Regulation of nuclear import by phosphorylation adjacent to nuclear localization signals

Many important regulatory proteins, including cell cycle regulators and transcription factors, contain a phosphorylation site within or adjacent to a classic nuclear localization signal (NLS) sequence. Previous studies show that the nuclear localization of these cargoes can be regulated by phosphorylation at these sites. It was hypothesized that this phosphorylation regulates the nuclear import of NLS cargo proteins by modulating the interaction of the cargo with the classic nuclear transport receptor, importin alpha. In this study, we utilize in vitro solution binding assays and in vivo analyses to directly test this model. We demonstrate that mimicking phosphorylation at a site adjacent to an NLS decreases the binding affinity of the NLS for importin alpha. This decrease in cargo affinity for importin alpha correlates with a decrease in nuclear accumulation in vivo. Through these analyses, we show that the cell cycle-dependent nuclear import of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae transcription factor Swi6p correlates with a phosphorylation-dependent change in affinity for importin alpha. Furthermore, we present data using the SV40 NLS to suggest that this form of regulation can be utilized to artificially modulate the nuclear import of a cargo, which is usually constitutively targeted to the nucleus. This work defines one molecular mechanism for regulating nuclear import by the classic NLS-mediated transport pathway.