bims-unfpre Biomed News
on Unfolded protein response
Issue of 2020–09–20
ten papers selected by
Susan Logue, University of Manitoba



  1. Cell Rep. 2020 Sep 15. pii: S2211-1247(20)31143-8. [Epub ahead of print]32(11): 108154
      Phosphorylation of the translation initiation factor eIF2α is a rapid and vital response to many forms of stress, including protein-misfolding stress in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER stress). It is believed to cause a general reduction in protein synthesis while enabling translation of few transcripts. Such a reduction of protein synthesis comes with the threat of depleting essential proteins, a risk thought to be mitigated by its transient nature. Here, we find that translation attenuation is not uniform, with cytosolic and mitochondrial ribosomal subunits being prominently downregulated. Translation attenuation of these targets persists after translation recovery. Surprisingly, this occurs without a measurable decrease in ribosomal proteins. Explaining this conundrum, translation attenuation preferentially targets long-lived proteins, a finding not only demonstrated by ribosomal proteins but also observed at a global level. This shows that protein stability buffers the cost of translational attenuation, establishing an evolutionary principle of cellular robustness.
    Keywords:  eIF2α; evolution; integrated stress response; phosphorylation; ribosomal proteins; stress responses; translation; unfolded protein response
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2020.108154
  2. Cells. 2020 Sep 10. pii: E2066. [Epub ahead of print]9(9):
      Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is a result of conditions that imbalance protein homeostasis or proteostasis at the ER, for example ischemia, and is a common event in various human pathologies, including the diseased heart. Cardiac integrity and function depend on the active secretion of mature proteins from a variety of cell types in the heart, a process that requires an intact ER environment for efficient protein folding and trafficking to the secretory pathway. As a consequence of ER stress, most protein secretion by the ER secretory pathway is decreased. Strikingly, there is a select group of proteins that are secreted in greater quantities during ER stress. ER stress resulting from the dysregulation of ER Ca2+ levels, for instance, stimulates the secretion of Ca2+-binding ER chaperones, especially GRP78, GRP94, calreticulin, and mesencephalic astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor (MANF), which play a multitude of roles outside the cell, strongly depending on the cell type and tissue. Here we review current insights in ER stress-induced secretion of proteins, particularly from the heart, and highlight the extracellular functions of these proteins, ranging from the augmentation of cardiac cell viability to the modulation of pro- and anti-apoptotic, oncogenic, and immune-stimulatory cell signaling, cell invasion, extracellular proteostasis, and more. Many of the roles of ER stress-induced protein secretion remain to be explored in the heart. This article is part of a special issue entitled "The Role of Proteostasis Derailment in Cardiac Diseases."
    Keywords:  ER stress; cardiac myocytes; cardiokines; cell signaling; protein secretion; proteostasis; secreted ER chaperones; unfolded protein response (UPR)
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/cells9092066
  3. Glia. 2020 Sep 14.
      The endoplasmic reticulum stress response (ERSR) is activated in various neurodegenerative diseases and/or after CNS traumatic injuries. The ERSR is comprised of three major arms, PERK, IRE-1, and activating transcription factor-6, with the latter two contributing to the unfolded protein response (UPR). PERK activity overlaps with the integrated stress response (ISR) kinases, PKR, HRI, and GCN2 which all signal through, eukaryotic initiation factor 2α, ATF4, and CHOP. All initially attempt to restore endoplasmic reticulum (ER) homeostasis, but if ER stress is unresolved, ATF4/CHOP-mediated cell death is initiated. Here, we investigate the contribution of the inositol-requiring protein-1α-X-box binding protein-1 (XBP1)-mediated UPR signaling pathway to the pathogenesis of spinal cord injury (SCI). We demonstrate that deletion of Xbp1 caused an exacerbated ATF4/CHOP signaling in cultured mouse oligodendrocyte (OL) progenitor cells and enhanced their sensitivity to ER stress. Similar effects were also observed with the Xbp1 pathway inhibitor toyocamycin. Furthermore, OL lineage-specific loss of Xbp1 resulted in enhanced ISR in mice that underwent moderate contusive SCI at the T9 level. Consistently, post-injury recovery of hindlimb locomotion and white matter sparing were reduced in OL Xbp1-deficient mice, which correlated with chronically decreased relative density of OPCs and OLs at the injury epicenter at 6 weeks post-SCI. We conclude that the IRE1-XBP1-mediated UPR signaling pathway contributes to restoration of ER homeostasis in OLs and is necessary for enhanced white matter sparing and functional recovery post-SCI.
