Protein kinase A-regulated instability site in the 3'-untranslated region of lactate dehydrogenase-A subunit mRNA

Expression of the lactate dehydrogenase A subunit (LDH-A) gene can be controlled by transcriptional as well as posttranscriptional mechanisms. In rat C6 glioma cells, LDH-A mRNA is stabilized by activation and synergistic interaction of protein kinases A and C. In the present study, we aimed to identify the sequence domain which determines and regulates mRNA stability/instability by protein kinase A and focused our attention on the 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) of LDH-A mRNA. We have constructed various chimeric globin/lactate dehydrogenase (ldh) genes linked to the c-fos promoter and stably transfected them into rat C6 glioma cells. After their transfection, we determined the half-life of transcribed chimeric globin/ldh mRNAs. The results showed that at least three sequence domains within the LDH-A 3'-UTR consisting of nucleotides 1286-1351, 1453-1471, and 1471-1502 are responsible for the relatively rapid rate of LDH-A mRNA turnover in the cytoplasm. Whereas chimeric globin/ldh mRNAs containing the base sequences 1286-1351 and 1453-1471 were not stabilized by (Sp)-cAMPS, an activator of protein kinase A, instability caused by the 1471-1502 domain was significantly reversed. Additional deletion and mutational analyses demonstrated that the 3'-UTR fragment consisting of the 22 bases 1478-1499 is a critical determinant for the (Sp)-cAMPS-mediated LDH-A mRNA stabilizing activity. Because of its functional characteristics, we named the 22-base region "cAMP-stabilizing region."