ERK/ribosomal S6 kinase (RSK) signaling positively regulates death receptor 5 expression through co-activation of CHOP and Elk1

Death receptor 5 (DR5) is a death domain-containing transmembrane receptor that triggers apoptosis upon binding to its ligand or when overexpressed. Its expression is induced by certain small molecule drugs, including celecoxib, through mechanisms that have not been fully elucidated. The current study has revealed a novel ERK/ribosomal S6 kinase (RSK)-dependent mechanism that regulates DR5 expression primarily using celecoxib as a DR5 inducer. Both C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) and Elk1 are required for celecoxib-induced DR5 expression based on promoter deletion and mutation analysis and siRNA-mediated gene silencing results. Co-expression of both CHOP and Elk1 exhibited enhanced effects on increasing DR5 promoter activity and DR5 expression, indicating that CHOP and Elk1 co-operatively regulate DR5 expression. Because Elk1 is an ERK-regulated protein, we accordingly found that celecoxib increased the levels of phosphorylated ERK1/2, RSK2, and Elk1. Inhibition of either ERK signaling with a MEK inhibitor or ERK1/2 siRNA, or RSK2 signaling with an RSK2 inhibitor or RSK2 siRNA abrogated DR5 up-regulation by celecoxib as well as other agents. Moreover, these inhibitions suppressed celecoxib-induced CHOP up-regulation. Thus, ERK/RSK-dependent, CHOP and Elk1-mediated mechanisms are critical for DR5 induction. Additionally, celecoxib increased CHOP promoter activity in an ATF4-dependent manner, and siRNA-mediated blockade of ATF4 abrogated both CHOP induction and DR5 up-regulation, indicating that ATF4 is involved in celecoxib-induced CHOP and DR5 expression. Collectively, we conclude that small molecules such as celecoxib induce DR5 expression through activating ERK/RSK signaling and subsequent Elk1 activation and ATF4-dependent CHOP induction.     

A functional link between localized Oskar, dynamic microtubules, and endocytosis

Many cell types including developing oocytes, fibroblasts, epithelia and neurons use mRNA localization as a means to establish polarity. The Drosophila oocyte has served as a useful model in dissecting the mechanism of mRNA localization. The polarity of the oocyte is established by the specific localization of three critical mRNAs-oskar, bicoid and gurken. The localization of these mRNAs requires microtubule integrity, and the activity of microtubule motors. However, the precise organization of the oocyte microtubule cytoskeleton remains an open question. In order to examine the polarity of oocyte microtubules, we visualized the localization of canonical microtubule plus end binding proteins, EB1 and CLIP-190. Both proteins were enriched at the posterior of the oocyte, with additional foci detected within the oocyte cytoplasm and along the cortex. Surprisingly, however, we found that this asymmetric distribution of EB1 and CLIP-190 was not essential for oskar mRNA localization. However, Oskar protein was required for recruiting the plus end binding proteins to the oocyte posterior. Lastly, our results suggest that the enrichment of growing microtubules at the posterior pole functions to promote high levels of endocytosis in this region of the cell. Thus, multiple polarity-determining pathways are functionally linked in the Drosophila oocytes.     

犬细小病毒NS1 非结构蛋白可诱导细胞凋亡

【目的】研究犬细小病毒(Canine parvovirus,CPV)非结构蛋白NS1在CPV引起宿主细胞凋亡中的作用,初步探讨CPV引起细胞凋亡的机制。【方法】首先采用PCR方法从犬细小病毒基因组中扩增NS1编码基因,然后利用pcDNA3.1A质粒构建NS1真核表达载体pcDNA-NS1,并通过HEK293FT细胞瞬时表达NS1重组蛋白,用Western-blot检测以确定重组NS1蛋白能否在真核细胞中表达。然后用CPV感染和用pcDNA-NS1表达载体转染F81宿主细胞,通过AnnexinV/PI双染法检测磷脂酰丝氨酸外翻和通过化学发光法检测caspase-3/7活性,分析感染CPV或转染NS1基因对F81宿主细胞凋亡的影响。【结果】结果表明,本实验扩增的NS1基因序列与GenBank的序列一致,构建的表达载体结构正确,并能够介导NS1基因在真核细胞中表达。感染CPV和转染NS1基因均能诱导F81细胞膜磷脂酰丝氨酸外翻和明显提高细胞内caspase-3/7的活性,表明CPV和NS1蛋白均能引起细胞的凋亡。【结论】CPV诱导宿主细胞凋亡与其编码的NS1非结构蛋白有关。     

