转录因子EB和自噬在神经退行性疾病发病机制中的作用

自噬广泛存在于真核细胞中,与机体生理和病理过程的发生发展密切联系.自噬主要参与长寿蛋白质的降解,以清除受损或多余的蛋白质和细胞器,是细胞自我降解的过程之一.自噬通常被分为三类:大自噬、分子伴侣介导的自噬和小自噬.自噬溶酶体途径(ALP)功能障碍导致蛋白质聚集,从而产生异常蛋白质和无效细胞器的积累,这些特征是阿尔茨海默病(Alzheimer disease,AD)、帕金森病(Parkinson disease,PD)和亨廷顿病等神经退行性疾病(Huntington disease,HD)的标志.自噬的过程受一系列复杂的信号分子的调控,其中一个主要调节因子是转录因子EB(TFEB),是转录因子MiT家族的成员之一.研究表明,TFEB可通过积极调节自噬体形成和自噬体-溶酶体融合参与自噬,此外它还通过溶酶体胞吐作用提高细胞内的清除作用.因此作为自噬溶酶体生物发生的主要调节因子,TFEB已被广泛证明激活后可以从病理方面改善这些疾病.我们回顾分析ALP和TFEB的调节及其对神经退行性疾病的影响,同时展望ALP和TFEB在疾病病理中的复杂作用及其治疗意义.     

Spectroscopic evidence for backbone desolvation of helical peptides by 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol: an isotope-edited FTIR study

2,2,2-Trifluoroethanol (TFE) is widely used to induce helix formation in peptides and proteins, but the mechanism behind this effect is still poorly understood. Several recent papers have proposed that TFE acts by selectively desolvating the peptide backbone groups of the helix state. Infrared (IR) spectroscopy of the amide I band of polypeptides can be used to probe both secondary structure and backbone solvation, making this technique well suited for addressing the effect of TFE on polypeptide conformation. In this paper, we report the IR spectra as a function of TFE concentration for an alanine-rich peptide based on the repeat (AAKAA)(n)(). The IR spectra confirm that TFE desolvates the helical state of the peptide to a greater extent than the random coil state. Moreover, using a series of specifically (13)C-labeled peptides, the precise residues desolvated in the presence of TFE were identified. The residues most desolvated by TFE are the alanines located at position i - 4 in the sequence, where i is a lysine residue. This pattern of desolvation is consistent with molecular dynamics simulations which predict strong interactions between the lysine side chain at position n and the backbone carbonyl of the alanine at position i - 4. This is the first direct spectroscopic evidence of specific desolvation of helix backbone atoms in model alanine-rich peptides.     

Precise alignment of sites required for mu enhancer activation in B cells.

The lymphocyte-specific immunoglobulin mu heavy-chain gene intronic enhancer is regulated by multiple nuclear factors. The previously defined minimal enhancer containing the muA, muE3, and muB sites is transactivated by a combination of the ETS-domain proteins PU.1 and Ets-1 in nonlymphoid cells. The core GGAAs of the muA and muB sites are separated by 30 nucleotides, suggesting that ETS proteins bind to these sites from these same side of the DNA helix. We tested the necessity for appropriate spatial alignment of these elements by using mutated enhancers with altered spacings. A 4- or 10-bp insertion between muE3 and muB inactivated the mu enhancer in S194 plasma cells but did not affect in vitro binding of Ets-1, PU.1, or the muE3-binding protein TFE3, alone or in pairwise combinations. Circular permutation and phasing analyses demonstrated that PU.1 binding but not TFE3 or Ets-1 bends mu enhancer DNA toward the major groove. We propose that the requirement for precise spacing of the muA and muB elements is due in part to a directed DNA bend induced by PU.1.     

mTOR activates the VPS34–UVRAG complex to regulate autolysosomal tubulation and cell survival

Lysosomes are essential organelles that function to degrade and recycle unwanted, damaged and toxic biological components. Lysosomes also act as signalling platforms in activating the nutrient‐sensing kinase mTOR. mTOR regulates cellular growth, but it also helps to maintain lysosome identity by initiating lysosomal tubulation through a process termed autophagosome‐lysosome reformation (ALR). Here we identify a lysosomal pool of phosphatidylinositol 3‐phosphate that, when depleted by specific inhibition of the class III phosphoinositide 3‐kinase VPS34, results in prolonged lysosomal tubulation. This tubulation requires mTOR activity, and we identified two direct mTOR phosphorylation sites on UVRAG (S550 and S571) that activate VPS34. Loss of these phosphorylation sites reduced VPS34 lipid kinase activity and resulted in an increase in number and length of lysosomal tubules. In cells in which phosphorylation at these UVRAG sites is disrupted, the result of impaired lysosomal tubulation alongside ALR activation is massive cell death. Our data imply that ALR is critical for cell survival under nutrient stress and that VPS34 is an essential regulatory element in this process.