Degradation of Tiam1 by Casein Kinase 1 and the SCFβTrCP Ubiquitin Ligase Controls the Duration of mTOR-S6K Signaling

Tiam1 (T-cell lymphoma invasion and metastasis 1) is a guanine nucleotide exchange factor that specifically controls the activity of the small GTPase Rac, a key regulator of cell adhesion, proliferation, and survival. Here, we report that in response to mitogens, Tiam1 is degraded by the ubiquitin-proteasome system via the SCF^βTrCP ubiquitin ligase. Mitogenic stimulation triggers the binding of Tiam1 to the F-box protein βTrCP via its degron sequence and subsequent Tiam1 ubiquitylation and proteasomal degradation. The proteolysis of Tiam1 is prevented by βTrCP silencing, inhibition of CK1 and MEK, or mutation of the Tiam1 degron site. Expression of a stable Tiam1 mutant that is unable to interact with βTrCP results in sustained activation of the mTOR/S6K signaling and increased apoptotic cell death. We propose that the SCF^βTrCP-mediated degradation of Tiam1 controls the duration of the mTOR-S6K signaling pathway in response to mitogenic stimuli.     

BioID-based Identification of Skp Cullin F-box (SCF)β-TrCP1/2 E3 Ligase Substrates

The identification of ubiquitin E3 ligase substrates has been challenging, due in part to low-affinity, transient interactions, the rapid degradation of targets and the inability to identify proteins from poorly soluble cellular compartments. SCF^β-TrCP1 and SCF^β-TrCP2 are well-studied ubiquitin E3 ligases that target substrates for proteasomal degradation, and play important roles in Wnt, Hippo, and NFκB signaling. Combining 26S proteasome inhibitor (MG132) treatment with proximity-dependent biotin labeling (BioID) and semiquantitative mass spectrometry, here we identify SCF^β-TrCP1/2 interacting partners. Based on their enrichment in the presence of MG132, our data identify over 50 new putative SCF^β-TrCP1/2 substrates. We validate 12 of these new substrates and reveal previously unsuspected roles for β-TrCP in the maintenance of nuclear membrane integrity, processing (P)-body turnover and translational control. Together, our data suggest that β-TrCP is an important hub in the cellular stress response. The technique presented here represents a complementary approach to more standard IP-MS methods and should be broadly applicable for the identification of substrates for many ubiquitin E3 ligases.More than 600 putative ubiquitin E3 ligases are encoded in the human genome (1, 2). Although a number of these proteins are known to play critical roles in human health (1–4), the specific biological functions—and substrates—of most E3s remain poorly characterized. The identification of E3 substrates has been difficult in part because: (1) ligase - substrate interactions are often of low affinity (generally in the high nm to microMolar (μM) range) and/or of a transient nature; (2) many substrates are subjected to rapid proteasomal degradation and are therefore not available for detection; (3) the human ubiquitome is extremely complex, and; (4) many substrate proteins are localized to poorly soluble cellular compartments, making their isolation and identification by standard immunoprecipitation (IP)-based techniques extremely challenging (1–4).Methods such as protein chip (5) and yeast two-hybrid screening (6) have been used to identify a limited number of E3-substrate interactions. However, these methods are not conducted in live mammalian cells, and may not be generally applicable for the identification of substrates of the hundreds of unique multi-protein E3 complexes (e.g. SCF, APC, VHL, etc.) or the identification of E3-substrate interactions that are dependent on specific types of post-translational modifications. Several putative inhibitors of apoptosis substrates were identified using the recently described NEDDylator technique (7), in which the E2 protein UBC12 (UBE2M) is fused to the E3 ligase of interest, allowing for the conjugation of the ubiquitin-like protein NEDD8 to substrates. Global protein stability profiling (8) and quantitative mass spectrometry methods (9) have also been used successfully to identify E3 targets. However, because of their cost and/or complexity, and the challenges posed by the extremely large size of the human ubiquitome, these methods have not been widely adopted to date.Proximity-based biotinylation, or BioID¹ (10), is a new method developed for the characterization of protein-protein interactions in living cells. Briefly, a protein of interest is fused in-frame with an E. coli biotin conjugating enzyme mutant (BirA R118G, or BirA*). The BirA* moiety can efficiently activate biotin, but exhibits a reduced affinity for the activated molecule (11); biotinoyl-AMP thus simply diffuses away from BirA* and reacts