Residue cysteine 232 is important for substrate transport of neutral amino acid transporter,SNAT4

SNAT4 is a system A type amino acid transporter that primarily expresses in liver and mediates the transport of L-alanine. To determine the critical amino acid residue(s) involved in substrate transport function of SNAT4, we used hydrosulfate cross-linking MTS reagents - MMTS and MTSEA. These two reagents caused inhibition of L-alanine transport by wild-type SNAT4. There are 5 cysteine residues in SNAT4 and among them; residues Cys-232 and Cys-345 are located in the transmembrane domains. Mutation of Cys-232, but not Cys-345, inhibited transport function of SNAT4 and also rendered SNAT4 less sensitive to the cross-linking by MMTS and MTSEA. The results suggested that TMD located Cys-232 is an aqueous accessible residue, likely to be located close to the core of substrate binding site. Mutation of Cys-232 to serine similarly attenuated the transport of L-alanine substrate. Biotinylation analysis showed that C232A mutant of SNAT4 was equally capable as wild-type SNAT4 of expressing on the cell surface. Moreover, single site mutant, C232A was also found to be more resistant to MTS inhibition than double mutant C18A,C345A, further confirming the aqueous accessibility of Cys-232 residue. We also showed that mutation of Cys-232 to alanine reduced the maximal velocity (Vmax), but had minimal effect on binding affinity (Km). Together, these data suggest that residue Cys-232 at 4^th transmembrane domain of SNAT4 has a major influence on substrate transport capacity, but not on substrate binding affinity.     

Removal of estrogenic activity from endocrine-disrupting chemicals by purified laccase of Phlebia tremellosa

A white-rot basidiomycete, Phlebia tremellosa, produced a laccase that showed increased activity during degradation of phthalates. A laccase was purified through the ion exchange chromatography and preparative gel electrophoresis, and the estimated molecular weight was 75 kDa. The optimum pH and temperature of the purified laccase was pH 4.0 and 20 degrees C, respectively. The K(m) value of the enzyme was 55.7 microM, and the V(max) was 0.0541 OD min(-1) U(-1) for o-tolidine. Purified laccase reduced the estrogenic activity of four different endocrine-disrupting chemicals. However, this effect was reduced by a laccase inhibitor, kojic acid, which confirmed that the laccase was involved in the removal of estrogenic activity.     

Membrane topological structure of neutral system N/A amino acid transporter 4 (SNAT4) protein

Members of system N/A amino acid transporter (SNAT) family mediate transport of neutral amino acids, including l-alanine, l-glutamine, and l-histidine, across the plasma membrane and are involved in a variety of cellular functions. By using chemical labeling, glycosylation, immunofluorescence combined with molecular modeling approaches, we resolved the membrane topological structure of SNAT4, a transporter expressed predominantly in liver. To analyze the orientation using the chemical labeling and biotinylation approach, the "Cys-null" mutant of SNAT4 was first generated by mutating all five endogenous cysteine residues. Based on predicted topological structures, a single cysteine residue was introduced individually into all possible nontransmembrane domains of the Cys-null mutant. The cells expressing these mutants were labeled with N-biotinylaminoethyl methanethiosulfonate, a membrane-impermeable cysteine-directed reagent. We mapped the orientations of N- and C-terminal domains. There are three extracellular loop domains, and among them, the second loop domain is the largest that spans from amino acid residue ～242 to ～335. The orientation of this domain was further confirmed by the identification of two N-glycosylated residues, Asn-260 and Asn-264. Together, we showed that SNAT4 contains 10 transmembrane domains with extracellular N and C termini and a large N-glycosylated, extracellular loop domain. This is the first report concerning membrane topological structure of mammalian SNAT transporters, which will provide important implications for our understanding of structure-function of the members in this amino acid transporter family.