The cellular response to unfolded and misfolded proteins in the mitochondrial matrix is poorly understood. Here, we report on a genome-wide RNAi-based screen for genes that signal the mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPR(mt)) in C. elegans. Unfolded protein stress in the mitochondria correlates with complex formation between a homeodomain-containing transcription factor DVE-1 and the small ubiquitin-like protein UBL-5, both of which are encoded by genes required for signaling the UPR(mt). Activation of the UPR(mt) correlates temporally and spatially with nuclear redistribution of DVE-1 and with its enhanced binding to the promoters of mitochondrial chaperone genes. These events and the downstream UPR(mt) are attenuated in animals with reduced activity of clpp-1, which encodes a mitochondrial matrix protease homologous to bacterial ClpP. As ClpP is known to function in the bacterial heat-shock response, our findings suggest that eukaryotes utilize component(s) from the protomitochondrial symbiont to signal the UPR(mt).

Summary Genetic analyses previously implicated the matrix-localized protease ClpP in signaling the stress of protein misfolding in the mitochondrial matrix to activate nuclear encoded mitochondrial chaperone genes in C. elegans (UPRmt). Here we report that haf-1, a gene encoding a mitochondria-localized ATP-binding cassette protein, is required for signaling within the UPRmt and for coping with misfolded protein stress. Peptide efflux from isolated mitochondria was ATP-dependent and required HAF-1 and the protease ClpP. Defective UPRmt signaling in the haf-1 deleted worms was associated with failure of the bZIP protein, ZC376.7, to localize to nuclei in worms with perturbed mitochondrial protein folding, whereas zc376.7(RNAi) strongly inhibited the UPRmt. These observations suggest a simple model whereby perturbation of the protein-folding environment in the mitochondrial matrix promotes ClpP-mediated generation of peptides whose haf-1-dependent export from the matrix contributes to UPRmt signaling across the mitochondrial inner membrane.

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) oxidation 1 (ERO1) transfers disulfides to protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) and is essential for oxidative protein folding in simple eukaryotes such as yeast and worms. Surprisingly, ERO1-deficient mammalian cells exhibit only a modest delay in disulfide bond formation. To identify ERO1-independent pathways to disulfide bond formation, we purified PDI oxidants with a trapping mutant of PDI. PRDX4 stood out in this list, as the related cytosolic peroxiredoxins are known to form disulfides in the presence of hydroperoxides. Mouse embryo fibroblasts lacking ERO1 were intolerant of PRDX4 knockdown. Introduction of wildtype mammalian PRDX4 into the ER rescued the temperature-sensitive phenotype of an ero1 yeast mutation. In the presence of an H2O2 generating system, purified PRDX4 oxidized PDI and reconstituted oxidative folding of RNase A. These observations implicate ER localized PRDX4 in a previously unanticipated, parallel, ERO1-independent pathway that couples hydroperoxide production to oxidative protein folding in mammalian cells.

Perturbation of the protein-folding environment in the mitochondrial matrix selectively upregulates the expression of nuclear genes encoding mitochondrial chaperones. To identify components of the signal transduction pathway(s) mediating this mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPR mt ), we first isolated a temperature-sensitive mutation (zc32) that conditionally activates the UPR mt in C. elegans and subsequently searched for suppressors by systematic inactivation of genes. RNAi of ubl-5, a gene encoding a ubiquitin-like protein, suppresses activation of the UPR mt markers hsp-60Tgfp and hsp-6Tgfp by the zc32 mutation and by other manipulations that promote mitochondrial protein misfolding. ubl-5 (RNAi) inhibits the induction of endogenous mitochondrial chaperone encoding genes hsp-60 and hsp-6 and compromises the ability of animals to cope with mitochondrial stress. Mitochondrial morphology and assembly of multi-subunit mitochondrial complexes of biotinylated proteins are also perturbed in ubl-5(RNAi) worms, indicating that UBL-5 also counteracts physiological levels of mitochondrial stress. Induction of mitochondrial stress promotes accumulation of GFP-tagged UBL-5 in nuclei of transgenic worms, suggesting that UBL-5 effects a nuclear step required for mounting a response to the threat of mitochondrial protein misfolding.

Adsorption has been invoked to explain many phenomena in ferroelectric materials including the unanticipated stability of ultrathin ferroelectric films; however, the intrinsic surface properties of ferroelectric oxides have been largely unexplored. Therefore, the effect of ferroelectric poling on the adsorption/desorption of two polar molecules, acetic acid and 2-propanol, and one nonpolar molecule, dodecane, on LiNbO3(0001) was compared. The two polar molecules were found to adsorb significantly more strongly on the positive surface. Temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) data yielded desorption pre-exponentials of the two polar molecules more than 11 orders of magnitude lower than expected. Ferroelectric materials are also intrinsically pyroelectric, and it is shown that the unusually low desorption pre-exponentials can be explained by temperature dependent heats of adsorption that result from changes in the surface dipole as the samples are heated. This conclusion was supported by dodecane adsorption/desorption, which was independent of polarity with normal desorption pre-exponentials. The differences between the polar and nonpolar molecules indicate that interactions between polar molecules and ferroelectric surfaces are dominated by electrostatics. It is shown that adsorption energy differences between positive and negative surfaces are large enough to switch the polarity of ferroelectric thin films.

The burden of protein misfolding is believed to contribute to aging. However, the links between adaptations to conditions associated with protein misfolding and resistance to the time-dependent attrition of cellular function remain poorly understood. We report that worms lacking aip-1, a homologue of mammalian AIRAP (arsenic-inducible proteasomal 19S regulatory particle-associated protein), are not only impaired in their ability to resist exposure to arsenite but also exhibit shortened lifespan and hypersensitivity to misfolding-prone proteins under normal laboratory conditions. Mammals have a second, constitutively expressed AIRAP-like gene (AIRAPL) that also encodes a proteasome-interacting protein, which shares with AIRAP the property of enhancing peptide accessibility to the proteasome's active site. Genetic rescue experiments suggest that features common to the constitutively expressed worm AIP-1 and mammalian AIRAPL (but missing in the smaller, arsenite-inducible AIRAP) are important to lifespan extension. In worms, a single AIRAP-related protein links proteasomal adaptation to environmental stress with resistance to both proteotoxic insults and maintenance of animal life span under normal conditions. aging ͉ chaperones ͉ environmental toxins ͉ protein degradation

The effect of ferroelectric poling on the surface chemistry of ferroelectric materials was studied through the adsorption and temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) of 2-propanol on the positively and negatively poled LiNbO 3 (0001) surfaces. Although only molecular adsorption and desorption were observed on both surfaces, the desorption peak temperature of 2-propanol from the positive surface was over 100 K higher than that from the negative surface, indicating that the polar molecule adsorbs more strongly on the positive surface. Furthermore, the 2-propanol desorption peak temperature depended unusually strongly on the heating rate, yielding apparent desorption pre-exponentials on the order of 10 s -1 for the positive surface and 10 -1 s -1 for the negative surface. These unusually low numbers could be associated with the pyroelectric behavior of LiNbO 3 creating a temperature-dependent surface dipole; interaction of the polar molecule with this surface dipole then causes the desorption activation energy to also depend on temperature. Fitting the data to a simple linear model between the desorption activation energy and temperature suggests that the desorption activation energy of 2-propanol from LiNbO 3 increases by about 0.25 kJ/mol-K as the temperature increases. Taking this effect into account, the data indicate an 11 kJ/mol higher desorption activation energy from the positive surface. The results also revealed a sensitivity of the adsorption/desorption to the morphology of the opposite face of the crystal.

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