Proposed mechanism for regulation of H2O2-induced programmed cell death in plants by binding of cytochrome c to 14-3-3 proteins

Programmed cell death (PCD) is crucial for development and homeostasis of all multicellular organisms. In human cells, the double role of extra-mitochondrial cytochrome c in triggering apoptosis and inhibiting survival pathways is well reported. In plants, however, the specific role of cytochrome c upon release from the mitochondria remains in part veiled yet death stimuli do trigger cytochrome c translocation as well. Here, we identify an Arabidopsis thaliana 14-3-3ι isoform as a cytosolic cytochrome c target and inhibitor of caspase-like activity. This finding establishes the 14-3-3ι protein as a relevant factor at the onset of plant H₂O₂-induced PCD. The in vivo and in vitro studies herein reported reveal that the interaction between cytochrome c and 14-3-3ι exhibits noticeable similarities with the complex formed by their human orthologues. Further analysis of the heterologous complexes between human and plant cytochrome c with plant 14-3-3ι and human 14-3-3ε isoforms corroborated common features. These results suggest that cytochrome c blocks p14-3-3ι so as to inhibit caspase-like proteases, which in turn promote cell death upon H₂O₂ treatment. Besides establishing common biochemical features between human and plant PCD, this work sheds light onto the signaling networks of plant cell death.     

A Cdc2-related protein kinase hPFTAIRE1 from human brain interacting with 14-3-3 proteins

hPFTAIRE1 （PFTK1）, a Cdc2-related protein kinase, is highly expressed in human brain. It exhibits cytoplasmic distribution in Hela cells, although it contains two nuclear localization signals （NLSs） in its N-terminus. To search for its substrates and regulatory components, we screened a two-hybrid library by using the full-length hPFTAIRE1 as a bait. Four 14-3-3 isoforms （β,ε,η,τ） were identified interacting with the hPFTAIRE1. We found a putative 14-3-3 binding consensus motif（RHSSPSS） in the hPFTAIRE 1, which overlapped with its second NLS. Deletion of the RHSSPSS motif or substitution of Ser^119 gwithAla in the conserved binding motif abolished the specific interaction between the hPFTAIRE 1 and the 14-3 -3 proteins. The mutant S 120A hPFTAIRE1 also showed a weak interaction to the 14-3-3 proteins. The results suggested that the Ser^119 is crucial for the interaction between hPFTAIREI and the 14-3-3 proteins. All the hPFTAIRE1 mutants distributed in cytoplasm of Hela cells and human neuroblastoma cells （SH-SY5Y） when fused to the C-terminus of a green fluorescent protein （GFP）, indicating that binding with the 14-3-3 proteins does not contribute to the subcellular localization of the hPFTAIRE1, although the binding may be involved in its signaling regulation.     

TPK1, a Ca(2+)-regulated Arabidopsis vacuole two-pore K(+) channel is activated by 14-3-3 proteins

The vacuole represents a pivotal plant organelle for management of ion homeostasis, storage of proteins and solutes, as well as deposition of cytotoxic compounds. Ion channels, pumps and carriers in the vacuolar membrane under control of cytosolic factors provide for ionic and metabolic homeostasis between this storage organelle and the cytoplasm. Here we show that AtTPK1 (KCO1), a vacuolar membrane localized K(+) channel of the TPK family, interacts with 14-3-3 proteins (general regulating factors, GRFs). Following in planta expression TPK1 and GRF6 co-localize at the vacuolar membrane. Co-localization of wild-type TPK1, but not the TPK1-S42A mutant, indicates that phosphorylation of the 14-3-3 binding motif of TPK1 represents a prerequisite for interaction. Pull-down assays and surface plasmon resonance measurements revealed GRF6 high-affinity interaction with TPK1. Following expression of TPK1 in yeast and isolation of vacuoles, patch-clamp studies identified TPK1 as a voltage-independent and Ca(2+)-activated K(+) channel. Addition of 14-3-3 proteins strongly increased the TPK1 activity in a dose-dependent manner. However, an inverse effect of GRF6 on the activity of the slow-activating vacuolar (SV) channel was observed in mesophyll vacuoles from Arabidopsis thaliana. Thus, TPK1 seems to provide for a Ca(2+)- and 14-3-3-sensitive mechanism capable of controlling cytoplasmic potassium homeostasis in plants.     

