Natalizio_MBOC_2013

2932 | A. H. Natalizio and A. G. Matera Molecular Biology of the Cell
MBoC | ARTICLE
Identification and characterization of Drosophila
Snurportin reveals a role for the import receptor
Moleskin/importin-7 in snRNP biogenesis
Amanda Hicks Natalizioa
and A. Gregory Materaa,b,c,d,e
a
Curriculum in Genetics and Molecular Biology, Departments of b
Biology and c
Genetics, d
Program in Molecular
Biology and Biotechnology, and e
Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill,
NC 27599
ABSTRACT Nuclear import is an essential step in small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP)
biogenesis. Snurportin1 (SPN1), the import adaptor, binds to trimethylguanosine (TMG) caps
on spliceosomal small nuclear RNAs. Previous studies indicated that vertebrate snRNP import
requires importin-β, the transport receptor that binds directly to SPN1. We identify CG42303/
snup as the Drosophila orthologue of human snurportin1 (SNUPN). Of interest, the importin-
β binding (IBB) domain of SPN1, which is essential for TMG cap–mediated snRNP import in
humans, is not well conserved in flies. Consistent with its lack of an IBB domain, we find that
Drosophila SNUP (dSNUP) does not interact with Ketel/importin-β. Fruit fly snRNPs also fail
to bind Ketel; however, the importin-7 orthologue Moleskin (Msk) physically associates with
both dSNUP and spliceosomal snRNPs and localizes to nuclear Cajal bodies. Strikingly, we
find that msk-null mutants are depleted of the snRNP assembly factor, survival motor neuron,
and the Cajal body marker, coilin. Consistent with a loss of snRNP import function, long-lived
msk larvae show an accumulation of TMG cap signal in the cytoplasm. These data indicate
that Ketel/importin-β does not play a significant role in Drosophila snRNP import and demon-
strate a crucial function for Msk in snRNP biogenesis.
INTRODUCTION
Biogenesis of uridine-rich small nuclear ribonucleoproteins
(U snRNPs) is biphasic, taking place in two distinct cellular subcom-
partments (reviewed in Matera et al., 2007). Small nuclear RNAs
(snRNAs) of the Sm class are transcribed by a specialized form of
RNA polymerase II (Hernandez and Weiner, 1986) and then ex-
ported to the cytoplasm for assembly into pre-snRNPs by the export
adaptor, PHAX (Ohno et al., 2000). Once in the cytoplasm, the sur-
vival motor neuron (SMN) complex mediates the assembly of the
Sm core RNP by loading seven Sm proteins onto the snRNA
(Meister et al., 2002; Pellizzoni et al., 2002).
After Sm core assembly, the 5′-end methylguanosine cap struc-
ture of the snRNA is hypermethylated to form a trimethylguanosine
(TMG) cap by the RNA methyltransferase (Tgs1; Mouaikel et al.,
2002), and this modification is believed to be a signal for nuclear
import (Mattaj and De Robertis, 1985; Hamm et al., 1990; Fischer
et al., 1993; Palacios et al., 1997). The partially assembled snRNPs
are then transported back into the nucleus via the import adaptor,
snurportin1 (SPN1) and the import receptor, importin-β (Impβ;
Palacios et al., 1997; Huber et al., 1998). SPN1 contains two copla-
nar β-sheets linked by two crossing β-strands (Strasser et al., 2005)
that selectively bind the TMG cap. Once in the nucleus, snRNPs
undergo additional maturation steps within the nucleoplasm and/or
in Cajal bodies (Jády et al., 2003). RNP import is a crucial step in the
biogenesis of snRNPs, as these factors cannot participate in active
splicing without proper import into the nucleus.
Monitoring Editor
Karsten Weis
University of California,
Berkeley
Received: Mar 1, 2013
Revised: Jul 15, 2013
Accepted: Jul 15, 2013
This article was published online ahead of print in MBoC in Press (http://www
.molbiolcell.org/cgi/doi/10.1091/mbc.E13-03-0118) on July 24, 2013.
Address correspondence to: A. Gregory Matera (matera@unc.edu).
© 2013 Natalizio and Matera. This article is distributed by The American Society for
Cell Biology under license from the author(s). Two months after publication it is avail-
able to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported
Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).
“ASCB®
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Abbreviations used: DAPI, 4’,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole; dSmB, Drosophila
Smith B antigen; dSMN, Drosophila survival motor neuron; dSNUP, Drosophila
snurportin; dsRNA, double-stranded RNA; GFP, green fluorescent protein; IBB,
Importin-β binding domain; Imp7, Importin-7; Impβ, Importin-β; IP, immunopre-
cipitation; Msk, Moleskin; PHAX, phosphorylated adaptor for snRNA export;
RNAi, RNA interference; RNP, ribonucleoprotein; RT-PCR, reverse transcription-
PCR; SMN, survival motor neuron; snRNP, small nuclear RNP; SNUPN, human
Snurportin; SPN1, Snurportin1; TMG, 2,2,7-trimethylguanosine; U snRNA, uridine-
rich small nuclear RNA; VFP, Venus fluorescent protein; WT, wild type; Xpo1/
Crm1, Exportin1.

Volume 24 September 15, 2013 Importin-7 in snRNP import | 2933
cytoplasm of larval Malpighian tubules and
reduced levels of snRNP biogenesis mark-
ers coilin and dSMN. These results demon-
strate a novel and conserved interaction
between Snurportin and Msk/Imp7. We
discuss implications for studies of verte-
brate nuclear import.
