue, in trans, the phenotype resulting from a mutation in the RNA recognition motif of Nab3. This low complexity region of Nab3 appears intrinsically unstructured and can form a hydrogel in vitro. These data support a model in which multiple Nrd1-Nab3 heterodimers polymerize onto substrate RNA to effect termination, allowing complementation of one mutant Nab3 molecule by another lacking a different function. The self-association property of Nab3 adds to the previously documented interactions between these hnRNP-like proteins, RNA polymerase II, and the nascent transcript, leading to a network of nucleoprotein interactions that define a higher order Nrd1-Nab3 complex. This was underscored from the synthetic phenotypes of yeast strains with pairwise combinations of Nrd1 and Nab3 mutations known to affect their distinct biochemical activities. The mutations included a Nab3 self-association defect, a Nab3-Nrd1 heterodimerization defect, a Nrd1-polymerase II binding defect, and an Nab3-RNA recognition motif mutation. Although no single mutation was lethal, cells with any two mutations were not viable for four such pairings, and a fifth displayed a synthetic growth defect. These data strengthen the idea that a multiplicity of interactions is needed to assemble a higher order Nrd1-Nab3 complex that coats specific nascent RNAs in preparation for termination.

Nab3 is an RNA-binding protein whose function is important for terminating transcription by RNA polymerase II. It co-assembles with Nrd1, and the resulting heterodimer of these heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein-C (hnRNP)-like proteins interacts with the nascent transcript and RNA polymerase II. Previous genetic analysis showed that a short carboxyl-terminal region of Nab3 is functionally important for termination and is located far from the Nab3 RNA recognition domain in the primary sequence. The domain is structurally homologous to hnRNP-C from higher organisms. Here we provide biochemical evidence that this short region is sufficient to enable self-assembly of Nab3 into a tetrameric form in a manner similar to the cognate region of human hnRNP-C. Within this region, there is a stretch of low complexity protein sequence (16 glutamines) adjacent to a putative α-helix that potentiates the ability of the conserved region to self-assemble. The glutamine stretch and the final 18 amino acids of Nab3 are both important for termination in living yeast cells. The findings herein describe an additional avenue by which these hnRNP-like proteins can polymerize on target transcripts. This process is independent of, but acts in concert with, the interactions of the proteins with RNA and RNA polymerase and extends the relationship of Nab3 as a functional orthologue of a higher eukaryotic hnRNP.

The yeast IMD2 gene encodes an enzyme involved in GTP synthesis. Its expression is controlled by guanine nucleotides through a set of alternate start sites and an intervening transcriptional terminator. In the off state, transcription results in a short non-coding RNA that starts upstream of the gene. Transcription terminates via the Nrd1-Nab3-Sen1 complex and is degraded by the nuclear exosome. Using a sensitive terminator read-through assay, we identified trans-acting Terminator Override (TOV) genes that operate this terminator. Four genes were identified: the RNA polymerase II phosphatase SSU72, the RNA polymerase II binding protein PCF11, the TRAMP subunit TRF4 and the hnRNP-like, NAB3. The TOV phenotype can be explained by the loss of function of these gene products as described in models in which termination and RNA degradation are coupled to the phosphorylation state of RNA polymerase II's repeat domain. The most interesting mutations were those found in NAB3, which led to the finding that the removal of merely three carboxy-terminal amino acids compromised Nab3's function. This region of previously unknown function is distant from the protein's well-known RNA binding and Nrd1 binding domains. Structural homology modeling suggests this Nab3 'tail' forms an α-helical multimerization domain that helps assemble it onto an RNA substrate.