hnRNP-R regulates the PMA-induced c-fos expression in retinal cells

This study focused on the function of hnRNP-R in the regulation of c-fos expression. We demonstrated that hnRNP-R accelerated the rise and decline phases of c-fos mRNAs and Fos proteins, allowing PMA to induce an augmented pulse response of c-fos expression. Then, we examined the role of the c-fos-derived AU-rich element (ARE) in hnRNP-R-regulated mRNA degradation. Studies with the ARE-GFP reporter gene showed that hnRNP-R significantly reduced the expression of GFP with an inserted ARE. Moreover, immunoprecipitation-RT-PCR analysis demonstrated that in R28 cells and rat retinal tissues, the c-fos mRNA was co-immunoprecipitated with hnRNP-R. These findings indicate that hnRNP-R regulates the c-fos expression in retinal cells, and that the ARE of c-fos mRNAs contributes to this regulation.