Aspergillus nidulans HOG pathway is activated only by two-component signalling pathway in response to osmotic stress

Genome sequencing analyses revealed that Aspergillus nidulans has orthologous genes to all those of the high-osmolarity glycerol (HOG) response mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A. nidulans mutant strains lacking sskA, sskB, pbsB, or hogA, encoding proteins orthologous to the yeast Ssk1p response regulator, Ssk2p/Ssk22p MAPKKKs, Pbs2p MAPKK and Hog1p MAPK, respectively, showed growth inhibition under high osmolarity, and HogA MAPK in these mutants was not phosphorylated under osmotic or oxidative stress. Thus, activation of the A. nidulans HOG (AnHOG) pathway depends solely on the two-component signalling system, and MAPKK activation mechanisms in the AnHOG pathway differ from those in the yeast HOG pathway, where Pbs2p is activated by two branches, Sln1p and Sho1p. Expression of pbsB complemented the high-osmolarity sensitivity of yeast pbs2Delta, and the complementation depended on Ssk2p/Ssk22p, but not on Sho1p. Pbs2p requires its Pro-rich motif for binding to the Src-homology3 (SH3) domain of Sho1p, but PbsB lacks a typical Pro-rich motif. However, a PbsB mutant (PbsB(Pro)) with the yeast Pro-rich motif was activated by the Sho1p branch in yeast. In contrast, HogA in sskADelta expressing PbsB(Pro) was not phosphorylated under osmotic stress, suggesting that A. nidulans ShoA, orthologous to yeast Sho1p, is not involved in osmoresponsive activation of the AnHOG pathway. We also found that besides HogA, PbsB can activate another Hog1p MAPK orthologue, MpkC, in A. nidulans, although mpkC is dispensable in osmoadaptation. In this study, we discuss the differences between the AnHOG and the yeast HOG pathways.     

The extracellular domain of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Sln1p membrane osmolarity sensor is necessary for kinase activity

The function of the extracellular domain (ECD) of Sln1p, a plasma membrane two-transmembrane domain (TMD) sensor of the high-osmolarity glycerol (HOG) response pathway, has been studied in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Truncations of SLN1 that retain an intact kinase domain are capable of complementing the lethality of an sln1Delta strain. By observing levels of Hog1p phosphorylation as well as the phosphorylation state of Sln1p, the kinase activities of various SLN1 constructions were determined. In derivatives that do not contain the first TMD, Sln1p activity was no longer dependent on medium osmolarity but appeared to be constitutively active even under conditions of high osmolarity. Removal of the first TMD (DeltaTMD1 construct) gave a protein that was strongly phosphorylated whereas Hog1p was largely dephosphorylated, as expected if the active form of Sln1p is phosphorylated. When both TMDs as well as the ECD were deleted, so that the kinase domain is cytosolic, Sln1p was not phosphorylated whereas Hog1p became constitutively hyperphosphorylated. Surprisingly, this hyperactivity of the HOG mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway was not sufficient to result in cell lethality. When the ECD of the DeltaTMD1 construct was replaced with a leucine zipper motif, Sln1p was hyperactive, so that Hog1p became mostly unphosphorylated. In contrast, when the Sln1p/leucine zipper construct was crippled by a mutation of one of the internal leucines, the Sln1 kinase was inactive. These experiments are consistent with the hypothesis that the ECD of Sln1p functions as a dimerization and activation domain but that osmotic regulation of activity requires the presence of the first TMD.     

Delayed Turnover of Unphosphorylated Ssk1 during Carbon Stress Activates the Yeast Hog1 Map Kinase Pathway

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the Hog1 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway coordinates the adaptation to osmotic stress and was recently reported to respond to acute changes in glucose levels. Similarly as in osmotic stress, glucose starvation leads to a transient accumulation of Hog1 in the nucleus. However, the kinetics and the mechanism of Hog1 activation are different for these stress conditions. During osmotic shock the activation of Hog1 can be transduced by either the Sho1 or the Sln1/Ypd1/Ssk1 branch. During glucose starvation the phosphorylation of Hog1 is slower and is completely dependent on Ssk1, but independent of Sho1. To characterize the mechanism of activation of Hog1 during carbon stress, we examined the turnover of Ssk1 protein levels upon glucose starvation in the presence of cycloheximide and monitored protein levels by western blotting. Our data demonstrate that unphosphorylated Ssk1 was quickly degraded during exponential growth and after osmotic stress but remained remarkably stable during glucose limitation. We conclude that glucose starvation induces a delay in the turnover of unphosphorylated Ssk1, which is sufficient to activate the Hog1 MAPK pathway. Although unphosphorylated Ssk1 is known to be degraded by the proteasome, its stabilization is apparently not due to changes in cellular localization or decrease in ubiquitination levels during glucose limitation.     