RESULTS
Identification and characterization
of Drosophila Snurportin
Bioinformatic analysis of the Drosophila ge-
nome predicts that the fruit fly orthologue of
human Snurportin1 maps to the computed
gene locus CG42303/CG42304, near band
position 62E on chromosome 3L. The
current FlyBase gene model predicts the
existence of a dicistronic transcript with
two nonoverlapping open reading frames
(ORFs) present within CG42303. Reverse
transcription (RT)-PCR and 5′-RACE data
from the modEncode project (Sue Celniker
lab; www.modencode.org/celniker/) support
the existence of two transcription start sites
(Figure 1A), one for each ORF. The protein
predicted by CG42303 is encoded by a single exon and is 35% iden-
tical to SPN1. The CG42304 protein product is also highly similar
(37% identity) to the human terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase
interacting factor 1 (TdIF1 or DNTTIP1), which binds and negatively
regulatestheactivityofterminaldeoxynucleotidyltransferase(Kubota
et al., 2007). This same genetic architecture exists in all other se-
quenced Drosophilid genomes but is not conserved in Anopheles
gambiae, Apis mellifera, or Caenorhabditis elegans, as SPN1 and
DNTTIP1 homologues are unlinked in these organisms. These data
suggest that the two genes became linked sometime after the
Drosophila radiation from other Diptera such as Anopheles or Apis.
Alignment of CG42303 with human SPN1 reveals extensive simi-
larity throughout the length of the two sequences, especially within
the TMG cap–binding domain (Huber et al., 1998; Ospina et al.,
2005; Strasser et al., 2005; and data not shown). Perhaps the most
striking feature is that critical residues known to interact with Impβ in
the N-terminal region of human SPN1 are missing from the putative
fruit fly protein (Figure 1B; Ospina et al., 2005). Human SPN1 en-
codes a 360–amino acid (aa) protein of 43-kDa molecular weight;
the SPN1-like ORF in CG42303 is predicted to generate a protein of
351 aa and 42 kDa. Using bacterially expressed protein targeting
the upstream ORF in CG42303, we generated two polyclonal
antibodies (one in rabbit, one in guinea pig) and tested them by
Western blotting. As shown in Figure 2A (lane 1), the rabbit antise-
rum recognizes a prominent 42-kDa band, along with three other
minor polypeptides. The guinea pig antiserum does not recognize
endogenous snurportin in Western blots but does detect recombi-
nant and exogenously expressed fly snurportin; it also works in other
assays (see later discussion).
Previous gene models suggested different architectural scenar-
ios for CG42303 and CG42304. One model posited the existence
of two completely separate transcripts (CG1247, CG1248), whereas
another (CG32297) suggested that there is a single mRNA that
generates a fused ORF encoding a predicted protein of ∼100 kDa.
To examine the specificity of our antibody and test the various
gene models, we designed double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) tar-
geted against putative exons 1 and 3 of CG42303 (Figure 1A). RNA
U snRNPs do not contain a classical nuclear localization signal.
Instead, U snRNP import depends on two noncanonical signals:
the TMG cap and the Sm core (Fischer et al., 1993; Marshallsay
and Lührmann, 1994). SPN1 is the import adaptor for the TMG cap
pathway (Huber et al., 1998), whereas the SMN complex (or some
component thereof) is believed to function as the import adaptor for
the Sm core pathway (Narayanan et al., 2004). Thus bipartite import
signals are believed to ensure that only functional RNPs are im-
ported into the nucleus.
U snRNP import is complicated by the fact that individual U
snRNPs have distinct import requirements. Although the TMG cap
is required for U1 and U2 snRNP import in frog oocytes, it is not
required in somatic cells or for U4 and U5 snRNPs in oocytes
(Fischer et al., 1991, 1993; Wersig et al., 1992). The observed TMG
cap dependence of snRNP import is cell-type specific rather than
species specific (Fischer et al., 1994). In digitonin-permeabilized
human cells, recombinant SPN and Impβ are necessary and suffi-
cient for U1 snRNP import (Huber et al., 2002). Moreover, an SPN
mutant that is incapable of binding to Impβ does not interfere with
U1 import via the Sm core–dependent pathway (Ospina et al.,
2005). These observations show that the two import pathways are
redundant in vitro, but they fail to elucidate the need for two inde-
pendent snRNP import pathways. An in vivo model system of
snRNP import is therefore needed to fully dissect the complex na-
ture of this pathway.
As a first step toward developing an in vivo model system of
snRNP nuclear import, we identified and characterized Drosophila
Snurportin (dSNUP). We found that, like its human counterpart,
dSNUP binds to snRNAs and to dSmB and dSMN in an RNA-
dependent manner. Surprisingly, dSNUP lacks an obvious IBB do-
main and fails to bind to Impβ in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore,
fruit fly Impβ does not interact with snRNAs. We also identified
Moleskin (Msk), the Drosophila orthologue of the vertebrate trans-
port factor importin-7 (Imp7), as the putative snRNP import recep-
tor. Msk localizes to Cajal bodies and physically interacts with
snRNPs. In addition, we discovered that Msk-null mutant larvae
display a significant accumulation of TMG-capped RNAs in the
FIGURE 1: CG42303 is the Drosophila Snurportin orthologue. (A) Cartoon of bicistronic
transcripts predicted from dSNUP/DNTTIP1 locus. Translated regions are shown in black and
untranslated regions in gray. Black bars indicate regions targeted by dsRNAs or dSPN
antibodies. (B) Alignment of N-termini SPN orthologues. The IBB of hSPN is defined as amino
acid residues 26–65, based on similarity with the IBB of importin-α (Huber et al., 1998). Homo
sapiens, Xenopus laevis, C. elegans, and D. melanogaster SPN proteins are aligned, with
identities in dark gray and similarities in light gray. Asterisk indicates human residue R27, which
abolishes importin-β binding when mutated (Ospina et al., 2005).

sometimes in nuclear Cajal bodies
(Narayanan et al., 2002; Ospina et al., 2005).
