SBDS and eIF6 Modulate Ribosome Subunit Joining in Shwachman Diamond Syndrome,

Abstract 3438

Shwachman Diamond syndrome (SDS) is an autosomal recessive marrow failure syndrome with a predisposition to leukemia. Over 90% of SDS patients harbor biallelic mutations in the SBDS gene. SBDS has been implicated in several cellular functions including ribosome biogenesis and mitotic spindle stabilization. Deletion of SBDS orthologues in yeast results in a severe slow growth phenotype and depressed polysomes. Homozygous deletion of Sbds in murine models results in early embryonic lethality, while conditional deletion of Sbds in mouse liver demonstrates accumulation of 40S and 60S subunits and halfmer formation consistent with impaired ribosome joining. SBDS facilitates the release of eIF6, a factor that prevents ribosome joining. The dramatic phenotypic and polysome changes noted in these experimental models were not observed in cells derived from SDS patients. SDS patient cells have only a mildly reduced growth rate compared to heatlhy controls, and polysome profiles do not demonstrate depressed polysomes or halfmer formation. Since complete abrogation of SBDS expression is lethal and biallelic null mutations in SBDS have not been reported, we examined the role of SBDS and eIF6 in SDS patients and human cell models.

We first investigated whether ribosome subunit homeostasis is impaired in SDS patient cells. We find that the 60S:40S ribosomal subunit ratio is consistently reduced in bone marrow stromal cells from SDS patients of different genotypes (n=4). This impairment in 60S:40S ratio is demonstrated in both SDS patient stromal cells and patient lymphoblasts. Stable lentiviral knockdown of SDS in normal marrow stromal cells recapitulates the reduction in 60S:40S ratio.

SBDS and eIF6 co-sediment in polysome gradients of human SDS cells. This co-sedimentation is specific for the 60S ribosomal subunit. Since eIF6 has a role as an anti-joining factor, we next developed an in vitro assay to test for ribosome subunit joining in human cells. In this assay, we validate that over-expression of eIF6 results in reduced ribosome joining, and eIF6 knockdown promotes ribosome joining. Moreover, we find that SDS patient stromal cells and patient lymphoblasts both demonstrate impaired ribosome subunit joining, compared with healthy controls. Importantly, the addition of wild type SBDS or depletion of eIF6 improve ribosome joining in SDS patient cells.

We demonstrate that the amino terminal sequences of SBDS are necessary but not sufficient for the association of SBDS with the 60S ribosomal subunit. Insertion of a patient-derived N-terminal SBDS point mutation also results in decreased association of SBDS with the 60S ribosomal subunit. These structure-function studies may help to inform genotype:phenotype correlations in SDS. The role of defective ribosome joining in promoting the SDS hematopoietic phenotype is of particular interest. Ongoing studies are interrogating the role of eIF6 modulation on the hematopoietic phenotype in SBDS- depleted cells. Insights garnered from these experiments will help inform the development of novel agents to improve the hematopoetic defect in human SDS.