scholarly journals Fine-tuning of ABA responses by the protein kinase WNK8

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rainer Waadt ◽  
Kenji Hashimoto ◽  
Esther Jawurek ◽  
Melanie Krebs ◽  
Martin Scholz ◽  
...  

SUMMARYThe phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) regulates various growth- and developmental processes in response to limiting water conditions. ABA functions through an established signaling pathway consisting of PYR1/PYL/RCAR ABA receptors that inhibit group A type 2C protein phosphatases (PP2Cs) in an ABA-dependent manner. Inhibition of PP2Cs enables the activation of SnRK2-type protein kinases that phosphorylate downstream targets including transcription factors and ion channels. However, ABA-dependent signals have to be integrated into other growth- and developmental programs to ensure a successful life cycle. Here, we have characterized the role of the protein kinase WNK8 in the ABA signalling pathway. Two T-DNA insertion alleles wnk8-1 and wnk8-4 exhibited contrasting ABA responses during seed germination and young seedling growth. However, reciprocal crossings with wild type plants suggested that wnk8-1 that still expressed the WNK8 kinase domain functioned in a hypermorphic and dominant manner. WNK8 directly interacted with the PP2C PP2CA in planta and was negatively regulated by this phosphatase in vitro. WNK8 also phosphorylated the ABA receptor PYR1 in vitro. Double mutant analyses revealed that the dominant allele wnk8-1 suppressed the ABA- and glucose hypersensitivity of the pp2ca-1 T-DNA allele. In transient protoplast assays WNK8 suppressed ABA-induced reporter gene expression that was dependent on a functional kinase. In summary, we have identified the protein kinase WNK8 as a negative regulator of ABA responses during young seedling establishment through its direct interaction with core ABA signaling components.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTThe phytohormone abscisic acid regulates the water household of plants through a defined core signaling pathway. Here we have identified the protein kinase WNK8 as a direct interactor of core abscisic acid signalling components and as a negative modulator of abscisic acid responses during young seedling development in Arabidopsis.

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (8) ◽  
pp. 2457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eijaz Bhat ◽  
Chang Kim ◽  
Sunghwan Kim ◽  
Hyun Park

TRAF-interacting protein (TRAIP), a negative regulator of TNF-induced-nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) activation, inhibits adaptor protein TRAF2 by direct interaction and is critical in apoptosis, cell proliferation, antiviral response, and embryonic development. Although the critical function of TRAIP in NF-κB signaling is well-known, the molecular inhibitory mechanism of TRAIP remains unclear. We found that the TRAIP coiled-coil domain altered its stoichiometry between dimer and trimer in a concentration-dependent manner. Additionally, the TRAIP RING domain induced even higher-ordered assembly, which was necessary for interacting with the TRAF-N domain of TRAF2 but not TRAF1. Characterization of the TRAF-N domains of TRAF1 and TRAF2, the tentative TRAIP-binding region of TRAFs, suggested the molecular basis of the inhibitory effect of TRAIP on TRAF2 in NF-κB signaling.


2010 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 1106-1106
Author(s):  
James T. Sharkey ◽  
Casey Cable ◽  
James Olcese

abstract Context: Studies have shown that labor occurs primarily in the night/morning hours. Recently, we identified the human myometrium as a target for melatonin (MEL), the neuroendocrine output signal coding for circadian night. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the signaling pathway underlying the effects of MEL on contractility and the contractile machinery in immortalized human myometrial cells. Design: To ascertain the signaling pathway of MEL leading to its effects on myometrial contractility in vitro, we performed gel retraction assays with cells exposed to iodo-MEL (I-MEL) with or without oxytocin and the Rho kinase inhibitor Y27632. I-MEL effects on inositol trisphosphate (IP3)/diacylglycerol (DAG)/protein kinase C (PKC) signaling were also investigated. Additionally, we assayed for caldesmon phosphorylation and ERK1/2 activation. Results: I-MEL was found to activate PKCα via the phospholipase C/IP3/DAG signaling pathway, which was confirmed by PKC enzyme assay. I-MEL did not affect myosin light chain phosphatase activity, and its effects on contractility were insensitive to Rho kinase inhibition. I-MEL did increase phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and caldesmon, which was inhibited by the MAPK kinase inhibitor PD98059 or the PKC inhibitor C1. Conclusions: MEL sensitizes myometrial cells to subsequent procontractile signals in vitro through activation of the phospholipase C/IP3/DAG signaling pathway, resulting in specific activation of PKCα and ERK1/2, thereby phosphorylating caldesmon, which increases actin availability for myosin binding and cross-bridging. In vivo, this sensitization would provide a mechanism for the increased nocturnal uterine contractility and labor that has been observed in late-term human pregnancy.


