Sung Hoon Back

Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Type 2 Diabetes

Given the functional importance of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), an organelle that performs folding, modification, and trafficking of secretory and membrane proteins to the Golgi compartment, the maintenance of ER homeostasis in insulin-secreting β-cells is very important. When ER homeostasis is disrupted, the ER generates adaptive signaling pathways, called the unfolded protein response (UPR), to maintain homeostasis of this organelle. However, if homeostasis fails to be restored, the ER initiates death signaling pathways. New observations suggest that both chronic hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia, known as important causative factors of type 2 diabetes (T2D), disrupt ER homeostasis to induce unresolvable UPR activation and β-cell death. This review examines how the UPR pathways, induced by high glucose and free fatty acids (FFAs), interact to disrupt ER function and cause β-cell dysfunction and death.

Sequestration of TRAF2 into stress granules interrupts tumor necrosis factor signaling under stress conditions.

ABSTRACT The cellular stress response (SR) is a phylogenetically conserved protection mechanism that involves inhibition of protein synthesis through recruitment of translation factors such as eIF4G into insoluble stress granules (SGs) and blockade of proinflammatory responses by interruption of the signaling pathway from tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) to nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activation. However, the link between these two physiological phenomena has not been clearly elucidated. Here we report that eIF4GI, which is a scaffold protein interacting with many translation factors, interacts with TRAF2, a signaling molecule that plays a key role in activation of NF-κB through TNF-α. These two proteins colocalize in SGs during cellular exposure to stress conditions. Moreover, TRAF2 is absent from TNFR1 complexes under stress conditions even after TNF-α treatment. This suggests that stressed cells lower their biological activities by sequestration of translation factors and TRAF2 into SGs through a protein-protein interaction.

ATF6α induces XBP1-independent expansion of the endoplasmic reticulum

A link exists between endoplasmic reticulum (ER) biogenesis and the unfolded protein response (UPR), a complex set of signaling mechanisms triggered by increased demands on the protein folding capacity of the ER. The UPR transcriptional activator X-box binding protein 1 (XBP1) regulates the expression of proteins that function throughout the secretory pathway and is necessary for development of an expansive ER network. We previously demonstrated that overexpression of XBP1(S), the active form of XBP1 generated by UPR-mediated splicing of Xbp1 mRNA, augments the activity of the cytidine diphosphocholine (CDP-choline) pathway for biosynthesis of phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho) and induces ER biogenesis. Another UPR transcriptional activator, activating transcription factor 6α (ATF6α), primarily regulates expression of ER resident proteins involved in the maturation and degradation of ER client proteins. Here, we demonstrate that enforced expression of a constitutively active form of ATF6α drives ER expansion and can do so in the absence of XBP1(S). Overexpression of active ATF6α induces PtdCho biosynthesis and modulates the CDP-choline pathway differently than does enforced expression of XBP1(S). These data indicate that ATF6α and XBP1(S) have the ability to regulate lipid biosynthesis and ER expansion by mechanisms that are at least partially distinct. These studies reveal further complexity in the potential relationships between UPR pathways, lipid production and ER biogenesis.

Cytoplasmic IRE1α-mediated XBP1 mRNA Splicing in the Absence of Nuclear Processing and Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress

Accumulation of unfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) activates an intracellular signal transduction program termed the unfolded protein response (UPR). In mammalian cells, the UPR is signaled in part through dimerization of ER membrane-localized IRE1α to activate its protein kinase and endoribonuclease activities. Activated IRE1α cleaves XBP1 mRNA at two sites to initiate an unconventional splicing reaction. The 5′ and 3′ fragments are subsequently joined by an RNA ligase activity, thereby removing a 26-base intron. This splicing reaction creates a translational frameshift to produce a functional XBP1 transcription factor. However, the cellular location and physiological processes required for splicing of XBP1 mRNA are not well characterized. To study these processes, XBP1 mRNAs were engineered in which translation of enhanced green fluorescence protein or luciferase required splicing of the XBP1 intron. Using cell lines that continuously or transiently express these reporter constructs, we show that cytoplasmic unspliced XBP1 mRNA is efficiently spliced by activated IRE1α and requires ongoing cellular transcription but not active translation. The XBP1 intron was effectively removed from RNA substrates transcribed from T7 RNA polymerase or delivered directly to the cytoplasm by RNA transfection, thus indicating that the splicing reaction does not require nuclear processing of the RNA substrate. Analysis of nuclear and cytoplasmic RNA fractions demonstrated that XBP1 mRNA splicing occurs in the cytoplasm. Moreover, an artificial Fv-IRE1αΔN was engineered that was able to splice XBP1 mRNA upon chemical-induced dimerization. These findings demonstrate that IRE1α dimerization is sufficient to activate XBP1 mRNA splicing in the absence of the UPR. We propose that XBP1 mRNA cytoplasmic splicing provides a novel mechanism to rapidly induce translation of a transcription factor in response to a specific stimulus.

