Cell biology
Abstract
Mutations in the gene centrosomal protein 290 kDa (
Authors
Theodore G. Drivas, Erika L.F. Holzbaur, Jean Bennett
Abstract
Dysfunctional telomeres limit cellular proliferative capacity by activating the p53-p21– and p16INK4a-Rb–dependent DNA damage responses (DDRs). The p16INK4a tumor suppressor accumulates in aging tissues, is a biomarker for cellular senescence, and limits stem cell function in vivo. While the activation of a p53-dependent DDR by dysfunctional telomeres has been well documented in human cells and mouse models, the role for p16INK4a in response to telomere dysfunction remains unclear. Here, we generated protection of telomeres 1b
Authors
Yang Wang, Norman Sharpless, Sandy Chang
Abstract
Aberrant regulation of eNOS and associated NO release are directly linked with various vascular diseases. Caveolin-1 (Cav-1), the main coat protein of caveolae, is highly expressed in endothelial cells. Its scaffolding domain serves as an endogenous negative regulator of eNOS function. Structure-function analysis of Cav-1 has shown that phenylalanine 92 (F92) is critical for the inhibitory actions of Cav-1 toward eNOS. Herein, we show that F92A–Cav-1 and a mutant cell–permeable scaffolding domain peptide called Cavnoxin can increase basal NO release in eNOS-expressing cells. Cavnoxin reduced vascular tone ex vivo and lowered blood pressure in normal mice. In contrast, similar experiments performed with eNOS- or Cav-1–deficient mice showed that the vasodilatory effect of Cavnoxin is abolished in the absence of these gene products, which indicates a high level of eNOS/Cav-1 specificity. Mechanistically, biochemical assays indicated that noninhibitory F92A–Cav-1 and Cavnoxin specifically disrupted the inhibitory actions of endogenous Cav-1 toward eNOS and thereby enhanced basal NO release. Collectively, these data raise the possibility of studying the inhibitory influence of Cav-1 on eNOS without interfering with the other actions of endogenous Cav-1. They also suggest a therapeutic application for regulating the eNOS/Cav-1 interaction in diseases characterized by decreased NO release.
Authors
Pascal Bernatchez, Arpeeta Sharma, Philip M. Bauer, Ethan Marin, William C. Sessa
Abstract
GPCR inhibitors are highly prevalent in modern therapeutics. However, interference with complex GPCR regulatory mechanisms leads to both therapeutic efficacy and adverse effects. Recently, the sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) receptor inhibitor FTY720 (also known as Fingolimod), which induces lymphopenia and prevents neuroinflammation, was adopted as a disease-modifying therapeutic in multiple sclerosis. Although highly efficacious, dose-dependent increases in adverse events have tempered its utility. We show here that FTY720P induces phosphorylation of the C-terminal domain of S1P receptor 1 (S1P1) at multiple sites, resulting in GPCR internalization, polyubiquitinylation, and degradation. We also identified the ubiquitin E3 ligase WWP2 in the GPCR complex and demonstrated its requirement in FTY720-induced receptor degradation. GPCR degradation was not essential for the induction of lymphopenia, but was critical for pulmonary vascular leak in vivo. Prevention of receptor phosphorylation, internalization, and degradation inhibited vascular leak, which suggests that discrete mechanisms of S1P receptor regulation are responsible for the efficacy and adverse events associated with this class of therapeutics.
Authors
Myat Lin Oo, Sung-Hee Chang, Shobha Thangada, Ming-Tao Wu, Karim Rezaul, Victoria Blaho, Sun-Il Hwang, David K. Han, Timothy Hla
Abstract
Cholera toxin (CT) causes the massive secretory diarrhea associated with epidemic cholera. To induce disease, CT enters the cytosol of host cells by co-opting a lipid-based sorting pathway from the plasma membrane, through the trans-Golgi network (TGN), and into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). In the ER, a portion of the toxin is unfolded and retro-translocated to the cytosol. Here, we established zebrafish as a genetic model of intoxication and examined the Derlin and flotillin proteins, which are thought to be usurped by CT for retro-translocation and lipid sorting, respectively. Using antisense morpholino oligomers and siRNA, we found that depletion of Derlin-1, a component of the Hrd-1 retro-translocation complex, was dispensable for CT-induced toxicity. In contrast, the lipid raft–associated proteins flotillin-1 and -2 were required. We found that in mammalian cells, CT intoxication was dependent on the flotillins for trafficking between plasma membrane/endosomes and two pathways into the ER, only one of which appears to intersect the TGN. These results revise current models for CT intoxication and implicate protein scaffolding of lipid rafts in the endosomal sorting of the toxin-GM1 complex.
