The life span determinant p66Shc localizes to mitochondria where it associates with mitochondrial heat shock protein 70 and regulates trans-membrane potential

P66Shc regulates life span in mammals and is a critical component of the apoptotic response to oxidative stress. It functions as a downstream target of the tumor suppressor p53 and is indispensable for the ability of oxidative stress-activated p53 to induce apoptosis. The molecular mechanisms underlying the apoptogenic effect of p66Shc are unknown. Here we report the following three findings. (i) The apoptosome can be properly activated in vitro in the absence of p66Shc only if purified cytochrome c is supplied. (ii) Cytochrome c release after oxidative signals is impaired in the absence of p66Shc. (iii) p66Shc induces the collapse of the mitochondrial trans-membrane potential after oxidative stress. Furthermore, we showed that a fraction of cytosolic p66Shc localizes within mitochondria where it forms a complex with mitochondrial Hsp70. Treatment of cells with ultraviolet radiation induced the dissociation of this complex and the release of monomeric p66Shc. We propose that p66Shc regulates the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis by inducing mitochondrial damage after dissociation from an inhibitory protein complex. Genetic and biochemical evidence suggests that mitochondria regulate life span through their effects on the energetic metabolism (mitochondrial theory of aging). Our data suggest that mitochondrial regulation of apoptosis might also contribute to life span determination.     

Nonenzymatic chromophore attachment in biliproteins: conformational control by the detergent Triton X-100

While chromophore attachment to alpha-subunits of cyanobacterial biliproteins has been studied in some detail, little is known about this process in beta-subunits. The ones of phycoerythrocyanin and C-phycocyanin each carry two phycocyanobilin (PCB) chromophores covalently attached to cysteins beta84 and beta155. The differential nonenzymatic reconstitution of PCB to the apoproteins, PecA, PecB, CpcA and CpcB, as well as to mutant proteins of the beta-subunits lacking either one of the two binding cysteins, was studied using overexpression of the respective genes. PCB adds selectively to Cys-84 of CpcA, CpcB, PecA, and PecB, but the bound chromophore has a nonnative configuration, and in the case of CpcA, is partly oxidized to mesobiliverdin (MBV). The oxidation is independent of thiols but can be suppressed by ascorbate. The addition to Cys-beta84 is suppressed in the presence of detergents like Triton X-100, in favor of an addition to Cys-beta155 yielding the correctly bound chromophore. Triton X-100 also inhibits oxidation of the chromophore during addition to CpcA. The effect of Triton X-100 was studied on the isolated components of the reconstitution system. Absorption, fluorescence and circular dichroism spectra indicate a major conformational change of the chromophore upon addition of the detergent, which probably controls the site selectivity of the addition reaction, and inhibits the oxidation of PCB to MBV.     

Bioenergetics shapes cellular death pathways in Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy: a model of mitochondrial neurodegeneration

Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) was the first maternally inherited disease to be associated with point mutations in mitochondrial DNA and is now considered the most prevalent mitochondrial disorder. The pathology is characterized by selective loss of ganglion cells in the retina leading to central vision loss and optic atrophy, prevalently in young males. The pathogenic mtDNA point mutations for LHON affect complex I with the double effect of lowering the ATP synthesis driven by complex I substrates and increasing oxidative stress chronically. In this review, we first consider the biochemical changes associated with the proton-translocating NADH-quinone oxidoreductase of mitochondria in cybrid cells carrying the most common LHON mutations. However, the LHON cybrid bioenergetic dysfunction is essentially compensated under normal conditions, i.e. in glucose medium, but is unrevealed by stressful conditions such as growing cybrids in glucose free/galactose medium, which forces cells to rely only on respiratory chain for ATP synthesis. In fact, the second part of this review deals with the investigation of LHON cybrid death pathway in galactose medium. The parallel marked changes in antioxidant enzymes, during the time-course of galactose experiments, also reveal a relevant role played by oxidative stress. The LHON cybrid model sheds light on the complex interplay amongst the different levels of biochemical consequences deriving from complex I mutations in determining neurodegeneration in LHON, and suggests an unsuspected role of bioenergetics in shaping cell death pathways.     