Heat stress activates the yeast high-osmolarity glycerol mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway,and protein tyrosine phosphatases are essential under heat stress

The yeast high-osmolarity glycerol (HOG) mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway has been characterized as being activated solely by osmotic stress. In this work, we show that the Hog1 MAPK is also activated by heat stress and that Sho1, previously identified as a membrane-bound osmosensor, is required for heat stress activation of Hog1. The two-component signaling protein, Sln1, the second osmosensor in the HOG pathway, was not involved in heat stress activation of Hog1, suggesting that the Sho1 and Sln1 sensors discriminate between stresses. The possible function of Hog1 activation during heat stress was examined, and it was found that the hog1Δ strain does not recover as rapidly from heat stress as well as the wild type. It was also found that protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) Ptp2 and Ptp3, which inactivate Hog1, have two functions during heat stress. First, they are essential for survival at elevated temperatures, preventing lethality due to Hog1 hyperactivation. Second, they block inappropriate cross talk between the HOG and the cell wall integrity MAPK pathways, suggesting that PTPs are important for maintaining specificity in MAPK signaling pathways.     

Pradimicin resistance of yeast is caused by a mutation of the putative N-glycosylation sites of osmosensor protein Sln1

Pradimicin, a mannose-binding antifungal antibiotic, induces apoptosis-like cell death in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Previously we found that the substitution of the 74th amino acid from glycine to cysteine in Ypd1 yields a mutant resistant to pradimicin. In this study, the involvement of a membrane-spanning osomosensor, Sln1, which is located upstream of Ypd1, was investigated. A mutant, sln1 DeltaNG, that lacks the putative N-glycosylation sites in the extracellular domain became resistant to pradimicin. On the other hand, the null mutants of Ssk1, Pbs2, and Hog1, which are located downstream of the Sln1 cascade, were sensitive to pradimicin as well as the wild-type strain. In conclusion, pradimicin exerts its fungicidal action with the involvement of Sln1, but the downstream branch, Ssk1 and the HOG pathway, is not involved.     

The Sho1 adaptor protein links oxidative stress to morphogenesis and cell wall biosynthesis in the fungal pathogen Candida albicans

The Sho1 adaptor protein is an important element of one of the two upstream branches of the high-osmolarity glycerol (HOG) mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a signal transduction cascade involved in adaptation to stress. In the present work, we describe its role in the pathogenic yeast Candida albicans by the construction of mutants altered in this gene. We report here that sho1 mutants are sensitive to oxidative stress but that Sho1 has a minor role in the transmission of the phosphorylation signal to the Hog1 MAP kinase in response to oxidative stress, which mainly occurs through a putative Sln1-Ssk1 branch of the HOG pathway. Genetic analysis revealed that double ssk1 sho1 mutants were still able to grow on high-osmolarity media and activate Hog1 in response to this stress, indicating the existence of alternative inputs of the pathway. We also demonstrate that the Cek1 MAP kinase is constitutively active in hog1 and ssk1 mutants, a phenotypic trait that correlates with their resistance to the cell wall inhibitor Congo red, and that Sho1 is essential for the activation of the Cek1 MAP kinase under different conditions that require active cell growth and/or cell wall remodeling, such as the resumption of growth upon exit from the stationary phase. sho1 mutants are also sensitive to certain cell wall interfering compounds (Congo red, calcofluor white), presenting an altered cell wall structure (as shown by the ability to aggregate), and are defective in morphogenesis on different media, such as SLAD and Spider, that stimulate hyphal growth. These results reveal a role for the Sho1 protein in linking oxidative stress, cell wall biogenesis, and morphogenesis in this important human fungal pathogen.     

