RACK1 identified as the PCBP1-interacting protein with a novel functional role on the regulation of human MOR gene expression.

Poly C binding protein 1 (PCBP1) is an expressional regulator of the mu-opioid receptor (MOR) gene. We hypothesized the existence of a PCBP1 co-regulator modifying human MOR gene expression by protein-protein interaction with PCBP1. A human brain cDNA library was screened using the two-hybrid system with PCBP1 as the bait. Receptor for activated protein kinase C (RACK1) protein, containing seven WD domains, was identified. PCBP1-RACK1 interaction was confirmed via in vivo validation using the two-hybrid system, and by co-immunoprecipitation with anti-PCBP1 antibody and human neuronal NMB cell lysate, endogenously expressing PCBP1 and RACK1. Further co-immunoprecipitation suggested that RACK1-PCBP1 interaction occurred in cytosol alone. Single and serial WD domain deletion analyses demonstrated that WD7 of RACK1 is the key domain interacting with PCBP1. RACK1 over-expression resulted in a dose-dependent decrease of MOR promoter activity using p357 plasmid containing human MOR promoter and luciferase reporter gene. Knock-down analysis showed that RACK1 siRNA decreased the endogenous RACK1 mRNA level in NMB, and elevated MOR mRNA level as indicated by RT-PCR. Likewise, a decrease of RACK1 resulted in an increase of MOR proteins, verified by (3) H-diprenorphine binding assay. Collectively, this study reports a novel role of RACK1, physically interacting with PCBP1 and participating in the regulation of human MOR gene expression in neuronal NMB cells.