Exploring sequence/folding space: folding studies on multiple hydrophobic core mutants of ubiquitin

The stability, dynamic, and structural properties of ubiquitin and two multiple hydrophobic core mutants were studied. One of the mutants (U4) has seven substitutions in the hydrophobic core (M1L, I3L, V5I, I13F, L15V, V17M, and V26L). On average, its side chains are larger than the wild-type, and it can thus be thought of as having an overpacked core. The other mutant (U7) has two substitutions (I3V and I13V). On average, it has smaller side chains than the wild-type, and it can therefore be considered to be underpacked. The three proteins are well-folded and show similar backbone dynamics (T(1), T(2), and HNOE values), indicating that the regular secondary structure extends over the same residue ranges. The crystallographic structure of U4 was determined. The final R(factor) and R(free) are 0.198 and 0.248, respectively, at 2.18 A resolution. The structure of U4 is very similar to wild-type ubiquitin. Remarkably, there are almost no changes in the positions of the C(alpha) atoms along the entire backbone, and the hydrogen-bonding network is maintained. The mutations of the hydrophobic core are accommodated by small movements of side chains in the core of mutated and nonmutated residues. Unfolding and refolding kinetic studies revealed that U4 unfolds with the highest rates; however, its refolding rate constants are very similar to those of the wild-type protein. Conversely, U7 seems to be the most destabilized protein; its refolding rate constant is smaller than the other two proteins. This was confirmed by stopped-flow techniques and by H/D exchange methodologies. This work illustrates the possibility of repacking the hydrophobic core of small proteins and has important implications in the de novo design of stable proteins.     

High-resolution structure of the histidine-containing phosphocarrier protein (HPr) from Staphylococcus aureus and characterization of its interaction with the bifunctional HPr kinase/phosphorylase

A high-resolution structure of the histidine-containing phosphocarrier protein (HPr) from Staphylococcus aureus was obtained by heteronuclear multidimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy on the basis of 1,766 structural restraints. Twenty-three hydrogen bonds in HPr could be directly detected by polarization transfer from the amide nitrogen to the carbonyl carbon involved in the hydrogen bond. Differential line broadening was used to characterize the interaction of HPr with the HPr kinase/phosphorylase (HPrK/P) of Staphylococcus xylosus, which is responsible for phosphorylation-dephosphorylation of the hydroxyl group of the regulatory serine residue at position 46. The dissociation constant Kd was determined to be 0.10 +/- 0.02 mM at 303 K from the NMR data, assuming independent binding. The data are consistent with a stoichiometry of 1 HPr molecule per HPrK/P monomer in solution. Using transversal relaxation optimized spectroscopy-heteronuclear single quantum correlation, we mapped the interaction site of the two proteins in the 330-kDa complex. As expected, it covers the region around Ser46 and the small helix b following this residue. In addition, HPrK/P also binds to the second phosphorylation site of HPr at position 15. This interaction may be essential for the recognition of the phosphorylation state of His15 and the phosphorylation-dependent regulation of the kinase/phosphorylase activity. In accordance with this observation, the recently published X-ray structure of the HPr/HPrK core protein complex from Lactobacillus casei shows interactions with the two phosphorylation sites. However, the NMR data also suggest differences for the full-length protein from S. xylosus: there are no indications for an interaction with the residues preceding the regulatory Ser46 residue (Thr41 to Lys45) in the protein of S. xylosus. In contrast, it seems to interact with the C-terminal helix of HPr in solution, an interaction which is not observed for the complex of HPr with the core of HPrK/P of L. casei in crystals.     

Low force decelerates L-selectin dissociation from P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 and endoglycan

Selectin-ligand interactions mediate the tethering and rolling of circulating leukocytes on vascular surfaces during inflammation and immune surveillance. To support rolling, these interactions are thought to have rapid off-rates that increase slowly as wall shear stress increases. However, the increase of off-rate with force, an intuitive characteristic named slip bonds, is at odds with a shear threshold requirement for selectin-mediated cell rolling. As shear drops below the threshold, fewer cells roll and those that do roll less stably and with higher velocity. We recently demonstrated a low force regime where the off-rate of P-selectin interacting with P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (PSGL-1) decreased with increasing force. This counter-intuitive characteristic, named catch bonds, might partially explain the shear threshold phenomenon. Because L-selectin-mediated cell rolling exhibits a much more pronounced shear threshold, we used atomic force microscopy and flow chamber experiments to determine off-rates of L-selectin interacting with their physiological ligands and with an antibody. Catch bonds were observed at low forces for L-selectin-PSGL-1 interactions coinciding with the shear threshold range, whereas slip bonds were observed at higher forces. These catch-slip transitional bonds were also observed for L-selectin interacting with endoglycan, a newly identified PSGL-1-like ligand. By contrast, only slip bonds were observed for L-selectin-antibody interactions. These findings suggest that catch bonds contribute to the shear threshold for rolling and are a common characteristic of selectin-ligand interactions.     