Using the UAS-Gal4 system (Brand and Per-
rimon, 1993), we expressed Venus fluores-
cent protein (VFP)–tagged dSNUP in trans-
genic flies and analyzed its localization by
fluorescence microscopy. Using a variety of
Gal4 drivers, we find that VFP-dSNUP local-
izes to the nucleus and the cytoplasm, with
a pronounced accumulation at the nuclear
periphery (Figure 3A). Of note, VFP-dSNUP
localizes to snRNP-rich structures that
costain with anti-dSmB in the oocyte germi-
nal vesicle (Figure 3B) and in the nurse cell
cytoplasm, where it accumulates in U bodies
(Liu and Gall, 2007) identified by anti-dSMN
(Figure 3C). In addition, dSNUP enrichment
in U bodies was also confirmed in the follicle
cell cytoplasm of egg chambers, visualized
by anti-dSmB (Figure 3D). In larval Mal-
pighian tubules, VFP-dSNUP frequently lo-
calizes to Cajal bodies (Figure 3A). This lo-
calization pattern is similar to that of human
SPN mutants that contain deletions or sub-
stitutions in the IBB domain (Narayanan
et al., 2002; Ospina et al., 2005). We there-
fore decided to examine the interaction be-
tween dSNUP and Ketel/Impβ.
Drosophila snRNP import is importin-
β independent
Studies in vertebrates show that SPN1 inter-
acts with Impβ and that this interaction is
mediated via the IBB domain (Huber et al.,
1998, 2002; Bhardwaj and Cingolani, 2010). The bipartite IBB of
SPN1 is contained within residues 1–65 (Mitrousis et al., 2008), and
crystal structures reveal that residues 1–16 also contain a nuclear
export signal recognized by the export receptor, Xpo1/Crm1 (Dong
et al., 2009; Monecke et al., 2009). Sequence analysis indicates that
dSNUP lacks important residues in the IBB (Figure 1B; Huber et al.,
2002; Ospina et al., 2005; Mitrousis et al., 2008), suggesting that it
might not bind to Impβ. Specifically, a highly conserved arginine
residue, mutation of which disrupts the interaction of SPN1 with
Impβ (Ospina et al., 2005), is not conserved in dSNUP (Figure 1B,
asterisk). In the absence of an IBB, dSNUP could potentially interact
with Ketel/Impβ indirectly through the Sm core (Fischer et al., 1993).
Human SPN1 also forms a preimport snRNP complex with SMN
(Narayanan et al., 2002). To enrich for import competent assem-
blies, we used cytoplasmic extracts to carry out immunoprecipita-
tion and pull-down assays. As a positive control for coimmunopre-
cipitation, we show that, like its human counterpart, dSNUP forms a
complex with dSMN (Figure 4A). Consistent with its lack of an ap-
parent IBB domain, however, dSNUP fails to coimmunoprecipitate
Ketel/Impβ (Figure 4A).
We also found that Ketel is capable of interacting with an IBB
domain by transfecting S2 cells with various Flag-tagged constructs
and coexpressing them with green fluorescent protein (GFP)–Ketel.
As shown in Figure 4B, Flag-tagged human SPN1 (Flag-hSPN) or the
human SPN1 IBB domain fused to the TMG cap–binding domain of
dSNUP (Flag-hIBB-dSNUP) coimmunoprecipitates GFP-Ketel,
whereas the empty Flag vector (negative control) and Flag-dSNUP
do not. Finally, we tested whether Ketel interacts with snRNAs.
interference (RNAi) analysis in Drosophila Schneider 2 (S2) cells
shows that the 42-kDa band is specifically depleted by dsRNAs
targeting either exon 1 or exon 3 (Figure 2A). This result supports
the prediction that the CG42303 transcript contains a relatively
long 3′ flanking region and shows that the 90-kDa band on the
Western blot is not a fused SPN1/DNTTIP1-like chimeric protein.
We conclude that the exonic organization in the CG42303 gene
model is correct. The mRNA encoding the downstream CG42304
protein product is thus likely to originate from an alternative tran-
scription start site (Figure 1A).
The CG42303 protein product is expressed during all stages of
development, most prominently in embryos (Figure 2B). We found
that although it does not work well for detection of endogenous
dSNUP by Western blotting, guinea pig anti-dSNUP was functional
in immunoprecipitation assays, as shown in Figure 2D. Using gluta-
thione S-transferase (GST) pull downs and coimmunoprecipitation
assays from S2 cell cytoplasmic lysates, we show that CG42303 in-
teracts with both RNA and protein components of snRNPs, as well
as with the snRNP biogenesis factor, dSMN (Figure 2, C and D).
Furthermore, RNase treatment of the S2 lysate abolishes these pro-
tein interactions, demonstrating that they are RNA dependent
(Figure 2E). These results provide strong evidence that CG42303 is
the Drosophila orthologue of human SPN1. To avoid confusion with
the abbreviations for the Spinophilin gene (Spn) and the spindle
gene family (spn-A, spn-B, etc.) in Drosophila, we decided to desig-
nate the CG42303 gene as Snurportin (Snup).
Previously, we showed that human SPN1 primarily localizes to
the cytoplasm, concentrating around the nuclear periphery and
FIGURE 2: Drosophila Snurportin interacts with snRNPs. (A) dSNUP RNAi. Predicted 42-kDa
band recognized by dSNUP rabbit antibody is specifically knocked down by dsRNAs targeting
dSNUP exon 1 or 3 in S2 cell culture. (B) Developmental Western blot. dSNUP is expressed at all
Drosophila developmental stages. (C) GST IP Northern blot. Bacterially purified GST-dSNUP
interacts with U1, U2, and U4 snRNAs from S2 cell cytoplasmic lysate. (D) dSNUP Guinea pig IP.
Guinea pig dSNUP antibody coimmunoprecipitates dSMN and dSmB in S2 cell cytoplasmic
lysate. (E) RNase dSNUP Guinea pig IP. RNase treatment of cytoplasmic S2 lysate abolishes
interaction of dSNUP with dSmB and dSMN.

functions as the cytoplasmic recycling factor
for SPN1 once it deposits its cargo in the
nucleus (Paraskeva et al., 1999). The interac-
tion between SPN1 and Imp7, however, was
believed to be indirect due to the fact that
Imp7 (formerly RanBP7) was shown to het-
erodimerize with Impβ (Görlich et al., 1997).
Imp7 also binds directly to the nuclear pore
complex (Görlich et al., 1997), however, and
can transport cargoes independently (Jäkel
and Görlich, 1998), thus satisfying an impor-
tant criterion noted earlier.