Ptc1, a type 2C Ser/Thr phosphatase, inactivates the HOG pathway by dephosphorylating the mitogen-activated protein kinase Hog1

The HOG (high-osmolarity glycerol) mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway regulates the osmotic stress response in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Three type 2C Ser/Thr phosphatases (PTCs), Ptc1, Ptc2, and Ptc3, have been isolated as negative regulators of this pathway. Previously, multicopy expression of PTC1 and PTC3 was shown to suppress lethality of the sln1Delta strain due to hyperactivation of the HOG pathway. In this work, we show that PTC2 also suppresses sln1Delta lethality. Furthermore, the phosphatase activity of these PTCs was needed for suppression, as mutation of a conserved Asp residue, likely to coordinate a metal ion, inactivated PTCs. Further analysis of Ptc1 function in vivo showed that it inactivates the MAPK, Hog1, but not the MEK, Pbs2. In the wild type, Hog1 kinase activity increased transiently, approximately 12-fold in response to osmotic stress, while overexpression of PTC1 limited activation to approximately 3-fold. In contrast, overexpression of PTC1 did not inhibit phosphorylation of Hog1 Tyr in the phosphorylation lip, suggesting that Ptc1 does not act on Pbs2. Deletion of PTC1 also strongly affected Hog1, leading to high basal Hog1 activity and sustained Hog1 activity in response to osmotic stress, the latter being consistent with a role for Ptc1 in adaptation. In vitro, Ptc1 but not the metal binding site mutant, Ptc1D58N, inactivated Hog1 by dephosphorylating the phosphothreonine but not the phosphotyrosine residue in the phosphorylation lip. Consistent with its role as a negative regulator of Hog1, which accumulates in the nucleus upon activation, Ptc1 was found in both the nucleus and the cytoplasm. Thus, one function of Ptc1 is to inactivate Hog1.     

Candidate osmosensors from Candida utilis and Kluyveromyces lactis: structural and functional homology to the Sho1p putative osmosensor from Saccharomyces cerevisiae

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, increases in external osmolarity evoke osmostress-induced signalling via the HOG MAP kinase pathway. One of the upstream components of this signal transduction route is the putative osmosensor, Sho1p. With the aim to elucidate the molecular basis of osmosensing in budding yeast, we have cloned SHO1 homologues from Candida utilis and Kluyveromyces lactis which allowed determination of conserved domains of Sho1p. Results obtained from sequence comparisons, confirmed the importance of the transmembrane domains and the SH3 domain for Sho1p function. The K. lactis and S. cerevisiae Sho1p show the highest degree of homology, the isoform from C. utilis is a shorter protein. SHO1 from C. utilis, however, did complement the osmosensitivity of the sho1ssk2ssk22 strain by restoring HOG pathway function, since Hog1p dual phosphorylation after high osmotic challenge was restored in this strain after transformation with a plasmid bearing this SHO1 homologue.     

The Hog1 MAP kinase pathway and the Mec1 DNA damage checkpoint pathway independently control the cellular responses to hydrogen peroxide

The DNA damage checkpoint pathway and the MAP kinase pathway respond to various forms of environmental as well as endogenous stresses through signal transduction mechanisms involving protein kinases. Both pathways are intertwined in mammalian cells, but potential crosstalk between these two pathways in budding yeast has not been examined yet. We show that the Rad53 checkpoint kinase and the Hog1 MAP kinase of Saccharomyces cerevisiae become phosphorylated upon exposure to hydrogen peroxide, indicative of activation of the DNA damage checkpoint and MAP kinase pathways in response to oxidative stress. Rad53 kinase is equally activated in wild type and in hog1-Delta cells. Likewise, the activation of Hog1 MAP kinase is not dependent on Mec1 kinase, the central checkpoint kinase in budding yeast. Mutants in either pathway are sensitive to hydrogen peroxide and the double mutants exhibit a near perfectly additive phenotype. These data demonstrate that the DNA damage checkpoint pathway and the MAP kinase pathway respond to oxidative stress independently of each other and suggest that these two stress signaling pathways are activated by different types of insults induced by hydrogen peroxide.     

