Bidirectional regulation of fragile X mental retardation protein phosphorylation controls rhodopsin hornoeostasis

Homoeostatic regulation of the light sensor, rhodopsin, is critical for the maintenance of light sensitivity and survival of photore- ceptors. The major fly rhodopsin, Rhl, undergoes light-induced endocytosis and degradation, but its protein and mRNA levels remain constant during light/dark cycles. It is not clear how translation of Rhl is regulated. Here, we show that adult photorecep- tors maintain a constant, abundant quantity of ninaE mRNA, which encodes Rhl. We demonstrate that the Fmrl protein associ- ates with ninaE mRNA and represses its translation. Further, light exposure triggers a calcium-dependent dephosphorylation of Fmrl, which relieves suppression of Rhl translation. We demonstrate that Mts, the catalytic subunit of protein phosphatase 2A （PP2A）, mediates light-induced Fmrl dephosphorylation in a regulatory B subunit of PP2A （CKa）-dependent manner. Finally, we show that blocking light-induced Rhl translation results in reduced light sensitivity. Our results reveal the molecular mechanism of Rhl homoeostasis and physiological consequence of Rhl dysregulation.

SUMOylation of Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein: A Critical Mechanism of FMRP-Mediated Neuronal Function

Recently, Khayachi et al.;showed that fragile X mental retardation protein （FMRP） is an active substrate of the small ubiquitin-like modifier （SUMO） pathway in neurons.FMRP SUMOylation is induced by the activation of metabotropic glutamate receptors （mGlu5Rs）. FMRP

Expression changes of microtubule associated protein 1B in the brain of Fmr1 knockout mice

Objective To explore the regulatory effect of fragile X mental retardation protein （FMRP） on the translation of microtubule associated protein 1B （MAP1B）. Methods The expressions of MAP1B protein and MAP1B mRNA in the brains of 1-week and 6-week old fragile X mental retardation-1 （FmrI） knockout （KO） mice were investigated by immunohistochemistry, Western blot, and in situ hybridization, with the age-matched wild type mice （WT） as controls. Results The mean optical density （MOD） of MAP1B was significantly decreased in each brain region in KO6W compared with WT6W, whereas in KO1W, this decrease was only found in the hippocampus and cerebellum. MAP1B in 6-week mice was much less than that in 1-week mice of the same genotype. The results of Western blot and in situ hybridization showed that MAP1B protein and MAP1B mRNA were significantly decreased in the hippocampus of both KO1W and KO6W. Conclusion The decreased MAP1B protein and MAP1B mRNA in the Fmrl knockout mice indicate that FMRP may positively regulate the expression of MAP1B.

Fragile X syndrome and epilepsy

Fragile X syndrome （FXS） is one of the most prevalent mental retardations. It is mainly caused by the loss of fragile X mental retardation protein （FMRP）. FMRP is an RNA binding protein and can regulate the translation of its binding RNA, thus regulate several signaling pathways. Many FXS patients show high susceptibility to epilepsy. Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder which is characterized by the recurrent appearance of spontaneous seizures due to neuronal hyperactivity in the brain. Both the abnormal activation of several signaling pathway and morphological abnormality that are caused by the loss of FMRP can lead to a high susceptibility to epilepsy. Combining with the research progresses on both FXS and epilepsy, we outlined the possible mechanisms of high susceptibility to epilepsy in FXS and tried to give a prospect on the future research on the mechanism of epilepsy that happened in other mental retardations.