The Drosophila Imp7 homologue (Mole-
skin [Msk]) is 53% identical to the human
protein and was identified in a dominant
suppressor screen for wing blisters caused
by the misexpression of αPS integrin (Baker
et al., 2002). All of the alleles that were dis-
covered in this suppression screen (msk2
,
msk4
, msk5
) are late embryonic or larval le-
thal. It is interesting to note that although
msk and ketel are both essential genes,
there are cell types in which Ketel expres-
sion is very low (FlyBase; Lippai et al., 2000).
On the other hand, Msk is ubiquitously ex-
pressed (FlyBase), satisfying the other afore-
mentioned criterion. Thus it is possible that
Msk/Imp7 plays a more direct role in snRNP
import than previously imagined.
To investigate whether Imp7/Msk forms
complexes with snRNP biogenesis markers,
we carried out coimmunoprecipitation anal-
yses. As shown in Figure 5A, anti-dSNUP
coprecipitates Msk; dSMN and Ketel are
shown as positive and negative controls, re-
spectively. S2 cells transfected with various
GFP-tagged constructs also coprecipitated
Msk. Figure 5B shows that Msk interacts with
GFP-dSNUP, -dSMN, and -dSmB. GFP-Msk
also coprecipitated with U1, U2, and U4
snRNAs, as shown in Figure 5C. In addition,
RanQ69L (a Ran mutant that is unable to hy-
drolyze bound GTP; Bischoff et al., 1994)
disrupts the interaction of Flag-dSNUP with
Msk (Figure 5D). This interaction also depends on RNA, as RNase
treatment of cytoplasmic lysate abolishes binding of endogenous
Msk to either GFP-dSNUP or GFP-dSMN (Figure 5E). These results
clearly demonstrate that Msk can physically interact with snRNPs
and that Msk interacts with dSNUP in a Ran- and RNA-dependent
manner.
Moleskin/importin-7 localizes to snRNP-rich structures
in the nucleus
As a nucleocytoplasmic transport factor, Msk shuttles from the cy-
toplasm to the nucleus. As such, previous investigations showed
that the subcellular localization of Msk (also known as DIM-7) is
dynamic; in certain cells the protein was primarily found in the cy-
toplasm, whereas in others it was predominantly nuclear (Lorenzen
et al., 2001; James et al., 2007). Given that Msk forms complexes
with snRNP components and biogenesis factors, we carried out
immunofluorescence analyses in Drosophila larval and adult tis-
sues. Msk is primarily cytoplasmic within the egg chambers of the
Immunoprecipitation analysis, followed by Northern blotting,
showed that, whereas GFP-dSNUP coimmunoprecipitated U1, U2,
and U4 snRNAs (Figure 4C), GFP-Ketel failed to do so. Thus neither
the RNA nor the protein components of snRNPs interact with Ketel
in Drosophila. Taken together with the fact that we were unable to
detect Ketel in a complex with dSNUP, these experiments strongly
support the interpretation that Ketel does not serve as the snRNP
import receptor in Drosophila cells.
Moleskin/importin-7 interacts with snRNPs and Snurportin
The failure of Ketel/Impβ to associate with dSNUP or snRNAs sug-
gests the involvement of another import factor. Because splicing is a
cell essential function, we reasoned that potential snRNP import re-
ceptors not only must be ubiquitously expressed, but also should be
able to function independently of Impβ. Of interest, Paraskeva et al.
(1999) originally showed that epitope-tagged human SPN1 copuri-
fies with three major proteins: Impβ, the export receptor CRM1, and
the transport factor Imp7. The authors went on to show that CRM1
FIGURE 3: Localization of dSNUP. (A) Immunofluorescence with dSmB (Y12) antibody in
Malpighian tubules expressing VFP-dSNUP driven by tubulin-Gal4. dSNUP localizes primarily to
the nucleus, with a relatively pronounced staining of the nuclear periphery, and can be found in
nuclear foci that are often Cajal bodies (marked by arrows). (B) Immunofluorescence with dSmB
(Y12) in egg chambers expressing VFP-dSNUP driven by nanos-Gal4. VFP-dSNUP is enriched in
the germinal vesicle (arrow). (C) Immunofluorescence with dSMN antibody in egg chambers
expressing VFP-dSNUP driven by nanos Gal4. VFP-dSNUP is enriched in U bodies visualized with
dSMN antibody (arrow). (D) Immunofluorescence with dSmB (Y12) and dSNUP Guinea pig
antibodies in egg chambers. dSNUP is enriched in U bodies of follicle cells. Image in D was kindly
provided by Zhipeng Lu (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill). Scale bars, 10 μm.

In mammalian cells, Cajal bodies are the
first detectable sites of nuclear accumula-
tion of newly imported snRNPs (Sleeman
and Lamond, 1999). Given the interaction
data described earlier, we suspected that
these Msk-positive nuclear foci were Cajal
bodies. Indeed, costaining for Sm proteins
and other Cajal body markers demonstrates
that the foci correspond to Cajal bodies
(Figure 6 and data not shown). Note that the
oocyte nucleoplasm typically does not stain
uniformly with 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylin-
dole (DAPI); only the karyosome is well
stained (Liu et al., 2006a). Within the germi-
nal vesicle, Cajal bodies can often be found
proximal to the karyosome (Figure 6B),
although they can also be distally located
(Figure 6A). Owing to their relative promi-
nence within larval Malpighian tubule nuclei,
Cajal bodies are perhaps best visualized in
this tissue (Liu et al., 2006b). In Malpighian
tubules (Figure 6C), we found that Msk is
primarily nucleoplasmic and accumulates in
bright nuclear foci. The bright Msk foci colo-
calize with the snRNP core component,
dSmB (Figure 6C) or coilin (data not shown).
In S2 cell cultures, only a fraction of the cells display Cajal bodies.
