capCLIP: a new tool to probe protein synthesis in human cells through capture and identification of the eIF4E-mRNA interactome

Summary Translation of eukaryotic mRNAs starts with binding of the m 7 G cap to the protein eIF4E followed by recruitment of other translation initiation factors. eIF4E’s essential role in translation suggests the cellular eIF4E-mRNA interactome (or ‘eIF4E cap-ome’) may serve as a faithful proxy of cellular translational activity. Here we describe capCLIP, a novel method to systematically capture and quantify the eIF4E cap-ome. To validate capCLIP, we identified the cap-omes in human cells ± the partial mTORC1 inhibitor rapamycin. As expected, TOP (terminal oligopyrimidine) mRNA representation is systematically reduced in rapamycin-treated cells. capCLIP tag data permits refinement of a 7-nucleotide TOP motif (5′-CUYUYYC-3′). We also apply capCLIP to probe the consequences of phosphorylation of eIF4E, whose function had remained unclear. eIF4E phosphorylation drives an overall reduction in eIF4E-mRNA association; strikingly, mRNAs most sensitive to phosphorylation possess short 5′-UTRs. capCLIP provides a sensitive and comprehensive measure of cellular translational activity. We foresee its application as a high-throughput way to assess translation in contexts not amenable to existing methodologies.