bims-auttor 2019-03-31 papers

Issue of 2019‒03‒31
eight papers selected by
Viktor Korolchuk, Newcastle University

Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2019 Mar 25.

Atg2 mediates direct lipid transfer between membranes for autophagosome formation.

Takuo Osawa, Tetsuya Kotani, Tatsuya Kawaoka, Eri Hirata, Kuninori Suzuki, Hitoshi Nakatogawa, Yoshinori Ohsumi, Nobuo N Noda.

A key event in autophagy is autophagosome formation, whereby the newly synthesized isolation membrane (IM) expands to form a complete autophagosome using endomembrane-derived lipids. Atg2 physically links the edge of the expanding IM with the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), a role that is essential for autophagosome formation. However, the molecular function of Atg2 during ER-IM contact remains unclear, as does the mechanism of lipid delivery to the IM. Here we show that the conserved amino-terminal region of Schizosaccharomyces pombe Atg2 includes a lipid-transfer-protein-like hydrophobic cavity that accommodates phospholipid acyl chains. Atg2 bridges highly curved liposomes, thereby facilitating efficient phospholipid transfer in vitro, a function that is inhibited by mutations that impair autophagosome formation in vivo. These results suggest that Atg2 acts as a lipid-transfer protein that supplies phospholipids for autophagosome formation.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-019-0203-4

J Cell Biol. 2019 Mar 27. pii: jcb.201901115. [Epub ahead of print]

ATG9A shapes the forming autophagosome through Arfaptin 2 and phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase IIIβ.

Delphine Judith, Harold B J Jefferies, Stefan Boeing, David Frith, Ambrosius P Snijders, Sharon A Tooze.

ATG9A is a multispanning membrane protein essential for autophagy. Normally resident in Golgi membranes and endosomes, during amino acid starvation, ATG9A traffics to sites of autophagosome formation. ATG9A is not incorporated into autophagosomes but is proposed to supply so-far-unidentified proteins and lipids to the autophagosome. To address this function of ATG9A, a quantitative analysis of ATG9A-positive compartments immunoisolated from amino acid-starved cells was performed. These ATG9A vesicles are depleted of Golgi proteins and enriched in BAR-domain containing proteins, Arfaptins, and phosphoinositide-metabolizing enzymes. Arfaptin2 regulates the starvation-dependent distribution of ATG9A vesicles, and these ATG9A vesicles deliver the PI4-kinase, PI4KIIIβ, to the autophagosome initiation site. PI4KIIIβ interacts with ATG9A and ATG13 to control PI4P production at the initiation membrane site and the autophagic response. PI4KIIIβ and PI4P likely function by recruiting the ULK1/2 initiation kinase complex subunit ATG13 to nascent autophagosomes.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201901115

Exp Ther Med. 2019 Apr;17(4): 2495-2502

Role of mTOR signaling in the regulation of high glucose-induced podocyte injury.

Qiuyue Li, Yan Zeng, Qing Jiang, Cong Wu, Jing Zhou.

Podocyte injury, which promotes progressive nephropathy, is considered a key factor in the progression of diabetic nephropathy. The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling cascade controls cell growth, survival and metabolism. The present study investigated the role of mTOR signaling in regulating high glucose (HG)-induced podocyte injury. MTT assay and flow cytometry assay results indicated that HG significantly increased podocyte viability and apoptosis. HG effects on podocytes were suppressed by mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) inhibitor, rapamycin, and further suppressed by dual mTORC1 and mTORC2 inhibitor, KU0063794, when compared with podocytes that received mannitol treatment. In addition, western blot analysis revealed that the expression levels of Thr-389-phosphorylated p70S6 kinase (p-p70S6K) and phosphorylated Akt (p-Akt) were significantly increased by HG when compared with mannitol treatment. Notably, rapamycin significantly inhibited HG-induced p-p70S6K expression, but did not significantly impact p-Akt expression. However, KU0063794 significantly inhibited the HG-induced p-p70S6K and p-Akt expression levels. Furthermore, the expression of ezrin was significantly reduced by HG when compared with mannitol treatment; however, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) expression was significantly increased. Immunofluorescence analysis on ezrin and α-SMA supported the results of western blot analysis. KU0063794, but not rapamycin, suppressed the effect of HG on the expression levels of ezrin and α-SMA. Thus, it was suggested that the increased activation of mTOR signaling mediated HG-induced podocyte injury. In addition, the present findings suggest that the mTORC1 and mTORC2 signaling pathways may be responsible for the cell viability and apoptosis, and that the mTORC2 pathway could be primarily responsible for the regulation of cytoskeleton-associated proteins.