with nearby amine groups - including those present on lysine residues in neighboring polypeptides. Following cell lysis, biotinylated proteins can be affinity purified using streptavidin and identified using mass spectrometry (Fig. 1A). Since interactors are covalently modified with biotin, robust lysis conditions can be used to solubilize polypeptides localized to poorly soluble cellular compartments (10, 12–16). Moreover, since this method does not require that protein-protein interactions be maintained post-lysis, weak and/or transient interactors may also be identified. We reasoned that BioID may be exploited to capture ubiquitin E3 ligase substrates and tested this notion here.Open in a separate windowFig. 1.BioID can be used to identify ubiquitin E3 ligase substrates. A, An N-terminal tag consisting of the FLAG epitope and the mutant E. coli biotin conjugating protein BirA R118G (BirA*) was fused to the N terminus of the human F-box proteins β-TrCP1 and β-TrCP2. The BirA* protein converts biotin (black hexagon) to biotinoyl-AMP (yellow hexagon). The mutant BirA protein exhibits a reduced affinity for the activated biotin molecule; biotinoyl-AMP thus diffuses away and reacts with free amine groups on lysine residues in nearby polypeptides, including e.g. the bait protein itself, other SCF complex components (CUL1, SKP1), SCF substrates (S) and substrate binding partners (A, B). In the presence of the 26S proteasome inhibitor MG132, β-TrCP substrates are stabilized. Following cell lysis under stringent buffer conditions, biotinylated proteins are affinity purified using streptavidin coupled to Sepharose beads. Streptavidin-bound proteins are washed and subjected to trypsin proteolysis, and the liberated peptides are identified using tandem mass spectrometry. B, Expression of FLAGBirA*-β-TrCP1/2 leads to biotinylation of endogenous proteins. 293 T-REx cells expressing FLAGBirA*-β-TrCP1 or FLAGBirA*-β-TrCP2 were treated with tetracycline (1 μg/ml) to induce protein expression, and with biotin (50 μm) to enable proximity-dependent polypeptide labeling. Whole cell lysates were subjected to SDS-PAGE and immunoblotted with an anti-FLAG antibody (top panel) or streptavidin-HRP (horseradish peroxidase; bottom panel). C, β-TrCP1/2 interactors displaying a substrate profile. Proteins identified in the BioID analysis with a ProteinProphet score ≥0.85 (corresponding to ≤1% FDR), a SAINT score ≥0.75, and a spectral count ratio (+MG132/untreated) log₂ >1. Circles, polypeptides identified in β-TrCP1 BioID; squares, proteins identified in β-TrCP2 BioID. Previously identified β-TrCP interactors are highlighted in blue. Proteins demonstrated in this study to be stabilized following β-TrCP1/2 knockdown (see Fig. 2 and Supplemental Fig. 2) are highlighted in green. D, Overlap of FLAG IP-MS and BioID substrate candidates. Diagram highlighting the overlap between BioID hits displaying a substrate profile (pink), FLAG IP-MS hits displaying a substrate profile (yellow), and previously reported β-TrCP interactors (blue). E, Functional categories of FLAG IP-MS and BioID substrate candidates. Numbers of previously reported β-TrCP interactors within each category are indicated in blue and numbers of new substrate candidates in each category indicated in red.The human beta transducin repeat-containing polypeptides β-TrCP1 (FBXW1) and β-TrCP2 (FBXW11) are evolutionarily conserved paralogous F-box proteins sharing >80% amino acid sequence identity and >90% homology, and act as substrate recognition components of SCF (Skp1-Cullin-F-box) complexes (17). A number of β-TrCP substrates have been well documented, implicating these ligases in numerous biological functions, including regulation of the NFκB, Hippo, Wnt and Hedgehog signaling pathways (18–21). Some β-TrCP targets harbor the sequence DSGX(n)S or variants thereof. Phosphorylation of this sequence is required for SCF^β-TrCP1/2 binding and thus regulates the half-life of these “phosphodegron”-containing proteins (21, 22). However, other bona fide SCF^β-TrCP1/2 substrates contain highly degenerate or non-canonical degrons, which are thought to mediate constitutive turnover (21). A single, simple linear sequence motif that could predict β-TrCP binding has thus not been defined.Here we demonstrate that BioID performed on cells treated with the proteasome inhibitor MG132 can recover many of the previously characterized substrates and stable interactors of β-TrCP1/2. Using semi-quantitative mass spectrometry, we identify and validate a number of new substrates, linking these well-studied E3 ligases to several new biological functions. The method used here is simple, scalable, and should be broadly applicable for the identification of substrates for many other E3s.     