Identification of critical residues of choline kinase A2 from Caenorhabditis elegans

Choline kinase catalyzes the phosphorylation of choline by ATP, the first committed step in the CDP-choline pathway for phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis. To begin to elucidate the mechanism of catalysis by this enzyme, choline kinase A-2 from Caenorhabditis elegans was analyzed by systematic mutagenesis of highly conserved residues followed by analysis of kinetic and structural parameters. Specifically, mutants were analyzed with respect to K(m) and k(cat) values for each substrate and Mg(2+), inhibitory constants for Mg(2+) and Ca(2+), secondary structure as monitored by circular dichroism, and sensitivity to unfolding in guanidinium hydrochloride. The most severe impairment of catalysis occurred with the modification of Asp-255 and Asn-260, which are located in the conserved Brenner's phosphotransferase motif, and Asp-301 and Glu-303, in the signature choline kinase motif. For example, mutation of Asp-255 or Asp-301 to Ala eliminated detectable catalytic activity, and mutation of Asn-260 and Glu-303 to Ala decreased k(cat) by 300- and 10-fold, respectively. Additionally, the K(m) for Mg(2+) for mutants N260A and E303A was approximately 30-fold higher than that of wild type. Several other residues (Ser-86, Arg-111, Glu-125, and Trp-387) were identified as being important: Catalytic efficiencies (k(cat)/K(m)) for the enzymes in which these residues were mutated to Ala were reduced to 2-25% of wild type. The high degree of structural similarity among choline kinase A-2, aminoglycoside phosphotransferases, and protein kinases, together with the results from this mutational analysis, indicates it is likely that these conserved residues are located at the catalytic core of choline kinase.     

Metabolic biotinylation as a probe of supramolecular structure of the triad junction in skeletal muscle

Excitation-contraction coupling in skeletal muscle involves conformational coupling between dihydropyridine receptors (DHPRs) in the plasma membrane and ryanodine receptors (RyRs) in the sarcoplasmic reticulum. However, it remains uncertain what regions, if any, of the two proteins interact with one another. Toward this end, it would be valuable to know the spatial interrelationships of DHPRs and RyRs within plasma membrane/sarcoplasmic reticulum junctions. Here we describe a new approach based on metabolic incorporation of biotin into targeted sites of the DHPR. To accomplish this, cDNAs were constructed with a biotin acceptor domain (BAD) fused to selected sites of the DHPR, with fluorescent protein (XFP) attached at a second site. All of the BAD-tagged constructs properly targeted to junctions (as indicted by small puncta of XFP) and were functional for excitation-contraction coupling. To determine whether the introduced BAD was biotinylated and accessible to avidin (approximately 60 kDa), myotubes were fixed, permeablized, and exposed to fluorescently labeled avidin. Upon expression in beta1-null or dysgenic (alpha1S-null) myotubes, punctate avidin fluorescence co-localized with the XFP puncta for BAD attached to the beta1a N- or C-terminals, or the alpha1S N-terminal or II-III loop. However, BAD fused to the alpha1S C-terminal was inaccessible to avidin in dysgenic myotubes (containing RyR1). In contrast, this site was accessible to avidin when the identical construct was expressed in dyspedic myotubes lacking RyR1. These results indicate that avidin has access to a number of sites of the DHPR within fully assembled (RyR1-containing) junctions, but not to the alpha1S C-terminal, which appears to be occluded by the presence of RyR1.     

Mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative damage in parkin-deficient mice

Loss-of-function mutations in parkin are the predominant cause of familial Parkinson's disease. We previously reported that parkin-/- mice exhibit nigrostriatal deficits in the absence of nigral degeneration. Parkin has been shown to function as an E3 ubiquitin ligase. Loss of parkin function, therefore, has been hypothesized to cause nigral degeneration via an aberrant accumulation of its substrates. Here we employed a proteomic approach to determine whether loss of parkin function results in alterations in abundance and/or modification of proteins in the ventral midbrain of parkin-/- mice. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis followed by mass spectrometry revealed decreased abundance of a number of proteins involved in mitochondrial function or oxidative stress. Consistent with reductions in several subunits of complexes I and IV, functional assays showed reductions in respiratory capacity of striatal mitochondria isolated from parkin-/- mice. Electron microscopic analysis revealed no gross morphological abnormalities in striatal mitochondria of parkin-/- mice. In addition, parkin-/- mice showed a delayed rate of weight gain, suggesting broader metabolic abnormalities. Accompanying these deficits in mitochondrial function, parkin-/- mice also exhibited decreased levels of proteins involved in protection from oxidative stress. Consistent with these findings, parkin-/- mice showed decreased serum antioxidant capacity and increased protein and lipid peroxidation. The combination of proteomic, genetic, and physiological analyses reveal an essential role for parkin in the regulation of mitochondrial function and provide the first direct evidence of mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative damage in the absence of nigral degeneration in a genetic mouse model of Parkinson's disease.