scholarly journals How to design an optimal sensor network for the unfolded protein response

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (25) ◽  
pp. 3052-3062 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wylie Stroberg ◽  
Hadar Aktin ◽  
Yonatan Savir ◽  
Santiago Schnell

Cellular protein homeostasis requires continuous monitoring of stress in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Stress-detection networks control protein homeostasis by mitigating the deleterious effects of protein accumulation, such as aggregation and misfolding, with precise modulation of chaperone production. Here, we develop a coarse model of the unfolded protein response in yeast and use multi-objective optimization to determine which sensing and activation strategies optimally balance the trade-off between unfolded protein accumulation and chaperone production. By comparing a stress-sensing mechanism that responds directly to the level of unfolded protein in the ER to a mechanism that is negatively regulated by unbound chaperones, we show that chaperone-mediated sensors are more efficient than sensors that detect unfolded proteins directly. This results from the chaperone-mediated sensor having separate thresholds for activation and deactivation. Finally, we demonstrate that a sensor responsive to both unfolded protein and unbound chaperone does not further optimize homeostatic control. Our results suggest a strategy for designing stress sensors and may explain why BiP-mitigated ER stress-sensing networks have evolved.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wylie Stroberg ◽  
Hadar Aktin ◽  
Yonatan Savir ◽  
Santiago Schnell

AbstractCellular protein homeostasis requires continuous monitoring of stress in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Stress detection networks control protein homeostasis by mitigating the deleterious effects of protein accumulation, such as aggregation and misfolding, with precise modulation of chaperone production. Here, we develop a coarse model of the unfolded protein response in yeast, and use multi-objective optimization to determine which sensing and activation strategies optimally balance the trade-off between unfolded protein accumulation and chaperone production. By comparing a stress-sensing mechanism that responds directly to the level of unfolded protein in the ER to a mechanism that is negatively regulated by unbound chaperones, we show that chaperone-mediated sensors are more efficient than sensors that detect unfolded proteins directly. This results from the chaperone-mediated sensor having separate thresholds for activation and deactivation. Lastly, we demonstrate that a sensor responsive to both unfolded protein and unbound chaperone does not further optimize homeostatic control. Our results suggest a strategy for designing stress sensors and may explain why BiP-mitigated ER stress sensing networks have evolved.


eLife ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Kimmig ◽  
Marcy Diaz ◽  
Jiashun Zheng ◽  
Christopher C Williams ◽  
Alexander Lang ◽  
...  

The unfolded protein response (UPR) monitors the protein folding capacity of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). In all organisms analyzed to date, the UPR drives transcriptional programs that allow cells to cope with ER stress. The non-conventional splicing of Hac1 (yeasts) and XBP1 (metazoans) mRNA, encoding orthologous UPR transcription activators, is conserved and dependent on Ire1, an ER membrane-resident kinase/endoribonuclease. We found that the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe lacks both a Hac1/XBP1 ortholog and a UPR-dependent-transcriptional-program. Instead, Ire1 initiates the selective decay of a subset of ER-localized-mRNAs that is required to survive ER stress. We identified Bip1 mRNA, encoding a major ER-chaperone, as the sole mRNA cleaved upon Ire1 activation that escapes decay. Instead, truncation of its 3′ UTR, including loss of its polyA tail, stabilized Bip1 mRNA, resulting in increased Bip1 translation. Thus, S. pombe uses a universally conserved stress-sensing machinery in novel ways to maintain homeostasis in the ER.


