Click chemistry armed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to measure palmitoylation by hedgehog acyltransferase

Hedgehog signaling is critical for correct embryogenesis and tissue development. However, on maturation, signaling is also found to be aberrantly activated in many cancers. Palmitoylation of the secreted signaling protein sonic hedgehog (Shh) by the enzyme hedgehog acyltransferase (Hhat) is required for functional signaling. To quantify this important posttranslational modification, many in vitro Shh palmitoylation assays employ radiolabeled fatty acids, which have limitations in terms of cost and safety. Here we present a click chemistry armed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (click–ELISA) for assessment of Hhat activity through acylation of biotinylated Shh peptide with an alkyne-tagged palmitoyl-CoA (coenzyme A) analogue. Click chemistry functionalization of the alkyne tag with azido-FLAG peptide allows analysis through an ELISA protocol and colorimetric readout. This assay format identified the detergent n-dodecyl β-d-maltopyranoside as an improved solubilizing agent for Hhat activity. Quantification of the potency of RU-SKI small molecule Hhat inhibitors by click–ELISA indicated IC₅₀ values in the low- or sub-micromolar range. A stopped assay format was also employed that allows measurement of Hhat kinetic parameters where saturating substrate concentrations exceed the binding capacity of the streptavidin-coated plate. Therefore, click–ELISA represents a nonradioactive method for assessing protein palmitoylation in vitro that is readily expandable to other classes of protein lipidation.     

Acyltransferases for secreted signalling proteins (Review)

Members of the MBOAT family of multispanning transmembrane enzymes catalyze the acylation of important secreted signalling proteins of the Hedgehog, Wg/Wnt and ghrelin families. Acylation of these substrates occurs during transport through the secretory pathway and plays key roles in their biological activity and spread from producing cells, contributing to the formation of appropriate extracellular concentration gradients. Characterization of these enzymes could lead to their identification as therapeutic targets for diverse human diseases such as cancers, obesity and diabetes.     

Identification of N-terminal Residues of Sonic Hedgehog Important for Palmitoylation by Hedgehog Acyltransferase

Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) is a secreted morphogen that regulates embryonic development. After removal of the signal peptide, Shh is processed to the mature, active form through autocleavage and a series of lipid modifications, including the attachment of palmitate. Covalent attachment of palmitate to the N-terminal cysteine of Shh is catalyzed by Hedgehog acyltransferase (Hhat) and is critical for proper signaling. The sequences within Shh that are responsible for palmitoylation by Hhat are not known. Here we show that the first six amino acids of mature Shh (CGPGRG) are sufficient for Hhat-mediated palmitoylation. Alanine scanning mutagenesis was used to determine the role of each amino acid and the positional sequence requirement in a cell-based Shh palmitoylation assay. Mutation of residues in the GPGR sequence to Ala had no effect on palmitoylation, provided that a positively charged residue was present within the first seven residues. The N-terminal position exhibited a strong but not exclusive requirement for Cys. Constructs with an N-terminal Ala were not palmitoylated. However, an N-terminal Ser served as a substrate for Hhat, but not the Drosophila melanogaster ortholog Rasp, highlighting a critical difference between the mammalian and fly enzymes. These findings define residues and regions within Shh that are necessary for its recognition as a substrate for Hhat-mediated palmitoylation. Finally, we report the results of a bioinformatics screen to identify other potential Hhat substrates encoded in the human genome.     

Structure,mechanism, and inhibition of Hedgehog acyltransferase

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幽门螺旋杆菌感染与胃癌中Shh和C-myc表达的关系

为了探讨胃癌中幽门螺旋杆菌(Hp)感染和Sonic Hedgehog(Shh)、C-myc表达,它们之间的相关性以及胃癌发生的可能机制,采用免疫组化法检测89例胃癌组织及20例正常胃上皮组织中Shh及C-myc的表达。并采用快速尿素酶试验,组织病理学检测两种方法检查Hp。实验结果显示,胃癌组织Shh的表达要明显高于正常上皮组织,二者之间有显著差异(P<0.05);胃癌组织C-myc的表达水平也高于正常胃上皮组织,二者之间有显著差异(P<0.05);Hp阳性的C-myc阳性表达率明显高于Hp阴性,二者之间有显著差异(P<0.05);Shh表达阳性率在Hp阳性和阴性胃癌中无显著差异(P>0.05)。结果提示,胃癌的发生与癌基因Shh及C-myc的过度表达有关,Hp感染的致癌机制中可能有癌基因C-myc参与。     

