A pharmacoproteomic approach implicates eukaryotic elongation factor 2 kinase in ER stress-induced cell death

Abstract

Apoptosis triggered by endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress has been implicated in many diseases but its cellular regulation remains poorly understood. Previously, we identified salubrinal (sal), a small molecule that protects cells from ER stressinduced apoptosis by selectively activating a subset of endogenous ER stress-signaling events. Here, we use sal as a probe in a proteomic approach to discover new information about the endogenous cellular response to ER stress. We show that sal induces phosphorylation of the translation elongation factor eukaryotic translation elongation factor 2 (eEF-2), an event that depends on eEF-2 kinase (eEF-2K). ER stress itself also induces eEF-2K-dependent eEF-2 phosphorylation, and this pathway promotes translational arrest and cell death in this context, identifying eEF-2K as a hitherto unknown regulator of ER stress-induced apoptosis. Finally, we use both sal and ER stress models to show that eEF-2 phosphorylation can be activated by at least two signaling mechanisms. Our work identifies eEF-2K as a new component of the ER stress response and underlines the utility of novel small molecules in discovering new cell biology. Cell Death and Differentiation (2008) 15, 589-599; doi:10.1038/sj.cdd.4402296; published online 11 January 2008 The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) serves as the primary processing site for membrane and secreted proteins. The ER recruits translating ribosomes, translocates newly synthesized polypeptides into its lumen, and promotes a variety of post-translational modifications and chaperone-facilitated protein folding. 1,2 Proper ER function is critical for numerous aspects of cell physiology, including vesicle trafficking, lipid and membrane biogenesis, and protein targeting and secretion. Accordingly, cells react rapidly to various forms of ER dysfunction -including the accumulation of unfolded, misfolded or excessive protein, ER lipid or glycolipid imbalances, or changes in the redox or ionic conditions of the ER lumenthrough a set of adaptive pathways known collectively as the ER stress response (ESR). [2][3][4][5] The ESR promotes cell survival both by increasing the capacity of the ER to fold and process client proteins and by reducing the amount of protein inside the ER. These effects are achieved through three major pathways: (1) the unfolded protein response, a transcription-dependent induction of ER lumenal chaperone proteins and many other components of the secretory apparatus, which augments the polypeptide processing capacity of the ER; 5,6 (2) the activation of proteasome-dependent ER-associated degradation to remove proteins from the ER; 7,8 and (3) the control of protein translation to modulate the polypeptide traffic into the ER. 9,10 Normally, this suite of responses succeeds in restoring ER homeostasis. However, in metazoans, persistent or intense ER stress can also trigger apoptosis. [11][12][13][14] ER stress and the apoptotic program coupled to it have been implicated in many important pathologies, including diabetes, obesity, neurodegenerativ...

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