scholarly journals PAC, an evolutionarily conserved membrane protein, is a proton-activated chloride channel

Science ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 364 (6438) ◽  
pp. 395-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junhua Yang ◽  
Jianan Chen ◽  
Maria del Carmen Vitery ◽  
James Osei-Owusu ◽  
Jiachen Chu ◽  
...  

Severe local acidosis causes tissue damage and pain, and is one of the hallmarks of many diseases including ischemia, cancer, and inflammation. However, the molecular mechanisms of the cellular response to acid are not fully understood. We performed an unbiased RNA interference screen and identified PAC (TMEM206) as being essential for the widely observed proton-activated Cl− (PAC) currents (ICl,H). Overexpression of human PAC in PAC knockout cells generated ICl,H with the same characteristics as the endogenous ones. Zebrafish PAC encodes a PAC channel with distinct properties. Knockout of mouse Pac abolished ICl,H in neurons and attenuated brain damage after ischemic stroke. The wide expression of PAC suggests a broad role for this conserved Cl− channel family in physiological and pathological processes associated with acidic pH.

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (21) ◽  
pp. 11888
Author(s):  
Barend W. Florijn ◽  
Roel Bijkerk ◽  
Nyika D. Kruyt ◽  
Anton Jan van Zonneveld ◽  
Marieke J. H. Wermer

Accumulating evidence pinpoints sex differences in stroke incidence, etiology and outcome. Therefore, more understanding of the sex-specific mechanisms that lead to ischemic stroke and aggravation of secondary damage after stroke is needed. Our current mechanistic understanding of cerebral ischemia states that endothelial quiescence in neurovascular units (NVUs) is a major physiological parameter affecting the cellular response to neuron, astrocyte and vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) injury. Although a hallmark of the response to injury in these cells is transcriptional activation, noncoding RNAs such as microRNAs exhibit cell-type and context dependent regulation of gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. This review assesses whether sex-specific microRNA expression (either derived from X-chromosome loci following incomplete X-chromosome inactivation or regulated by estrogen in their biogenesis) in these cells controls NVU quiescence, and as such, could differentiate stroke pathophysiology in women compared to men. Their adverse expression was found to decrease tight junction affinity in endothelial cells and activate VSMC proliferation, while their regulation of paracrine astrocyte signaling was shown to neutralize sex-specific apoptotic pathways in neurons. As such, these microRNAs have cell type-specific functions in astrocytes and vascular cells which act on one another, thereby affecting the cell viability of neurons. Furthermore, these microRNAs display actual and potential clinical implications as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in ischemic stroke and in predicting therapeutic response to antiplatelet therapy. In conclusion, this review improves the current mechanistic understanding of the molecular mechanisms leading to ischemic stroke in women and highlights the clinical promise of sex-specific microRNAs as novel diagnostic biomarkers for (silent) ischemic stroke.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioannis P. Nezis

Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved process of cellular self-eating and is a major pathway for degradation of cytoplasmic material by the lysosomal machinery. Autophagy functions as a cellular response in nutrient starvation, but it is also associated with the removal of protein aggregates and damaged organelles and therefore plays an important role in the quality control of proteins and organelles. Although it was initially believed that autophagy occurs randomly in the cell, during the last years, there is growing evidence that sequestration and degradation of cytoplasmic material by autophagy can be selective. Given the important role of autophagy and selective autophagy in several disease-related processes such as neurodegeneration, infections, and tumorigenesis, it is important to understand the molecular mechanisms of selective autophagy, especially at the organismal level.Drosophilais an excellent genetically modifiable model organism exhibiting high conservation in the autophagic machinery. However, the regulation and mechanisms of selective autophagy inDrosophilahave been largely unexplored. In this paper, I will present an overview of the current knowledge about selective autophagy inDrosophila.


Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 1700
Author(s):  
Yun-Yun Fan ◽  
Yu-Wei Zhong ◽  
Jing Zhao ◽  
Yao Chi ◽  
Sophie Bouvaine ◽  
...  

Begomoviruses cause substantial losses to agricultural production, especially in tropical and subtropical regions, and are exclusively transmitted by members of the whitefly Bemisia tabaci species complex. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the transmission of begomoviruses by their whitefly vector are not clear. In this study, we found that B. tabaci vesicle-associated membrane protein 2 (BtVAMP2) interacts with the coat protein (CP) of tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), an emergent begomovirus that seriously impacts tomato production globally. After infection with TYLCV, the transcription of BtVAMP2 was increased. When the BtVAMP2 protein was blocked by feeding with a specific BtVAMP2 antibody, the quantity of TYLCV in B. tabaci whole body was significantly reduced. BtVAMP2 was found to be conserved among the B. tabaci species complex and also interacts with the CP of Sri Lankan cassava mosaic virus (SLCMV). When feeding with BtVAMP2 antibody, the acquisition quantity of SLCMV in whitefly whole body was also decreased significantly. Overall, our results demonstrate that BtVAMP2 interacts with the CP of begomoviruses and promotes their acquisition by whitefly.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 693
Author(s):  
Corina Daniela Ene ◽  
Simona Roxana Georgescu ◽  
Mircea Tampa ◽  
Clara Matei ◽  
Cristina Iulia Mitran ◽  
...  