Whenever we observed the bright nuclear foci that stained with
anti-Msk, however, they invariably also stained positive for coilin, the
Cajal body marker protein (Figure 6D). These results provide strong
support for the notion that Msk is involved
in import of Sm-class snRNPs.
Moleskin depletion disrupts snRNP
biogenesis and import
RNA interference (RNAi) analysis in S2 cells
using dsRNAs targeting Msk revealed that
Cajal bodies were disrupted by Msk deple-
tion (data not shown). This finding is con-
sistent with previous results showing that
Cajal body homeostasis requires ongoing
ovary (Figure 6A), but both nurse and follicle cell nuclei remain
largely unstained. Msk also shows prominent localization to the
nurse cell nuclear periphery and to bright foci within the oocyte
germinal vesicle (Figure 6A).
FIGURE 4: Ketel/Impβ does not interact with Drosophila snRNPs. (A) Anti-dSNUP guinea pig IP
Western blot. dSNUP guinea pig antibody does not coimmunoprecipitate Ketel from
cytoplasmic S2 cell lysate. (B) Flag-conjugated beads IP Western blot. Transfected Flag-tagged
proteins hSPN and hIBB-dSNUP, but not dSNUP, coimmunoprecipitate GFP-Ketel in S2 cell
cytoplasmic lysate. The amounts of Flag-tagged proteins immunoprecipitated are shown with
anti-Flag (bottom). (C) GFP IP Northern blot. Transfected GFP-dSNUP coimmunoprecipitates
snRNAs U2, U1, and U4, but GFP-Ketel does not, from S2 cell cytoplasmic lysate. The amounts
of GFP-tagged proteins immunoprecipitated are shown with anti-GFP (bottom).
FIGURE 5: Moleskin interacts with
Drosophila snRNPs. (A) dSNUP Guinea pig IP
Western blot. dSNUP Guinea pig antibody
coimmunoprecipitates Msk but not Ketel
from S2 cell cytoplasmic lysate. (B) GFP IP
Western blot. Msk coimmunoprecipitates
with transfected GFP-dSMN, GFP-dSmB, and
GFP-dSNUP from S2 cell cytoplasmic lysate.
(C) Anti-GFP IP Northern blot. Major U
snRNAs U1, U1, and U4 coimmunoprecipitate
with GFP-Msk and GFP-dSNUP but not
GFP-Ketel. (D) Anti-Flag IP Western blot.
Transfected Flag-dSNUP coimmuno
precipitates Msk in the absence of RanQL.
This interaction is disrupted by the addition
of RanQL. Nonconjugated protein A beads
serves as negative control IP (–). (E) RNase
anti-GFP IP Western blot. RNase treatment
of cytoplasmic S2 lysate abolishes interaction
of transfected GFP-dSNUP and GFP-dSMN
with endogenous Msk.

Moleskin-null mutants are larval lethals
(Lorenzen et al., 2001); a small fraction of
mutant larvae survive >10 d, but they do not
develop past the second instar. The ex-
tended survival of msk mutants suggests
that, like Ketel protein (Villányi et al., 2008),
Msk protein also has a long half-life.
To determine whether there are snRNP-
specific phenotypes associated with loss of
Msk, we carried out immunofluorescence
with anti-TMG cap antibodies. Wild-type,
Ketelnull/−
, and UAS-msk transgenic rescue
animals were used as controls. Moleskin
mutants displayed a slight but reproducible
cytoplasmic TMG accumulation in the Mal-
pighian tubules (Figure 8), suggesting a dis-
ruption in snRNP import and/or biogenesis.
This accumulation was not simply due to the
developmental arrest, as Ketelnull/−
mutants
do not display this phenotype, and expres-
sion of UAS-msk rescues it (Figure 8). In an
effort to bypass the Msk dependence of this
observed snRNP import defect, we gener-
ated transgenic flies expressing VFP-dSNUP
or VFP-hIBB-dSNUP from UAS promoters.
Because we previously showed that hIBB-
dSNUP forms a complex with Ketel (Figure
4B), we hypothesized that its expression
might rescue snRNP import in Malpighian
tubules. We therefore expressed these
transgenes in both wild-type and msk−/−
backgrounds. Using either a ubiquitous tu-
bulin-Gal4 driver or a gut-specific Mal-
pighian tubule driver, we found that
expression of VFP-hIBB-dSNUP was domi-
nantly lethal in both backgrounds. It is un-
likely that the dominant-negative pheno-
type of the hIBB-dSNUP construct is due to
VFP tagging because expression of the con-
trol VFP-dSNUP construct had no such dom-
inant effects and was able to rescue dSNUP
RNAi (data not shown). The dominant lethal-
ity of the hIBB-dSNUP fusion precluded us
from testing whether targeting dSNUP to an
alternative nuclear import receptor pathway
(in this case Ketel) might alleviate the appar-
ent block to snRNP import.
We therefore conducted immunofluores-
cence with anti-dSMN and anti-coilin anti-
bodies in control and msk mutant larvae.
Confirming the results noted for S2 cells, we
found that in the Malpighian tubules of msk
mutants, dSMN and coilin staining was dramatically reduced and
Cajal bodies were disrupted (Figure 9). Staining for both dSMN and
Cajal bodies (anti-coilin) was restored upon expression of (untagged)
Msk using a UAS-msk transgene (Figure 9). As shown in Figure 7B,
the loss of dSMN is fairly extensive, as it can be detected by West-
ern blotting using total larval lysates. Of importance, the expression
of UAS-msk transgene partially rescues both Msk and dSMN expres-
sion (Figure 7, B and C), as well as development of the organism
beyond larval stages (Lorenzen et al., 2001; this work). In addition,
coilin and dSMN reduction is detectable by day 1 post egg laying
snRNP biogenesis (Shpargel and Matera, 2005; Lemm et al.,
2006). Because U snRNPs are extremely stable complexes, how-
ever, with half-lives on the order of 3–5 d (Sauterer et al., 1988),
this analysis was not very informative with regard to snRNP pheno-
types. We therefore obtained a presumptive msk-null mutant
from the Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center (msk−/−
), which
contains a piggyback transposon insertion in exon 1. We con-
firmed by Western blotting that this allele is indeed a null, demon-
strating the absence of Msk protein in homozygous mutant larvae
(Figure 7A).