    Keywords:  ERSR; ISR; SCI; UPR; Xbp1; oligodendrocytes
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/glia.23907
  4. Nat Commun. 2020 09 15. 11(1): 4639
      The ability to detect, respond and adapt to mitochondrial stress ensures the development and survival of organisms. Caenorhabditis elegans responds to mitochondrial stress by activating the mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPRmt) to buffer the mitochondrial folding environment, rewire the metabolic state, and promote innate immunity and lifespan extension. Here we show that HDA-1, the C. elegans ortholog of mammalian histone deacetylase (HDAC) is required for mitochondrial stress-mediated activation of UPRmt. HDA-1 interacts and coordinates with the genome organizer DVE-1 to induce the transcription of a broad spectrum of UPRmt, innate immune response and metabolic reprogramming genes. In rhesus monkey and human tissues, HDAC1/2 transcript levels correlate with the expression of UPRmt genes. Knocking down or pharmacological inhibition of HDAC1/2 disrupts the activation of the UPRmt and the mitochondrial network in mammalian cells. Our results underscore an evolutionarily conserved mechanism of HDAC1/2 in modulating mitochondrial homeostasis and regulating longevity.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18501-w
  5. Glia. 2020 Sep 16.
      The integrated unfolded protein response (UPR) and endoplasmic reticulum associated degradation (ERAD) is the principle mechanisms that maintain endoplasmic reticulum (ER) homeostasis. Schwann cells (SCs) must produce an enormous amount of myelin proteins via the ER to assemble and maintain myelin structure; however, it is unclear how SCs maintain ER homeostasis. It is known that Suppressor/Enhancer of Lin-12-like (Sel1L) is necessary for the ERAD activity of the Sel1L- hydroxymethylglutaryl reductase degradation protein 1(Hrd1) complex. Herein, we showed that Sel1L deficiency in SCs impaired the ERAD activity of the Sel1L-Hrd1 complex and led to ER stress and activation of the UPR. Interestingly, Sel1L deficiency had no effect on actively myelinating SCs during development, but led to later-onset mature SC apoptosis and demyelination in the adult PNS. Moreover, inactivation of the pancreatic ER kinase (PERK) branch of the UPR did not influence the viability and function of actively myelinating SCs, but resulted in exacerbation of ER stress and apoptosis of mature SCs in SC-specific Sel1L deficient mice. These findings suggest that the integrated UPR and ERAD is dispensable to actively myelinating SCs during development, but is necessary for maintaining ER homeostasis and the viability and function of mature SCs in adults.
    Keywords:  ERAD; PERK; Schwann cells; Sel1L; UPR; myelin
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/glia.23910
  6. FEMS Yeast Res. 2020 Sep 14. pii: foaa053. [Epub ahead of print]
      Dysfunction or capacity shortage of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is cumulatively called ER stress and provokes the unfolded protein response (UPR). In various yeast species, the ER-located transmembrane protein Ire1 is activated upon ER stress and performs the splicing reaction of HAC1 mRNA, the mature form of which is translated into a transcription factor protein that is responsible for the transcriptome change on the UPR. Here we carefully assessed the splicing of HAC1 mRNA in Pichia pastoris (Komagataella phaffii) cells. We found that, inconsistent with previous reports by others, the HAC1 mRNA was substantially, but partially, spliced even without ER-stressing stimuli. Unlike Saccharomyces cerevisiae, growth of P. pastoris was significantly retarded by the IRE1-gene knockout mutation. Moreover, P. pastoris cells seemed to push more abundant proteins into the secretory pathway than S. cerevisiae cells. We also suggest that P. pastoris Ire1 has the ability to control its activity stringently in an ER stress-dependent manner. We thus propose that P. pastoris cells are highly ER-stressed possibly because of the high load of endogenous proteins into the ER.