2001 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1645-1669 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor J. Cid ◽  
Mark J. Shulewitz ◽  
Kent L. McDonald ◽  
Jeremy Thorner

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, entry into mitosis requires activation of the cyclin-dependent kinase Cdc28 in its cyclin B (Clb)-associated form. Clb-bound Cdc28 is susceptible to inhibitory tyrosine phosphorylation by Swe1 protein kinase. Swe1 is itself negatively regulated by Hsl1, a Nim1-related protein kinase, and by Hsl7, a presumptive protein-arginine methyltransferase. In vivo all three proteins localize to the bud neck in a septin-dependent manner, consistent with our previous proposal that formation of Hsl1-Hsl7-Swe1 complexes constitutes a checkpoint that monitors septin assembly. We show here that Hsl7 is phosphorylated by Hsl1 in immune-complex kinase assays and can physically associate in vitro with either Hsl1 or Swe1 in the absence of any other yeast proteins. With the use of both the two-hybrid method and in vitro binding assays, we found that Hsl7 contains distinct binding sites for Hsl1 and Swe1. A differential interaction trap approach was used to isolate four single-site substitution mutations in Hsl7, which cluster within a discrete region of its N-terminal domain, that are specifically defective in binding Hsl1. When expressed in hsl7Δ cells, each of these Hsl7 point mutants is unable to localize at the bud neck and cannot mediate down-regulation of Swe1, but retains other functions of Hsl7, including oligomerization and association with Swe1. GFP-fusions of these Hsl1-binding defective Hsl7 proteins localize as a bright perinuclear dot, but never localize to the bud neck; likewise, inhsl1Δ cells, a GFP-fusion to wild-type Hsl7 or native Hsl7 localizes to this dot. Cell synchronization studies showed that, normally, Hsl7 localizes to the dot, but only in cells in the G1 phase of the cell cycle. Immunofluorescence analysis and immunoelectron microscopy established that the dot corresponds to the outer plaque of the spindle pole body (SPB). These data demonstrate that association between Hsl1 and Hsl7 at the bud neck is required to alleviate Swe1-imposed G2-M delay. Hsl7 localization at the SPB during G1 may play some additional role in fine-tuning the coordination between nuclear and cortical events before mitosis.


2013 ◽  
Vol 203 (4) ◽  
pp. 673-689 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ah-Lai Law ◽  
Anne Vehlow ◽  
Maria Kotini ◽  
Lauren Dodgson ◽  
Daniel Soong ◽  
...  

Cell migration is essential for development, but its deregulation causes metastasis. The Scar/WAVE complex is absolutely required for lamellipodia and is a key effector in cell migration, but its regulation in vivo is enigmatic. Lamellipodin (Lpd) controls lamellipodium formation through an unknown mechanism. Here, we report that Lpd directly binds active Rac, which regulates a direct interaction between Lpd and the Scar/WAVE complex via Abi. Consequently, Lpd controls lamellipodium size, cell migration speed, and persistence via Scar/WAVE in vitro. Moreover, Lpd knockout mice display defective pigmentation because fewer migrating neural crest-derived melanoblasts reach their target during development. Consistently, Lpd regulates mesenchymal neural crest cell migration cell autonomously in Xenopus laevis via the Scar/WAVE complex. Further, Lpd’s Drosophila melanogaster orthologue Pico binds Scar, and both regulate collective epithelial border cell migration. Pico also controls directed cell protrusions of border cell clusters in a Scar-dependent manner. Taken together, Lpd is an essential, evolutionary conserved regulator of the Scar/WAVE complex during cell migration in vivo.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. eabe3445
Author(s):  
Yicun Wang ◽  
Jinhui Wu ◽  
Hui Chen ◽  
Yang Yang ◽  
Chengwu Xiao ◽  
...  

