No abstract

BackgroundDNA damage such as double-stranded DNA breaks (DSBs) has been reported to stimulate mitochondrial biogenesis. However, the underlying mechanism is poorly understood. The major player in response to DSBs is ATM (ataxia telangiectasia mutated). Upon sensing DSBs, ATM is activated through autophosphorylation and phosphorylates a number of substrates for DNA repair, cell cycle regulation and apoptosis. ATM has been reported to phosphorylate the α subunit of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), which senses AMP/ATP ratio in cells, and can be activated by upstream kinases. Here we provide evidence for a novel role of ATM in mitochondrial biogenesis through AMPK activation in response to etoposide-induced DNA damage.Methodology/Principal FindingsThree pairs of human ATM+ and ATM- cells were employed. Cells treated with etoposide exhibited an ATM-dependent increase in mitochondrial mass as measured by 10-N-Nonyl-Acridine Orange and MitoTracker Green FM staining, as well as an increase in mitochondrial DNA content. In addition, the expression of several known mitochondrial biogenesis regulators such as the major mitochondrial transcription factor NRF-1, PGC-1α and TFAM was also elevated in response to etoposide treatment as monitored by RT-PCR. Three pieces of evidence suggest that etoposide-induced mitochondrial biogenesis is due to ATM-dependent activation of AMPK. First, etoposide induced ATM-dependent phosphorylation of AMPK α subunit at Thr172, indicative of AMPK activation. Second, inhibition of AMPK blocked etoposide-induced mitochondrial biogenesis. Third, activation of AMPK by AICAR (an AMP analogue) stimulated mitochondrial biogenesis in an ATM-dependent manner, suggesting that ATM may be an upstream kinase of AMPK in the mitochondrial biogenesis pathway.Conclusions/SignificanceThese results suggest that activation of ATM by etoposide can lead to mitochondrial biogenesis through AMPK activation. We propose that ATM-dependent mitochondrial biogenesis may play a role in DNA damage response and ROS regulation, and that defect in ATM-dependent mitochondrial biogenesis could contribute to the manifestations of A-T disease.

Autophagy is a lysosome-dependent cellular degradation process. Organisms bearing deletions of the essential autophagy genes exhibit various pathological conditions, including cancer in mammals and shortened life span in C. elegans. The direct cause for these phenotypes is not clear. Here we used yeast as a model system to characterize the cellular consequence of ATG (autophagy-related) gene deletions. We found that the atg mutant strains, atg1D, atg6D, atg8D and atg12D, showed defects related to mitochondrial biology. These strains were unable to degrade mitochondria in stationary culture. In non-fermentable medium, which requires mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation for survival, these atg strains showed a growth defect with an increased cell population at the G 1 phase of the cell cycle. The cells had lower oxygen consumption rates and reduced mitochondrial electron transport chain activities. Under these growth conditions, the atg strains had lower mitochondrial membrane potential. In addition, these mutants generated higher levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and they were prone to accumulate dysfunctional mitochondria. This study clearly indicates that an autophagy defect has a functional impact on various aspects of mitochondrial functions and suggests a critical role of autophagy in mitochondria maintenance.

Previously published online as an Autophagy E-Publication: http://www.landesbioscience.com/journals/autophagy/abstract.php?id=3636 KEy woRdSageing, autophagy, lifespan, atg-7, atg-12, bec-1, daf-2 ACKnowLEdGEmEntS

Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) is a potent lipid mediator involved in maintaining homeostasis but also promotion of acute inflammation or immune suppression in chronic inflammation and cancer. NLRP3 inflammasome plays an important role in host defense. Uncontrolled activation of NLRP3 inflammasome, due to mutations in the NLRP3 gene causes cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes (CAPS). Here, we showed that NLRP3 inflammasome activation is inhibited by PGE2 in human primary monocyte-derived macrophages. This effect was mediated through prostaglandin E receptor 4 (EP4) and an increase in intracellular cAMP, independently of protein kinase A (PKA) or exchange protein directly activated by cAMP (Epac). A specific agonist of EP4 mimicked, while its antagonist or EP4 knockdown reversed PGE2-mediated NLRP3 inhibition. PGE2 caused an increase in intracellular cAMP. Blockade of adenylate cyclase by its inhibitor reversed PGE2-mediated NLRP3 inhibition. Increase of intracellular cAMP by an activator of adenylate cyclase or an analog of cAMP, or a blockade of cAMP degradation by phosphodiesterase inhibitor decreased NLRP3 activation. PKA or Epac agonists did not mimic and their antagonists did not reverse PGE2-mediated NLRP3 inhibition. In addition, constitutive IL-1β secretion from LPS-primed PBMCs of CAPS patients was substantially reduced by high doses of PGE2. Moreover, blocking cytosolic phospholipase A2α by its inhibitor or siRNA or inhibiting cyclooxygenase 2, resulting in inhibition of endogenous PGE2 production, caused an increase in NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Our results suggest that PGE2 might play a role in maintaining homeostasis during the resolution phase of inflammation and might serve as an autocrine and paracrine regulator.

