DDX6 decouples translational repression from RNA degradation of miRNA targets [ESC EpiLC 4sU]

Translation and mRNA degradation are intimately connected, yet the mechanisms that regulate them are not fully understood. Here we examine the regulation of translation and mRNA stability in mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and during differentiation. In contrast to previous reports, we found that transcriptional changes account for most of the molecular changes during ESC differentiation. Within ESCs translation level and mRNA stability are positively correlated. The RNA-binding protein DDX6 has been implicated in processes involving both translational repression and mRNA destabilization; in yeast DDX6 connects codon optimality and mRNA stability and in mammals DDX6 is involved in microRNA-mediated repression. We generated DDX6 KO ESCs and found that while there was minimal connection between codon usage and stability changes, the loss of DDX6 leads to the translational depression of microRNA targets. Surprisingly, the translational derepression of microRNA targets occurs without affecting mRNA stability. Furthermore, DDX6 KO ESCs share overlapping phenotypes and global molecular changes with ESCs that completely lack all microRNAs. Together our results demonstrate that the loss of DDX6 decouples the two forms of microRNA induced repression and emphasize that translational repression by microRNAs is underappreciated. Overall design: 4-thiouridine (4su) metabolic labeling was performed on mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and Epiblast like cells (EpiLCs).