scholarly journals Phosphorylation of FtsZ and FtsA by a DNA Damage-Responsive Ser/Thr Protein Kinase Affects Their Functional Interactions in Deinococcus radiodurans

mSphere ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. e00325-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ganesh K. Maurya ◽  
Kruti Modi ◽  
Manisha Banerjee ◽  
Reema Chaudhary ◽  
Yogendra S. Rajpurohit ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Deinococcus radiodurans, a highly radioresistant bacterium, does not show LexA-dependent regulation of recA expression in response to DNA damage. On the other hand, phosphorylation of DNA repair proteins such as PprA and RecA by a DNA damage-responsive Ser/Thr protein kinase (STPK) (RqkA) could improve their DNA metabolic activities as well as their roles in the radioresistance of D. radiodurans. Here we report RqkA-mediated phosphorylation of cell division proteins FtsZ and FtsA in vitro and in surrogate Escherichia coli bacteria expressing RqkA. Mass spectrometric analysis mapped serine 235 and serine 335 in FtsZ and threonine 272, serine 370, and serine 386 in FtsA as potential phosphorylation sites. Although the levels of FtsZ did not change during postirradiation recovery (PIR), phosphorylation of both FtsZ and FtsA showed a kinetic change during PIR. However, in an rqkA mutant of D. radiodurans, though FtsZ underwent phosphorylation, no kinetic change in phosphorylation was observed. Further, RqkA adversely affected FtsA interaction with FtsZ, and phosphorylated FtsZ showed higher GTPase activity than unphosphorylated FtsZ. These results suggest that both FtsZ and FtsA are phosphoproteins in D. radiodurans. The increased phosphorylation of FtsZ in response to radiation damage in the wild-type strain but not in an rqkA mutant seems to be regulating the functional interaction of FtsZ with FtsA. For the first time, we demonstrate the role of a DNA damage-responsive STPK (RqkA) in the regulation of functional interaction of cell division proteins in this bacterium. IMPORTANCE The LexA/RecA-type SOS response is the only characterized mechanism of DNA damage response in bacteria. It regulates cell cycle by attenuating the functions of cell division protein FtsZ and inducing the expression of DNA repair proteins. There are bacteria, including Deinococcus radiodurans, that do not show this classical SOS response. D. radiodurans is known for its extraordinary resistance to gamma radiation, and a DNA damage-responsive Ser/Thr protein kinase (RqkA) has been characterized for its role in radioresistance. RqkA phosphorylates a large number of proteins in solution. The phosphorylation of RecA and PprA by RqkA enhanced their activities. FtsZ phosphorylation is inducible by gamma radiation in wild-type D. radiodurans but not in an rqkA mutant. Phosphorylation affected the interaction of FtsZ and FtsA in this bacterium. This study, therefore, brought forth some findings that might lead to the discovery of a new mechanism regulating the bacterial cell cycle in response to DNA damage.

2019 ◽  
Vol 202 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter E. Burby ◽  
Lyle A. Simmons

ABSTRACT All organisms regulate cell cycle progression by coordinating cell division with DNA replication status. In eukaryotes, DNA damage or problems with replication fork progression induce the DNA damage response (DDR), causing cyclin-dependent kinases to remain active, preventing further cell cycle progression until replication and repair are complete. In bacteria, cell division is coordinated with chromosome segregation, preventing cell division ring formation over the nucleoid in a process termed nucleoid occlusion. In addition to nucleoid occlusion, bacteria induce the SOS response after replication forks encounter DNA damage or impediments that slow or block their progression. During SOS induction, Escherichia coli expresses a cytoplasmic protein, SulA, that inhibits cell division by directly binding FtsZ. After the SOS response is turned off, SulA is degraded by Lon protease, allowing for cell division to resume. Recently, it has become clear that SulA is restricted to bacteria closely related to E. coli and that most bacteria enforce the DNA damage checkpoint by expressing a small integral membrane protein. Resumption of cell division is then mediated by membrane-bound proteases that cleave the cell division inhibitor. Further, many bacterial cells have mechanisms to inhibit cell division that are regulated independently from the canonical LexA-mediated SOS response. In this review, we discuss several pathways used by bacteria to prevent cell division from occurring when genome instability is detected or before the chromosome has been fully replicated and segregated.