Substrate Trapping Proteomics Reveals Targets of the βTrCP2/FBXW11 Ubiquitin Ligase

Defining the full complement of substrates for each ubiquitin ligase remains an important challenge. Improvements in mass spectrometry instrumentation and computation and in protein biochemistry methods have resulted in several new methods for ubiquitin ligase substrate identification. Here we used the parallel adapter capture (PAC) proteomics approach to study βTrCP2/FBXW11, a substrate adaptor for the SKP1–CUL1–F-box (SCF) E3 ubiquitin ligase complex. The processivity of the ubiquitylation reaction necessitates transient physical interactions between FBXW11 and its substrates, thus making biochemical purification of FBXW11-bound substrates difficult. Using the PAC-based approach, we inhibited the proteasome to “trap” ubiquitylated substrates on the SCF^FBXW11 E3 complex. Comparative mass spectrometry analysis of immunopurified FBXW11 protein complexes before and after proteasome inhibition revealed 21 known and 23 putatively novel substrates. In focused studies, we found that SCF^FBXW11 bound, polyubiquitylated, and destabilized RAPGEF2, a guanine nucleotide exchange factor that activates the small GTPase RAP1. High RAPGEF2 protein levels promoted cell-cell fusion and, consequently, multinucleation. Surprisingly, this occurred independently of the guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) catalytic activity and of the presence of RAP1. Our data establish new functions for RAPGEF2 that may contribute to aneuploidy in cancer. More broadly, this report supports the continued use of substrate trapping proteomics to comprehensively define targets for E3 ubiquitin ligases. All proteomic data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD001062.     

Proteasomal Degradation of Eukaryotic Elongation Factor-2 Kinase (EF2K) Is Regulated by cAMP-PKA Signaling and the SCFβTRCP Ubiquitin E3 Ligase

Protein translation and degradation are critical for proper protein homeostasis, yet it remains unclear how these processes are dynamically regulated, or how they may directly balance or synergize with each other. An important translational control mechanism is the Ca²⁺/calmodulin-dependent phosphorylation of eukaryotic elongation factor-2 (eEF-2) by eukaryotic elongation factor-2 kinase (EF2K), which inhibits elongation of nascent polypeptide chains during translation. We previously described a reduction of EF2K activity in PC12 cells treated with NGF or forskolin. Here, we show that both forskolin- and IGF-1-mediated reductions of EF2K activity in PC12 cells are due to decreased EF2K protein levels, and this is attenuated by application of the proteasome inhibitor, MG132. We further demonstrate that proteasome-mediated degradation of EF2K occurs in response to A2A-type adenosine receptor stimulation, and that activation of protein kinase A (PKA) or phospho-mimetic mutation of the previously characterized PKA site, Ser-499, were sufficient to induce EF2K turnover in PC12 cells. A similar EF2K degradation mechanism was observed in primary neurons and HEK cells. Expression of a dominant-negative form of Cul1 in HEK cells demonstrated that EF2K levels are regulated by an SCF-type ubiquitin E3 ligase. Specifically, EF2K binds to the F-box proteins, βTRCP1 and βTRCP2, and βTRCP regulates EF2K levels and polyubiquitylation. We propose that the proteasomal degradation of EF2K provides a mechanistic link between activity-dependent protein synthesis and degradation.     