Multiple roles for Hedgehog signaling in zebrafish pituitary development

The endocrine-secreting lobe of the pituitary gland, or adenohypophysis, forms from cells at the anterior margin of the neural plate through inductive interactions involving secreted morphogens of the Hedgehog (Hh), fibroblast growth factor (FGF), and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) families. To better understand when and where Hh signaling influences pituitary development, we have analyzed the effects of blocking Hh signaling both pharmacologically (cyclopamine treatments) and genetically (zebrafish Hh pathway mutants). While current models state that Shh signaling from the oral ectoderm patterns the pituitary after placode induction, our data suggest that Shh plays a direct early role in both pituitary induction and patterning, and that early Hh signals comes from adjacent neural ectoderm. We report that Hh signaling is necessary between 10 and 15 h of development for induction of the zebrafish adenohypophysis, a time when shh is expressed only in neural tissue. We show that the Hh responsive genes ptc1 and nk2.2 are expressed in preplacodal cells at the anterior margin of the neural tube at this time, indicating that these cells are directly receiving Hh signals. Later (15-20 h) cyclopamine treatments disrupt anterior expression of nk2.2 and Prolactin, showing that early functional patterning requires Hh signals. Consistent with a direct role for Hh signaling in pituitary induction and patterning, overexpression of Shh results in expanded adenohypophyseal expression of lim3, expansion of nk2.2 into the posterior adenohypophysis, and an increase in Prolactin- and Somatolactin-secreting cells. We also use the zebrafish Hh pathway mutants to document the range of pituitary defects that occur when different elements of the Hh signaling pathway are mutated. These defects, ranging from a complete loss of the adenohypophysis (smu/smo and yot/gli2 mutants) to more subtle patterning defects (dtr/gli1 mutants), may correlate to human Hh signaling mutant phenotypes seen in Holoprosencephaly and other congenital disorders. Our results reveal multiple and distinct roles for Hh signaling in the formation of the vertebrate pituitary gland, and suggest that Hh signaling from neural ectoderm is necessary for induction and functional patterning of the vertebrate pituitary gland.     

Determination of the membrane topology of PORCN,an O-acyl transferase that modifies Wnt signalling proteins

Wnt gradients elicit distinct cellular responses, such as proliferation, specification, differentiation and survival in a dose-dependent manner. Porcupine (PORCN), a membrane-bound O-acyl transferase (MBOAT) that resides in the endoplasmic reticulum, catalyses the addition of monounsaturated palmitate to Wnt proteins and is required for Wnt gradient formation and signalling. In humans, PORCN mutations are causal for focal dermal hypoplasia (FDH), an X-linked dominant syndrome characterized by defects in mesodermal and endodermal tissues. PORCN is also an emerging target for cancer therapeutics. Despite the importance of this enzyme, its structure remains poorly understood. Recently, the crystal structure of DltB, an MBOAT family member from bacteria, was solved. In this report, we use experimental data along with homology modelling to DltB to determine the membrane topology of PORCN. Our studies reveal that PORCN has 11 membrane domains, comprising nine transmembrane spanning domains and two reentrant domains. The N-terminus is oriented towards the lumen while the C-terminus is oriented towards the cytosol. Like DltB, PORCN has a funnel-like structure that is encapsulated by multiple membrane-spanning helices. This new model for PORCN topology allows us to map residues that are important for biological activity (and implicated in FDH) onto its three-dimensional structure.     