2002 ◽  
Vol 22 (22) ◽  
pp. 7831-7841 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene S. Kandel ◽  
Jennifer Skeen ◽  
Nathan Majewski ◽  
Antonio Di Cristofano ◽  
Pier Paolo Pandolfi ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Activation of Akt, or protein kinase B, is frequently observed in human cancers. Here we report that Akt activation via overexpression of a constitutively active form or via the loss of PTEN can overcome a G2/M cell cycle checkpoint that is induced by DNA damage. Activated Akt also alleviates the reduction in CDC2 activity and mitotic index upon exposure to DNA damage. In addition, we found that PTEN null embryonic stem (ES) cells transit faster from the G2/M to the G1 phase of the cell cycle when compared to wild-type ES cells and that inhibition of phosphoinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) in HEK293 cells elicits G2 arrest that is alleviated by activated Akt. Furthermore, the transition from the G2/M to the G1 phase of the cell cycle in Akt1 null mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEFs) is attenuated when compared to that of wild-type MEFs. These results indicate that the PI3K/PTEN/Akt pathway plays a role in the regulation of G2/M transition. Thus, cells expressing activated Akt continue to divide, without being eliminated by apoptosis, in the presence of continuous exposure to mutagen and accumulate mutations, as measured by inactivation of an exogenously expressed herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSV-tk) gene. This phenotype is independent of p53 status and cannot be reproduced by overexpression of Bcl-2 or Myc and Bcl-2 but seems to counteract a cell cycle checkpoint mediated by DNA mismatch repair (MMR). Accordingly, restoration of the G2/M cell cycle checkpoint and apoptosis in MMR-deficient cells, through reintroduction of the missing component of MMR, is alleviated by activated Akt. We suggest that this new activity of Akt in conjunction with its antiapoptotic activity may contribute to genetic instability and could explain its frequent activation in human cancers.


2007 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 2572-2581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroyuki Niida ◽  
Yuko Katsuno ◽  
Birendranath Banerjee ◽  
M. Prakash Hande ◽  
Makoto Nakanishi

ABSTRACT Chk1 is a multifunctional protein kinase that plays essential roles in cell survival and cell cycle checkpoints. Chk1 is phosphorylated at multiple sites by several protein kinases, but the precise effects of these phosphorylations are largely unknown. Using a knockout-knockin system, we examined the abilities of Chk1 mutants to reverse the defects of Chk1-null cells. Wild-type Chk1 could rescue all the defects of Chk1-null cells. Like endogenous Chk1, wild-type Chk1 localized in both the cytoplasm and the nucleus, and its centrosomal association was enhanced by DNA damage. The mutation at S345 resulted in mitotic catastrophe, impaired checkpoints, and loss of the ability to localize in the cytoplasm, but the mutant retained the ability to be released from chromatin upon encountering genotoxic stressors. In contrast, the mutation at S317 resulted in impaired checkpoints and loss of chromatin release upon encountering genotoxic stressors, but its mutant retained the abilities to prevent mitotic catastrophes and to localize in the cytoplasm, suggesting the distinct effects of these phosphorylations. The forced immobilization of S317A/S345A in centrosomes resulted in the prevention of apoptosis in the presence or absence of DNA damage. Thus, two-step phosphorylation of Chk1 at S317 and S345 appeared to be required for proper localization of Chk1 to centrosomes.