CPK12: A Ca2+-dependent protein kinase balancer in abscisic acid signaling

Ca²⁺ is believed to be a critical second messenger in ABA signal transduction. Ca²⁺-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) are the best characterized Ca²⁺ sensors in plants. Recently, we identified an Arabidopsis CDPK member CPK12 as a negative regulator of ABA signaling in seed germination and post-germination growth, which reveals that different members of the CDPK family may constitute a regulation loop by functioning positively and negatively in ABA signal transduction. We observed that both RNA interference and overexpression of CPK12 gene resulted in ABA-hypersensitive phenotypes in seed germination and post-germination growth, suggesting a high complexity of the CPK12-mediated ABA signaling pathway. CPK12 stimulates a negative ABA-signaling regulator (ABI2) and phosphorylates two positive ABA-signaling regulators (ABF1 and ABF4), which may partly explain the ABA hypersensitivity induced by both downregulation and upregulation of CPK12 expression. Our data indicate that CPK12 appears to function as a balancer in ABA signal transduction in Arabidopsis.     

Arabidopsis Bax inhibitor-1 functions as an attenuator of biotic and abiotic types of cell death

Programmed cell death (PCD) is a common process in eukaryotes during development and in response to pathogens and stress signals. Bax inihibitor-1 (BI-1) is proposed to be a cell death suppressor that is conserved in both animals and plants, but the physiological importance of BI-1 and the impact of its loss of function in plants are still unclear. In this study, we identified and characterized two independent Arabidopsis mutants with a T-DNA insertion in the AtBI1 gene. The phenotype of atbi1-1 and atbi1-2, with a C-terminal missense mutation and a gene knockout, respectively, was indistinguishable from wild-type plants under normal growth conditions. However, these two mutants exhibit accelerated progression of cell death upon infiltration of leaf tissues with a PCD-inducing fungal toxin fumonisin B1 (FB1) and increased sensitivity to heat shock-induced cell death. Under these conditions, expression of AtBI1 mRNA was up-regulated in wild-type leaves prior to the activation of cell death, suggesting that increase of AtBI1 expression is important for basal suppression of cell death progression. Over-expression of AtBI1 transgene in the two homozygous mutant backgrounds rescued the accelerated cell death phenotypes. Together, our results provide direct genetic evidence for a role of BI-1 as an attenuator for cell death progression triggered by both biotic and abiotic types of cell death signals in Arabidopsis.     

Nuclear sequestration of beta-subunits by Rad and Rem is controlled by 14-3-3 and calmodulin and reveals a novel mechanism for Ca2+ channel regulation

Voltage-gated Ca2+ channels (VDCCs) are heteromultimeric proteins that mediate Ca2+ influx into cells upon membrane depolarization. These channels are involved in various cellular events, including gene expression, regulation of hormone secretion and synaptic transmission. Kir/Gem, Rad, Rem, and Rem2 belong to the RGK family of Ras-related small G proteins. RGK proteins interact with the beta-subunits and downregulate VDCC activity. Kir/Gem was proposed to prevent surface expression of functional Ca2+ channels, while for Rem2 the mechanism remains controversial. Here, we have analyzed the mechanism by which Rad and Rem regulate VDCC activity. We show that, similar to Kir/Gem and Rem2, 14-3-3 and CaM binding regulate the subcellular distribution of Rad and Rem, which both inhibit Ca2+ channel activity by preventing its expression on the cell surface. This function is regulated by calmodulin and 14-3-3 binding only for Rad and not for Rem. Interestingly, nuclear targeting of Rad and Rem can relocalize and sequester the beta-subunit to the nucleus, thus providing a novel mechanism for Ca2+ channel downregulation.     

The cyclin-dependent kinase 11 interacts with 14-3-3 proteins

Cyclin-dependent kinase 11 isoforms (CDK11) are members of the p34(cdc2) superfamily. They have been shown to play a role in RNA processing and apoptosis. In the present study, we investigate whether CDK11 interacts with 14-3-3 proteins. Our study shows that the putative 14-3-3 binding site (113-RHRSHS-118) within the N-terminal domain of CDK11(p110) is functional. Endogenous CDK11(p110) binds directly to 14-3-3 proteins and phosphorylation of the serine 118 within the RHRSHS motif seems to be required for the binding. Besides, CDK11(p110) is capable of interacting with several different isoforms of 14-3-3 proteins both in vitro and in vivo. The interaction of 14-3-3 gamma with CDK11(p110) occurs throughout the entire cell cycle and reaches maximum at the G2/M phase. Interestingly, 14-3-3 gamma shows strong interaction with N-terminal portion of caspase-cleaved CDK11(p110) (CDK11(p60)) product at 48 h after Fas treatment, which correlates with the maximal cleavage level of CDK11(p110) and the maximum activation level of CDK11 kinase activity during apoptosis. Collectively, these results suggest that CDK11 kinases could be regulated by interaction with 14-3-3 proteins during cell cycle and apoptosis.     