DHHC20: a human palmitoyl acyltransferase that causes cellular transformation

Abstract

Palmitoylation is required for the activities of several cancer-associated proteins, making the palmitoyl acyltransferase (PAT) enzymes that catalyze these reactions potential targets for anticancer therapeutics. In this study, we sought to identify and characterize a human PAT with activity toward N-terminally myristoylated and palmitoylated proteins. NIH/3t3 cells were stably transfected with vectors containing no insert, wild type human DHHC20, or a serine-substituted DHHS20 mutant. Compared with control cells, cells overexpressing wild-type DHHC20 displayed an increase in palmitoylation activity toward a peptide that mimics the N-terminus of myristoylated and palmitoylated proteins, but had no change in activity toward a peptide that mimics the C-terminus of farnesylated and palmitoylated proteins. Cells expressing DHHS20 had no significant change in activity toward either peptide. Overexpression of DHHC20 also caused phenotypic changes consistent with cellular transformation, including colony formation in soft agar, decreased contact inhibition of growth, and increased proliferation under low-serum conditions. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction analyses of human tissues demonstrated that DHHC20 is expressed in a tissue-specific manner, and is overexpressed in several types of human tumors, including ovarian, breast and prostate. Overall, these results demonstrate that DHHC20 is a human N-terminal-myristoyl-directed PAT involved in cellular transformation, that may play a role in cancer.     

Sonic Hedgehog基因及其在发育过程中的调控作用

Sonic Hedgehog(Shh)基因属于Hedgehog(Hh)基因家族,该家族最早在果蝇体内被发现,进化上呈高度保守状态。Sonic Hedgehog定位在7号染色体长臂远端(7q36),其通过细胞表面特殊受体Patched(Ptc)和Smoothened(Smo)被接收和传导,从而激活锌指蛋白C i/G li家族。Sonic Hedgehog基因作为重要的形态发生素,在胚胎发育、机体器官组织形成的过程中发挥了重要的作用,它的缺失或者失活会导致一系列严重的遗传疾病。其与体节、神经管、消化道、头面部、上下肢芽的发育以及肿瘤形成等有密切关系。本文主要就Sonic Hedgehog基因及其在发育中的调控作用作一综述。     

Synthesis and biological evaluation of desmethylveramiline, a micromolar Hedgehog inhibitor

Desmethylveramiline (1), an aza steroid analogue of veramiline was designed as a surrogate for cyclopamine, a reference antagonist of the Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) pathway. Desmethyveramiline (1) was prepared in seven steps from commercially available Fernholtz acid using the hydroformylation of a terminal olefine as the key step for the construction of the piperidine appendage. In two assays (i) the inhibition of the Shh-induced Gli-dependent luciferase activity in Shh-light2 cells, (ii) the inhibition of the SAG-induced differentiation of the mesenchymal C3H10T1/2 cells, desmethylveramiline (1) is an inhibitor in the μM range comparable to cyclopamine.     

Scube2 mediates Hedgehog signalling in the zebrafish embryo

The Hedgehog family of secreted morphogens specifies the fate of a large number of different cell types within invertebrate and vertebrate embryos, including the muscle cell precursors of the embryonic myotome of zebrafish. Formation of Hedgehog-sensitive muscle fates is disrupted within homozygous zebrafish mutants of the "you"-type class, the majority of which disrupt components of the Hedgehog (HH) signal transduction pathway. We have undertaken a phenotypic and molecular characterisation of one of these mutants, you, which we show results from mutations within the zebrafish orthologue of the mammalian gene scube2. This gene encodes a member of the Scube family of proteins, which is characterised by several protein motifs including EGF and CUB domains. Epistatic and molecular analyses position Scube2 function upstream of Smoothened (Smoh), the signalling component of the HH receptor complex, suggesting that Scube2 may act during HH signal transduction prior to, or during, receipt of the HH signal at the plasma membrane. In support of this model we show that scube2 has homology to cubilin, which encodes an endocytic receptor involved in protein trafficking suggesting a possible mode of function for Scube2 during HH signal transduction.     