2016 ◽  
Vol 198 (13) ◽  
pp. 1883-1891 ◽  
Author(s):  
James C. Anderson-Furgeson ◽  
John R. Zupan ◽  
Romain Grangeon ◽  
Patricia C. Zambryski

ABSTRACTAgrobacterium tumefaciensis a rod-shaped Gram-negative bacterium that elongates by unipolar addition of new cell envelope material. Approaching cell division, the growth pole transitions to a nongrowing old pole, and the division site creates new growth poles in sibling cells. TheA. tumefacienshomolog of theCaulobacter crescentuspolar organizing protein PopZ localizes specifically to growth poles. In contrast, theA. tumefacienshomolog of theC. crescentuspolar organelle development protein PodJ localizes to the old pole early in the cell cycle and accumulates at the growth pole as the cell cycle proceeds. FtsA and FtsZ also localize to the growth pole for most of the cell cycle prior to Z-ring formation. To further characterize the function of polar localizing proteins, we created a deletion ofA. tumefacienspodJ(podJAt). ΔpodJAtcells display ectopic growth poles (branching), growth poles that fail to transition to an old pole, and elongated cells that fail to divide. In ΔpodJAtcells,A. tumefaciensPopZ-green fluorescent protein (PopZAt-GFP) persists at nontransitioning growth poles postdivision and also localizes to ectopic growth poles, as expected for a growth-pole-specific factor. Even though GFP-PodJAtdoes not localize to the midcell in the wild type, deletion ofpodJAtimpacts localization, stability, and function of Z-rings as assayed by localization of FtsA-GFP and FtsZ-GFP. Z-ring defects are further evidenced by minicell production. Together, these data indicate that PodJAtis a critical factor for polar growth and that ΔpodJAtcells display a cell division phenotype, likely because the growth pole cannot transition to an old pole.IMPORTANCEHow rod-shaped prokaryotes develop and maintain shape is complicated by the fact that at least two distinct species-specific growth modes exist: uniform sidewall insertion of cell envelope material, characterized in model organisms such asEscherichia coli, and unipolar growth, which occurs in several alphaproteobacteria, includingAgrobacterium tumefaciens. Essential components for unipolar growth are largely uncharacterized, and the mechanism constraining growth to one pole of a wild-type cell is unknown. Here, we report that the deletion of a polar development gene,podJAt, results in cells exhibiting ectopic polar growth, including multiple growth poles and aberrant localization of cell division and polar growth-associated proteins. These data suggest that PodJAtis a critical factor in normal polar growth and impacts cell division inA. tumefaciens.


2012 ◽  
Vol 80 (4) ◽  
pp. 1467-1478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolina Coelho ◽  
Lydia Tesfa ◽  
Jinghang Zhang ◽  
Johanna Rivera ◽  
Teresa Gonçalves ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTWe investigated the outcome of the interaction ofCryptococcus neoformanswith murine macrophages using laser scanning cytometry (LSC). Previous results in our lab had shown that phagocytosis ofC. neoformanspromoted cell cycle progression. LSC allowed us to simultaneously measure the phagocytic index, macrophage DNA content, and 5-ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine (EdU) incorporation such that it was possible to study host cell division as a function of phagocytosis. LSC proved to be a robust, reliable, and high-throughput method for quantifying phagocytosis. Phagocytosis ofC. neoformanspromoted cell cycle progression, but infected macrophages were significantly less likely to complete mitosis. Hence, we report a new cytotoxic effect associated with intracellularC. neoformansresidence that manifested itself in impaired cell cycle completion as a consequence of a block in the G2/M stage of the mitotic cell cycle. Cell cycle arrest was not due to increased cell membrane permeability or DNA damage. We investigated alveolar macrophage replicationin vivoand demonstrated that these cells are capable of low levels of cell division in the presence or absence ofC. neoformansinfection. In summary, we simultaneously studied phagocytosis, the cell cycle state of the host cell and pathogen-mediated cytotoxicity, and our results demonstrate a new cytotoxic effect ofC. neoformansinfection on murine macrophages: fungus-induced cell cycle arrest. Finally, we provide evidence for alveolar macrophage proliferationin vivo.