The interaction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) with lipids, proteins, nucleic acids and hydrocarbonates promotes acute and chronic tissue damage, mediates immunomodulation and triggers autoimmunity in systemic lupus erythematous (SLE) patients. The aim of the study was to determine the pathophysiological mechanisms of the oxidative stress-related damage and molecular mechanisms to counteract oxidative stimuli in lupus nephritis. Our study included 38 SLE patients with lupus nephritis (LN group), 44 SLE patients without renal impairment (non-LN group) and 40 healthy volunteers as control group. In the present paper, we evaluated serum lipid peroxidation, DNA oxidation, oxidized proteins, carbohydrate oxidation, and endogenous protective systems. We detected defective DNA repair mechanisms via 8-oxoguanine-DNA-glycosylase (OGG1), the reduced regulatory effect of soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products (sRAGE) in the activation of AGE-RAGE axis, low levels of thiols, disulphide bonds formation and high nitrotyrosination in lupus nephritis. All these data help us to identify more molecular mechanisms to counteract oxidative stress in LN that could permit a more precise assessment of disease prognosis, as well as developing new therapeutic targets.


BMC Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheng-Wen He ◽  
Xue-Fei Cui ◽  
Shao-Jie Ma ◽  
Qin Xu ◽  
Yan-Peng Ran ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The vacuole/lysosome is the final destination of autophagic pathways, but can also itself be degraded in whole or in part by selective macroautophagic or microautophagic processes. Diverse molecular mechanisms are involved in these processes, the characterization of which has lagged behind those of ATG-dependent macroautophagy and ESCRT-dependent endosomal multivesicular body pathways. Results Here we show that as yeast cells gradually exhaust available nutrients and approach stationary phase, multiple vacuolar integral membrane proteins with unrelated functions are degraded in the vacuolar lumen. This degradation depends on the ESCRT machinery, but does not strictly require ubiquitination of cargos or trafficking of cargos out of the vacuole. It is also temporally and mechanistically distinct from NPC-dependent microlipophagy. The turnover is facilitated by Atg8, an exception among autophagy proteins, and an Atg8-interacting vacuolar membrane protein, Hfl1. Lack of Atg8 or Hfl1 led to the accumulation of enlarged lumenal membrane structures in the vacuole. We further show that a key function of Hfl1 is the membrane recruitment of Atg8. In the presence of Hfl1, lipidation of Atg8 is not required for efficient cargo turnover. The need for Hfl1 can be partially bypassed by blocking Atg8 delipidation. Conclusions Our data reveal a vacuolar membrane protein degradation process with a unique dependence on vacuole-associated Atg8 downstream of ESCRTs, and we identify a specific role of Hfl1, a protein conserved from yeast to plants and animals, in membrane targeting of Atg8.


Author(s):  
Niccolo’ Tesi ◽  
Sven J van der Lee ◽  
Marc Hulsman ◽  
Iris E Jansen ◽  
Najada Stringa ◽  
...  

Abstract Studying the genome of centenarians may give insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying extreme human longevity and the escape of age-related diseases. Here, we set out to construct polygenic risk scores (PRSs) for longevity and to investigate the functions of longevity-associated variants. Using a cohort of centenarians with maintained cognitive health (N = 343), a population-matched cohort of older adults from 5 cohorts (N = 2905), and summary statistics data from genome-wide association studies on parental longevity, we constructed a PRS including 330 variants that significantly discriminated between centenarians and older adults. This PRS was also associated with longer survival in an independent sample of younger individuals (p = .02), leading up to a 4-year difference in survival based on common genetic factors only. We show that this PRS was, in part, able to compensate for the deleterious effect of the APOE-ε4 allele. Using an integrative framework, we annotated the 330 variants included in this PRS by the genes they associate with. We find that they are enriched with genes associated with cellular differentiation, developmental processes, and cellular response to stress. Together, our results indicate that an extended human life span is, in part, the result of a constellation of variants each exerting small advantageous effects on aging-related biological mechanisms that maintain overall health and decrease the risk of age-related diseases.


2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-218
Author(s):  
Hidenori Umetsu ◽  
Shojiro Watanabe ◽  
Tadaatsu Imaizumi ◽  
Tomomi Aizawa ◽  
Koji Tsugawa ◽  
...  

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Although toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) signaling is involved in the development of certain chronic kidney diseases, the specific molecular mechanisms underlying inflammatory reactions via activation of TLR3 signaling in human podocytes remain unclear. Interleukin (IL)-6 is a pleiotropic cytokine associated with innate and adaptive immune responses; however, little is known about the implication of IL-6 via the activation of regional TLR3 signaling in the inflammatory reactions in human podocytes. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> We treated immortalized human podocytes with polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (poly IC), an authentic viral double-stranded RNA, and assessed the expression of IL-6, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), and C-C motif chemokine ligand 5 (CCL5) using quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. To further elucidate the poly IC-induced signaling pathway, we subjected the cells to RNA interference against IFN-β and IL-6. <b><i>Results:</i></b> We found that the activation of TLR3 induced expression of IL-6, MCP-1, CCL5, and IFN-β in human podocytes. RNA interference experiments revealed that IFN-β was involved in the poly IC-induced expression of IL-6, MCP-1, and CCL5. Interestingly, IL-6 knockdown markedly increased the poly IC-induced expression of MCP-1 and CCL5. Further, treatment of cells with IL-6 attenuated the expression of CCL5 and MCP-1 mRNA and proteins. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> IL-6 induced by TLR3 signaling negatively regulates the expression of representative TLR3 signaling-dependent proinflammatory chemokines in human podocytes.


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