Identification of a 90-kDa polypeptide which associates with adenovirus VA RNAI and is phosphorylated by the double-stranded RNA-dependent protein kinase

Interferon treatment of mammalian cells induces a double-stranded (ds) RNA-dependent protein kinase known as DAI. When activated, DAI phosphorylates the alpha-subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor eIF-2, impairing its ability to be recycled and leading to the inhibition of protein synthesis. We have identified a novel DAI substrate in the ribosomal salt wash of rabbit reticulocyte lysates. This substrate is a 90-kDa polypeptide which has been purified to apparent homogeneity. It can be cross-linked by ultraviolet irradiation to adenovirus VA RNAI, a small RNA polymerase III transcript RNA which acts as an inhibitor of DAI. As assayed by a nitrocellulose filter binding assay, the 90-kDa polypeptide is also able to associate with authentic double-stranded RNA, but not single-stranded RNA, made in vitro. Thus, this newly identified substrate of DAI appears to have affinity for dsRNA structures and may be involved in dsRNA-regulated processes in the reticulocyte. Polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies directed against the 90-kDa polypeptide co-precipitate DAI, suggesting that these two proteins may exist as a complex.