Inflammatory lipid mediators such as prostaglandins and leukotrienes play crucial roles in the pathogenesis of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation. Cytosolic phospholipase A 2 (cPLA 2 ) is a key enzyme in the generation of pro-inflammatory lipid mediators. Here, we found that Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is essential for LPS-induced cPLA 2 activation and lipid release. Inhibition of TLR4 protein expression by TLR4 small interfering RNA or neutralization of TLR4 by the specific antibody against TLR4/MD2 blocked cPLA 2 phosphorylation and cPLA 2 -hydrolyzed arachidonic acid release. Furthermore, activation of the TLR4 signaling pathway by LPS regulated cPLA 2 activation and lipid release. cPLA 2 phosphorylation and cPLA 2 -hydrolyzed lipid release were significantly impaired when TLR4 adaptor protein, either MyD88 or TRIF, was knocked down in LPS-stimulated macrophages. Similarly, LPS-induced arachidonate release was inhibited in cells transfected with a dominant-negative MyD88 or TRIF construct. Subsequently, cPLA 2 activation could be suppressed by inhibition of the TLR4 adaptor protein-directed p38 and ERK MAPK pathways. These findings suggest that, in LPS-induced inflammation, the TLR4-mediated MyD88-and TRIF-dependent MAPK pathways result in cPLA 2 activation and production of pro-inflammatory lipid mediators.

Recent work has demonstrated that the signal recognition particle (SRP) is required for the efficient insertion of many proteins into the Escherichia coli inner membrane (IM). Based on an analogy to eukaryotic SRP, it is likely that bacterial SRP binds to inner membrane proteins (IMPs) co-translationally and then targets them to protein transport channels ("translocons"). Here we present evidence that SecA, which has previously been shown to facilitate the export of proteins targeted in a post-translational fashion, is also required for the membrane insertion of proteins targeted by SRP. The introduction of SecA mutations into strains that have modest SRP deficiencies produced a synthetic lethal effect, suggesting that SecA and SRP might function in the same biochemical pathway. Consistent with this explanation, depletion of SecA by inactivating a temperature-sensitive amber suppressor in a secA am strain completely blocked the membrane insertion of AcrB, a protein that is targeted by SRP. In the absence of substantial SecA, pulse-labeled AcrB was retained in the cytoplasm even after a prolonged chase period and was eventually degraded. Although protein export was also severely impaired by SecA depletion, the observation that more than 20% of the OmpA molecules were translocated properly showed that translocons were still active. Taken together, these results imply that SecA plays a much broader role in the transport of proteins across the E. coli IM than has been previously recognized.Proteins that are destined to be translocated across or inserted into the bacterial inner membrane (IM) 1 are targeted to transport sites by multiple mechanisms. In Escherichia coli, many secreted proteins are targeted to the IM by molecular chaperones such as SecB, which keep them in a loosely folded, translocation-competent conformation (1, 2). The chaperonebased targeting pathways promote the translocation of fully synthesized proteins in vitro and probably also function in a post-translational fashion at least to some extent in vivo (3, 4). By contrast, recent studies have suggested that a variety of inner membrane proteins (IMPs) are targeted to the membrane by an essential ribonucleoprotein complex that is closely related to the eukaryotic signal recognition particle (SRP) (5-7). In mammalian cells, SRP is a complex composed of six polypeptides and a single RNA that targets proteins to the secretory pathway in a strictly co-translational fashion (reviewed in Ref. 8). The 54 kDa subunit of SRP (SRP54) binds to signal sequences of nascent polypeptides and guides ribosome-nascent chain complexes to transport sites in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) via an interaction with the membrane-bound SRP receptor. Although the SRP found in E. coli and many other bacterial species contains only a single protein (a homolog of SRP54 called "Ffh") and a small RNA ("4.5 S RNA") (9), many aspects of its function appear to be conserved, including cotranslational binding to substrates (10) and a specific interaction with a homolog of the SRP r...

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae Pif1p DNA helicase is the prototype member of a helicase subfamily conserved from yeast to humans. S. cerevisiae has two PIF1-like genes, PIF1 itself and RRM3, that have roles in maintenance of telomeric, ribosomal, and mitochondrial DNA. Here we describe the isolation and characterization ofpfh1 + , aSchizosaccharomyces pombe gene that encodes a Pif1-like protein. Pfh1p was the only S. pombe protein with high identity to Saccharomyces Pif1p. Unlike the twoS. cerevisiae Pif1 subfamily proteins, the S. pombe Pfh1p was essential. Like SaccharomycesPif1p, a truncated form of the S. pombe protein had 5′ to 3′ DNA helicase activity. Point mutations in an invariant lysine residue in the ATP binding pocket of Pfh1p had the same phenotype as deleting pfh1 + , demonstrating that the ATPase/helicase activity of Pfh1p was essential. Although mutant spores depleted for Pfh1p proceeded through S phase, they arrested with a terminal cellular phenotype consistent with a postinitiation defect in DNA replication. Telomeric DNA was modestly shortened in the absence of Pfh1p. However, genetic analysis demonstrated that maintenance of telomeric DNA was not the sole essential function of S. pombe Pfh1p.