Subcellular localization of hepatitis C viral proteins in mammalian cells

SummaryWe determined the subcellular localization of hepatitis C viral (HCV) proteins as a first step towards the understanding of the functions of these proteins in the mammalian cell (CHO-K1). We used fluorescence emitted from green fluorescent protein (GFP)-fused to the viral proteins to determine the subcellular localization of the viral proteins. We found that most of the viral proteins were excluded from the nucleus. Core exhibited a globular pattern near the nucleus. NS2 was concentrated in the perinuclear space. NS4A accumulated in the ER and the Golgi regions. NS3 was detected in the nucleus as well as the cytoplasm, when it was expressed by itself. However, NS3 became restricted to the cytoplasm, when it was produced together with NS4A. NS4B showed a spot-like pattern throughout the cytoplasm. NS5A and NS5B were distributed throughout the cytoplasm in a mesh-like pattern. These results can provide a basis for further investigations into the functions of the HCV proteins.

Polypyrimidine Tract-Binding Protein Enhances the Internal Ribosomal Entry Site-Dependent Translation of p27Kip1 mRNA and Modulates Transition from G1 to S Phase

ABSTRACT The p27Kip1 protein plays a critical role in the regulation of cell proliferation through the inhibition of cyclin-dependent kinase activity. Translation of p27Kip1 is directed by an internal ribosomal entry site (IRES) in the 5′ nontranslated region of p27Kip1 mRNA. Here, we report that polypyrimidine tract-binding protein (PTB) specifically enhances the IRES activity of p27Kip1 mRNA through an interaction with the IRES element. We found that addition of PTB to an in vitro translation system and overexpression of PTB in 293T cells augmented the IRES activity of p27Kip1 mRNA but that knockdown of PTB by introduction of PTB-specific small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) diminished the IRES activity of p27Kip1 mRNA. Moreover, the G1 phase in the cell cycle (which is maintained in part by p27Kip1) was shortened in cells depleted of PTB by siRNA knockdown. 12-O-Tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced differentiation in HL60 cells was used to examine PTB-induced modulation of p27Kip1 protein synthesis during differentiation. The IRES activity of p27Kip1 mRNA in HL60 cells was increased by TPA treatment (with a concomitant increase in PTB protein levels), but the levels of p27Kip1 mRNA remained unchanged. Together, these data suggest that PTB modulates cell cycle and differentiation, at least in part, by enhancing the IRES activity of p27Kip1 mRNA.

Crystallization and preliminary X‐ray crystallographic analysis of the helicase domain of hepatitis C virus NS3 protein

The NS3 protein of hepatitis C virus (HCV) is thought to be essential for viral replication. The N-terminal domain of the protein contains protease activity and the C-terminal domain contains nucleotide triphosphatase and RNA helicase activity. The RNA helicase domain of HCV NS3 protein was purified by using affinity-column chromatographic methods, and crystallized by using the microbatch crystallization method under oil at 277 K. The crystals belong to primitive trigonal space group P3121 or P3221 with cell dimensions of a = b = 93.3, c = 104.6 A. The asymmetric unit contains one molecule of the helicase domain, with the crystal volume per protein mass (Vm) of 2.50 A3 Da-1 and solvent content of about 50.8% by volume. A native data set to 2.3 A resolution was obtained from a frozen crystal indicating that the crystals are quite suitable for structure determination by multiple isomorphous replacement.