Post-translationally modified 14-3-3 isoforms and inhibition of protein kinase C

This report compares the ability of individual members of the 14-3-3 protein family to inhibit particular protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms. We also show that two of these 14-3-3 isoforms ( and ) specific to mammalian and avian brain arein vivo post-translationally modified forms of and respectively. The presence of this modification enhances the activity of 14-3-3 as an inhibitor of protein kinase C nearly two fold.A method for analysing isoforms of 14-3-3 on acid-urea gels is also described. This permits the complete separation of all major isoforms and their unequivocal identification by a range of isoform specific antisera. The activity of recombinant 14-3-3 and isoforms renatured by a novel method after separation by reverse phase HPLC are compared. The effects of diacylglycerol and the phorbol ester, PMA (phorbol 12-myristate 13 acetate) on the inhibition suggest that one of the sites of interaction of 14-3-3 may be the cysteine-rich (C1) domain in PKC.     

14-3-3蛋白在细胞周期调节中的作用

14-3-3是一个在真核细胞中广泛表达、功能复杂的蛋白家族,主要通过磷酸化依赖的方式与靶蛋白结合,从而发挥其调控作用。细胞周期的调节对维持基因组的稳定性至关重要。近年来的研究发现,14-3—3蛋白可以和越来越多的细胞周期调节蛋白相互作用,调节G2／M期和G1／S期转换,从而对细胞周期起调控作用。简要综述了14—3—3蛋白在细胞周期调节中的作用。     

Phosphorylation and 14-3-3 binding of Arabidopsis trehalose-phosphate synthase 5 in response to 2-deoxyglucose

Trehalose-6-phosphate is a 'sugar signal' that regulates plant metabolism and development. The Arabidopsis genome encodes trehalose-6-phosphate synthase (TPS) and trehalose-6-phosphatase (TPP) enzymes. It also encodes class II proteins (TPS isoforms 5-11) that contain both TPS-like and TPP-like domains, although whether these have enzymatic activity is unknown. In this paper, we show that TPS5, 6 and 7 are phosphoproteins that bind to 14-3-3 proteins, by using 14-3-3 affinity chromatography, 14-3-3 overlay assays, and by co-immunoprecipitating TPS5 and 14-3-3 isoforms from cell extracts. GST-TPS5 bound to 14-3-3s after in vitro phosphorylation at Ser22 and Thr49 by either mammalian AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) or partially purified plant Snf1-related protein kinase 1 (SnRK1s). Dephosphorylation of TPS5, or mutation of either Ser22 or Thr49, abolished binding to 14-3-3s. Ser22 and Thr49 are both conserved in TPS5, 7, 9 and 10. When GST-TPS5 was expressed in human HEK293 cells, Thr49 was phosphorylated in response to 2-deoxyglucose or phenformin, stimuli that activate the AMPK via the upstream kinase LKB1. 2-deoxyglucose stimulated Thr49 phosphorylation of endogenous TPS5 in Arabidopsis cells, whereas phenformin did not. Moreover, extractable SnRK1 activity was increased in Arabidopsis cells in response to 2-deoxyglucose. The plant kinase was inactivated by dephosphorylation and reactivated by phosphorylation with human LKB1, indicating that elements of the SnRK1/AMPK pathway are conserved in Arabidopsis and human cells. We hypothesize that coordinated phosphorylation and 14-3-3 binding of nitrate reductase (NR), 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase (F2KP) and class II TPS isoforms mediate responses to signals that activate SnRK1.     

14-3-3 proteins activate a plant calcium-dependent protein kinase (CDPK)

Plants and protozoa contain a unique family of calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) which are defined by the presence of a carboxyl-terminal calmodulin-like regulatory domain. We present biochemical evidence indicating that at least one member of this kinase family can be stimulated by 14-3-3 proteins. Isoform CPK-1 from the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana was expressed as a fusion protein in E. coli and purified. The calcium-dependent activity of this recombinant CPK-1 was shown to be stimulated almost twofold by three different 14-3-3 isoforms with 50% activation around 200 nM. 14-3-3 proteins bound to the purified CPK-1, as shown by binding assays in which either the 14-3-3 or CPK-1 were immobilized on a matrix. Both the 14-3-3 binding and activation of CPK-1 were specifically disrupted by a known 14-3-3 binding peptide LSQRQRSTpSTPNVHMV (IC₅₀=30 μM). These results raise the question of whether 14-3-3 can modulate the activity of CDPK signal transduction pathways in plants.     

