The cause of type I diabetes continues to be a focus of investigation. Studies have revealed that interferon (IFN)-α in pancreatic islets after viral infection or treatment with double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), a mimic of viral infection, is associated with the onset of type I diabetes. However, how IFN-α contributes to the onset of type I diabetes is obscure. In this study, we found that 2-5A dependent RNase L (RNase L), an IFN-α-inducible enzyme that functions in the antiviral and antiproliferative activities of IFN, played an important role in dsRNA-induced onset of type I diabetes. By using RNase L deficient, rat insulin promoter (RIP)-B7.1 transgenic mice which are more vulnerable to environmental harmful factors such as viral infection, we demonstrated that deficiency of RNase L in mice resulted in a significant delay of diabetes onset induced by polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid (poly I:C), a type of synthetic dsRNA, and streptozotocin (STZ), a drug which can artificially induce type I-like diabetes in experimental animals. Immunohistochemical staining showed that the population of infiltrated CD8+ T-cells was remarkably reduced in the islets of RNase L deficient mice, suggesting that RNase L may contribute to type I diabetes onset through regulating immune responses. Furthermore, RNase L was responsible for the expression of certain proinflammatory genes in the pancreas in induced conditions. Our findings provide new insight into the molecular mechanism underlying β-cells destruction and may suggest novel therapeutic strategies for treatment and prevention of the disease based on the selective regulation and inhibition of RNase L.
Copalic acid, one of the diterpenoid acids in copaiba oil, inhibited the chaperone function of α-crystallin and heat shock protein 27kD (HSP27). It also showed potent activity in decreasing an HSP27 client protein, androgen receptor (AR), which makes it useful in prostate cancer treatment or prevention. To develop potent drug candidates to decrease the AR level in prostate cancer cells, more copalic acid analogs were synthesized. Using the level of AR as the readout, 15 of the copalic acid analogs were screened and two compounds were much more potent than copalic acid. The compounds also dose-dependently inhibited AR positive prostate cancer cell growth. Furthermore, they inhibited the chaperone activity of α-crystallin as well.
The histone acetyltransferase (HAT) subunit of coactivator complex SAGA, Gcn5, stimulates eviction of promoter nucleosomes at certain highly expressed yeast genes, including those activated by transcription factor Gcn4 in amino acid-deprived cells; however, the importance of other HAT complexes in this process was poorly understood. Analyzing mutations that disrupt the integrity or activity of HAT complexes NuA4 or NuA3, or HAT Rtt109, revealed that only NuA4 acts on par with Gcn5, and functions additively, in evicting and repositioning promoter nucleosomes and stimulating transcription of starvation-induced genes. NuA4 is generally more important than Gcn5, however, in promoter nucleosome eviction, TBP recruitment, and transcription at most other genes expressed constitutively. NuA4 also predominates over Gcn5 in stimulating TBP recruitment and transcription of genes categorized as principally dependent on the cofactor TFIID versus SAGA, except for the most highly expressed subset including ribosomal protein genes, where Gcn5 contributes strongly to PIC assembly and transcription. Both SAGA and NuA4 are recruited to promoter regions of starvation-induced genes in a manner that might be feedback controlled by their HAT activities. Our findings reveal an intricate interplay between these two HATs in nucleosome eviction, PIC assembly, and transcription that differs between the starvation-induced and basal transcriptomes.
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