Affinage

MIF4GD

MIF4G domain-containing protein · UniProt A9UHW6

Length
222 aa
Mass
25.4 kDa
Annotated
2026-06-10
19 papers in source corpus 7 papers cited in narrative 7 extracted findings
Cross-family judge vs UniProt: Affinage preferred faithfulness: 6/6 claims corpus-supported (100%)

Mechanistic narrative

Synthesis pass · prose summary of the discoveries below

MIF4GD (SLIP1) is a MIF4G-domain homodimer that functions as a translational activator of replication-dependent histone mRNAs by coupling the stem-loop binding protein SLBP to the translation initiation machinery (PMID:18025107, PMID:23286197). It was identified as an SLBP partner whose binding requires a conserved 15-residue translation-activation region in the SLBP N-terminus, and its depletion lowers histone mRNA translation and cell viability (PMID:18025107). Activation is assembled sequentially and is phosphorylation-gated: unphosphorylated SLBP and SLIP1 form a tight 2:2 heterotetramer that cannot bind RNA, whereas phosphorylated SLBP first binds the histone mRNA stem-loop and then recruits SLIP1, forming the active ternary complex, with SLBP Thr171 phosphorylation driving heterotetramer-to-heterodimer conversion (PMID:23286197). Crystal structures of SLIP1 bound to SLBP and to a SLIP1-binding motif (SBM) define how the homodimer simultaneously engages SLBP and SBM-containing factors eIF3g and the mRNA-export factor DBP5, bridging the histone mRNA to initiation; the homodimerization and SBM-binding residues are shared with the MIF4G domain of CTIF (PMID:23804756). The eIF3 subunit INT6/EIF3E binds both MIF4GD and SLBP and co-localizes with MIF4GD in cytoplasmic foci, promoting S-phase histone mRNA translation (PMID:22532700). Independently of its translational role, MIF4GD binds the CDK inhibitor p27(kip1), suppresses CDK2-mediated phosphorylation of p27 at Thr187 to stabilize p27 in nucleus and cytoplasm, and thereby restrains proliferation, reducing colony formation and xenograft tumor growth (PMID:24336329).

Mechanistic history

Synthesis pass · year-by-year structured walk · 5 steps
  1. 2007 High

    Established MIF4GD/SLIP1 as a dedicated activator of histone mRNA translation by identifying it as the SLBP partner that links the SLBP translation-activation domain to a functional output.

    Evidence Yeast two-hybrid screen, SLBP mutagenesis, Xenopus oocyte stem-loop reporter translation assay, and RNAi in HeLa cells

    PMID:18025107

    Open questions at the time
    • Did not define the structural basis of the SLBP-SLIP1 interface
    • Connection to the core initiation machinery not yet identified
  2. 2010 Low

    First indications of additional partners and tissue-specific forms, hinting at roles beyond the canonical SLBP complex.

    Evidence Yeast two-hybrid with supervillin plus cell-spreading assay; Western blot and ribosome fractionation of rat testis isoforms

    PMID:20309963 PMID:21157122

    Open questions at the time
    • Supervillin interaction not confirmed biochemically and functional relevance unestablished
    • Testis-specific 20-kDa isoform function not tested
    • Ribosome co-fractionation of the 16-kDa form is correlative, no functional consequence shown
  3. 2012 Medium

    Placed an eIF3 subunit, INT6/EIF3E, within the histone mRNA translation complex, providing a route from SLIP1/SLBP to the initiation apparatus.

    Evidence Yeast two-hybrid, RNAi and overexpression with histone stem-loop luciferase reporter, immunofluorescence co-localization

    PMID:22532700

    Open questions at the time
    • No reciprocal Co-IP reported confirming the MIF4GD-INT6 interaction
    • Mechanism by which INT6 enhances translation not resolved
  4. 2013 High

    Resolved the assembly logic and structural determinants of the activation complex, showing SLIP1 is a non-RNA-binding homodimer whose recruitment is gated by SLBP phosphorylation and that it bridges SBM-containing factors eIF3g and DBP5.

    Evidence Crystal structures of SLIP1-SLBP and SLIP1-DBP5 SBM, pull-downs, biophysical reconstitution with phosphorylated/unphosphorylated SLBP, alanine scanning with in vivo histone mRNA readout

    PMID:23286197 PMID:23804756

    Open questions at the time
    • In-cell stoichiometry and dynamics of the heterotetramer-to-ternary transition not directly observed
    • Whether SLIP1-CTIF heterodimers form in vivo not established
    • Role of DBP5 in histone mRNA translation not functionally tested
  5. 2013 Medium

    Revealed a translation-independent role in cell cycle control through stabilization of the CDK inhibitor p27, linking MIF4GD to proliferation restraint and tumor suppression.