Authors
David E. Saslowsky, Jin Ah Cho, Himani Chinnapen, Ramiro H. Massol, Daniel J.-F. Chinnapen, Jessica S. Wagner, Heidi E. De Luca, Wendy Kam, Barry H. Paw, Wayne I. Lencer
Abstract
Hereditary spastic paraplegias (HSPs; SPG1–45) are inherited neurological disorders characterized by lower extremity spastic weakness. More than half of HSP cases result from autosomal dominant mutations in atlastin-1 (also known as SPG3A), receptor expression enhancing protein 1 (REEP1; SPG31), or spastin (SPG4). The atlastin-1 GTPase interacts with spastin, a microtubule-severing ATPase, as well as with the DP1/Yop1p and reticulon families of ER-shaping proteins, and SPG3A caused by atlastin-1 mutations has been linked pathogenically to abnormal ER morphology. Here we investigated SPG31 by analyzing the distribution, interactions, and functions of REEP1. We determined that REEP1 is structurally related to the DP1/Yop1p family of ER-shaping proteins and localizes to the ER in cultured rat cerebral cortical neurons, where it colocalizes with spastin and atlastin-1. Upon overexpression in COS7 cells, REEP1 formed protein complexes with atlastin-1 and spastin within the tubular ER, and these interactions required hydrophobic hairpin domains in each of these proteins. REEP proteins were required for ER network formation in vitro, and REEP1 also bound microtubules and promoted ER alignment along the microtubule cytoskeleton in COS7 cells. A SPG31 mutant REEP1 lacking the C-terminal cytoplasmic region did not interact with microtubules and disrupted the ER network. These data indicate that the HSP proteins atlastin-1, spastin, and REEP1 interact within the tubular ER membrane in corticospinal neurons to coordinate ER shaping and microtubule dynamics. Thus, defects in tubular ER shaping and network interactions with the microtubule cytoskeleton seem to be the predominant pathogenic mechanism of HSP.
Authors
Seong H. Park, Peng-Peng Zhu, Rell L. Parker, Craig Blackstone
Abstract
The RNA-binding protein HuR (also known as ELAV1) binds to the 3′-untranslated region of mRNAs and regulates transcript stability and translation. However, the in vivo functions of HuR are not well understood. Here, we report that murine HuR is essential for life; postnatal global deletion of Elavl1 induced atrophy of hematopoietic organs, extensive loss of intestinal villi, obstructive enterocolitis, and lethality within 10 days. Upon Elavl1 deletion, progenitor cells in the BM, thymus, and intestine underwent apoptosis, whereas quiescent stem cells and differentiated cells were unaffected. The survival defect of hematopoietic progenitor cells was cell intrinsic, as transplant of Elavl1–/– BM led to compromised hematopoietic reconstitution but did not cause lethality. Expression of p53 and its downstream effectors critical for cell death were induced in progenitor cells as HuR levels declined. In mouse embryonic fibroblasts, HuR bound to and stabilized the mRNA for Mdm2, a critical negative regulator of p53. Furthermore, cell survival was restored by expression of Mdm2 in Elavl1–/– cells, suggesting that HuR keeps p53 levels in check in progenitor cells and thereby promotes cell survival. This regulation of cell stress response by HuR in progenitor cells, which we believe to be novel, could potentially be exploited in cytotoxic anticancer therapies as well as stem cell transplant therapy.
