Stability of Chromatin Remodeling Complex Subunits Is Determined by Their Phosphorylation Status

It was found that, in the differentiated cells of mouse brain, the level of core (Brg1 and BAF155) and specific (BRD7, BAF180, and PHF10) subunits of the chromatin-remodeling complex PBAF is reduced compared to the undifferentiated proliferating cells. Phosphorylation of PBAF complex subunits is required for maintaining their stability in differentiated brain cells.     

BAF200 Is Required for Heart Morphogenesis and Coronary Artery Development

ATP-dependent SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complexes utilize ATP hydrolysis to non-covalently change nucleosome-DNA interactions and are essential in stem cell development, organogenesis, and tumorigenesis. Biochemical studies show that SWI/SNF in mammalian cells can be divided into two subcomplexes BAF and PBAF based on the subunit composition. ARID2 or BAF200 has been defined as an intrinsic subunit of PBAF complex. However, the function of BAF200 in vivo is not clear. To dissect the possible role of BAF200 in regulating embryogenesis and organ development, we generated BAF200 mutant mice and found they were embryonic lethal. BAF200 mutant embryos exhibited multiple cardiac defects including thin myocardium, ventricular septum defect, common atrioventricular valve, and double outlet right ventricle around E14.5. Moreover, we also detected reduced intramyocardial coronary arteries in BAF200 mutants, suggesting that BAF200 is required for proper migration and differentiation of subepicardial venous cells into arterial endothelial cells. Our work revealed that PBAF complex plays a critical role in heart morphogenesis and coronary artery angiogenesis.     

Essential role of ARID2 protein-containing SWI/SNF complex in tissue-specific gene expression

Unfolding of the gene expression program that converts precursor cells to their terminally differentiated counterparts is critically dependent on the nucleosome-remodeling activity of the mammalian SWI/SNF complex. The complex can be powered by either of two alternative ATPases, BRM or BRG1. BRG1 is critical for development and the activation of tissue specific genes and is found in two major stable configurations. The complex of BRG1-associated factors termed BAF is the originally characterized form of mammalian SWI/SNF. A more recently recognized configuration shares many of the same subunits but is termed PBAF in recognition of a unique subunit, the polybromo protein (PBRM1). Two other unique subunits, BRD7 and ARID2, are also diagnostic of PBAF. PBAF plays an essential role in development, apparent from the embryonic lethality of Pbmr1-null mice, but very little is known about the role of PBAF, or its signature subunits, in tissue-specific gene expression in individual differentiation programs. Osteoblast differentiation is an attractive model for tissue-specific gene expression because the process is highly regulated and remains tightly synchronized over a period of several weeks. This model was used here, with a stable shRNA-mediated depletion approach, to examine the role of the signature PBAF subunit, ARID2, during differentiation. This analysis identifies a critical role for ARID2-containing complexes in promoting osteoblast differentiation and supports a view that the PBAF subset of SWI/SNF contributes importantly to maintaining cellular identity and activating tissue-specific gene expression.     

Mutations of tau protein in frontotemporal dementia promote aggregation of paired helical filaments by enhancing local beta-structure

The microtubule-associated protein tau is a natively unfolded protein in solution, yet it is able to polymerize into the ordered paired helical filaments (PHF) of Alzheimer's disease. In the splice isoforms lacking exon 10, this process is facilitated by the formation of beta-structure around the hexapeptide motif PHF6 ((306)VQIVYK(311)) encoded by exon 11. We have investigated the structural requirements for PHF polymerization in the context of adult tau isoforms containing four repeats (including exon 10). In addition to the PHF6 motif there exists a related PHF6* motif ((275)VQIINK(280)) in the repeat encoded by the alternatively spliced exon 10. We show that this PHF6* motif also promotes aggregation by the formation of beta-structure and that there is a cross-talk between the two hexapeptide motifs during PHF aggregation. We also show that two of the tau mutations found in hereditary frontotemporal dementias, DeltaK280 and P301L, have a much stronger tendency for PHF aggregation which correlates with their high propensity for beta-structure around the hexapeptide motifs.     

Hydrofluoric acid-treated tau PHF proteins display the same biochemical properties as normal tau.