    Evidence Yeast two-hybrid, reciprocal Co-IP and GST pull-down, gain/loss-of-function in hepatocellular carcinoma cells, xenograft tumor model

    PMID:24336329

    Open questions at the time
    • Mechanism by which MIF4GD suppresses CDK2-mediated p27 Thr187 phosphorylation not defined
    • Relationship between the translational and p27-stabilizing functions unresolved
    • Single lab, single tumor context

Open questions

Synthesis pass · forward-looking unresolved questions
  • How MIF4GD partitions between its histone mRNA translation role and its p27-stabilizing cell cycle role, and whether these activities are coordinated, remains unresolved.
  • No unifying model connecting translational activation and p27 stabilization
  • Regulation of MIF4GD itself (modifications, localization control) uncharacterized
  • In vivo physiological requirement not addressed by knockout

Mechanism profile

Synthesis pass · controlled-vocabulary classification · explore literature graph →
Molecular activity
GO:0045182 translation regulator activity 3 GO:0060090 molecular adaptor activity 2 GO:0098772 molecular function regulator activity 1
Localization
GO:0005829 cytosol 1

Evidence

Reading pass · 7 per-paper findings extracted from the source corpus
Year Finding Method Journal Conf PMIDs
2007 SLIP1 (MIF4GD) was identified as a binding partner of SLBP via yeast two-hybrid screening. Five conserved residues in a 15-amino-acid region of SLBP's N-terminal portion are required for both translation activation and SLIP1 binding; mutations in any of these residues reduce SLIP1 binding. Co-expression of SLIP1 with human SLBP in Xenopus oocytes stimulates translation of a stem-loop reporter mRNA but not a polyadenylated reporter, and siRNA-mediated knockdown of SLIP1 in HeLa cells reduces histone mRNA translation rate and cell viability. Yeast two-hybrid screen, site-directed mutagenesis, Xenopus oocyte translation assay, RNAi knockdown in HeLa cells, GFP reporter assay Molecular and cellular biology High 18025107
2013 Crystal structure of zebrafish SLIP1 bound to the translation-activation domain of SLBP was solved at 2.5 Å resolution, defining the molecular determinants of SLBP recognition. A SLIP1-binding motif (SBM) was identified in two additional proteins, eIF3g and the mRNA-export factor DBP5; the 3.25 Å crystal structure of SLIP1 bound to the DBP5 SBM was also determined. Pull-down assays confirmed SLIP1 binding to DBP5 and eIF3g. SBM-binding and homodimerization residues of SLIP1 are conserved in the MIF4G domain of CTIF, suggesting SLIP1 homodimer or SLIP1-CTIF heterodimer can bridge SLBP with SBM-containing proteins in mRNA metabolism. X-ray crystallography (2.5 Å and 3.25 Å resolution structures), pull-down assays, sequence conservation analysis Nucleic acids research High 23804756
2013 SLIP1 is a homodimer that does not bind RNA on its own. Unphosphorylated SLBP-SLIP1 forms a 2:2 high-affinity (Kd <0.9 nM) heterotetramer incapable of binding histone mRNA. Phosphorylated SLBP (phosphorylated at 23 Ser/Thr sites) has weak affinity (~3 µM) for SLIP1. Sequential binding — phosphorylated SLBP to the histone mRNA stem-loop, then SLIP1 — is required to form an active ternary complex. Phosphorylation of SLBP at Thr171 promotes dissociation of the heterotetramer to a heterodimer. Alanine scanning mutagenesis mapped the SLBP-binding site on SLIP1 to near the dimer interface; a single-point mutant there abolished SLBP interaction in vitro and reduced histone mRNA abundance in vivo. Biophysical characterization (sedimentation, binding assays), baculovirus phosphorylated SLBP expression, alanine scanning mutagenesis, in vivo histone mRNA measurement Biochemistry High 23286197
2012 INT6/EIF3E (an eIF3 subunit) was identified as a binding partner of MIF4GD/SLIP1 via yeast two-hybrid screen. INT6 and MIF4GD co-localize in cytoplasmic foci. siRNA knockdown of INT6 reduces S-phase histone mRNA translation, assessed by endogenous histone protein levels and luciferase reporter driven by histone stem-loop elements; INT6 overexpression has the opposite effect. INT6 interacts with both MIF4GD and SLBP, placing it in the histone mRNA translation complex. Yeast two-hybrid screen, RNAi knockdown, luciferase reporter assay, co-localization by immunofluorescence RNA (New York, N.Y.) Medium 22532700
2013 MIF4GD was identified as a novel binding partner for the CDK inhibitor p27(kip1) via yeast two-hybrid screening. The interaction was confirmed by co-immunoprecipitation and GST pull-down assays. MIF4GD interaction with p27 stabilizes p27 in both the nucleus and cytoplasm by suppressing CDK2-mediated phosphorylation of p27 at Thr187. MIF4GD overexpression increases p27 levels and reduces cell proliferation; MIF4GD knockdown promotes cell cycle progression with decreased p27 levels. MIF4GD overexpression reduces colony formation and inhibits xenograft tumor growth in nude mice. Yeast two-hybrid screen, co-immunoprecipitation, GST pull-down, overexpression and knockdown in hepatocellular carcinoma cells, xenograft tumor model Oncogene Medium 24336329
2010 MIF4GD/SLIP1 was identified as a candidate binding partner of supervillin (via yeast two-hybrid screen); the MIF4GD-interacting sequence co-localizes with and mis-localizes EGFP-supervillin in mammalian cells, and MIF4GD-interacting sequences mimic supervillin overexpression by inhibiting cell spreading. Yeast two-hybrid screen, co-localization of EGFP-supervillin with interacting sequences in mammalian cells, cell spreading assay Cytoskeleton (Hoboken, N.J.) Low 20309963
2010 In rat testis, MIF4GD exists in three isoforms (25, 20, and 16 kDa). The 20-kDa form is testis-specific. The 16-kDa MIF4GD uniquely co-fractionates with 40S ribosomal subunits and ribosomes in spermatogenic cells by subcellular fractionation, suggesting it functions as a translational regulator in spermiogenesis. Western blot, subcellular fractionation (ribosome sedimentation), tissue expression analysis The Journal of reproduction and development Low 21157122

