IRE1 couples endoplasmic reticulum unfolded protein load to RNA cleavage events that culminate in the sequence-specific splicing of the Xbp1 mRNA and in the regulated degradation of diverse membrane-bound mRNAs. We report on the identification of a small molecule inhibitor that attains its selectivity by forming an unusually stable Schiff base with lysine 907 in the IRE1 endonuclease domain, explained by solvent inaccessibility of the imine bond in the enzyme-inhibitor complex. The inhibitor (abbreviated 4μ8C) blocks substrate access to the active site of IRE1 and selectively inactivates both Xbp1 splicing and IRE1-mediated mRNA degradation. Surprisingly, inhibition of IRE1 endonuclease activity does not sensitize cells to the consequences of acute endoplasmic reticulum stress, but rather interferes with the expansion of secretory capacity. Thus, the chemical reactivity and sterics of a unique residue in the endonuclease active site of IRE1 can be exploited by selective inhibitors to interfere with protein secretion in pathological settings.8-formyl-umbelliferone | unfolded protein response | high-throughput screening | reversible covalent inhibitor | aldehydes P erturbation of the protein folding environment in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) leads to rectifying changes in gene expression and protein synthesis. These are mediated by an unfolded protein response (UPR), whose most conserved arm is initiated by an ER localized transmembrane protein, IRE1 (1, 2). The lumenal domain of IRE1 senses the perturbation in the ER and transmits the ER stress signal across the ER membrane to the effector cytosolic domain of the protein. This effector domain is endowed with two linked enzymatic activities: a protein kinase and an RNase, and both are activated by ER stress.The most conserved output of IRE1 signaling is the sitespecific cleavage of an mRNA, the product of the yeast HAC1 gene (3) and its metazoan orthologue Xbp1 (4, 5). Cleavage occurs at two distinct sites and is followed by ligation of the 5′ and 3′ fragments to generate an ER stress-dependent spliced mRNA encoding a potent transcription factor. The target genes of spliced XBP1 (and Hac1p) enhance the ability of the ER to cope with unfolded proteins (6) and also act more broadly to upregulate secretory capacity (7). In addition, mammalian IRE1 contributes to the promiscuous degradation of membrane-associated mRNAs in a process known as regulated IRE1-dependent degradation (or RIDD), but whose mechanistic basis and functional consequences are incompletely understood (8, 9).Fluctuating levels of ER stress accompany diverse physiological conditions. In metazoans, IRE1 signaling constitutes one arm of a three-pronged UPR. The other two arms are mediated by the translation initiation factor 2α (eIF2α) kinase PERK, which attenuates ER load by inhibiting protein synthesis in stressed cells, and by a parallel transcriptional pathway mediated by ATF6. Redundancy between the long-term transcriptional programs mediated by the three arms of the UPR has obscured the interp...

SUMMARY Activity-dependent CREB phosphorylation and gene expression are critical for long-term neuronal plasticity. Local signaling at CaV1 channels triggers these events but how information is relayed onward to the nucleus remains unclear. Here we report a novel mechanism that mediates long-distance communication within cells: a shuttle that transports Ca2+/calmodulin from the surface membrane to the nucleus. We show that the shuttle protein is γCaMKII, that its phosphorylation at Thr287 by βCaMKII protects the Ca2+/CaM signal, and that CaN triggers its nuclear translocation. Both βCaMKII and CaN act in close proximity to CaV1 channels, supporting their dominance, while γCaMKII operates as a carrier, not as a kinase. Upon arrival within the nucleus, Ca2+/CaM activates CaMKK and its substrate CaMKIV, the CREB kinase. This mechanism resolves longstanding puzzles about CaM/CaMK-dependent signaling to the nucleus. The significance of the mechanism is emphasized by dysregulation of CaV1, γCaMKII, βCaMKII and CaN in multiple neuropsychiatric disorders.

Optimal functioning of neuronal networks is critical to the complex cognitive processes of memory and executive function that deteriorate in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Here we use cellular and animal models as well as human biospecimens to show that AD-related stressors mediate global disturbances in dynamic intra- and inter-neuronal networks through pathologic rewiring of the chaperome system into epichaperomes. These structures provide the backbone upon which proteome-wide connectivity, and in turn, protein networks become disturbed and ultimately dysfunctional. We introduce the term protein connectivity-based dysfunction (PCBD) to define this mechanism. Among most sensitive to PCBD are pathways with key roles in synaptic plasticity. We show at cellular and target organ levels that network connectivity and functional imbalances revert to normal levels upon epichaperome inhibition. In conclusion, we provide proof-of-principle to propose AD is a PCBDopathy, a disease of proteome-wide connectivity defects mediated by maladaptive epichaperomes.

Growth of axons and dendrites is a dynamic process that involves guidance molecules, adhesion proteins, and neurotrophic factors. Although neurite extension during development has been extensively studied, the intracellular mechanisms that mediate neurite retraction are poorly understood. Here, we show that the proneurotrophin, proNGF, induces acute collapse of growth cones of cultured hippocampal neurons. This retraction is initiated by an interaction between p75NTR and the sortilin family member, SorCS2 (sortilin-related VPS10 domain containing receptor 2). Binding of proNGF to the p75NTR-SorCS2 complex induced growth cone retraction by initiating the dissociation of the guanine-nucleotide exchange factor Trio from the p75NTR- SorCS2 complex, resulting in decreased Rac activity, and consequently, growth cone collapse. The actin-bundling protein fascin also became inactivated, contributing to the destabilization and collapse of actin filaments. These results identify a bifunctional signaling mechanism by which proNGF regulates actin dynamics to modulate neuronal morphology acutely.

Cardiolipin is a specific mitochondrial phospholipid that has a high affinity for proteins and that stabilizes the assembly of supercomplexes involved in oxidative phosphorylation. We found that sequestration of cardiolipin in protein complexes is critical to protect it from degradation. The turnover of cardiolipin is slower by almost an order of magnitude than the turnover of other phospholipids. However, in Barth syndrome, cardiolipin is rapidly degraded via the intermediate monolyso-cardiolipin. Treatments that induce supercomplex assembly decrease the turnover of cardiolipin and the concentration of monolyso-cardiolipin whereas dissociation of supercomplexes has the opposite effect. Our data suggest that cardiolipin is uniquely protected from normal lipid turnover by its association with proteins, but in Barth syndrome, where this association is compromised, cardiolipin becomes unstable, which causes the accumulation of monolyso-cardiolipin.