2017 ◽  
Vol 216 (8) ◽  
pp. 2295-2304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norfadilah Hamdan ◽  
Paraskevi Kritsiligkou ◽  
Chris M. Grant

Disturbances in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) homeostasis create a condition termed ER stress. This activates the unfolded protein response (UPR), which alters the expression of many genes involved in ER quality control. We show here that ER stress causes the aggregation of proteins, most of which are not ER or secretory pathway proteins. Proteomic analysis of the aggregated proteins revealed enrichment for intrinsically aggregation-prone proteins rather than proteins which are affected in a stress-specific manner. Aggregation does not arise because of overwhelming proteasome-mediated degradation but because of a general disruption of cellular protein homeostasis. We further show that overexpression of certain chaperones abrogates protein aggregation and protects a UPR mutant against ER stress conditions. The onset of ER stress is known to correlate with various disease processes, and our data indicate that widespread amorphous and amyloid protein aggregation is an unanticipated outcome of such stress.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharina Knoeringer ◽  
Carina Groh ◽  
Lena Kraemer ◽  
Kevin C Stein ◽  
Katja G Hansen ◽  
...  

Almost all mitochondrial proteins are synthesized in the cytosol and subsequently targeted to mitochondria. The accumulation of non-imported precursor proteins occurring upon mitochondrial dysfunction can challenge cellular protein homeostasis. Here we show that blocking protein translocation into mitochondria results in the accumulation of mitochondrial membrane proteins at the endoplasmic reticulum, thereby triggering the unfolded protein response (UPR-ER). Moreover, we find that mitochondrial membrane proteins are also routed to the ER under physiological conditions. The levels of ER-resident mitochondrial precursors is enhanced by import defects as well as metabolic stimuli that increase the expression of mitochondrial proteins. Under such conditions, the UPR-ER is crucial to maintain protein homeostasis and cellular fitness. We propose the ER serves as a physiological buffer zone for those mitochondrial precursors that cannot be immediately imported into mitochondria while engaging the UPRER to adjust the ER proteostasis capacity to the extent of precursor accumulation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 705
Author(s):  
Manal H. Alshareef ◽  
Elizabeth L. Hartland ◽  
Kathleen McCaffrey

The unfolded protein response (UPR) is a homeostatic response to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress within eukaryotic cells. The UPR initiates transcriptional and post-transcriptional programs to resolve ER stress; or, if ER stress is severe or prolonged, initiates apoptosis. ER stress is a common feature of bacterial infection although the role of the UPR in host defense is only beginning to be understood. While the UPR is important for host defense against pore-forming toxins produced by some bacteria, other bacterial effector proteins hijack the UPR through the activity of translocated effector proteins that facilitate intracellular survival and proliferation. UPR-mediated apoptosis can limit bacterial replication but also often contributes to tissue damage and disease. Here, we discuss the dual nature of the UPR during infection and the implications of UPR activation or inhibition for inflammation and immunity as illustrated by different bacterial pathogens.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 2567
Author(s):  
Yann S. Gallot ◽  
Kyle R. Bohnert

Skeletal muscle is an essential organ, responsible for many physiological functions such as breathing, locomotion, postural maintenance, thermoregulation, and metabolism. Interestingly, skeletal muscle is a highly plastic tissue, capable of adapting to anabolic and catabolic stimuli. Skeletal muscle contains a specialized smooth endoplasmic reticulum (ER), known as the sarcoplasmic reticulum, composed of an extensive network of tubules. In addition to the role of folding and trafficking proteins within the cell, this specialized organelle is responsible for the regulated release of calcium ions (Ca2+) into the cytoplasm to trigger a muscle contraction. Under various stimuli, such as exercise, hypoxia, imbalances in calcium levels, ER homeostasis is disturbed and the amount of misfolded and/or unfolded proteins accumulates in the ER. This accumulation of misfolded/unfolded protein causes ER stress and leads to the activation of the unfolded protein response (UPR). Interestingly, the role of the UPR in skeletal muscle has only just begun to be elucidated. Accumulating evidence suggests that ER stress and UPR markers are drastically induced in various catabolic stimuli including cachexia, denervation, nutrient deprivation, aging, and disease. Evidence indicates some of these molecules appear to be aiding the skeletal muscle in regaining homeostasis whereas others demonstrate the ability to drive the atrophy. Continued investigations into the individual molecules of this complex pathway are necessary to fully understand the mechanisms.


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