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are involved in tumorigenesis, recurrence, and therapy resistance. To identify critical regulators of sarcoma CSCs, we performed a reporter-based genome-wide CRISPR-Cas9 screen and uncovered Kruppel-like factor 11 (KLF11) as top candidate. In vitro and in vivo functional annotation defined a negative role of KLF11 in CSCs. Mechanistically, KLF11 and YAP/TEAD bound to adjacent DNA sites along with direct interaction. KLF11 recruited SIN3A/HDAC to suppress the transcriptional output of YAP/TEAD, which, in turn, promoted KLF11 transcription, forming a negative feedback loop. However, in CSCs, this negative feedback was lost because of epigenetic silence of KLF11, causing sustained YAP activation. Low KLF11 was associated with poor prognosis and chemotherapy response in patients with sarcoma. Pharmacological activation of KLF11 by thiazolidinedione effectively restored chemotherapy response. Collectively, our study identifies KLF11 as a negative regulator in sarcoma CSCs and potential therapeutic target.


Author(s):  
Huiming Chen ◽  
Junfeng Zhao ◽  
Ningning Jiang ◽  
Zheng Wang ◽  
Chang Liu

Background: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most lethal diseases, with a 5-year survival rate of less than 10% because of the limited knowledge of tumor-promoting factors and their underlying mechanism. Diabetes mellitus (DM) and hyperglycemia are risk factors for many cancers, including PDAC, that modulate multiple downstream signaling pathways, such as the wingless/integrated (Wnt)/β-catenin signaling pathway. However, whether hyperglycemia promotes PDAC initiation and progression by activating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway remains unclear. Methods: In this study, we used bioinformatics analysis and clinical specimen analysis to evaluate the activation states of the Wnt/βcatenin signaling pathway. In addition, colony formation assays, Transwell assays and wound-healing assays were used to evaluate the malignant biological behaviors of pancreatic cancer cells (PCs) under hyperglycemic conditions. To describe the effects of hyperglycemia and the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway on the initiation of PDAC, we used pancreatitis-driven pancreatic cancer initiation models in vivo and pancreatic acinar cell 3-dimensional culture in vitro. Results: Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway-related molecules were overexpressed in PDAC tissues/cells and correlated with poor prognosis in PDAC patients. In addition, hyperglycemia exacerbated the abnormal activation of β-catenin in PDAC and enhanced the malignant biological behaviors of PCs in a Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway-dependent manner. Indeed, hyperglycemia accelerated the formation of pancreatic precancerous lesions by activating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in vivo and in vitro. Conclusion: Hyperglycemia promotes pancreatic cancer initiation and progression by activating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.


1993 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 399-407
Author(s):  
I J McEwan ◽  
A P Wright ◽  
K Dahlman-Wright ◽  
J Carlstedt-Duke ◽  
J A Gustafsson

We have used a yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) cell free transcription system to study protein-protein interactions involving the tau 1 transactivation domain of the human glucocorticoid receptor that are important for transcriptional transactivation by the receptor. Purified tau 1 specifically inhibited transcription from a basal promoter derived from the CYC1 gene and from the adenovirus 2 major late core promoter in a concentration-dependent manner. This inhibition or squelching was correlated with the transactivation activity of tau 1. Recombinant yeast TATA-binding protein (yTFIID), although active in vitro, did not specifically reverse the inhibitory effect of tau 1. In addition, no specific interaction between tau 1 and yTFIID could be shown in vitro by affinity chromatography. Taken together, these results indicate that the tau 1 transactivation domain of the human glucocorticoid receptor interacts directly with the general transcriptional apparatus through some target protein(s) that is distinct from the TATA-binding factor. Furthermore, this assay can be used to identify interacting factors, since after phosphocellulose chromatography of a whole-cell yeast extract, a fraction that contained an activity which selectively counteracted the squelching effect of tau 1 was found.