Tau (tau) is a major constituent of paired helical filaments (PHF) found in Alzheimer's disease. The current study examines the possibility that the distinct properties of PHF-associated tau proteins (tau PHF) result from post-translational modifications of normal soluble tau (tau s). Following hydrofluoric acid (HF) treatment, tau PHF proteins are heat- and acid-stable, soluble in 2-(N-morpholino)ethanesulfonic acid buffers and display the same molecular weight, pI, and immunochemical properties as normal tau s. Alkaline phosphatase treatment of dissociated PHF results in similar, although less extensive, electrophoretic changes and a reduction in PHF-1 immunoreactivity. Therefore, phosphorylation of normal tau s appears to be responsible for the distinct properties of tau PHF. Although our results suggest that all of the normal tau isoforms are in PHF, the relative abundance of individual tau species differs in HF-treated PHF and tau s samples. Moreover, the loss of PHF following HF treatment suggests that post-translational modifications contribute to the structural stability of PHF.     

A role for chromatin remodellers in replication of damaged DNA

In eukaryotic cells, replication past damaged sites in DNA is regulated by the ubiquitination of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). Little is known about how this process is affected by chromatin structure. There are two isoforms of the Remodels the Structure of Chromatin (RSC) remodelling complex in yeast. We show that deletion of RSC2 results in a dramatic reduction in the level of PCNA ubiquitination after DNA-damaging treatments, whereas no such effect was observed after deletion of RSC1. Similarly, depletion of the BAF180 component of the corresponding PBAF (Polybromo BRG1 (Brahma-Related Gene 1) Associated Factor) complex in human cells led to a similar reduction in PCNA ubiquitination. Remarkably, we found that depletion of BAF180 resulted after UV-irradiation, in a reduction not only of ubiquitinated PCNA but also of chromatin-associated unmodified PCNA and Rad18 (the E3 ligase that ubiquitinates PCNA). This was accompanied by a modest decrease in fork progression. We propose a model to account for these findings that postulates an involvement of PBAF in repriming of replication downstream from replication forks blocked at sites of DNA damage. In support of this model, chromatin immunoprecipitation data show that the RSC complex in yeast is present in the vicinity of the replication forks, and by extrapolation, this is also likely to be the case for the PBAF complex in human cells.     

蛋白磷酸酯酶对Alzheimer神经原纤维缠结的松解作用

神经原纤维缠结是Ａｌｚｈｅｉｍｅｒ患者的特征性脑病理损伤,其形成机制至今不明．根据神经原纤维缠结的基本组分是异常磷酸化ｔａｕ蛋白的聚集形式双螺旋丝（ｐａｉｒｅｄｈｅｌｉｃａｌｆｉｌａｍｅｎｔｓ,ＰＨＦ）的研究结果,推测蛋白磷酸酯酶与蛋白激酶的失衡可能与ＰＨＦ的形成有关．将蛋白磷酸酯酶ＰＰ－２Ａ和ＰＰ－２Ｂ与ＰＨＦ一起在３７℃保温３０ｍｉｎ可使ＰＨＦ缠结结构松解,成为单个ＰＨＦ原纤维,延长去磷酸化反应时间至３ｈ可使ＰＨＦ结构进一步松解,释放一些游离ＰＨＦ原纤维片段．放免印迹定量分析结果表明：ＰＰ－２Ａ处理的ＰＨＦ样品比对照者释放游离ｔａｕ蛋白的量增加２５％．此外,ＰＰ－２Ａ和ＰＰ－２Ｂ去磷酸化的ＰＨＦ对脑中钙激活的中性蛋白水解酶的抗性降低．这些研究资料从结构上显示了Ａｌｚｈｅｉｍｅｒ病脑病理损伤的可逆性,为Ａｌｚｈｅｉｍｅｒ病治疗的可能性提供了实验依据     

Alzheimer-like paired helical filaments and antiparallel dimers formed from microtubule-associated protein tau in vitro

Recent evidence from several laboratories shows that the paired helical filaments of Alzheimer's disease brains consist mainly of the protein tau in an abnormally phosphorylated form, but the mode of assembly is not understood. Here we use EM to study several constructs derived from human brain tau and expressed in Escherichia coli. All constructs or tau isoforms are rodlike molecules with a high tendency to dimerize in an antiparallel fashion, as shown by antibody labeling and chemical crosslinking. The length of the rods is largely determined by the region of internal repeats that is also responsible for microtubule binding. One unit length of the repeat domain (three or four repeats) is around 22-25 nm, comparable to the cross-section of Alzheimer PHF cores. Constructs corresponding roughly to the repeat region of tau can form synthetic paired helical filaments resembling those from Alzheimer brain tissue. A similar self-assembly occurs with the chemically cross-linked dimers. In both cases there is no need for phosphorylation of the protein.     

