William E. Balch

Functional Amyloid Formation within Mammalian Tissue

Amyloid is a generally insoluble, fibrous cross-β sheet protein aggregate. The process of amyloidogenesis is associated with a variety of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer, Parkinson, and Huntington disease. We report the discovery of an unprecedented functional mammalian amyloid structure generated by the protein Pmel17. This discovery demonstrates that amyloid is a fundamental nonpathological protein fold utilized by organisms from bacteria to humans. We have found that Pmel17 amyloid templates and accelerates the covalent polymerization of reactive small molecules into melanin—a critically important biopolymer that protects against a broad range of cytotoxic insults including UV and oxidative damage. Pmel17 amyloid also appears to play a role in mitigating the toxicity associated with melanin formation by sequestering and minimizing diffusion of highly reactive, toxic melanin precursors out of the melanosome. Intracellular Pmel17 amyloidogenesis is carefully orchestrated by the secretory pathway, utilizing membrane sequestration and proteolytic steps to protect the cell from amyloid and amyloidogenic intermediates that can be toxic. While functional and pathological amyloid share similar structural features, critical differences in packaging and kinetics of assembly enable the usage of Pmel17 amyloid for normal function. The discovery of native Pmel17 amyloid in mammals provides key insight into the molecular basis of both melanin formation and amyloid pathology, and demonstrates that native amyloid (amyloidin) may be an ancient, evolutionarily conserved protein quaternary structure underpinning diverse pathways contributing to normal cell and tissue physiology.

Chemical chaperones increase the cellular activity of N370S β-glucosidase: A therapeutic strategy for Gaucher disease

Gaucher disease is a lysosomal storage disorder caused by deficient lysosomal β-glucosidase (β-Glu) activity. A marked decrease in enzyme activity results in progressive accumulation of the substrate (glucosylceramide) in macrophages, leading to hepatosplenomegaly, anemia, skeletal lesions, and sometimes CNS involvement. Enzyme replacement therapy for Gaucher disease is costly and relatively ineffective for CNS involvement. Chemical chaperones have been shown to stabilize various proteins against misfolding, increasing proper trafficking from the endoplasmic reticulum. We report herein that the addition of subinhibitory concentrations (10 μM) of N-(n-nonyl)deoxynojirimycin (NN-DNJ) to a fibroblast culture medium for 9 days leads to a 2-fold increase in the activity of N370S β-Glu, the most common mutation causing Gaucher disease. Moreover, the increased activity persists for at least 6 days after the withdrawal of the putative chaperone. The NN-DNJ chaperone also increases WT β-Glu activity, but not that of L444P, a less prevalent Gaucher disease variant. Incubation of isolated soluble WT enzyme with NN-DNJ reveals that β-Glu is stabilized against heat denaturation in a dose-dependent fashion. We propose that NN-DNJ chaperones β-Glu folding at neutral pH, thus allowing the stabilized enzyme to transit from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi, enabling proper trafficking to the lysosome. Clinical data suggest that a modest increase in β-Glu activity may be sufficient to achieve a therapeutic effect.

Vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein is sorted and concentrated during export from the endoplasmic reticulum.

Newly synthesized proteins are believed to move from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the Golgi by bulk flow, and sorting is assumed to occur exclusively in the trans-Golgi network (TGN). Using quantitative immunoelectron microscopy, we demonstrate that vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein (VSV-G) is sorted from resident ER proteins and concentrated 5- to 10-fold in 40-80 nm vesicles during vesicle budding from the ER. Accumulation of VSV-G in pre-Golgi vesicular carriers is the only detectable concentration step in its transport to the TGN. From these results, it is apparent that export from the ER is not exclusively mediated by bulk flow. The ER exerts an unanticipated level of control to insure selective and efficient entry of mature protein into the secretory pathway.

Mutations in GDI1 are responsible for X-linked non-specific mental retardation.

Rab GDP-dissociation inhibitors (GDI) are evolutionarily conserved proteins that play an essential role in the recycling of Rab GTPases required for vesicular transport through the secretory pathway. We have found mutations in the GDI1 gene (which encodes αGDI) in two families affected with X-linked non-specific mental retardation. One of the mutations caused a non-conservative substitution (L92P) which reduced binding and recycling of RAB3A, the second was a null mutation. Our results show that both functional and developmental alterations in the neuron may account for the severe impairment of learning abilities as a consequence of mutations in GDI1, emphasizing its critical role in development of human intellectual and learning abilities.