Distinct spatiotemporal roles of hedgehog signalling during chick and mouse cranial base and axial skeleton development

The cranial base exerts a supportive role for the brain and includes the occipital, sphenoid and ethmoid bones that arise from cartilaginous precursors in the early embryo. As the occipital bone and the posterior part of the sphenoid are mesoderm derivatives that arise in close proximity to the notochord and floor plate, it has been assumed that their development, like the axial skeleton, is dependent on Sonic hedgehog (Shh) and modulation of bone morphogenetic protein (Bmp) signalling. Here we examined the development of the cranial base in chick and mouse embryos to compare the molecular signals that are required for chondrogenic induction in the trunk and head. We found that Shh signalling is required but the molecular network controlling cranial base development is distinct from that in the trunk. In the absence of Shh, the presumptive cranial base did not undergo chondrogenic commitment as determined by the loss of Sox9 expression and there was a decrease in cell survival. In contrast, induction of the otic capsule occurred normally demonstrating that induction of the cranial base is uncoupled from formation of the sensory capsules. Lastly, we found that the early cranial mesoderm is refractory to Shh signalling, likely accounting for why development of the cranial base occurs after the axial skeleton. Our data reveal that cranial and axial skeletal induction is controlled by conserved, yet spatiotemporally distinct mechanisms that co-ordinate development of the cranial base with that of the cranial musculature and the pharyngeal arches.     

大鼠诱发型肝癌发生发展过程中SonicHedgehog、Ptc和Gli1表达的改变

目的 观察大鼠诱发肝癌过程中Sonic Hedgehog（Shh）信号通路相关基因的表达变化,探讨其在肝癌发生发展过程中的作用.方法 雄性Wistar大鼠48只,随机分成4组,利用二乙基亚硝胺（DEN）制备诱发性大鼠肝癌模型,应用原位核酸杂交技术检测Shh、Ptc、Gli1 mRNA在对照组、模型组（6w）、模型组（14w）、模型组（22w）大鼠肝脏癌变过程中的表达变化.结果 在模型组（6w）大鼠肝脏的肝小叶周边可见嗜酸性、气球样变性等肝细胞损伤的表现,模型组（14w）大鼠肝脏中可见肝假小叶和非典型增生结节,模型组（22w）大鼠肝脏中可见到高分化的肝细胞癌结节.Shh、Ptc、Gli1 mRNA阳性表达细胞主要分布在大鼠肝脏中的肝细胞损伤区、增生结节、癌结节、小叶间胆管上皮和癌旁组织中,Shh、Ptc、Gli1 mRNA在模型组的大鼠肝组织中表达的平均光密度值均高于对照组.结论 Shh信号通路在诱癌过程中异常激活,可能促进肝损伤后的正常修复、异常增殖及肝细胞癌变过程.     

Sonic hedgehog在二乙基亚硝胺诱发大鼠肝癌发生过程中的表达及意义

观察肝脏组织中Sonic hedgehog(Shh)的表达情况,探讨其在肝癌发生发展过程中的作用.用二乙基亚硝胺(diethylnitrosamine,DEN)制备诱发型肝癌模型,利用光镜技术观察诱癌过程中肝组织的形态学改变,采用免疫组织化学二步法和RT-PCR技术检测Shh蛋白和mRNA的表达.根据形态学观察将诱癌过程分为正常对照组、肝损伤组、肝增生-硬化组和肝癌变组.Shh蛋白阳性表达的细胞主要分布在小叶间胆管上皮、肝细胞增生结节、癌周组织和癌结节中,在对照组、肝损伤期、肝增生-硬化期和肝癌变期的阳性表达率分别是6.67%、30.00%、52.94%和78.57%(χ2=17.49,P<0.05).Shh mRNA表达率随着肝癌的发生发展有逐渐增高的趋势(χ2=13.35,P<0.05),对Shh mRNA表达阳性的电泳条带进行图像分析结果显示Shh mRNA表达量随着肝癌的发生发展逐渐增高(F=110.26,P<0.05).Ptch mRNA表达率随着肝癌的发生发展有逐渐增高的趋势(χ2=19.83,P<0.05),对Ptch mRNA表达阳性的电泳条带进行图像分析结果显示Ptch mRNA表达量随着肝癌的发生发展逐渐增高(F=68.28,P<0.05).实验结果提示,Shh在肝癌发生发展过程中出现了异常活动,导致Shh信号通路激活并作用于肝的细胞,参与了诱导肝癌的发生发展.