Authors
Mallika Ghosh, Hector Leonardo Aguila, Jason Michaud, Youxi Ai, Ming-Tao Wu, Annabrita Hemmes, Ari Ristimaki, Caiying Guo, Henry Furneaux, Timothy Hla
Abstract
ER stress–induced apoptosis is implicated in various pathological conditions, but the mechanisms linking ER stress–mediated signaling to downstream apoptotic pathways remain unclear. Using human and mouse cell culture and in vivo mouse models of ER stress–induced apoptosis, we have shown that cytosolic calcium resulting from ER stress induces expression of the Fas death receptor through a pathway involving calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IIγ (CaMKIIγ) and JNK. Remarkably, CaMKIIγ was also responsible for processes involved in mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis, including release of mitochondrial cytochrome c and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential. CaMKII-dependent apoptosis was also observed in a number of cultured human and mouse cells relevant to ER stress–induced pathology, including cultured macrophages, endothelial cells, and neuronal cells subjected to proapoptotic ER stress. Moreover, WT mice subjected to systemic ER stress showed evidence of macrophage mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis, renal epithelial cell apoptosis, and renal dysfunction, and these effects were markedly reduced in CaMKIIγ-deficient mice. These data support an integrated model in which CaMKII serves as a unifying link between ER stress and the Fas and mitochondrial apoptotic pathways. Our study also revealed what we believe to be a novel proapoptotic function for CaMKII, namely, promotion of mitochondrial calcium uptake. These findings raise the possibility that CaMKII inhibitors could be useful in preventing apoptosis in pathological settings involving ER stress–induced apoptosis.
Authors
Jenelle M. Timmins, Lale Ozcan, Tracie A. Seimon, Gang Li, Cristina Malagelada, Johannes Backs, Thea Backs, Rhonda Bassel-Duby, Eric N. Olson, Mark E. Anderson, Ira Tabas
Abstract
Huntingtin interacting protein 1 related (Hip1r) is an F-actin– and clathrin-binding protein involved in vesicular trafficking. In this study, we demonstrate that Hip1r is abundantly expressed in the gastric parietal cell, predominantly localizing with F-actin to canalicular membranes. Hip1r may provide a critical function in vivo, as demonstrated by extensive changes to parietal cells and the gastric epithelium in Hip1r-deficient mice. Electron microscopy revealed abnormal apical canalicular membranes and loss of tubulovesicles in mutant parietal cells, suggesting that Hip1r is necessary for the normal trafficking of these secretory membranes. Accordingly, acid secretory dynamics were altered in mutant parietal cells, with enhanced activation and acid trapping, as measured in isolated gastric glands. At the whole-organ level, gastric acidity was reduced in Hip1r-deficient mice, and the gastric mucosa was grossly transformed, with fewer parietal cells due to enhanced apoptotic cell death and glandular hypertrophy associated with cellular transformation. Hip1r-deficient mice had increased expression of the gastric growth factor gastrin, and mice mutant for both gastrin and Hip1r exhibited normalization of both proliferation and gland height. Taken together, these studies demonstrate that Hip1r plays a significant role in gastric physiology, mucosal architecture, and secretory membrane dynamics in parietal cells.
Authors
Renu N. Jain, Asma A. Al-Menhali, Theresa M. Keeley, Jianhua Ren, Mohammed El-Zaatari, Xunsheng Chen, Juanita L. Merchant, Theodora S. Ross, Catherine S. Chew, Linda C. Samuelson
Abstract
Elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) is the principal risk factor for glaucoma and results from excessive impedance of the fluid outflow from the eye. This abnormality likely originates from outflow pathway tissues such as the trabecular meshwork (TM), but the associated molecular etiology is poorly understood. We discovered what we believe to be a novel role for secreted frizzled-related protein-1 (sFRP-1), an antagonist of Wnt signaling, in regulating IOP. sFRP1 was overexpressed in human glaucomatous TM cells. Genes involved in the Wnt signaling pathway were expressed in cultured TM cells and human TM tissues. Addition of recombinant sFRP-1 to ex vivo perfusion-cultured human eyes decreased outflow facility, concomitant with reduced levels of β-catenin, the Wnt signaling mediator, in the TM. Intravitreal injection of an adenoviral vector encoding sFRP1 in mice produced a titer-dependent increase in IOP. Five days after vector injection, IOP increased 2 fold, which was significantly reduced by topical ocular administration of an inhibitor of a downstream suppressor of Wnt signaling. Thus, these data indicate that increased expression of sFRP1 in the TM appears to be responsible for elevated IOP in glaucoma and restoring Wnt signaling in the TM may be a novel disease intervention strategy for treating glaucoma.
Authors
Wan-Heng Wang, Loretta G. McNatt, Iok-Hou Pang, J. Cameron Millar, Peggy E. Hellberg, Mark H. Hellberg, H. Thomas Steely, Jeffrey S. Rubin, John H. Fingert, Val C. Sheffield, Edwin M. Stone, Abbot F. Clark
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Copyright © 2020 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)