Keywords: diabetic nephropathy; high glucose; mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1; mammalian target of rapamycin complex 2; podocyte injury

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3892/etm.2019.7236

Neurotox Res. 2019 Mar 29.

Dynasore Suppresses mTORC1 Activity and Induces Autophagy to Regulate the Clearance of Protein Aggregates in Neurodegenerative Diseases.

Yang Chen, Shiqiang Xu, Nana Wang, Qilian Ma, Panpan Peng, Yunhao Yu, Li Zhang, Zheng Ying, Hongfeng Wang.

Autophagy is an important cellular protein control process, which plays a key role in the regulation of cell homeostasis and pathogenesis of many human diseases including neurodegenerative diseases. Reduced autophagic activity and abnormal protein aggregation are common features of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and Huntington's disease. Therefore, pharmacological regulation of overall autophagy may be helpful for effective treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. In the present study, we find Dynasore, a potent inhibitor of dynamin, can repress the lysosomal localization of mTOR and block the activity of mTORC1, which in turn enhances the nuclear translocation of the master regulators of autophagy including TFE3 and TFEB. We find that autophagic flux is upregulated in Dynasore-treated cells. Moreover, treatment of Dynasore significantly promotes the clearance of protein aggregates formed by mutant huntingtin protein containing expanded polyglutamine (polyQ), but not damaged mitochondria. In contrast, treatment with Dynasore has no effect on the clearance of polyQ aggregates of mutant huntingtin in ATG5-depleted cells, in which autophagy is defective. Taken together, our results indicate that Dynasore affects autophagic degradation of neurodegenerative disease-associated proteins by regulating mTORC1-TFEB signaling.

Keywords: Autophagy; Lysosome; Neurodegenerative disease; TFEB; mTORC1

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12640-019-00027-9

Autophagy. 2019 Mar 25. 1-14

Targeted interplay between bacterial pathogens and host autophagy.

Padhmanand Sudhakar, Anne-Claire Jacomin, Isabelle Hautefort, Siva Samavedam, Koorosh Fatemian, Eszter Ari, Leila Gul, Amanda Demeter, Emily Jones, Tamas Korcsmaros, Ioannis P Nezis.

Due to the critical role played by autophagy in pathogen clearance, pathogens have developed diverse strategies to subvert it. Despite previous key findings of bacteria-autophagy interplay, asystems-level insight into selective targeting by the host and autophagy modulation by the pathogens is lacking. We predicted potential interactions between human autophagy proteins and effector proteins from 56 pathogenic bacterial species by identifying bacterial proteins predicted to have recognition motifs for selective autophagy receptors SQSTM1/p62, CALCOCO2/NDP52 and MAP1LC3/LC3. Using structure-based interaction prediction, we identified bacterial proteins capable to modify core autophagy components. Our analysis revealed that autophagy receptors in general potentially target mostly genus-specific proteins, and not those present in multiple genera. The complementarity between the predicted SQSTM1/p62 and CALCOCO2/NDP52 targets, which has been shown for Salmonella, Listeria and Shigella, could be observed across other pathogens. This complementarity potentially leaves the host more susceptible to chronic infections upon the mutation of autophagy receptors. Proteins derived from enterotoxigenic and non-toxigenic Bacillus outer membrane vesicles indicated that autophagy targets pathogenic proteins rather than non-pathogenic ones. We also observed apathogen-specific pattern as to which autophagy phase could be modulated by specific genera. We found intriguing examples of bacterial proteins that could modulate autophagy, and in turn being targeted by autophagy as ahost defense mechanism. We confirmed experimentally an interplay between a Salmonella protease, YhjJ and autophagy. Our comparative meta-analysis points out key commonalities and differences in how pathogens could affect autophagy and how autophagy potentially recognizes these pathogenic effectors. Abbreviations: ATG5: autophagy related 5; CALCOCO2/NDP52: calcium binding and coiled-coil domain 2; GST: glutathione S-transferase; LIR: MAP1LC3/LC3-interacting region; MAP1LC3/LC3: microtubule associated protein 1 light chain 3 alpha; OMV: outer membrane vesicles; SQSTM1/p62: sequestosome 1; SCV: Salmonella containing vesicle; TECPR1: tectonin beta-propeller repeat containing 1; YhjJ: hypothetical zinc-protease.

