Vav binding to heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) C. Evidence for Vav-hnRNP interactions in an RNA-dependent manner

The vav proto-oncogene is exclusively expressed in hematopoietic cells and encodes a 95-kDa protein that contains multiple structural domains. Vav is involved in the expansion of T and B cells, in antigen-mediated proliferative responses, and in the induction of intrathymic T cell maturation. It becomes rapidly and transiently tyrosine-phosphorylated upon triggering of a large number of surface receptors and catalyzes GDP/GTP exchange on Rac-1. We now provide evidence for the specific interaction of Vav with heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) C. Vav and hnRNP C interact both in vivo and in vitro mediated through the carboxyl Src homology 3 domain of Vav and the proline-rich motif located in the nuclear retention sequence of hnRNP C. More importantly, Vav-hnRNP C complexes are present in living hematopoietic cells and both proteins localize in the nuclei, mainly on perichromatic fibrils but also on clusters of interchromatin granules. The Vav-hnRNP C interaction is regulated by poly(U) RNA, although a basal association is still detected in the absence of RNA. Furthermore, RNA homopolymers differentially alter the binding affinity of Vav to hnRNP C and hnRNP K. We propose that Vav-hnRNP interactions may be established in an RNA-dependent manner.