Protein Inhibitor of Activated STAT 1 (PIAS1) Is Identified as the SUMO E3 Ligase of CCAAT/Enhancer-Binding Protein β (C/EBPβ) during Adipogenesis

It is well recognized that PIAS1, a SUMO (small ubiquitin-like modifier) E3 ligase, modulates such cellular processes as cell proliferation, DNA damage responses, and inflammation responses. Recent studies have shown that PIAS1 also plays a part in cell differentiation. However, the role of PIAS1 in adipocyte differentiation remains unknown. CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein β (C/EBPβ), a major regulator of adipogenesis, is a target of SUMOylation, but the E3 ligase responsible for the SUMOylation of C/EBPβ has not been identified. The present study showed that PIAS1 functions as a SUMO E3 ligase of C/EBPβ to regulate adipogenesis. PIAS1 expression was significantly and transiently induced on day 4 of 3T3-L1 adipocyte differentiation, when C/EBPβ began to decline. PIAS1 was found to interact with C/EBPβ through the SAP (scaffold attachment factor A/B/acinus/PIAS) domain and SUMOylate it, leading to increased ubiquitination and degradation of C/EBPβ. C/EBPβ became more stable when PIAS1 was silenced by RNA interference (RNAi). Moreover, adipogenesis was inhibited by overexpression of wild-type PIAS1 and promoted by knockdown of PIAS1. The mutational study indicated that the catalytic activity of SUMO E3 ligase was required for PIAS1 to restrain adipogenesis. Importantly, the inhibitory effect of PIAS1 overexpression on adipogenesis was rescued by overexpressed C/EBPβ. Thus, PIAS1 could play a dynamic role in adipogenesis by promoting the SUMOylation of C/EBPβ.     

The Notch pathway attenuates interleukin 1β (IL1β)-mediated induction of adenylyl cyclase 8 (AC8) expression during vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) trans-differentiation

Vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) trans-differentiation, or their switch from a contractile/quiescent to a secretory/inflammatory/migratory state, is known to play an important role in pathological vascular remodeling including atherosclerosis and postangioplasty restenosis. Several reports have established the Notch pathway as tightly regulating VSMC response to various stress factors through growth, migration, apoptosis, and de-differentiation. More recently, we showed that alterations of the Notch pathway also govern VSMC acquisition of the inflammatory state, one of the major events accelerating atherosclerosis. We also evidenced that the inflammatory context of atherosclerosis triggers a de novo expression of adenylyl cyclase isoform 8 (AC8), associated with the properties developed by trans-differentiated VSMCs. As an initial approach to understanding the regulation of AC8 expression, we examined the role of the Notch pathway. Here we show that inhibiting the Notch pathway enhances the effect of IL1β on AC8 expression, amplifies its deleterious effects on the VSMC trans-differentiated phenotype, and decreases Notch target genes Hrt1 and Hrt3. Conversely, Notch activation resulted in blocking AC8 expression and up-regulated Hrt1 and Hrt3 expression. Furthermore, overexpressing Hrt1 and Hrt3 significantly decreased IL1β-induced AC8 expression. In agreement with these in vitro findings, the in vivo rat carotid balloon-injury model of restenosis evidenced that AC8 de novo expression coincided with down-regulation of the Notch3 pathway. These results, demonstrating that the Notch pathway attenuates IL1β-mediated AC8 up-regulation in trans-differentiated VSMCs, suggest that AC8 expression, besides being induced by the proinflammatory cytokine IL1β, is also dependent on down-regulation of the Notch pathway occurring in an inflammatory context.     

Activation of the integrins α5β1 and αvβ3 and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) during arteriogenesis

Migration and proliferation of smooth muscle cells (SMC) are important events during arteriogenesis, but the underlying mechanism is still only partially understood. The present study investigates the expression of integrins alpha 5 beta 1 and v beta 3 as well as focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and phosphorylated FAK (pY397), key mediators for cell migration and proliferation, in collateral vessels (CV) in rabbit hind limbs induced by femoral ligation or an arteriovenous (AV) shunt created between the distal femoral artery stump and the accompanying femoral vein by confocal immunofluorescence. In addition, the effect of the extracellular matrix components fibronectin (FN), laminin (LN), and Matrigel on expression of these focal adhesion molecules proliferation was studied in cultured SMCs. We found that: (1) in normal vessels (NV), both integrins alpha 5 beta 1 and alpha v beta 3 were mainly expressed in endothelial cells, very weak in smooth muscle cells (SMC); (2) in CVs, both alpha 5 beta 1 and alpha v beta 3 were significantly upregulated (P < 0.05); this was more evident in the shunt-side CVs, 1.5 and 1.3 times higher than that in the ligation side, respectively; (3) FAK and FAK(py397) were expressed in NVs and CVs in a similar profile as was alpha 5 beta 1 and alpha v beta 3; (4) in vitro SMCs cultured on fibronectin (overexpressed in collaterals) expressed higher levels of FAK, FAK (pY397), alpha 5 beta 1, and alpha v beta 3 than on laminin, whereas SMCs growing inside Matrigel expressed little of these proteins and showed no proliferation. In conclusion, our data demonstrate for the first time that the integrin-FAK signaling axis is activated in collateral vessels and that altered expression of FN and LN may play a crucial role in mediating the integrin-FAK signaling pathway activation. These findings explain a large part of the positive remodeling that collateral vessels undergo under the influence of high fluid shear stress.     

