Sergio Marco

NF-κB-Mediated MyoD Decay during Muscle Wasting Requires Nitric Oxide Synthase mRNA Stabilization, HuR Protein, and Nitric Oxide Release

ABSTRACT Muscle wasting (cachexia) is a consequence of chronic diseases, such as cancer, and is associated with degradation of muscle proteins such as MyoD. The cytokines tumor necrosis factor alpha and gamma interferon induce muscle degeneration by activating the transcription factor NF-κB and its target genes. Here, we show that a downstream target of NF-κB is the nitric oxide (NO) synthase gene (iNos) and suggest that NO production stimulates MyoD mRNA loss. In fact, although cytokine treatment of iNos−/− mice activated NF-κB, it did not trigger MyoD mRNA degeneration, demonstrating that NF-κB-mediated muscle wasting requires an active iNOS-NO pathway. The induced expression of iNOS by cytokines relies on both transcriptional activation via NF-κB and increased mRNA stability via the RNA-binding protein HuR. Moreover, we show that HuR regulates iNOS expression in an AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)-dependent manner. Furthermore, AMPK activation results in HuR nuclear sequestration, inhibition of iNOS synthesis, and reduction in cytokine-induced MyoD loss. These results define iNOS and HuR as critical players in cytokine-induced cachexia, establishing them as potential therapeutic targets.

The RNA-Binding Protein HuR Promotes Cell Migration and Cell Invasion by Stabilizing the β-actin mRNA in a U-Rich-Element-Dependent Manner

ABSTRACT A high expression level of the β-actin protein is required for important biological mechanisms, such as maintaining cell shape, growth, and motility. Although the elevated cellular level of the β-actin protein is directly linked to the long half-life of its mRNA, the molecular mechanisms responsible for this effect are unknown. Here we show that the RNA-binding protein HuR stabilizes the β-actin mRNA by associating with a uridine-rich element within its 3′ untranslated region. Using RNA interference to knock down the expression of HuR in HeLa cells, we demonstrate that HuR plays an important role in the stabilization but not in the nuclear/cytoplasmic distribution of the β-actin mRNA. HuR depletion in HeLa cells alters key β-actin-based cytoskeleton functions, such as cell adhesion, migration, and invasion, and these defects correlate with a loss of the actin stress fiber network. Together our data establish that the posttranscriptional event involving HuR-mediated β-actin mRNA stabilization could be a part of the regulatory mechanisms responsible for maintaining cell integrity, which is a prerequisite for avoiding transformation and tumor formation.

The formation of symmetrical GroEL-GroES complexes in the presence of ATP

The incubation of chaperonins cpn60 (GroEL) and cpn10 (GroES) from E. coli in the presence of Mg‐ATP and KCl generates the formation, as revealed by electron microscopy, of GroEL—GroES complexes with a symmetrical shape in which one toroidal GroES oligomer is bound to each end of the tetradecameric GroEL aggregate (1:2 GroEL:GroES oligomer molar ratio). The symmetrical complexes are not observed in the presence of ADP or the non‐hydrolyzable ATP analog, ATPγS, where only asymmetrical complexes (1:1 GroEL:GroES oligomer molar ratio) are formed. These results suggest that ATP hydrolysis is required for the formation of symmetrical complexes.

A variant to the “random approximation” of the reference-free alignment algorithm

Abstract Single-particle averaging from electron microscope images strongly depends on alignment. Most alignment procedures are based on cross-correlation of an initial reference image with the rest of the population, leading to a clear pattern dependence. Among the different approaches that have been proposed to minimize this problem, one of the most widely used is the so-called iterative reference-free alignment algorithm (RFAA), proposed by Penczek et al. [Ultramicroscopy 40 (1992) 33]. To avoid the pattern dependence shown by the initial “random approximation” step of this method, we propose a variant of the algorithm that is more independent of the input order of the initial images and which could substitute the random initialization of the RFAA.

The molecular chaperone TF55. Assessment of symmetry

TF55‐like factor from Sulfolobus solfataricus was purified to homogeneity and analyzed by electron microscopy and image analysis to determine the symmetries of these particles. Three different procedures were used to analyze the electron micrographs: (1) fuzzy‐set based classification of the particles according to their rotational power spectra; (2) multivariate statistical analysis based on singular value decomposition; (3) circular harmonic analysis. Averages obtained from the three methods show unequivocally that the TF55‐like complex presents a 9‐fold symmetry.

ATP Binding Induces Large Conformational Changes in the Apical and Equatorial Domains of the Eukaryotic Chaperonin Containing TCP-1 Complex

The chaperonin-containing TCP-1 complex (CCT) is a heteromeric particle composed of eight different subunits arranged in two back-to-back 8-fold pseudo-symmetric rings. The structural and functional implications of nucleotide binding to the CCT complex was addressed by electron microscopy and image processing. Whereas ADP binding to CCT does not reveal major conformational differences when compared with nucleotide-free CCT, ATP binding induces large conformational changes in the apical and equatorial domains, shifting the latter domains up to 40 ° (with respect to the inter-ring plane) compared with 10 ° for nucleotide-free CCT or ADP-CCT. This equatorial ATP-induced shift has no counterpart in GroEL, its prokaryotic homologue, which suggests differences in the folding mechanism for CCT.

