Expression of type I interferons (IFN) can be induced by DNA damaging agents but the mechanisms and significance of this regulation are not completely understood. We found that the transcription factor IRF3, activated in an ATM-IKKα/β dependent manner, stimulates cell-autonomous IFNβ expression in response to double-stranded DNA breaks. Cells and tissues with accumulating DNA damage produce endogenous IFNβ and stimulate IFN signaling in vitro and in vivo. In turn, IFN acts to amplify DNA damage responses, activate the p53 pathway, promote senescence and inhibit stem cells function in response to telomere shortening. Inactivation of the IFN pathway abrogates the development of diverse progeric phenotypes and extends the life span of Terc knockout mice. These data identify DNA damage response-induced IFN signaling as a critical mechanism that links accumulating DNA damage with senescence and premature aging.

SUMMARY Autophagy is crucial for maintaining cell homeostasis. However, the precise mechanism underlying autophagy initiation remains to be defined. Here, we demonstrate that glutamine deprivation and hypoxia result in inhibition of mTOR-mediated acetyl-transferase ARD1 S228 phosphorylation, leading to ARD1-dependent phosphoglycerate kinase 1 (PGK1) K388 acetylation and subsequent PGK1-mediated Beclin1 S30 phosphorylation. This phosphorylation enhances ATG14L-associated class III phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase VPS34 activity by increasing the binding of phosphatidylinositol to VPS34. ARD1-dependent PGK1 acetylation and PGK1-mediated Beclin1 S30 phosphorylation are required for glutamine deprivation- and hypoxia-induced autophagy and brain tumorigenesis. Furthermore, PGK1 K388 acetylation levels correlate with Beclin1 S30 phosphorylation levels and poor prognosis in glioblastoma patients. Our study unearthed an important mechanism underlying cellular stress-induced autophagy initiation, in which the protein kinase activity of the metabolic enzyme PGK1 plays an instrumental role, and revealed the significance of the mutual regulation of autophagy and cell metabolism in maintaining cell homeostasis.

Graphical AbstractHighlights d Tumor-derived extracellular vesicles (TEV) downregulate IFNAR1 and CH25H d CH25H acts to restrict TEV uptake and limit the education of healthy cells d Downregulation of CH25H in normal cells promotes melanoma metastasis d Disruption of TEV uptake and education by reserpine elicits anti-metastatic effects SUMMARY Tumor-derived extracellular vesicles (TEV) ''educate'' healthy cells to promote metastases. We found that melanoma TEV downregulated type I interferon (IFN) receptor and expression of IFN-inducible cholesterol 25-hydroxylase (CH25H). CH25H produces 25-hydroxycholesterol, which inhibited TEV uptake. Low CH25H levels in leukocytes from melanoma patients correlated with poor prognosis. Mice incapable of downregulating the IFN receptor and Ch25h were resistant to TEV uptake, TEV-induced pre-metastatic niche, and melanoma lung metastases; however, ablation of Ch25h reversed these phenotypes. An anti-hypertensive drug, reserpine, suppressed TEV uptake and disrupted TEV-induced formation of the pre-metastatic niche and melanoma lung metastases. These results suggest the importance of CH25H in defense against education of normal cells by TEV and argue for the use of reserpine in adjuvant melanoma therapy.

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