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BBA - Molecular Basis of Disease (v.1802, #3)

Editorial Board (pp. i).

Host proteins involved in HIV infection: New therapeutic targets by Nathalie Arhel; Frank Kirchhoff (pp. 313-321).

Current treatment of HIV/AIDS consists of a combination of three to five agents targeting different viral proteins, i.e. the reverse transcriptase, protease, integrase and envelope, and aims to suppress viral replication below detectable levels. This “highly active antiretroviral therapy” (HAART) has brought an enormous benefit for life expectancy and quality in HIV-1-infected individuals, at least in industrialized countries. However, significant limitations with regard to efficiency, drug resistance, side effect and costs still exist. Recent data suggest that cellular factors also represent useful targets for therapy. Here, we summarize findings from several genome-wide screens that identified a large number of cellular factors exploited by HIV-1 at each step of its life cycle. Furthermore, we discuss the evidence that humans are equipped with powerful intrinsic defense mechanisms against retroviruses but that HIV-1 has evolved elaborate ways to counteract or evade them. Preventing the use of host cell proteins obligatory for viral replication or strengthening the cellular defense mechanisms may help to reduce viral replication to harmless levels. A better understanding of the host factors that promote or restrict HIV-1 replication may thus lead to the development of novel therapeutics against HIV/AIDS.

Keywords: HIV; Therapy; Protein–protein interactions; Antiviral restrictions

Methionine oxidation stabilizes non-toxic oligomers of α-synuclein through strengthening the auto-inhibitory intra-molecular long-range interactions by Wenbo Zhou; Chunmei Long; Stephen H. Reaney; Donato A. Di Monte; Anthony L. Fink; Vladimir N. Uversky (pp. 322-330).

Oxidative stress and aggregation of the presynaptic protein α-synuclein (α-Syn) are implied in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease and several other neurodegenerative diseases. Various posttranslational modifications, such as oxidation, nitration and truncation, have significant effects on the kinetics of α-Syn fibrillation in vitro. α-Syn is a typical natively unfolded protein, which possesses some residual structure. The existence of long-range intra-molecular interactions between the C-terminal tail (residues 120–140) and the central part of α-Syn (residues 30–100) was recently established (Bertoncini et al. (2005) Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 102, 1430–1435). Since α-Syn has four methionines, two of which (Met 1 and 5) are at the N-terminus and the other two (Met 116 and 127) are in the hydrophobic cluster at the C-terminus of protein, the perturbation of these residues via their oxidation represents a good model for studying the effect of long-range interaction on α-Syn fibril formation. In this paper we show that Met 1, 116, and 127 are more protected from the oxidation than Met 5 likely due to the residual structure in the natively unfolded α-Syn. In addition to the hydrophobic interactions between the C-terminal hydrophobic cluster and hydrophobic central region of α-Syn, there are some long-range electrostatic interactions in this protein. Both of these interactions likely serve as auto-inhibitors of α-Syn fibrillation. Methionine oxidation affects both electrostatic and hydrophobic long-range interactions in α-Syn. Finally, oxidation of methionines by H₂O₂ greatly inhibited α-Syn fibrillation in vitro, leading to the formation of relatively stable oligomers, which are not toxic to dopaminergic and GABAergic neurons.

Keywords: Alpha-synuclein; Methionine oxidation; Parkinson's disease; Protein aggregation; Amyloid fibril

Enhanced ROS production by NADPH oxidase is correlated to changes in antioxidant enzyme activity in human heart failure by Elisabetta Borchi; Valentina Bargelli; Francesca Stillitano; Carla Giordano; Mariangela Sebastiani; Paolo Antonio Nassi; Giulia d'Amati; Elisabetta Cerbai; Chiara Nediani (pp. 331-338).