Keywords: Autophagy; CALCOCO2/NDP52; MAP1LC3/LC3; MAP1LC3/LC3-interacting region motif; SQSTM1/p62; bacterial regulation of host; interplay; microbiota; pathogen recognition

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15548627.2019.1590519

Autophagy. 2019 Mar 27. 1-20

Mitochondrial respiratory chain deficiency inhibits lysosomal hydrolysis.

Lorena Fernandez-Mosquera, King Faisal Yambire, Renata Couto, Leonardo Pereyra, Kamil Pabis, Amy H Ponsford, Cátia V Diogo, Massimiliano Stagi, Ira Milosevic, Nuno Raimundo.

Mitochondria are key organelles for cellular metabolism, and regulate several processes including cell death and macroautophagy/autophagy. Here, we show that mitochondrial respiratory chain (RC) deficiency deactivates AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK, a key regulator of energy homeostasis) signaling in tissue and in cultured cells. The deactivation of AMPK in RC-deficiency is due to increased expression of the AMPK-inhibiting protein FLCN (folliculin). AMPK is found to be necessary for basal lysosomal function, and AMPK deactivation in RC-deficiency inhibits lysosomal function by decreasing the activity of the lysosomal Ca2+ channel MCOLN1 (mucolipin 1). MCOLN1 is regulated by phosphoinositide kinase PIKFYVE and its product PtdIns(3,5)P2, which is also decreased in RC-deficiency. Notably, reactivation of AMPK, in a PIKFYVE-dependent manner, or of MCOLN1 in RC-deficient cells, restores lysosomal hydrolytic capacity. Building on these data and the literature, we propose that downregulation of the AMPK-PIKFYVE-PtdIns(3,5)P2-MCOLN1 pathway causes lysosomal Ca2+ accumulation and impaired lysosomal catabolism. Besides unveiling a novel role of AMPK in lysosomal function, this study points to the mechanism that links mitochondrial malfunction to impaired lysosomal catabolism, underscoring the importance of AMPK and the complexity of organelle cross-talk in the regulation of cellular homeostasis. Abbreviation: ΔΨm: mitochondrial transmembrane potential; AMP: adenosine monophosphate; AMPK: AMP-activated protein kinase; ATG5: autophagy related 5; ATP: adenosine triphosphate; ATP6V0A1: ATPase, H+ transporting, lysosomal, V0 subbunit A1; ATP6V1A: ATPase, H+ transporting, lysosomal, V0 subbunit A; BSA: bovine serum albumin; CCCP: carbonyl cyanide-m-chlorophenylhydrazone; CREB1: cAMP response element binding protein 1; CTSD: cathepsin D; CTSF: cathepsin F; DMEM: Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium; DMSO: dimethyl sulfoxide; EBSS: Earl's balanced salt solution; ER: endoplasmic reticulum; FBS: fetal bovine serum; FCCP: carbonyl cyanide-p-trifluoromethoxyphenolhydrazone; GFP: green fluorescent protein; GPN: glycyl-L-phenylalanine 2-naphthylamide; LAMP1: lysosomal associated membrane protein 1; MAP1LC3B/LC3B: microtubule associated protein 1 light chain 3 beta; MCOLN1/TRPML1: mucolipin 1; MEF: mouse embryonic fibroblast; MITF: melanocyte inducing transcription factor; ML1N*2-GFP: probe used to detect PtdIns(3,5)P2 based on the transmembrane domain of MCOLN1; MTORC1: mechanistic target of rapamycin kinase complex 1; NDUFS4: NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase subunit S4; OCR: oxygen consumption rate; PBS: phosphate-buffered saline; pcDNA: plasmid cytomegalovirus promoter DNA; PCR: polymerase chain reaction; PtdIns3P: phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate; PtdIns(3,5)P2: phosphatidylinositol-3,5-bisphosphate; PIKFYVE: phosphoinositide kinase, FYVE-type zinc finger containing; P/S: penicillin-streptomycin; PVDF: polyvinylidene fluoride; qPCR: quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction; RFP: red fluorescent protein; RNA: ribonucleic acid; SDS-PAGE: sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis; shRNA: short hairpin RNA; siRNA: small interfering RNA; TFEB: transcription factor EB; TFE3: transcription factor binding to IGHM enhancer 3; TMRM: tetramethylrhodamine, methyl ester, perchlorate; ULK1: unc-51 like autophagy activating kinase 1; ULK2: unc-51 like autophagy activating kinase 2; UQCRC1: ubiquinol-cytochrome c reductase core protein 1; v-ATPase: vacuolar-type H+-translocating ATPase; WT: wild-type.

