Derailed cytokine and immune cell networks account for organ damage and clinical severity of COVID-19 [1][2][3][4] . Here we show that SARS-CoV-2, like other viruses, evokes cellular senescence as a primary stress response in infected cells. Virus-induced senescence (VIS) is indistinguishable from other forms of cellular senescence and accompanied by a senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), composed of pro-inflammatory cytokines, extracellular matrix-active factors and pro-coagulatory mediators [5][6][7] . COVID-19 patients displayed markers of senescence in their airway mucosa in situ and elevated serum levels of SASP factors. Mirroring COVID-19 hallmark features such as macrophage and neutrophil infiltration, endothelial damage and widespread thrombosis in affected lung tissue 1,8,9 , in vitro assays demonstrated macrophage activation with SASP-reminiscent secretion, complement lysis and SASP-amplifying secondary senescence of endothelial cells, neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation as well as activation of platelets and the clotting cascade in response to supernatant of VIS cells, including SARS-CoV-2-induced senescence. Senolytics such as Navitoclax and Dasatinib/Quercetin selectively eliminated VIS cells, mitigated COVID-19-reminiscent lung disease and reduced inflammation in SARS-CoV-2-driven hamster and mouse models. Our findings mark VIS as pathogenic trigger of COVID-19-related cytokine escalation and organ damage, and suggest senolytic targeting of virus-infected cells as a novel treatment option against SARS-CoV-2 and perhaps other viral infections.The pandemic human pathogenic SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus causes upper respiratory infections and subsequently COVID-19 lung disease that may get further complicated by septic multi-organ failure and comes with significant mortality 10,11 . Escalating immune activation with massive cytokine release seems to drive severe COVID-19 1-3 , possibly more than the virus infection itself. Mechanisms of viral
The cytoplasmically oriented monotopic integral membrane protein stomatin forms high-order oligomers and associates with lipid rafts. To characterize the domains that are involved in oligomerization and detergent-resistant membrane (DRM) association, we expressed truncation and point mutants of stomatin and analyzed their size and buoyancy by ultracentrifugation methods. A small C-terminal region of stomatin that is largely hydrophobic, Ser-Thr-Ile-Val-PhePro-Leu-Pro-Ile (residues 264 -272), proved to be crucial for oligomerization, whereas the N-terminal domain (residues 1-20) and the last 12 C-terminal amino acids (residues 276 -287) were not essential. The introduction of alanine substitutions in the region 264 -272 resulted in the appearance of monomers. Remarkably, only three of these residues, Ile-ValPhe (residues 266 -268), were found to be indispensable for the DRM association. Interestingly, the exchange of Pro-269 and to some extent the residues 270 -272, which are essential for oligomerization, did not affect the DRM association of stomatin. This suggests that the formation of oligomers is not necessary for the association of stomatin with DRMs. Internal deletions near the membrane anchoring domain resulted in the formation of intermediate size oligomers suggesting a conformational interdependence of large parts of the C-terminal region. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching analysis of the tagged, monomeric, non-DRM mutant ST-(1-262)-green fluorescent protein and wild type stomatin StomGFP showed a significantly higher lateral mobility of the truncation mutant in the plasma membrane suggesting a membrane interaction of the respective C-terminal region also in vivo.The 31-kDa integral protein stomatin was first identified as an abundant component of the human erythrocyte membrane (1-3); however, it is also widely expressed in various tissues and cell lines (1, 3-5). The primary structure of 287 amino acids (3, 6) is characterized by a highly charged 24-residue N terminus followed by a 29-residue hydrophobic sequence that is most probably associated with the membrane and the large C-terminal region containing 234 residues. Stomatin has an unusual topology (7), similar to caveolin (8), with the hydrophobic domain forming a putative "hairpin loop" in the lipid bilayer and the N and C termini facing the cytoplasm. Palmitoylation of the cysteine residues Cys-29 and Cys-86 further increases the affinity of stomatin for the membrane (9). The association of stomatin with the lipid droplet phospholipid monolayer (10)