In pathological conditions, the balance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidants may shift toward a relative increase of ROS, resulting in oxidative stress. Conflicting data are available on antioxidant defenses in human failing heart and they are limited to the left ventricle. Thus, we aimed to investigate and compare the source of oxidant and antioxidant enzyme activities in the right (RV) and left (LV) ventricles of human failing hearts. We found a significant increase in superoxide production only by NADPH oxidase in both failing ventricles, more marked in RV. Despite unchanged mRNA or protein expression, catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities were increased, and their increases reflected the levels of Tyr phosphorylation of the respective enzyme. Manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD) activity appeared unchanged. The increase in NADPH oxidase-dependent superoxide production positively correlated with the activation of both CAT and GPx. However, the slope of the linear correlation ( m) was steeper in LV than in RV for GPx (LV: m=2.416; RV: m=1.485) and CAT (LV: m=1.007; RV: m=0.354). Accordingly, malondialdehyde levels, an indirect index of oxidative stress, were significantly higher in the RV than LV. We conclude that in human failing RV and LV, oxidative stress is associated with activation of antioxidant enzyme activity. This activation is likely due to post-translational modifications and more evident in LV. Overall, these findings suggest a reduced protection of RV against oxidative stress and its potential contribution to the progression toward overt heart failure.

Keywords: NADPH oxidase; Catalase; Glutathione peroxidase; Mn superoxide dismutase; Heart failure

Hepcidin induction limits mobilisation of splenic iron in a mouse model of secondary iron overload by Emilie Camberlein; Emmanuelle Abgueguen; Nadia Fatih; François Canonne-Hergaux; Patricia Leroyer; Bruno Turlin; Martine Ropert; Pierre Brissot; Loreal Olivier Loréal (pp. 339-346).

Venesection has been proposed as a treatment for hepatic iron overload in a number of chronic liver disorders that are not primarily linked to mutations in iron metabolism genes. Our aim was to analyse the impact of venesection on iron mobilisation in a mouse model of secondary iron overload. C57Bl/6 mice were given oral iron supplementation with or without phlebotomy between day 0 (D0) and D22, and the results were compared to controls without iron overload. We studied serum and tissue iron parameters, mRNA levels of hepcidin1, ferroportin, and transferrin receptor 1, and protein levels of ferroportin in the liver and spleen. On D0, animals with iron overload displayed elevations in iron parameters and hepatic hepcidin1 mRNA. By D22, in the absence of phlebotomies, splenic iron had increased, but transferrin saturation had decreased. This was associated with high hepatic hepcidin1 mRNA, suggesting that iron bioavailability decreased due to splenic iron sequestration through ferroportin protein downregulation. After 22days with phlebotomy treatments, control mice displayed splenic iron mobilisation that compensated for the iron lost due to phlebotomy. In contrast, phlebotomy treatments in mice with iron overload caused anaemia due to inadequate iron mobilisation. In conclusion, our model of secondary iron overload led to decreased plasma iron associated with an increase in hepcidin expression and subsequent restriction of iron export from the spleen. Our data support the importance of managing hepcidin levels before starting venesection therapy in patients with secondary iron overload that are eligible for phlebotomy.

Keywords: Abbreviations; CRP; C-Reactive Protein; D0 and D22; Day 0 and Day 22 of phlebotomy treatment; Fpn; Ferroportin; HAMP; Hepcidin; HFE; Haemochromatosis gene; HIC; Hepatic Iron Content; HJV; Hemojuvelin; SIC; Splenic Iron Content; TFR2; Transferrin Receptor 2Liver; Iron overload; Hepcidin; Ferroportin

A single-point mutation in FGFR2 affects cell cycle and Tgfβ signalling in osteoblasts by Kingyin M.A. Lee; Leonor Santos-Ruiz; Patrizia Ferretti (pp. 347-355).

Fgf and Tgfβ are key regulators of bone development. It is not known, however, whether there is a relationship between defective Fgf signalling, resulting in a premature cranial suture fusion, and Tgfβ signalling. We used mouse calvaria osteoblasts carrying a mutation (hFGFR2-C278F) associated with Crouzon and Pfeiffer syndromes to investigate effects of this mutation on cell growth and possible mechanisms underlying it. Mutated osteoblasts displayed reduced S-phase, increased apoptosis and increased differentiation. As Tgfβ signalling appeared to be required in an autocrine/paracrine manner for osteoblast proliferation, we tested the hypothesis that reduced growth might be due, at least in part, to an altered balance between FGF and Tgfβ signalling. Tgfβ expression was indeed decreased in mutated osteoblasts, as compared to osteoblasts carrying the wild type hFGFR2. Treatment with Tgfβ, however, neither increased proliferation in mutated osteoblasts, unlike in controls, nor rescued proliferation in control osteoblasts treated with an Erk1/2 inhibitor. Significantly, Erk2, that is important for proliferation, was reduced relatively to Erk1 in mutated cells. Altogether this study suggests that the hFGFR2-C278F mutation affects the osteoblast ability to respond to Tgfβ stimulation via the Erk pathway and that the overall effect of the mutation is a loss of function.