Reversible interaction of beta-actin along the channel of the TCP-1 cytoplasmic chaperonin

The cytoplasm of eukaryotes contains a heteromeric toroidal chaperonin assembled from the t-complex TCP-1 and several other related polypeptides. The structure of the TCP-1 cytoplasmic chaperonin and that of the binary complex formed between this chaperonin and unfolded beta-actin have been studied using electron microscopy and image processing techniques. Two-dimensional averaging of front views reveals a circular stain-excluding mass surrounding a central stain-penetrating region in which the stain is excluded upon actin binding. Sections of a three-dimensional reconstruction of the chaperonin show that the inner core is an empty channel that becomes filled upon binary complex formation with unfolded beta-actin. Upon incubation with Mg-ATP, the beta-actin:chaperonin complex discharges the actin such that the chaperonin central cavity reappears. Side views from different forms of TCP-1 reveals that upon Mg-ATP binding, the cytoplasmic chaperonin undergoes a structural rearrangement that is confirmed using a new classification method.

Self-assembling SAS-6 multimer is a core centriole building block

Centrioles are conserved microtubule-based organelles with 9-fold symmetry that are essential for cilia and mitotic spindle formation. A conserved structure at the onset of centriole assembly is a “cartwheel” with 9-fold radial symmetry and a central tubule in its core. It remains unclear how the cartwheel is formed. The conserved centriole protein, SAS-6, is a cartwheel component that functions early in centriole formation. Here, combining biochemistry and electron microscopy, we characterize SAS-6 and show that it self-assembles into stable tetramers, which serve as building blocks for the central tubule. These results suggest that SAS-6 self-assembly may be an initial step in the formation of the cartwheel that provides the 9-fold symmetry. Electron microscopy of centrosomes identified 25-nm central tubules with repeating subunits and show that SAS-6 concentrates at the core of the cartwheel. Recombinant and native SAS-6 self-oligomerizes into tetramers with ∼6-nm subunits, and these tetramers are components of the centrosome, suggesting that tetramers are the building blocks of the central tubule. This is further supported by the observation that elevated levels of SAS-6 in Drosophila cells resulted in higher order structures resembling central tubule morphology. Finally, in the presence of embryonic extract, SAS-6 tetramers assembled into high density complexes, providing a starting point for the eventual in vitro reconstruction of centrioles.

Three-dimensional structure of T3 connector purified from overexpressing bacteria☆

The bacteriophage T3 connector has been purified from overexpressed protein in Escherichia coli, harboring a plasmid containing the gene encoding p8 protein. The connector, which is composed of 12 copies of p8, has been crystallized in two-dimensional sheets and studied by electron microscopy from negatively stained specimens. A two-dimensional Fourier filtering and averaging procedure was performed with crystalline specimens. In addition, single particle averaging techniques were used with other preparations. The average images obtained from these two approaches gave similar results. A three-dimensional reconstruction from two-dimensional crystals of T3 connectors was obtained by collecting several sets of tilted views and using standard Fourier procedures. The resolution of the three-dimensional map was 1.65 nm. The reconstructed connector shows two main domains: a wider one with 12 small units in the periphery and with an external diameter of 14.9 nm, and a smaller one with 8.5 nm diameter. The height of the reconstructed connector has been determined to be around 8.5 nm. The reconstruction clearly shows an internal open channel running along the longitudinal axis of the particle and having an average diameter of 3.7 nm.

RNA-Binding Protein HuR Is Required for Stabilization of SLC11A1 mRNA and SLC11A1 Protein Expression

ABSTRACT The solute carrier family 11 member 1 (SLC11A1, formerly NRAMP1) gene is associated with infectious and autoimmune diseases and plays an important role in macrophage activation. Human SLC11A1 mRNA contains an AU-rich element (ARE) within the 3′ untranslated region; however, its role in the regulation of SLC11A1 gene expression has not been elucidated. Here we analyze the expression of SLC11A1 in human monocytes and HL-60 cells and then use HL-60 cells as a model to determine whether RNA-binding protein HuR is associated with the ARE and involved in SLC11A1 mRNA turnover. Our results demonstrate a binding of HuR to the SLC11A1 ARE in phorbol myristate acetate (PMA)-differentiated cells dramatically increased compared to that in undifferentiated cells. Interestingly, PMA-induced accumulation of cytoplasmic HuR occurs in parallel with an increase in the binding of HuR to SLC11A1 ARE and with an increase in the SLC11A1 mRNA level. This suggests that HuRs cytoplasmic localization plays an important role in the regulation of SLC11A1 expression. We also observe that down-regulation of HuR expression by RNA interference (RNAi) results in a decrease in SLC11A1 expression which can be restored by the addition of recombinant HuR protein to the RNAi-treated cells. Finally, we show that HuR overexpression in HL-60 cells significantly increases the SLC11A1 mRNA stability. Taken together, our data demonstrate that HuR is a key mediator of posttranscriptional regulation and expression of the SLC11A1 gene.