Genome amplification and cellular senescence are commonly associated with pathological processes. While physiological roles for polyploidization and senescence have been described in mouse development, controversy exists over their significance in humans. Here, we describe tetraploidization and senescence as phenomena of normal human placenta development. During pregnancy, placental extravillous trophoblasts (EVTs) invade the pregnant endometrium, termed decidua, to establish an adapted microenvironment required for the developing embryo. This process is critically dependent on continuous cell proliferation and differentiation, which is thought to follow the classical model of cell cycle arrest prior to terminal differentiation. Strikingly, flow cytometry and DNAseq revealed that EVT formation is accompanied with a genome-wide polyploidization, independent of mitotic cycles. DNA replication in these cells was analysed by a fluorescent cell-cycle indicator reporter system, cell cycle marker expression and EdU incorporation. Upon invasion into the decidua, EVTs widely lose their replicative potential and enter a senescent state characterized by high senescence-associated (SA) β-galactosidase activity, induction of a SA secretory phenotype as well as typical metabolic alterations. Furthermore, we show that the shift from endocycle-dependent genome amplification to growth arrest is disturbed in androgenic complete hydatidiform moles (CHM), a hyperplastic pregnancy disorder associated with increased risk of developing choriocarinoma. Senescence is decreased in CHM-EVTs, accompanied by exacerbated endoreduplication and hyperploidy. We propose induction of cellular senescence as a ploidy-limiting mechanism during normal human placentation and unravel a link between excessive polyploidization and reduced senescence in CHM.
Lipid rafts are detergent-resistant, cholesterol-and sphingolipid-rich membrane domains that are involved in important cellular processes such as signal transduction and intracellular trafficking. Stomatin, a major lipid-raft component of erythrocytes and epithelial cells, is also an abundant platelet protein. Microscopical methods and subcellular fractionation showed that stomatin is located mainly at the ␣-granular membrane. The lipid-raft marker proteins flotillin-1 and flotillin-2 were also present in platelets but excluded from ␣ granules. Stomatin and the flotillins were associated with Triton X-100-insoluble lipid rafts. Whereas stomatin was partly soluble in Triton X-100, it was insoluble in the detergents Lubrol and 3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)dimethylamonio]-1-propyl sulfonate (CHAPS). Flotation experiments after CHAPS lysis of platelets revealed a distinct set of lipidraft-associated proteins, which were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ ionization mass spectrometry as stomatin, flotillin-1, flotillin-2, CD36, CD9, integrin ␣ IIb  3 , and the glucose transporter GLUT-3. Stomatin, the flotillins, and CD36 were exclusively present in this lipid-raft fraction. Activation of platelets by calcium ionophore A23187 or thrombin led to translocation of stomatin to the plasma membrane, cleavage by calpain, and specific sorting into released microvesicles. IntroductionStomatin (protein 7.2b, band 7.2), described as a major protein component of the erythrocyte membrane, [1][2][3][4] has been found to be absent from red cell membranes in patients with overhydrated hereditary stomatocytosis. 4,5 However, because normal stomatin messenger RNA is present in the reticulocytes 6 of these patients and stomatocytosis does not occur in stomatin knockout mice, 7 the absence of stomatin is an effect rather than the cause of the disease. Studies in UAC epithelial cells revealed that stomatin forms high-order oligomers and is associated with detergent-resistant membrane microdomains, which are also termed lipid rafts. 8,9 These characteristics of stomatin and its unusual monotopic structure 10 are reminiscent of typical features of the caveolin proteins, which are highly enriched at the cytoplasmic side of caveolae. In erythrocytes, which do not express caveolins, stomatin and the distantly related proteins flotillin-1 and flotillin-2 11 are the major integral membrane proteins of lipid rafts, suggesting important, yet distinct roles for these proteins at the interface between lipid rafts and the cytoskeleton or signaling components. 12 The concept of lipid rafts or membrane microdomains was originally proposed to explain the vectorial transport of glycosyl phosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored proteins to the apical surface in polarized cells. 13,14 In the past decade, numerous studies have established the general characteristics of lipid rafts. [15][16][17][18] These microdomains contain mainly cholesterol and sphingolipids as lipid constituents, which make them insoluble in nonionic detergents, and are specifically...