Altered Backbone and Side-Chain Interactions Result in Route Heterogeneity during the Folding of Interleukin-1β (IL-1β)

Deletion of the β-bulge trigger-loop results in both a switch in the preferred folding route, from the functional loop packing folding route to barrel closure, as well as conversion of the agonist activity of IL-1β into antagonist activity. Conversely, circular permutations of IL-1β conserve the functional folding route as well as the agonist activity. These two extremes in the folding-functional interplay beg the question of whether mutations in IL-1β would result in changes in the populations of heterogeneous folding routes and the signaling activity. A series of topologically equivalent water-mediated β-strand bridging interactions within the pseudosymmetric β-trefoil fold of IL-1β highlight the backbone water interactions that stabilize the secondary and tertiary structure of the protein. Additionally, conserved aromatic residues lining the central cavity appear to be essential for both stability and folding. Here, we probe these protein backbone-water molecule and side chain-side chain interactions and the role they play in the folding mechanism of this geometrically stressed molecule. We used folding simulations with structure-based models, as well as a series of folding kinetic experiments to examine the effects of the F42W core mutation on the folding landscape of IL-1β. This mutation alters water-mediated backbone interactions essential for maintaining the trefoil fold. Our results clearly indicate that this perturbation in the primary structure alters a structural water interaction and consequently modulates the population of folding routes accessed during folding and signaling activity.     

Substrate Efflux Propensity Is the Key Determinant of Ca2+-independent Phospholipase A-β (iPLAβ)-mediated Glycerophospholipid Hydrolysis

The A-type phospholipases (PLAs) are key players in glycerophospholipid (GPL) homeostasis and in mammalian cells; Ca²⁺-independent PLA-β (iPLAβ) in particular has been implicated in this essential process. However, the regulation of this enzyme, which is necessary to avoid futile competition between synthesis and degradation, is not understood. Recently, we provided evidence that the efflux of the substrate molecules from the bilayer is the rate-limiting step in the hydrolysis of GPLs by some secretory (nonhomeostatic) PLAs. To study whether this is the case with iPLAβ as well, a mass spectrometric assay was employed to determine the rate of hydrolysis of multiple saturated and unsaturated GPL species in parallel using micelles or vesicle bilayers as the macrosubstrate. With micelles, the hydrolysis decreased with increasing acyl chain length independent of unsaturation, and modest discrimination between acyl positional isomers was observed, presumably due to the differences in the structure of the sn-1 and sn-2 acyl-binding sites of the protein. In striking contrast, no significant discrimination between positional isomers was observed with bilayers, and the rate of hydrolysis decreased with the acyl chain length logarithmically and far more than with micelles. These data provide compelling evidence that efflux of the substrate molecule from the bilayer, which also decreases monotonously with acyl chain length, is the rate-determining step in iPLAβ-mediated hydrolysis of GPLs in membranes. This finding is intriguing as it may help to understand how homeostatic PLAs are regulated and how degradation and biosynthesis are coordinated.     

Retinoblastoma Binding Protein 2 (RBP2) Promotes HIF-1α–VEGF-Induced Angiogenesis of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer via the Akt Pathway

Background

Pathological angiogenesis plays an essential role in tumor aggressiveness and leads to unfavorable prognosis. The aim of this study is to detect the potential role of Retinoblastoma binding protein 2 (RBP2) in the tumor angiogenesis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods

Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the expression of RBP2, hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and CD34. Two pairs of siRNA sequences and pcDNA3-HA-RBP2 were used to down-regulate and up-regulate RBP2 expression in H1975 and SK-MES-1 cells. An endothelial cell tube formation assay, VEGF enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, real-time PCR and western blotting were performed to detect the potential mechanisms mediated by RBP2 in tumor angiogenesis.