Keywords: AMPK; MCOLN1; calcium; lysosomal Ca; lysosomes; mitochondria; mitochondrial respiratory chain deficiency

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15548627.2019.1586256

Aging Cell. 2019 Mar 25. e12947

SLC1A5 glutamine transporter is a target of MYC and mediates reduced mTORC1 signaling and increased fatty acid oxidation in long-lived Myc hypomorphic mice.

Xiaoai Zhao, Anna P Petrashen, Jennifer A Sanders, Abigail L Peterson, John M Sedivy.

Mice that express reduced levels of the c-Myc gene (Myc+/- heterozygotes) are long-lived. Myc hypomorphic mice display reduced rates of protein translation and decreased activity of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) complex 1 (mTORC1). Given the prominent effect of mTOR on aging, lower mTORC1 activity could contribute to the exceptional longevity and enhanced healthspan of Myc+/- animals. However, given the downstream position of MYC in these signaling cascades, the mechanism through which mTORC1 activity is downregulated in Myc+/- mice is not understood. We report that the high-affinity glutamine transporter SLC1A5, which is critical for activation of mTORC1 activity by amino acids, is a transcriptional target of MYC. Myc+/- cells display decreased Slc1a5 gene expression that leads to lower glutamine uptake and consequently reduced mTORC1 activity. Decreased mTORC1 activity in turn mediates an elevation of fatty acid oxidation (FAO) by indirectly upregulating the expression of carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1a (Cpt1a) that mediates the rate-limiting step of β-oxidation. Increased FAO has been noted in a number of long-lived mouse models. Taken together, our results show that transcriptional feedback loops regulated by MYC modulate upstream signaling pathways such as mTOR and impact FAO on an organismal level.

Keywords: MYC gene; fatty acid oxidation; genetic models; mTOR signaling; metabolic regulation; mouse longevity

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/acel.12947

Life Sci Alliance. 2019 Apr;pii: e201800257. [Epub ahead of print]2(2):

The PI3K and MAPK/p38 pathways control stress granule assembly in a hierarchical manner.

Alexander Martin Heberle, Patricia Razquin Navas, Miriam Langelaar-Makkinje, Katharina Kasack, Ahmed Sadik, Erik Faessler, Udo Hahn, Philip Marx-Stoelting, Christiane A Opitz, Christine Sers, Ines Heiland, Sascha Schäuble, Kathrin Thedieck.

All cells and organisms exhibit stress-coping mechanisms to ensure survival. Cytoplasmic protein-RNA assemblies termed stress granules are increasingly recognized to promote cellular survival under stress. Thus, they might represent tumor vulnerabilities that are currently poorly explored. The translation-inhibitory eIF2α kinases are established as main drivers of stress granule assembly. Using a systems approach, we identify the translation enhancers PI3K and MAPK/p38 as pro-stress-granule-kinases. They act through the metabolic master regulator mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) to promote stress granule assembly. When highly active, PI3K is the main driver of stress granules; however, the impact of p38 becomes apparent as PI3K activity declines. PI3K and p38 thus act in a hierarchical manner to drive mTORC1 activity and stress granule assembly. Of note, this signaling hierarchy is also present in human breast cancer tissue. Importantly, only the recognition of the PI3K-p38 hierarchy under stress enabled the discovery of p38's role in stress granule formation. In summary, we assign a new pro-survival function to the key oncogenic kinases PI3K and p38, as they hierarchically promote stress granule formation.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26508/lsa.201800257