Activation of the ATF 6α signaling pathway is initiated by trafficking of ATF 6α from the ER to the Golgi apparatus. Its subsequent proteolysis releases a transcription factor that translocates to the nucleus causing downstream gene activation. How ER retention, Golgi trafficking, and proteolysis of ATF 6α are regulated and whether additional protein partners are required for its localization and processing remain unresolved. Here, we show that ER ‐resident oxidoreductase ER p18 associates with ATF 6α following ER stress and plays a key role in both trafficking and activation of ATF 6α. We find that ER p18 depletion attenuates the ATF 6α stress response. Paradoxically, ER stress accelerates trafficking of ATF 6α to the Golgi in ER p18‐depleted cells. However, the translocated ATF 6α becomes aberrantly processed preventing release of the soluble transcription factor. Hence, we demonstrate that ER p18 monitors ATF 6α ER quality control to ensure optimal processing following trafficking to the Golgi.

Methamphetamine (METH) is a highly addictive drug causing neurodegenerative diseases. METH has been known to be neurotoxic by inducing oxidative stress, free radical, and pro-inflammatory cytokines. Previous studies have shown that METH could induce neuron and glial cell death, especially inducing glial cell-mediated neurotoxicity that plays a critical role in stress-induced central nervous system damage. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to explore the mechanisms of METH-induced cell death in the glial cell. METH-induced glial cells death is mediated via mitochondrial damage pathway. METH activates the upregulation of the Bax, cytochrome c, cleavage caspase 9 and 3 proteins, and downregulation of Bcl-XL protein in cascade. Pretreatment with melatonin, a neurohormone secreted by the pineal gland, effectively reduced glial cell death. Moreover, melatonin increased the Bcl-XL/Bax ratio but reduced the level of cytochrome c, cleavage caspase 9 and 3 proteins. Therefore, these results demonstrated that melatonin could reduce the cytotoxic effect of METH by decreasing the mitochondrial death pathway activation in glial cells. This outcome suggests that melatonin might be beneficial as the neuroprotection in neurodegenerative diseases caused by METH or other pathogens.

-Methamphetamine (METH) is a neurotoxic drug that causes brain damage by inducing neuronal and glial cell death together with glial cell hyperactivity-mediated progressive neurodegeneration. Previous studies have shown that METH induced glial cell hyperactivity and death via oxidative stress, the inflammatory response, and endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER stress) mechanisms, and melatonin could reverse these effects. However, the exact mechanism of the protective role of melatonin in METH-mediated ER stress has not been understood. This study investigated the protective effect of melatonin against METH toxicity-mediated ER stress in glial cells. Our study demonstrated that METH increased glial cell toxicity related to METH-induced ER stress by stimulating the unfolded protein response (UPR) to activate the expression of ER stress transducers, including phosphorylated doublestranded RNA-activated protein kinase (PKR)-like ER kinase (p-PERK), activating transcription factor (ATF6), and phosphorylated inositol-requiring enzyme 1 (p-IRE1). Moreover, the expression of binding immunoglobulin protein (Bip), CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein homologous protein (CHOP), caspase-12, phosphorylated eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 alpha (p-eIF2α) and spliced X-box-binding protein-1 (XBP-1) mRNA were also increased. Melatonin reduced ER stress induced by METH toxicity by reducing the expression of ER stress response genes and proteins in a concentration-dependent manner. In addition, melatonin promoted the expression of Bip chaperone in a concentration-dependent manner. Taken together, our findings suggest that melatonin can protect against ER stress-induced glial cell death induced by METH.

Significance Membrane and secretory proteins are synthesized in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Perturbations to ER function disrupts protein folding, causing misfolded proteins to accumulate, a condition known as ER stress. Cells adapt to stress by activating the unfolded protein response (UPR), which ultimately restores proteostasis. A key player in the UPR response is ATF6α, which requires release from ER retention and modulation of its redox status during activation. Here, we report that ER stress promotes formation of a specific ATF6α dimer, which is preferentially trafficked to the Golgi for processing. We show that ERp18 regulates ATF6α by mitigating its dimerization and trafficking to the Golgi and identify redox-dependent oligomerization of ATF6α as a key mechanism regulating its function during the UPR.