Source papers

Stage 0 corpus · 19 papers · ranked by NIH iCite citations
Year Title Journal Citations PMID
1993 Role of a gamete-specific sulfoglycolipid immobilizing protein on mouse sperm-egg binding. Developmental biology 69 8449366
2007 SLIP1, a factor required for activation of histone mRNA translation by the stem-loop binding protein. Molecular and cellular biology 63 18025107
2010 Novel interactors and a role for supervillin in early cytokinesis. Cytoskeleton (Hoboken, N.J.) 58 20309963
2013 MIF4G domain containing protein regulates cell cycle and hepatic carcinogenesis by antagonizing CDK2-dependent p27 stability. Oncogene 53 24336329
2013 Structural and biochemical studies of SLIP1-SLBP identify DBP5 and eIF3g as SLIP1-binding proteins. Nucleic acids research 32 23804756
1992 Role of a germ cell-specific sulfolipid-immobilizing protein (SLIP1) in mouse in vivo fertilization. Molecular reproduction and development 30 1515145
1997 Expression and sulfogalactolipid binding specificity of the recombinant testis-specific cognate heat shock protein 70. Glycoconjugate journal 27 9337084
2014 Degradation of oligouridylated histone mRNAs: see UUUUU and goodbye. Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. RNA 20 24692427
2006 Folding mechanism of a multiple independently-folding domain protein: double B domain of protein A. Biochemistry 19 17014084
1998 Isolation of antiSLIP1-reactive boar sperm P68/62 and its binding to mammalian zona pellucida. Molecular reproduction and development 19 9444663
2012 INT6 interacts with MIF4GD/SLIP1 and is necessary for efficient histone mRNA translation. RNA (New York, N.Y.) 17 22532700
2001 Anti-SLIP1-reactive proteins exist on human spermatozoa and are involved in zona pellucida binding. Molecular human reproduction 16 11420386
1999 Role of egg sulfolipidimmobilizing protein 1 on mouse sperm-egg plasma membrane binding. Biology of reproduction 16 10456853
2013 Assembly of the SLIP1-SLBP complex on histone mRNA requires heterodimerization and sequential binding of SLBP followed by SLIP1. Biochemistry 12 23286197
1997 Localization and role of sulfoglycolipid immobilizing protein 1 on the mouse sperm head. Molecular reproduction and development 8 9364447
2024 Functional characterization of MiFTs implicated in early flowering and stress resistances of mango. International journal of biological macromolecules 5 39284473
2024 Towards a 3D-Printed Millifluidic Device for Investigating Cellular Processes. Micromachines 3 39597157
2010 Expression analysis of MIF4GD in the rat testis. The Journal of reproduction and development 2 21157122
2003 [Role of sulfogalactosylglycerolipid and sulfolipidimmobilizing protein 1 in sperm-egg plasma membrane interaction]. Zhonghua nan ke xue = National journal of andrology 0 14727363

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