1998 ◽  
Vol 111 (5) ◽  
pp. 557-572 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Roghi ◽  
R. Giet ◽  
R. Uzbekov ◽  
N. Morin ◽  
I. Chartrain ◽  
...  

By differential screening of a Xenopus laevis egg cDNA library, we have isolated a 2,111 bp cDNA which corresponds to a maternal mRNA specifically deadenylated after fertilisation. This cDNA, called Eg2, encodes a 407 amino acid protein kinase. The pEg2 sequence shows significant identity with members of a new protein kinase sub-family which includes Aurora from Drosophila and Ipl1 (increase in ploidy-1) from budding yeast, enzymes involved in centrosome migration and chromosome segregation, respectively. A single 46 kDa polypeptide, which corresponds to the deduced molecular mass of pEg2, is immunodetected in Xenopus oocyte and egg extracts, as well as in lysates of Xenopus XL2 cultured cells. In XL2 cells, pEg2 is immunodetected only in S, G2 and M phases of the cell cycle, where it always localises to the centrosomal region of the cell. In addition, pEg2 ‘invades’ the microtubules at the poles of the mitotic spindle in metaphase and anaphase. Immunoelectron microscopy experiments show that pEg2 is located precisely around the pericentriolar material in prophase and on the spindle microtubules in anaphase. We also demonstrate that pEg2 binds directly to taxol stabilised microtubules in vitro. In addition, we show that the presence of microtubules during mitosis is not necessary for an association between pEg2 and the centrosome. Finally we show that a catalytically inactive pEg2 kinase stops the assembly of bipolar mitotic spindles in Xenopus egg extracts.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhuo-yue Song ◽  
Mengru Zhu ◽  
Jun Wu ◽  
Tian Yu ◽  
Yao Chen ◽  
...  

The effects of Cucumaria frondosa polysaccharides (CFP) on renal interstitial fibrosis via regulating phosphatidylinositol-3-hydroxykinase/protein kinase-B/Nuclear factor-κB (PI3K/AKT/NF-κB) signaling pathway were investigated in vivo and in vitro in this research. A...


2001 ◽  
Vol 280 (5) ◽  
pp. E677-E684 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Musi ◽  
Tatsuya Hayashi ◽  
Nobuharu Fujii ◽  
Michael F. Hirshman ◽  
Lee A. Witters ◽  
...  

The AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) has been hypothesized to mediate contraction and 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide 1-β-d-ribonucleoside (AICAR)-induced increases in glucose uptake in skeletal muscle. The purpose of the current study was to determine whether treadmill exercise and isolated muscle contractions in rat skeletal muscle increase the activity of the AMPKα1 and AMPKα2 catalytic subunits in a dose-dependent manner and to evaluate the effects of the putative AMPK inhibitors adenine 9-β-d-arabinofuranoside (ara-A), 8-bromo-AMP, and iodotubercidin on AMPK activity and 3- O-methyl-d-glucose (3-MG) uptake. There were dose-dependent increases in AMPKα2 activity and 3-MG uptake in rat epitrochlearis muscles with treadmill running exercise but no effect of exercise on AMPKα1 activity. Tetanic contractions of isolated epitrochlearis muscles in vitro significantly increased the activity of both AMPK isoforms in a dose-dependent manner and at a similar rate compared with increases in 3-MG uptake. In isolated muscles, the putative AMPK inhibitors ara-A, 8-bromo-AMP, and iodotubercidin fully inhibited AICAR-stimulated AMPKα2 activity and 3-MG uptake but had little effect on AMPKα1 activity. In contrast, these compounds had absent or minimal effects on contraction-stimulated AMPKα1 and -α2 activity and 3-MG uptake. Although the AMPKα1 and -α2 isoforms are activated during tetanic muscle contractions in vitro, in fast-glycolytic fibers, the activation of AMPKα2-containing complexes may be more important in regulating exercise-mediated skeletal muscle metabolism in vivo. Development of new compounds will be required to study contraction regulation of AMPK by pharmacological inhibition.


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