Human Cdc7-related kinase complex. In vitro phosphorylation of MCM by concerted actions of Cdks and Cdc7 and that of a criticial threonine residue of Cdc7 bY Cdks

huCdc7 encodes a catalytic subunit for Saccharomyces cerevisae Cdc7-related kinase complex of human. ASK, whose expression is cell cycle-regulated, binds and activates huCdc7 kinase in a cell cycle-dependent manner (Kumagai, H., Sato, N., Yamada, M., Mahony, D. , Seghezzi, W., Lees, E., Arai, K., and Masai, H. (1999) Mol. Cell. Biol. 19, 5083-5095). We have expressed huCdc7 complexed with ASK regulatory subunit using the insect cell expression system. To facilitate purification of the kinase complex, glutathione S-transferase (GST) was fused to huCdc7 and GST-huCdc7-ASK complex was purified. GST-huCdc7 protein is inert as a kinase on its own, and phosphorylation absolutely depends on the presence of the ASK subunit. It autophosphorylates both subunits in vitro and phosphorylates a number of replication proteins to different extents. Among them, MCM2 protein, either in a free form or in a MCM2-4-6-7 complex, serves as an excellent substrate for huCdc7-ASK kinase complex in vitro. MCM4 and MCM6 are also phosphorylated by huCdc7 albeit to less extent. MCM2 and -4 in the MCM2-4-6-7 complex are phosphorylated by Cdks as well, and prior phosphorylation of the MCM2-4-6-7 complex by Cdks facilitates phosphorylation of MCM2 by huCdc7, suggesting collaboration between Cdks and Cdc7 in phosphorylation of MCM for initiation of S phase. huCdc7 and ASK proteins can also be phosphorylated by Cdks in vitro. Among four possible Cdk phosphorylation sites of huCdc7, replacement of Thr-376, corresponding to the activating threonine of Cdk, with alanine (T376A mutant) dramatically reduces kinase activity, indicative of kinase activation by phosphorylation of this residue. In vitro, Cdk2-Cyclin E, Cdk2-Cyclin A, and Cdc2-Cyclin B, but not Cdk4-Cyclin D1, phosphorylates the Thr-376 residue of huCdc7, suggesting possible regulation of huCdc7 by Cdks.     

Direct evidence for two distinct forms of the flavoprotein subunit of human mitochondrial complex II (succinate-ubiquinone reductase)

Succinate-ubiquinone reductase (complex II) is an important enzyme complex in both the tricarboxylic acid cycle and aerobic respiration. A recent study showed that defects in human complex II are associated with cancers as well as mitochondrial diseases. Mutations in the four subunits of human complex II are associated with a wide spectrum of clinical presentations. Such tissue-specific clinical symptoms suggest the presence of multiple isoforms of the subunits, but subunit isoforms have not been previously reported. In the present study, we identified two distinct cDNAs for the human flavoprotein subunit (Fp) from a single individual, and demonstrated expression of these two isoforms in skeletal muscle, liver, brain, heart and kidney. Interestingly, one of the Fp isoforms was encoded as an intronless gene.     

Identification of the sites phosphorylated by cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase on the beta 2 subunit of L-type voltage-dependent calcium channels.

Voltage-dependent L-type calcium (Ca) channels are heteromultimeric proteins that are regulated through phosphorylation by cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA). We demonstrated that the beta 2 subunit was a substrate for PKA in intact cardiac myocytes through back-phosphorylation experiments. In addition, a heterologously expressed rat beta 2a subunit was phosphorylated at two sites in vitro by purified PKA. This beta 2a subunit contains two potential consensus sites for PKA-mediated phosphorylation at Thr164 and Ser591. However, upon mutation of both of these residues to alanines, the beta 2a subunit remained a good substrate for PKA. The actual sites of phosphorylation on the beta 2a subunit were identified by phosphopeptide mapping and microsequencing. Phosphopeptide maps of a bacterially expressed beta 2a subunit demonstrated that this subunit was phosphorylated similarly to the beta 2 subunit isolated from heart tissue and that the phosphorylation sites were contained in the unique C-terminal region. Microsequencing identified three serine residues, each of which conformed to loose consensus sites for PKA-mediated phosphorylation. Mutation of these residues to alanines resulted in the loss of the PKA-mediated phosphorylation of the beta 2a subunit. The results suggest that phosphorylation of the beta 2a subunit by PKA occurs at three loose consensus sites for PKA in the C-terminus and not at either of the two strong consensus sites for PKA. The results also highlight the danger of assuming that consensus sites represent actual sites of phosphorylation. The actual sites of PKA-mediated phosphorylation are conserved in most beta 2 subunit isoforms and thus represent potential sites for regulation of channel activity. The sites phosphorylated by PKA are not substrates for protein kinase C (PKC), as the mutated beta 2 subunits lacking PKA sites remained good substrates for PKC.