Results

Of the 102 stage I NSCLC specimens analyzed, high RBP2 protein expression is closely associated with tumor size (P = 0.030), high HIF-1α expression (P = 0.028), high VEGF expression (P = 0.048), increased tumor angiogenesis (P = 0.033) and poor prognosis (P = 0.037); high MVD was associated with high HIF-1α expression (P = 0.034), high VEGF expression (P = 0.001) and poor prognosis (P = 0.040). Multivariate analysis indicated that RBP2 had an independent influence on the survival of patients with stage I NSCLC (P = 0.044). By modulating the expression of RBP2, our findings suggested that RBP2 protein depletion decreased HUVECs tube formation by down-regulating VEGF in a conditioned medium. RBP2 stimulated the up-regulation of VEGF, which was dependent on HIF-1α, and activated the HIF-1α via phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling pathway. Moreover, VEGF increased the activation of Akt regulated by RBP2.

Conclusions

The RBP2 protein may stimulate HIF-1α expression via the activation of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway under normoxia and then stimulate VEGF expression. These findings indicate that RBP2 may play a critical role in tumor angiogenesis and serve as an attractive therapeutic target against tumor aggressiveness for early-stage NSCLC patients.     

Metabolic Control of Ca2+/Calmodulin-dependent Protein Kinase II (CaMKII)-mediated Caspase-2 Suppression by the B55β/Protein Phosphatase 2A (PP2A)

High levels of metabolic activity confer resistance to apoptosis. Caspase-2, an apoptotic initiator, can be suppressed by high levels of nutrient flux through the pentose phosphate pathway. This metabolic control is exerted via inhibitory phosphorylation of the caspase-2 prodomain by activated Ca²⁺/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII). We show here that this activation of CaMKII depends, in part, on dephosphorylation of CaMKII at novel sites (Thr³⁹³/Ser³⁹⁵) and that this is mediated by metabolic activation of protein phosphatase 2A in complex with the B55β targeting subunit. This represents a novel locus of CaMKII control and also provides a mechanism contributing to metabolic control of apoptosis. These findings may have implications for metabolic control of the many CaMKII-controlled and protein phosphatase 2A-regulated physiological processes, because both enzymes appear to be responsive to alterations in glucose metabolized via the pentose phosphate pathway.     

On the O2(1Δ g )-mediated photooxidative behaviour of tripeptide glycyl-tyrosyl-alanine in alkaline medium A kinetic study

Summary The type II singlet molecular oxygen [O₂(¹ _g )]-mediated photo-oxidation of the tripeptide gly-tyr-ala was studied. It has two non-oxidizable amino-acids (gly and ala) bonded to the oxidizable one, tyr. Overall (k _t) and reactive (k _r) rate constants for the interaction were determined by time-resolved methods (IR emission of O₂(¹ _g )) and stationary photolysis, in water at pH 11.5 as well as in alkaline non-aqueous etOH-MeCN (80:20, v/v, 10 mM in KOH) solutions. An important solvent polarity effect onk _t was detected; the rate constant increasing one order of magnitude in going from the organic mixture to water (k _t H₂O = 2 × 10⁹ M^–1 s^–1). Nevertheless,k _r does not parallel this trend; gly-tyr-ala being less photooxidizable in a more polar environment. The effective quantum yield ( _r ) forTPE photooxidation is much higher in etOH-MeCN ( _r = 0.056) than in water ( _r = 0.023). Results are discussed on the basis of the formation of an exciplex with polar character between the TPE and O₂(¹ _g ).Two remarkable points should be taken into account: a) the rate costants for the interaction of O₂(¹ _g ) with gly-tyr-ala are practically the same as for free tyr. b) New -NH₂ groups are generated upon sensitized irradiation. Both findings indicate that the peptide bonds in the TPE break as a result of the photooxidation. A thorough analysis with data for tyrosine and related dipeptides is undertaken.Abbreviations O ₂(¹_g) singlet molecular oxygen - AA amino-acid - TPE tripeptide - gly-tyr-ala glycyl-L-tyrosine-alanine - tyr-gly L-tyrosyl-glycine - FFA furfuryl alcohol - tyr L-tyrosine - gly-tyr glycyl-L-tyrosine - DPE dipeptide - NaN ₃ sodium azide - RB rose bengal - ZnTPP Zinc tetraphenyl porphyrine - MeCN acetonitrile - DMA 9,10-dimethyl anthracene - etOH ethanol - TRPD time-resolved phosphorescence detection - NH ₂ loss loss of primary amine reactivity     

