Identification of new high mobility group A1 associated proteins.

High mobility group A (HMGA) proteins (HMGA1a, HMGA1b, HMGA1c and HMGA2) are nonhistone chromosomal proteins that do not have transcriptional activity per se, but they orchestrate the assembly of multiprotein complexes involved in gene transcription, replication and chromatin structure through a complex network of protein-DNA and protein-protein interactions. To better understand their mechanisms of action, we have used a combination of coimmunoprecipitation, 1-D gel SDS-PAGE and MS to identify new potential molecular interactors. We have found 11 proteins that associate with HMGA1. These proteins belong to three different classes: mRNA processing proteins, RNA helicases and protein chaperones. Some interactions were confirmed by coimmunoprecipitation and pull-down experiments in human embryonal kidney 293 cells. These experimental data suggest that HMGA1 proteins can associate with proteins that are strictly involved in chromatin structure and in several important mRNA processing steps, supporting the idea that HMGA1 proteins can also participate in these events.