FIGURE 6: Moleskin is enriched in Cajal bodies. (A) Immunofluorescence in egg chambers with
Msk antibody. Msk is enriched in the germinal vesicle (arrow). (B) Immunofluorescence in egg
chambers with dSmB (Y12) and Msk antibodies. Msk is enriched in the germinal vesicle (arrow).
(C) Immunofluorescence in Malpighian tubules with dSmB (Y12) and Msk antibodies. Msk is
enriched in Cajal bodies of Malpighian tubules. (D) Immunofluorescence in S2 cells with coilin
and Msk antibodies. Msk is enriched in Cajal bodies of S2 cells. Scale bars, 10 μm.

in mammals. Previous results from our lab
show that SMN can bind directly to Impβ in
vitro and that purified SMN complexes are
required for SPN1 independent snRNP im-
port (Narayanan et al., 2004). The precise
identity of the import adaptor for the Sm-
core mediated import pathway, however, is
not known. Whether the Impβ-binding site
of SMN is masked while the protein is in the
SMN import complex is also unknown. Sev-
eral possibilities thus exist in vivo: Impβ may
bind directly to SMN or indirectly through
an unidentified adaptor protein (e.g., Imp7/
Msk), or some combination of both scenar-
ios might hold, as they are not mutually
exclusive.
We envision two models by which Imp7
could function in the nuclear import of
snRNPs in vertebrates. In one scenario, Imp7
and Impβ could have partially redundant
functions, in which they could each inde-
pendently function as import receptors in
single snRNP import events (Figure 11A).
Alternatively, Imp7 could serve as an import
adaptor for Impβ, functioning with it in the
same import cycle (Figure 11B). Curiously,
we find that an unidentified band of the ap-
propriate size copurifies with the SMN com-
plex in numerous publications (Baccon et al., 2002; Pellizzoni et al.,
2002; Yong et al., 2004; Carissimi et al., 2005, 2006a,b). Thus it is
possible that Imp7 is the unidentified Sm core import adaptor
(Figure 7D). Thus Msk is required for the stability of dSMN and
coilin.
SMN plays a crucial role in snRNP biogenesis, and its depletion
disrupts Cajal bodies in HeLa cells (Shpargel and Matera, 2005).
Therefore the significant reduction of dSMN in Msk mutant larvae
could be responsible for the Cajal body and TMG cap phenotypes.
To investigate this possibility, we overexpressed Flag-tagged dSMN
in the Msk-mutant background (Figure 7E). Overexpression of Flag-
dSMN failed to rescue organismal viability, Cajal body disruption, or
cytoplasmic TMG cap localization (Figure 10). Therefore Msk func-
tion in vivo is not limited to SMN stability. Taken together with the
subcellular localization and biochemical interaction analyses de-
scribed earlier, these genetic results provide strong evidence linking
Msk to a role in snRNP biogenesis.
DISCUSSION
Vertebrate Imp7 and Impβ form an abundant heterodimeric com-
plex (Görlich et al., 1997). Because Impβ is entirely sufficient for
snRNP import in vitro and in Xenopus oocytes (Huber et al., 1998;
Palacios et al., 1997), it was assumed that the copurification of Imp7
with SPN1 in HeLa cells was simply an indirect consequence of its
interaction with Impβ (Paraskeva et al., 1999). In this study, we show
that dSNUP is the Drosophila orthologue of human SPN1 and pro-
vide convincing evidence that it fails to bind Ketel/Impβ in vitro and
in vivo. Our results strongly favor the interpretation that Drosophila
snRNP import uses the import receptor Msk/Imp7 in place of Ketel/
Impβ. Thus the physical interaction between Imp7/Msk and SPN1/
dSNUP is conserved in humans and Drosophila, raising the question
of whether Imp7 might play a previously unrecognized role in verte-
brate snRNP import.
In mammalian cells, Imp7 functions as an import receptor for
various protein cargoes, independent of its role as an adaptor for
Impβ (Jäkel et al., 1999; Freedman and Yamamoto, 2004). Thus it is
possible that Imp7 plays a similar role in the snRNP import pathway
FIGURE 7: Moleskin mutant characterization. (A–C) Western blot of second-instar larvae.
(A) msk−/−
larvae have significantly reduced Msk protein levels. (B) Ketelnull/−
larvae have WT
levels of Msk. UAS-msk driven by armadillo-Gal4 in the msk−/−
background shows recovery of
Msk protein. (C) msk−/−
larvae have significantly reduced levels of dSMN, which can be recovered
by UAS-msk driven by armadillo-Gal4. (D) Western blot of first-instar larvae. msk−/−
larvae have
significantly reduced levels of dSMN and coilin by day 1 post egg laying (DPE). (E) Western blot
of first-instar larvae. UAS-flag-dSMN driven by armadillo-Gal4 in the msk−/−
background shows
Flag-dSMN expression. Long exposure (top) and short exposure (middle) with dSMN antibody.
FIGURE 8: Moleskin-null mutant Malpighian tubules display TMG cap
cytoplasmic accumulation. Immunofluorescence in second-instar
larvae. Long-lived msk−/−
larvae show cytoplasmic accumulation of
TMG in Malpighian tubules, whereas similar long-lived Ketelnull/–
larvae
do not. UAS-msk driven by armadillo-Gal4 in the msk−/−
background
partially rescues cytoplasmic TMG phenotype. Scale bars, 10 μm.

protein in vertebrates, definitive identifica-
tion of which remains a subject of consider-
able interest.
Traditionally, import receptors have been
believed to be bound immediately by
RanGTP in the nucleus; subsequently the re-
ceptors are recycled back into the cytoplasm.