TGF-β-mediated sustained ERK1/2 activity promotes the inhibition of intracellular growth of Mycobacterium avium in epithelioid cells surrogates

Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several diseases including infection with intracellular pathogens such as the Mycobacterium avium complex. Infection of macrophages with M. avium induces TGF-β production and neutralization of this cytokine has been associated with decreased intracellular bacterial growth. We have previously demonstrated that epithelioid cell surrogates (ECs) derived from primary murine peritoneal macrophages through a process of differentiation induced by IL-4 overlap several features of epithelioid cells found in granulomas. In contrast to undifferentiated macrophages, ECs produce larger amounts of TGF-β and inhibit the intracellular growth of M. avium. Here we asked whether the levels of TGF-β produced by ECs are sufficient to induce a self-sustaining autocrine TGF-β signaling controlling mycobacterial replication in infected-cells. We showed that while exogenous addition of increased concentration of TGF-β to infected-macrophages counteracted M. avium replication, pharmacological blockage of TGF-β receptor kinase activity with SB-431542 augmented bacterial load in infected-ECs. Moreover, the levels of TGF-β produced by ECs correlated with high and sustained levels of ERK1/2 activity. Inhibition of ERK1/2 activity with U0126 increased M. avium replication in infected-cells, suggesting that modulation of intracellular bacterial growth is dependent on the activation of ERK1/2. Interestingly, blockage of TGF-β receptor kinase activity with SB-431542 in infected-ECs inhibited ERK1/2 activity, enhanced intracellular M. avium burden and these effects were followed by a severe decrease in TGF-β production. In summary, our findings indicate that the amplitude of TGF-β signaling coordinates the strength and duration of ERK1/2 activity that is determinant for the control of intracellular mycobacterial growth.     

β-Site Amyloid Precursor Protein Cleaving Enzyme 1(BACE1) Regulates Notch Signaling by Controlling the Cleavage of Jagged 1 (Jag1) and Jagged 2 (Jag2) Proteins

BACE1 is a type I transmembrane aspartyl protease that cleaves amyloid precursor protein at the β-secretase site to initiate the release of β-amyloid peptide. As a secretase, BACE1 also cleaves additional membrane-bound molecules by exerting various cellular functions. In this study, we showed that BACE1 can effectively shed the membrane-anchored signaling molecule Jagged 1 (Jag1). We also mapped the cleavage sites of Jag1 by ADAM10 and ADAM17. Although Jag1 shares a high degree of homology with Jag2 in the ectodomain region, BACE1 fails to cleave Jag2 effectively, indicating a selective cleavage of Jag1. Abolished cleavage of Jag1 in BACE1-null mice leads to enhanced astrogenesis and, concomitantly, reduced neurogenesis. This characterization provides biochemical evidence that the Jag1-Notch pathway is under the control of BACE1 activity.     

Casein Kinase 2 (CK2)-mediated Phosphorylation of Hsp90β as a Novel Mechanism of Rifampin-induced MDR1 Expression

The P-glycoprotein (P-gp) encoded by the MDR1 gene is a drug-exporting transporter located in the cellular membrane. P-gp induction is regarded as one of the main mechanisms underlying drug-induced resistance. Although there is great interest in the regulation of P-gp expression, little is known about its underlying regulatory mechanisms. In this study, we demonstrate that casein kinase 2 (CK2)-mediated phosphorylation of heat shock protein 90β (Hsp90β) and subsequent stabilization of PXR is a key mechanism in the regulation of MDR1 expression. Furthermore, we show that CK2 is directly activated by rifampin. Upon exposure to rifampin, CK2 catalyzes the phosphorylation of Hsp90β at the Ser-225/254 residues. Phosphorylated Hsp90β then interacts with PXR, causing a subsequent increase in its stability, leading to the induction of P-gp expression. In addition, inhibition of CK2 and Hsp90β enhances the down-regulation of PXR and P-gp expression. The results of this study may facilitate the development of new strategies to prevent multidrug resistance and provide a plausible mechanism for acquired drug resistance by CK2-mediated regulation of P-gp expression.