Arabidopsis metacaspase 2d is a positive mediator of cell death induced during biotic and abiotic stresses

Cysteine proteases such as caspases play important roles in programmed cell death (PCD) of metazoans. Plant metacaspases (MCPs), a family of cysteine proteases structurally related to caspases, have been hypothesized to be ancestors of metazoan caspases, despite their different substrate specificity. Arabidopsis thaliana contains six type II MCP genes (AtMCP2a-f). Whether and how these individual members are involved in controlling PCD in plants remains largely unknown. Here we investigated the function and regulation of AtMCP2d, the predominant and constitutively expressed member of type II MCPs, in stress-inducible PCD. Two AtMCP2d mutants (mcp2d-1 and mcp2d-3) exhibited reduced sensitivity to PCD-inducing mycotoxin fumonisin B1 as well as oxidative stress inducers, whereas AtMCP2d over-expressors were more sensitive to these agents, and exhibited accelerated cell-death progression. We found that AtMCP2d exclusively localizes to the cytosol, and its accumulation and self-processing patterns were age-dependent in leaves. Importantly, active proteolytic processing of AtMCP2d proteins dependent on its catalytic activity was observed in mature leaves during mycotoxin-induced cell death. We also found that mcp2d-1 leaves exhibited reduced cell death in response to Pseudomonas syringae carrying avirulent gene avrRpt2, and that self-processing of AtMCP2d was also detected in wild-type leaves in response to this pathogen. Furthermore, increases in processed AtMCP2d proteins were found to correlate with conditional cell-death induction in two lesion-mimic mutants (cpr22 and ssi4) that exhibit spontaneous cell-death phenotypes. Taken together, our data strongly suggest that AtMCP2d plays a positive regulatory role in biotic and abiotic stress-induced PCD.     

Anoxic preconditioning up-regulates 14-3-3 protein expression in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes through extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1/2

Anoxic preconditioning (APC) attenuates myocardial injury caused by ischemia/reperfusion. The protective mechanisms of APC involve up-regulation of the protective proteins and inhibition of apoptosis. 14-3-3 protein, as a molecular chaperone, plays an important role in regulating cell survival and apoptosis. However, the role of 14-3-3 protein in cardioprotection of APC and the pathways determining 14-3-3 protein expression during APC are not clear. In this work, Western blotting analysis was used to detect the 14-3-3 protein expression and activity of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) in cardiomyocytes subjected to anoxia-reoxygenation injury with and without APC and control. The cardiomyocytes from APC group were more resistant to injury induced by anoxia-reoxygenation and had much stronger phosphorylation of ERK1/2 than the control. The 14-3-3 protein expression was positively correlated with the phosphorylation of ERK1/2. Furthermore, inhibition of the ERK1/2 with PD98059 abolished the 14-3-3 protein up-regulation in cardiomyocytes induced by APC. The results indicate that APC up-regulates 14-3-3 protein expression through the ERK1/2 signaling pathways.     

Interaction of phosphorylated tyrosine hydroxylase with 14-3-3 proteins: evidence for a phosphoserine 40-dependent association

Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) has been reported to require binding of 14-3-3 proteins for optimal activation by phosphorylation. We examined the effects of phosphorylation at Ser19, Ser31 and Ser40 of bovine TH and human TH isoforms on their binding to the 14-3-3 proteins BMH1/BMH2, as well as 14-3-3 zeta and a mixture of sheep brain 14-3-3 proteins. Phosphorylation of Ser31 did not result in 14-3-3 binding, however, phosphorylation of TH on Ser40 increased its affinity towards the yeast 14-3-3 isoforms BMH1/BMH2 and sheep brain 14-3-3, but not for 14-3-3 zeta. On phosphorylation of both Ser19 and Ser40, binding to the 14-3-3 zeta isoform also occurred, and the binding affinity to BMH1 and sheep brain 14-3-3 increased. Both phosphoserine-specific antibodies directed against the 10 amino acids surrounding Ser19 or Ser40 of TH, and the phosphorylated peptides themselves, inhibited the association between phosphorylated TH and 14-3-3 proteins. This was also found when heparin was added, or after proteolytic removal of the N-terminal 37 amino acids of Ser40-phosphorylated TH. Binding of BMH1 to phosphorylated TH decreased the rate of dephosphorylation by protein phosphatase 2A, but no significant change in enzymatic activity was observed in the presence of BMH1. These findings further support a role for 14-3-3 proteins in the regulation of catecholamine biosynthesis and demonstrate isoform specificity for both TH and 14-3-3 proteins.