There is evidence, however, that Imp7 may
be a bit different from traditional nuclear im-
port receptors. Unlike Impβ, Imp7 does not
require RanGTP for histone H1 nuclear im-
port (Jäkel et al., 1999). The lower affinity for
RanGTP is hypothesized to be a potential
advantage. Jäkel et al. (1999) suggested
that by delaying the dissociation of Imp7
from H1, Imp7 could accompany the histone
to the chromosome for assembly into chro-
matin. The same idea could be applied to
our surprising finding that Msk/Imp7 local-
izes to Cajal bodies in both Drosophila and
human cells (Figure 6 and Supplemental
Figure S1, respectively). Hence Msk/Imp7
might act in a chaperonin-like manner inside
the nucleus, ferrying snRNPs to Cajal bodies
for potential interaction with coilin and/or
SMN (Liu et al., 2000; Narayanan et al., 2004;
Ospina et al., 2005; Shpargel and Martel,
2005; Tanackovic and Kramer, 2005).
Navigating the complex nature of snRNP
import mechanisms will require precise
molecular dissection of the interactions be-
tween snRNPs, their transport receptors, and
their downstream effectors. Our finding that
loss of msk function leads (directly or indi-
rectly) to codepletion of dSMN is particularly
significant in this regard. Collectively, our
studies provide strong evidence that Ketel/
Impβ is not the TMG cap import receptor in
Drosophila and that Msk/Imp7 is required
for ongoing snRNP biogenesis. Furthermore,
we provide important food for thought re-
garding a potential role for Imp7/Msk in
mammalian snRNP import. Imp7/Msk may
have different binding capacities than Impβ/
Ketel in particular tissues or for individual
species of U snRNPs. Additional experiments
are needed to clarify these and other impor-
tant questions. Understanding the role of
FIGURE 9: Coilin and dSMN are reduced in Moleskin-mutant Malpighian tubules.
Immunofluorescence in second-instar larvae. Long lived msk−/−
larvae have reduced dSMN and
Cajal bodies (anti-coilin) in Malpighian tubules, whereas similar long-lived Ketelnull/–
larvae do not.
UAS-msk driven by armadillo-Gal4 in the msk−/−
background shows recovery of both coilin and
dSMN (UAS-msk; msk−/−
). Scale bars, 10 μm.
FIGURE 10: Overexpression of Flag-dSMN
does not rescue coilin and dSMN reduction in
Moleskin-mutant Malpighian tubules.
Immunofluorescence in second-instar larvae.
Long-lived msk−/−
larvae have reduced dSMN
and Cajal bodies (anti-coilin) in Malpighian
tubules compared with wild type. UAS-msk
driven by armadillo-Gal4 in the msk−/−
background shows recovery of both coilin
and dSMN (UAS-msk; msk−/−
). UAS-flag-dSMN
driven by armadillo-Gal4 in the msk−/−
background fails to rescue coilin or dSMN
(UAS-flag-dSMN; msk−/−
). Scale bars, 20 μm.

Recombinant protein expression and S2 cell transfections
GST-dSNUP was expressed in BL21-star bacteria (Invitrogen) by
1 mM isopropyl-β-d-thiogalactoside induction for 3 h. Lysate was
extracted by sonication and passed over glutathione beads. S2 cells
were transfected using Cellfectin as directed (Invitrogen), and cells
were harvested 4 d after transfection.
Antibodies
A rabbit polyclonal anti-dSNUP antibody (dSNUP) was generated
(Pacific Immunology, Ramona, CA) using GST-tagged dSNUP. A
guinea pig polyclonal anti-dSNUP antibody was generated (Pocono
Rabbit Farm and Laboratory, Canadensis, PA) using dSNUP.
GST (Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Santa Cruz, CA; anti-mouse;
1:1000), GFP (Roche, Indianapolis, IN; anti-mouse; 1:1000, and Ab-
cam, Cambridge, MA; anti-rabbit, 1:1000), dSmB (Y12) anti-sDMA
(a gift from J. Steitz, Yale University, New Haven, CT; anti-mouse;
1:3000), dSMN (Praveen et al., 2012; affinity-purified anti-rabbit;
1:2000), dSNUP (affinity-purified anti-rabbit; 1:3000), Msk (a gift of
L. Perkins, Harvard Medical School Boston, MA; anti-rabbit; 1:2000),
Ketel (a gift from J. Szabad, Faculty of Medicine, University of
Szeged, Szeged, Hungary; anti-rabbit; 1:5000), bellwether (Abcam,
Cambridge, MA; anti-mouse, 1:5000), Flag (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis,
MO; horseradish peroxidase–conjugated anti-Flag; 1:8000), and
tubulin (Sigma-Aldrich; anti-rabbit; 1:10,000) antibodies were used
for Western blotting. Secondary antibodies used were goat anti-
mouse–, anti–guinea pig–, and anti-rabbit–conjugated horseradish
peroxidase at 1:5000 (Pierce, Rockford, IL).
Msk (a gift of L. Perkins; rabbit; 1:1000), coilin (a gift of J. Gall,
Carnegie Institution for Science, Baltimore, MD; guinea pig;
1:1000), dSMN (Praveen et al., 2012; affinity-purified rabbit;
1:200), dSNUP (guinea pig; 1:200), dSmB (Y12) anti-sDMA (a gift
from J. Steitz, Yale University, New Haven, CT; mouse monoclo-
nal; 1:200), Imp7 (Sigma-Aldrich; rabbit; 1:250), and hSMN
(mouse monoclonal; clone 8, BD Biosciences, San Diego, CA;
1:250) were used for immunofluorescence. GFP (Abcam,
Cambridge, MA; rabbit; 1.5 μl), GFP (mouse; Roche; 1.5 μl), and
dSNUP (guinea pig; 10 μl) antibodies and Flag-conjugated aga-
rose beads (Sigma-Aldrich; 15 μl per immunoprecipitation [IP])
were used for IP in buffer A (10 mM 4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-pipera-
zineethanesulfonic acid, pH 7.9, 1.5 mM MgCl2, 10 mM KCl,
0.5 mM dithiothreitol).