IL-33, the most recently discovered member of the IL-1 superfamily and ligand for the transmembrane form of ST2 (ST2L), has been linked to several human pathologies including rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, and cardiovascular disease. Deregulated levels of soluble ST2, the natural IL-33 inhibitor, have been reported in sera of preeclamptic patients. However, the role of IL-33 during healthy pregnancy remains elusive. In the current study, IL-33 was detected in the culture supernatants of human placental and decidual macrophages, identifying them as a major source of secreted IL-33 in the uteroplacental unit. Because flow cytometry and immunofluorescence stainings revealed membranous ST2L expression on specific trophoblast populations, we hypothesized that IL-33 stimulates trophoblasts in a paracrine manner. Indeed, BrdU incorporation assays revealed that recombinant human IL-33 significantly increased proliferation of primary trophoblasts as well as of villous cytotrophoblasts and cell column trophoblasts in placental explant cultures. These effects were fully abolished upon addition of soluble ST2. Interestingly, Western blot and immunofluorescence analyses demonstrated that IL-33 activates AKT and ERK1/2 in primary trophoblasts and placental explants. Inhibitors against PI3K (LY294002) and MEK1/2 (UO126) efficiently blocked IL-33–induced proliferation in all model systems used. In summary, with IL-33, we define for the first time, to our knowledge, a macrophage-derived regulator of placental growth during early pregnancy.
The human stomatin-like protein-1 (SLP-1) is a membrane protein with a characteristic bipartite structure containing a stomatin domain and a sterol carrier protein-2 (SCP-2) domain. This structure suggests a role for SLP-1 in sterol/lipid transfer and transport. Because SLP-1 has not been investigated, we first studied the molecular and cell biological characteristics of the expressed protein. We show here that SLP-1 localizes to the late endosomal compartment, like stomatin. Unlike stomatin, SLP-1 does not localize to the plasma membrane. Overexpression of SLP-1 leads to the redistribution of stomatin from the plasma membrane to late endosomes suggesting a complex formation between these proteins. We found that the targeting of SLP-1 to late endosomes is caused by a GYXX⌽ (⌽ being a bulky, hydrophobic amino acid) sorting signal at the N terminus. Mutation of this signal results in plasma membrane localization. SLP-1 and stomatin co-localize in the late endosomal compartment, they co-immunoprecipitate, thus showing a direct interaction, and they associate with detergent-resistant membranes. In accordance with the proposed lipid transfer function, we show that, under conditions of blocked cholesterol efflux from late endosomes, SLP-1 induces the formation of enlarged, cholesterolfilled, weakly LAMP-2-positive, acidic vesicles in the perinuclear region. This massive cholesterol accumulation clearly depends on the SCP-2 domain of SLP-1, suggesting a role for this domain in cholesterol transfer to late endosomes.
High-resolution imaging is essential for analysis of the steps and way stations of cargo transport in in vitro models of the endothelium. In this study, we demonstrate a microfluidic system consisting of two channels horizontally separated by a cell-growth-promoting membrane. Its design allows for high-resolution (down to single-molecule level) imaging using a high numerical aperture objective with a short working distance. To reduce optical aberrations and enable single-molecule-sensitive imaging, an observation window was constructed in the membrane via laser cutting with subsequent structuring using 3D multiphoton lithography for improved cell growth. The upper channel was loaded with endothelial cells under flow conditions, which showed polarization and junction formation. A coculture of human vascular endothelial cells with pericytes was developed that mimics the blood–brain barrier. Finally, this dual channel microfluidics system enabled 3D localization microscopy of the cytoskeleton and 3D single-molecule-sensitive tracing of lipoprotein particles.
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