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The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) network comprises sheets and tubules that are connected by dynamic three-way junctions. Lunapark (Lnp) localizes to and stabilizes ER three-way junctions by antagonizing the small GTPase Atlastin, but how Lnp shapes the ER network is unclear. Here, we used an affinity purification approach and mass spectrometry to identify Lnp as an interacting partner of the ER protein quality control ubiquitin ligase gp78. Accordingly, Lnp purified from mammalian cells has a ubiquitin ligase activity in vitro. Intriguingly, biochemical analyses show that this activity can be attributed not only to associated ubiquitin ligase, but also to an intrinsic ubiquitin ligase activity borne by Lnp itself. This activity is contained in the N-terminal 45 amino acids of Lnp although this segment does not share homology to any known ubiquitin ligase motifs. Despite its interaction with gp78, Lnp does not seem to have a broad function in degradation of misfolded ER proteins. On the other hand, the N-terminal ubiquitin ligase-bearing motif is required for the ER three-way junction localization of Lnp. Our study identifies a new type of ubiquitin ligase and reveals a potential link between ubiquitin and ER morphology regulation.

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Summary AMFR/gp78 and USP13 are a pair of ubiquitin ligase and deubiquitinase that ensure the accuracy of endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation (ERAD). Depletion of USP13 leads to caspase activation and cleavage of the ERAD chaperone BAG6, which is reversed by knockdown of AMFR . However, the mechanism and physiological relevance of this regulation are still unclear. Here, by using the NEDDylator system, we screened out TXN as a substrate of AMFR and USP13 and showed its involvement in regulating CASP3 activation and BAG6 cleavage. Furthermore, we showed that the cleaved N-terminal BAG6 is located in the cytosol and interacts with both LC3B-I and unprocessed form of LC3B (Pro-LC3B) through the LIR1 motif to suppress autophagy. An NMR approach verified the direct interaction between BAG6 LIR1 and LC3B-I or Pro-LC3B. Collectively, our findings uncover a mechanism that converts BAG6 from an ERAD regulator to an autophagy tuner and apoptosis inducer during ER stress.

Streptococcus agalactiae is one of the major causative agents of tilapia streptococcosis, which has caused severe economic losses in aquaculture. Rapid and accurate detection of the pathogen is necessary to limit losses because of this disease. In this study, a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay was developed for the detection of S. agalactiae. Firstly, a set of four primers was designed to target the cfb gene of S. agalactiae. Then, using Bst DNA polymerase, the LAMP assay was performed at 65 C for 60 min and terminated at 80 C for 10 min in a simple water bath. Positive or negative results could be observed by direct visual inspection. There were no cross reactions with other bacterial species, indicating high specificity of the LAMP assay. The sensitivity of the LAMP assay for detecting S. agalactiae was about 20 cells per reaction. Moreover, the developed closed-tube step has greatly improved the LAMP system. The LAMP method was also applied to detect S. agalactiae in infected tilapia tissue, demonstrating usefulness in diagnostics. Overall, this study showed that the cfb-based LAMP assay was an effective method to detect S. agalactiae rapidly.

A 47‐day feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effects of increasing dietary carbohydrates on the growth performance, nutrient metabolism, oxidative status and fillet texture of rice field eel (Monopterus albus). Three isonitrogenous (39%) and isoenergetic diets (17.7 kJ/g) were formulated with 16% (S16), 28% (S28) or 40% (S40) gelatinized starch. Each diet was randomly fed to triplicate cages with 60 fish in each replicate cage. The results suggested that the growth of M. albus was independent of dietary treatments. Higher level of gelatinized starch (40%) displayed a negative impact on intestinal amylase and trypsin enzymes, concurrent with impaired liver function in terms of higher activities of serum alanine aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase. Although the higher gelatinized starch could inhibit the activities of enzymes involved in glycolysis (pyruvate kinase and phosphofructokinase) and gluconeogenesis (fructose‐1,6‐bisphosphatase), the hepatic glycogen content was observed to be positively associated with gelatinized starch level. High gelatinized starch had negative effects on intestinal antioxidant capacity by suppressing the activities of glutathione peroxidase and total superoxide dismutase. In addition, dietary starch could influence the fillet texture of M. albus by affecting hardness, springiness and chewiness. S40 group displayed a significant increase in the hardness of fillet, whilst the chewiness and springiness of fillet in S28 group were remarkably lower than those in the other groups. Overall, these results indicated that M. albus could tolerate 40% gelatinized starch level without significant impacts on growth performance, whilst excessive gelatinized starch might exert negative impacts on digestive enzyme activities and antioxidant capacity after 47 days of feeding.

A high-carbohydrate diet lowers the rearing cost and decreases the ammonia emission into the environment, whereas it can induce liver injury, which can reduce harvest yields and generate economic losses in reared fish species. Macroalgae Saccharina japonica (SJ) has been reported to improve anti-diabetic, but the protective mechanism of dietary SJ against liver injury in fish fed a high-carbohydrate diet has not been studied. Therefore, a 56-day nutritional trial was designed for swamp eel Monopterus albus, which was fed with the normal diet [20% carbohydrate, normal carbohydrate (NC)], a high carbohydrate diet (32% carbohydrate, HC), and a HC diet supplemented with 2.5% SJ (HC-S). The HC diet promoted growth and lowered feed coefficient (FC), whereas it increased hepatosomatic index (HSI) when compared with the NC diet in this study. However, SJ supplementation increased iodine contents in muscle, reduced HSI, and improved liver injury, such as the decrease of glucose (GLU), total bile acid (TBA), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in serum, and glycogen and TBA in the liver. Consistently, histological analysis showed that SJ reduced the area of lipid droplet, glycogen, and collagen fiber in the liver (p < 0.05). Thoroughly, the underlying protective mechanisms of SJ supplementation against HC-induced liver injury were studied by liver transcriptome sequencing coupled with pathway analysis. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs), such as the acetyl-coenzyme A synthetase (acss1), alcohol dehydrogenase (adh), interferon-induced protein with tetratricopeptide repeats 1 (ifit1), aldo-keto reductase family 1 member D1 (akr1d1), cholesterol 7-alpha-monooxygenase (cyp7a1), and UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (ugt), indicated that the pathway of glycolysis/gluconeogenesis was the main metabolic pathway altered in the HC group compared with the NC group. Meanwhile, hepatitis C, primary BA biosynthesis, and drug metabolism-cytochrome P450 were the three main metabolic pathways altered by SJ supplementation when compared with the HC group. Moreover, the BA-targeted metabolomic analysis of the serum BA found that SJ supplementation decreased the contents of taurohyocholic acid (THCA), taurochenodeoxycholic acid (TCDCA), taurolithocholic acid (TLCA), nordeoxycholic acid (NorDCA), and increased the contents of ursocholic acid (UCA), allocholic acid (ACA), and chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA). In particular, the higher contents of UCA, ACA, and CDCA regulated by SJ were associated with lower liver injury. Overall, these results indicate that the 2.5% supplementation of SJ can be recommended as a functional feed additive for the alleviation of liver injury in swamp eel-fed high-carbohydrate diets.