Hog1p mitogen-activated protein kinase determines acetic acid resistance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

When glucose-repressed, Saccharomyces cerevisiae cannot use acetic acid as a carbon source and is inhibited in growth by high levels of this compound, especially at low pH. Cultures exposed to a 100 mM acetate stress activate both the Hog1p and Slt2p stress-activated MAP kinases. Nevertheless, only active Hog1p, not Slt2p, is needed for the acquisition of acetate resistance. Hog1p undergoes more rapid activation by acetate in pH 4.5, than in pH 6.8 cultures, an indication that the acid may have to enter the cells in order to generate the Hog1p activatory signal. Acetate activation of Hog1p is absent in the ssk1Delta and pbs2Delta mutants, but is present in sho1Delta and ste11Delta, showing that it involves the Sln1p branch of the high-osmolarity glycerol (HOG) pathway signaling to Pbs2p. In low-pH (pH 4.5) cultures, the acetate-activated Hog1p, although conferring acetate resistance, does not generate the GPD1 gene or intracellular glycerol inductions that are hallmarks of activation of the HOG pathway by hyperosmotic stress.     

Unique and redundant roles for HOG MAPK pathway components as revealed by whole-genome expression analysis

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae high osmolarity glycerol (HOG) mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway is required for osmoadaptation and contains two branches that activate a mitogen-activated protein kinase (Hog1) via a mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (Pbs2). We have characterized the roles of common pathway components (Hog1 and Pbs2) and components in the two upstream branches (Ste11, Sho1, and Ssk1) in response to elevated osmolarity by using whole-genome expression profiling. Several new features of the HOG pathway were revealed. First, Hog1 functions during gene induction and repression, cross talk inhibition, and in governing the regulatory period. Second, the phenotypes of pbs2 and hog1 mutants are identical, indicating that the sole role of Pbs2 is to activate Hog1. Third, the existence of genes whose induction is dependent on Hog1 and Pbs2 but not on Ste11 and Ssk1 suggests that there are additional inputs into Pbs2 under our inducing conditions. Fourth, the two upstream pathway branches are not redundant: the Sln1-Ssk1 branch has a much more prominent role than the Sho1-Ste11 branch for activation of Pbs2 by modest osmolarity. Finally, the general stress response pathway and both branches of the HOG pathway all function at high osmolarity. These studies demonstrate that cells respond to increased osmolarity by using different signal transduction machinery under different conditions.     

Yeast Cdc42 GTPase and Ste20 PAK-like kinase regulate Sho1-dependent activation of the Hog1 MAPK pathway

The adaptive response to hyperosmotic stress in yeast, termed the high osmolarity glycerol (HOG) response, is mediated by two independent upstream pathways that converge on the Pbs2 MAP kinase kinase (MAPKK), leading to the activation of the Hog1 MAP kinase. One branch is dependent on the Sho1 transmembrane protein, whose primary role was found to be the binding and translocation of the Pbs2 MAPKK to the plasma membrane, and specifically to sites of polarized growth. The yeast PAK homolog Ste20 is essential for the Sho1-dependent activation of the Hog1 MAP kinase in response to severe osmotic stress. This function of Ste20 in the HOG pathway requires binding of the small GTPase Cdc42. Overexpression of Cdc42 partially complements the osmosensitivity of ste20Delta mutants, perhaps by activating another PAK-like kinase, while a dominant-negative Cdc42 mutant inhibited signaling through the SHO1 branch of the HOG pathway. Since activated Cdc42 translocates Ste20 to sites of polarized growth, the upstream and downstream elements of the HOG pathway are brought together through the membrane targeting function of Sho1 and Cdc42.     

Pkc1 and the upstream elements of the cell integrity pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Rom2 and Mtl1, are required for cellular responses to oxidative stress

In this study we analyze the participation of the PKC1-MAPK cell integrity pathway in cellular responses to oxidative stress in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Evidence is presented demonstrating that only Pkc1 and the upstream elements of the cell integrity pathway are essential for cell survival upon treatment with two oxidizing agents, diamide and hydrogen peroxide. Mtl1 is characterized for the first time as a cell-wall sensor of oxidative stress. We also show that the actin cytoskeleton is a cellular target for oxidative stress. Both diamide and hydrogen peroxide provoke a marked depolarization of the actin cytoskeleton, being Mtl1, Rom2 and Pkc1 functions all required to restore the correct actin organization. Diamide induces the formation of disulfide bonds in newly secreted cell-wall proteins. This mainly provokes structural changes in the cell outer layer, which activate the PKC1-MAPK pathway and hence the protein kinase Slt2. Our results led us to the conclusion that Pkc1 activity is required to overcome the effects of oxidative stress by: (i) enhancing the machinery required to repair the altered cell wall and (ii) restoring actin cytoskeleton polarity by promoting actin cable formation.