Small GTP-binding proteins in vesicular transport

Recent recognition of the abundance of small GTP-binding proteins in eukaryotic cells has sparked off a search for the possible function of these proteins. Evidence is accumulating that SAR1, ARF, SEC4 and YPT1 in yeast and the rab and arf family in mammalian cells play a central role in the regulation of vesicle transport and organelle function.

Chemical and Biological Approaches Synergize to Ameliorate Protein-Folding Diseases

Loss-of-function diseases are often caused by a mutation in a protein traversing the secretory pathway that compromises the normal balance between protein folding, trafficking, and degradation. We demonstrate that the innate cellular protein homeostasis, or proteostasis, capacity can be enhanced to fold mutated enzymes that would otherwise misfold and be degraded, using small molecule proteostasis regulators. Two proteostasis regulators are reported that alter the composition of the proteostasis network in the endoplasmic reticulum through the unfolded protein response, increasing the mutant folded protein concentration that can engage the trafficking machinery, restoring function to two nonhomologous mutant enzymes associated with distinct lysosomal storage diseases. Coapplication of a pharmacologic chaperone and a proteostasis regulator exhibits synergy because of the formers ability to further increase the concentration of trafficking-competent mutant folded enzymes. It may be possible to ameliorate loss-of-function diseases by using proteostasis regulators alone or in combination with a pharmacologic chaperone.

INTEGRATION OF ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM SIGNALING IN HEALTH AND DISEASE

Alteration in the endoplasmic reticulum processing of cargo molecules by pathogens, or deficiencies in cargo handling by the endoplasmic reticulum machinery in a broad range of diseases including cystic fibrosis, hemochromatosis and neuropathies such as Alzheimer disease demonstrates an unanticipated role of the endoplasmic reticulum in the control of cell fate.

Acetobacterium, a New Genus of Hydrogen-Oxidizing, Carbon Dioxide-Reducing, Anaerobic Bacteria

A new genus of fastidiously anaerobic bacteria which produce a homoacetic fermentation is described. Cells are gram-positive, oval-shaped, short rods which are actively motile by means of one or two subterminal flagella. Hydrogen is oxidized, and carbon dioxide is reduced to acetic acid. Organic substrates which are fermented in a mineral medium include fructose, glucose, lactate, glycerate, and formate. Pantothenate is required as a growth factor. The deoxyribonucleic acid base composition of the type species is 39 mol% guanine plus cytosine. The name Acetobacterium is proposed for this new genus, which is tentatively placed in the family Propionibacteriaceae. The type species, Acetobacterium woodii sp. nov., is named in honor of Harland G. Wood. The type strain of A. woodii is WB1 (= ATCC 29683 and DSM 1030).

Structure of the Sec13/31 COPII coat cage

Endomembranes of eukaryotic cells are dynamic structures that are in continuous communication through the activity of specialized cellular machineries, such as the coat protein complex II (COPII), which mediates cargo export from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). COPII consists of the Sar1 GTPase, Sec23 and Sec24 (Sec23/24), where Sec23 is a Sar1-specific GTPase-activating protein and Sec24 functions in cargo selection, and Sec13 and Sec31 (Sec13/31), which has a structural role. Whereas recent results have shown that Sec23/24 and Sec13/31 can self-assemble to form COPII cage-like particles, we now show that Sec13/31 can self-assemble to form minimal cages in the absence of Sec23/24. We present a three-dimensional reconstruction of these Sec13/31 cages at 30 Å resolution using cryo-electron microscopy and single particle analysis. These results reveal a novel cuboctahedron geometry with the potential to form a flexible lattice and to generate a diverse range of containers. Our data are consistent with a model for COPII coat complex assembly in which Sec23/24 has a non-structural role as a multivalent ligand localizing the self-assembly of Sec13/31 to form a cage lattice driving ER cargo export.

Semi-intact cells permeable to macromolecules: use in reconstitution of protein transport from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi complex

We introduce a new method that removes portions of the plasma membrane of eukaryotic cells to form semi-intact cells. During preparation, these cells lose their soluble cytoplasmic contents, but retain secretory organelles such as the ER and Golgi complex in an intact form. Transport of protein between the ER and Golgi can be functionally reconstituted in vitro using these semi-intact cells by incubation in the presence of cytosol and ATP. Export of the vesicular stomatitis virus strain tsO45 G protein from the ER in vitro is temperature-sensitive, similar to the result observed in vivo. These cells allow direct access of chemicals and antibodies to the cytoplasmic domain of the cell and may be a widely applicable model system for study of a broad range of problems in cell biology.