Enhancement of helicase activity and increase of eIF-4E phosphorylation in ornithine decarboxylase-overproducing cells

In mouse FM3A ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) overproducing cells (EXOD-1), the amount of ODC protein was approximately 100-fold that of normal cells. Since it is well known that the translational efficiency of ODC mRNA is very low and that eIF-4E is a limiting factor for the mRNA recognition and the scanning of 40 S ribosomal subunits, we measured the amount and phosphorylation of eIF-4E in EXOD-1 cells. An increase in the phosphorylation of eIF-4E, its association with p220 protein, and an enhancement of RNA helicase activity were observed in the cells. These results support the hypothesis that phosphorylation of eIF-4E enhances RNA helicase activity through eIF-4F (4A, 4E, and p220) complex formation.