Immunoprecipitation
S2 cell cytoplasmic lysate was prepared by resuspending cells in 5×
pellet volume of buffer A. Resuspended cells were incubated on ice
for 30 min to allow swelling, mixed 10× with a p200 pipette, and
incubated for an additional 10 min on ice before passing through a
27.5-gauge needle 40×. Cells were spun for 1 min at 13,000 rpm in
a microfuge, and the cytoplasmic supernatant was treated with pro-
tease inhibitor cocktail (Pierce). For RNase experiments, S2 cell cy-
toplasmic lysate was divided into equal fractions, which were un-
treated or treated with 1 μg of RNase/5 μg lysate for 1 h at 37°C. For
RanQ69L experiments, bacterially expressed GST-RanQ69L was
added to cytoplasmic lysate. Cytoplasmic fractions were incubated
with antibody for 1 h (no antibody added for negative control IP) at
4°C before incubation overnight at 4°C with 15 μl of protein A beads
(Pierce). Bound proteins were washed 5× with 1 ml of buffer A.
For IP Northern experiments, bound RNA was directly phenol/
chloroform extracted off beads, denatured in formamide loading
buffer, run on a 10% polyacrylamide-urea gel (Invitrogen), transferred
to a nylon membrane, and probed with 32
P-labeled PCR products
corresponding to the D. melanogaster U1, U2, and U4 snRNAs.
Imp7/Msk in snRNP biogenesis in both vertebrate and invertebrate
systems should elucidate how the two different nuclear import path-
ways complement one another.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
DNA constructs
dSNUP, hIBB-dSNUP, dSMN, dSmB, Msk, and Ketel full-length cD-
NAs were PCR amplified with appropriate primers flanked by Gate-
way recombination sequences (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA). These
products were recombined initially into pDONR221 (Invitrogen) be-
fore entry into GFP-tagged pAGW, Flag-tagged pAFW (Drosophila
Genome Research Center, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN), or
pBI-UASC-mVenus (a gift from Brian McCabe, Columbia University,
New York, NY).
FIGURE 11: Models of Imp7 role in snRNP import. (A) Imp7 and Impβ
could function redundantly as autonomous snRNP import receptors.
(B) Alternatively, Imp7 could function as an Sm core snRNP import
adaptor for Impβ.

RNAi
dSNUP dsRNAs were transcribed in vitro from PCR products flanked
with T7 promoters. Drosophila S2 cells were placed in SF-900 media
and treated with fresh 14 μg/ml dsRNA each day for 4 d before
harvesting. Cytoplasmic extracts were generated 4 d after transfec-
tion. A 50-μg portion of cytoplasmic extract was loaded on a poly-
acrylamide gel for Western blotting analysis to confirm
knockdown.
Fly stocks
Oregon-R was used as the wild-type strain. A Msk-null line contain-
ing a piggyback insertion in intron 1 of Msk (msk−/−
), MskB185
, w1118
;
PBac{5HPw+
}mskB185
/TM3, Sb1
Ser1
, and a line containing msk with a
UAS promoter (UAS-msk), w*; P{UAS-msk.L}47M1/CyO, previously
characterized (Lorenzen et al., 2001), were obtained from the Bloom-
ington Drosophila Stock Center (Bloomington, IN). Armadillo-Gal4
was recombined with msk−/−
and crossed to UAS-msk for rescue of
previously characterized UAS-flag-dSMN (Chang et al., 2008). Previ-
ously characterized Ketelnull/−
(Villányi et al., 2008) was a gift from
J. Szabad. (The – sign stands for a small deficiency [ketelrx32
] that
removes Ketel and a few of the adjacent loci, whereas the Ketel null
[ketelrx13
] is a complete loss-of-function mutant allele; Erdélyi et al.,
1997.)
The dSNUP and hIBB-dSNUP transgenic constructs were cloned
into pBI-UASC-mVenus (Wang et al., 2012) and sent to BestGene
(Chino Hills, CA) for embryo injection using the phiC31 system.
Transgenes were integrated at site 86fB (Bischof et al., 2007). Flies
bearing a UAS:VFP-Snup transgene were crossed to a variety of
Gal4 drivers, including tubulin-Gal4 and nanos-Gal4. The msk−/−
flies
were recombined with either VFP-dSNUP or VFP-hIBB-dSNUP trans-
genic lines and with Gal4 drivers. Timed matings were allowed to
proceed for 6 h, and larvae were collected for phenotypic analyses
on subsequent days.
Immunofluorescence
Drosophila tissues and HeLa and S2 cells were fixed at room tem-
perature for 10 min in 3.7% paraformaldehyde in phosphate-buff-
ered saline (PBS; 135 mM NaCl, 2.5 mM KCl, 4.3 mM Na2HPO4, and
1.5 mM KH2PO4, pH 7.2). Tissues/cells were then permeabilized
with 1% Triton 100×, blocked in PBST (PBS with 0.1% Triton 100×)
containing 5% NGS (blocking solution) and then washed with PBST.
The primary antibody, diluted in PBST, was incubated with the sam-
ples overnight at 4°C. After being washed with PBST, the secondary
antibody, diluted in blocking solution, was incubated with the sam-
ples for 2 h at room temperature. The samples were stained with
DAPI, washed with PBST, and mounted in antifade solution (0.233 g
of DABCO, 800 μl of water, 200 μl of 1 M Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, 9 ml of
glycerol).
Fluorescence microscopy
Images were taken with a 40×/numerical aperture 1.25 plan apo-
chromatic objective on a laser-scanning confocal microscope (SP5;
Leica, Exton, PA). Contrast and relative intensities of the green
(Alexa 488 or Venus tag), red (Alexa 594), and blue (DAPI) images
were adjusted with Photoshop (Adobe, Mountain View, CA).
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank K. Praveen, Z. Lu, and T. K. Rajendra for advice and help,
both technical and theoretical. We are indebted to L. Perkins,
J. Gall, B. McCabe, and J. Szabad for reagents. This work was sup-
ported by National Institutes of Health Grant R01-GM053034
(to A.G.M.).
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