    Keywords:  endoplasmic reticulum; pichia pastoris; protein folding; protein secretion; unfolded protein response
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1093/femsyr/foaa053
  7. Sci Adv. 2020 Jul;pii: eabb8725. [Epub ahead of print]6(31):
      Autophagy is involved in the occurrence and development of tumors. Here, a pH-responsive polymersome codelivering hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and tunicamycin (Tuni) drugs is developed to simultaneously induce endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and autophagic flux blockade for achieving an antitumor effect and inhibiting tumor metastasis. The pH response of poly(β-amino ester) and HCQ synergistically deacidifies the lysosomes, thereby blocking the fusion of autophagosomes and lysosomes and lastly blocking autophagic flux. The function mechanism of regulating autophagy was systematically investigated on orthotopic luciferase gene-transfected, 4T1 tumor-bearing BALB/c mice through Western blot and immunohistochemistry analyses. The Tuni triggers ER stress to regulate the PERK/Akt signaling pathway to increase the autophagic level. The "autophagic stress" generated by triggering ER stress-induced autophagy and blocking autophagic flux is effective against tumors. The reduced expression of matrix metalloproteinase-2 due to ER stress and reduced focal adhesions turnover due to the blockade of autophagic flux synergistically inhibit tumor metastasis.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abb8725
  8. Sci Rep. 2020 Sep 17. 10(1): 15299
      Upon ER stress cells activate the unfolded protein response through PERK, IRE1 and ATF6. Remarkable effort has been made to delineate the downstream signaling of these three ER stress sensors after activation, but upstream regulation at the ER luminal site still remains mostly undefined. Here we report that the thiol oxidoreductase PDI is mandatory for activation of the PERK pathway in HEK293T as well as in human pancreatic, lung and colon cancer cells. Under ER stress, depletion of PDI selectively abrogated eIF2α phosphorylation, induction of ATF4, CHOP and even BiP. Furthermore, we could demonstrate that PDI prevented degradation of activated PERK by the 26S proteasome and therefore contributes to maintained PERK signaling. As a result of decreased PERK activity, PDI depleted cells showed an increased vulnerability to ER stress induced by chemicals or ionizing radiation in 2D as well as in 3D culture models. We conclude that PDI is an obligatory regulator of the PERK pathway with future therapy implications.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-72259-1
  9. Nat Commun. 2020 09 16. 11(1): 4677
      The Integrated Stress Response (ISR) helps metazoan cells adapt to cellular stress by limiting the availability of initiator methionyl-tRNA for translation. Such limiting conditions paradoxically stimulate the translation of ATF4 mRNA through a regulatory 5' leader sequence with multiple upstream Open Reading Frames (uORFs), thereby activating stress-responsive gene expression. Here, we report the identification of two critical regulators of such ATF4 induction, the noncanonical initiation factors eIF2D and DENR. Loss of eIF2D and DENR in Drosophila results in increased vulnerability to amino acid deprivation, susceptibility to retinal degeneration caused by endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, and developmental defects similar to ATF4 mutants. eIF2D requires its RNA-binding motif for regulation of 5' leader-mediated ATF4 translation. Consistently, eIF2D and DENR deficient human cells show impaired ATF4 protein induction in response to ER stress. Altogether, our findings indicate that eIF2D and DENR are critical mediators of ATF4 translational induction and stress responses in vivo.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18453-1
  10. Cell Death Dis. 2020 Sep 16. 11(9): 764
      Abnormal functional changes in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells are the main causes of many lung diseases. Among, autophagy plays a crucial role. However, the specific molecular regulatory mechanism of autophagy in PASMCs remains unclear. Here, we first demonstrate that BCAT1 played a key role in the autophagy of hypoxic PASMCs and hypoxic model rats. BCAT1-induced activation and accumulation of the autophagy signaling proteins BECN1 and Atg5 by the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress pathway. Interestingly, we discovered that BCAT1 bound IRE1 on the ER to activate expression of its downstream pathway XBP-1-RIDD axis to activate autophagy. More importantly, we identified an RNA-binding protein, zinc finger protein 423, which promoted autophagy by binding adenylate/uridylate (AU)-rich elements in the BCAT1 mRNA 3'-untranslated region. Overall, our results identify BCAT1 as a potential therapeutic target for the clinical treatment of lung diseases and reveal a novel posttranscriptional regulatory mechanism and signaling pathway in hypoxia-induced PASMC autophagy.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41419-020-02930-y