Keywords: Craniosynostosis; Fibroblast growth factor receptor 2; Mutation; Osteoblast; Proliferation; Transforming growth factor beta

Calpains and proteasomes mediate degradation of ryanodine receptors in a model of cardiac ischemic reperfusion by Zully Pedrozo; Sanchez Gina Sánchez; Natalia Torrealba; Rodrigo Valenzuela; Fernandez Carolina Fernández; Cecilia Hidalgo; Sergio Lavandero; Paulina Donoso (pp. 356-362).

Type-2 ryanodine receptors (RyR2) – the calcium release channels of cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum – have a central role in cardiac excitation–contraction coupling. In the heart, ischemia/reperfusion causes a rapid and significant decrease in RyR2 content but the mechanisms responsible for this effect are not fully understood. We have studied the involvement of three proteolytic systems – calpains, the proteasome and autophagy – on the degradation of RyR2 in rat neonatal cardiomyocyte cultures subjected to simulated ischemia/reperfusion (sI/R). We found that 8h of ischemia followed by 16h of reperfusion decreased RyR2 content by 50% without any changes in RyR2 mRNA. Specific inhibitors of calpains and the proteasome prevented the decrease of RyR2 caused by sI/R, implicating both pathways in its degradation. Proteasome inhibitors also prevented the degradation of calpastatin, the endogenous calpain inhibitor, hindering the activation of calpain induced by calpastatin degradation. Autophagy was activated during sI/R as evidenced by the increase in LC3-II and beclin-1, two proteins involved in autophagosome generation, and in the emergence of GFP-LC3 containing vacuoles in adenovirus GFP-LC3 transduced cardiomyocytes. Selective autophagy inhibition, however, induced even further RyR2 degradation, making unlikely the participation of autophagy in sI/R-induced RyR2 degradation. Our results suggest that calpain activation as a result of proteasome-induced degradation of calpastatin initiates RyR2 proteolysis, which is followed by proteasome-dependent degradation of the resulting RyR2 fragments. The decrease in RyR2 content during ischemia/reperfusion may be relevant to the decrease of heart contractility after ischemia.

Keywords: Calcium release channel; Calpastatin; Neonatal cardiomyocyte; Protease; Protein degradation; Sarcoplasmic reticulum

The bile acid sensor FXR regulates insulin transcription and secretion by Barbara Renga; Andrea Mencarelli; Piero Vavassori; Vincenzo Brancaleone; Stefano Fiorucci (pp. 363-372).

Farnesoid X Receptor plays an important role in maintaining bile acid, cholesterol homeostasis and glucose metabolism. Here we investigated whether FXR is expressed by pancreatic β-cells and regulates insulin signaling in pancreatic β-cell line and human islets. We found that FXR activation induces positive regulatory effects on glucose-induced insulin transcription and secretion by genomic and non-genomic activities. Genomic effects of FXR activation relay on the induction of the glucose regulated transcription factor KLF11. Indeed, results from silencing experiments of KLF11 demonstrate that this transcription factor is essential for FXR activity on glucose-induced insulin gene transcription. In addition FXR regulates insulin secretion by non-genomic effects. Thus, activation of FXR in βTC6 cells increases Akt phosphorylation and translocation of the glucose transporter GLUT2 at plasma membrane, increasing the glucose uptake by these cells. In vivo experiments on Non Obese Diabetic (NOD) mice demonstrated that FXR activation delays development of signs of diabetes, hyperglycemia and glycosuria, by enhancing insulin secretion and by stimulating glucose uptake by the liver. These data established that an FXR-KLF11 regulated pathway has an essential role in the regulation of insulin transcription and secretion induced by glucose.

Keywords: Farnesoid X Receptor; Insulin gene transcription; Insulin secretion; GLUT2; Akt signaling; KLF11

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BBA - Molecular Basis of Disease (v.1802, #3)