1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (12) ◽  
pp. 1297-1330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven L. Pelech ◽  
Jasbinder S. Sanghera ◽  
Maleki Daya-Makin

Eukaryotic cell cycle progression during meiosis and mitosis is extensively regulated by reversible protein phosphorylation. Many cell surface receptors for mitogens are ligand-stimulated protein-tyrosine kinases that control the activation of a network of cytoplasmic and nuclear protein-serine(threonine) kinases. Over 30 plasma membrane associated protein-tyrosine kinases are encoded by proto-oncogenes, i.e., genes that have the potential to facilitate cancer when disregulated. Proteins such as ribosomal protein S6, microtubule-associated protein-2, myelin basic protein, and casein have been used to detect intracellular protein-serine(threonine) kinases that are activated further downstream in growth factor signalling transduction cascades. Genetic analysis of yeast cell division control (cdc) mutants has revealed another 20 or so protein-serine(threonine) kinases. One of these, specified by the cdc-2 gene in Schizosaccharomyces pombe, has homologs that are stimulated during M phase in maturing sea star and frog oocytes and mammalian somatic cells. Furthermore, during meiotic maturation in these echinoderm and amphibian oocytes, this is followed by activation of many of the same protein-serine(threonine) kinases that are stimulated when quiescent mammalian somatic cells are prompted with mitogens to traverse from G0 to G1 phase. These findings imply that a similar protein kinase cascade may oversee progression at multiple points in the cell cycle.Key words: protein kinases, mitosis, meiosis, oncogenes, cell division control.


Development ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 125 (12) ◽  
pp. 2291-2302 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.M. Souza ◽  
S. Lu ◽  
A. Kuspa

When Dictyostelium cells starve they arrest their growth and induce the expression of genes necessary for development. We have identified and characterized a protein kinase, YakA, that is essential for the proper regulation of both events. Amino acid sequence and functional similarities indicate that YakA is a homolog of Yak1p, a growth-regulating protein kinase in S. cerevisiae. Purified YakA expressed in E. coli is able to phosphorylate myelin basic protein. YakA-null cells are smaller and their cell cycle is accelerated relative to wild-type cells. When starved, YakA-null cells fail to decrease the expression of the growth-stage gene cprD, and do not induce the expression of genes required for the earliest stages of development. YakA mRNA levels increase during exponential growth and reach a maximum at the point of starvation, consistent with a role in mediating starvation responses. YakA mRNA also accumulates when cells are grown in medium conditioned by cells grown to high density, suggesting that yakA expression is under the control of an extracellular signal that accumulates during growth. Expression of yakA from a conditional promoter causes cell-cycle arrest in nutrient-rich medium and promotes developmental events, such as the expression of genes required for cAMP signaling. YakA appears to regulate the transition from growth to development in Dictyostelium.


Development ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 126 (14) ◽  
pp. 3263-3274 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.M. Souza ◽  
A.M. da Silva ◽  
A. Kuspa

When nutrients are depleted, Dictyostelium cells undergo cell cycle arrest and initiate a developmental program that ensures survival. The YakA protein kinase governs this transition by regulating the cell cycle, repressing growth-phase genes and inducing developmental genes. YakA mutants have a shortened cell cycle and do not initiate development. A suppressor of yakA that reverses most of the developmental defects of yakA- cells, but none of their growth defects was identified. The inactivated gene, pufA, encodes a member of the Puf protein family of translational regulators. Upon starvation, pufA- cells develop precociously and overexpress developmentally important proteins, including the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase, PKA-C. Gel mobility-shift assays using a 200-base segment of PKA-C's mRNA as a probe reveals a complex with wild-type cell extracts, but not with pufA- cell extracts, suggesting the presence of a potential PufA recognition element in the PKA-C mRNA. PKA-C protein levels are low at the times of development when this complex is detectable, whereas when the complex is undetectable PKA-C levels are high. There is also an inverse relationship between PufA and PKA-C protein levels at all times of development in every mutant tested. Furthermore, expression of the putative PufA recognition elements in wild-type cells causes precocious aggregation and PKA-C overexpression, phenocopying a pufA mutation. Finally, YakA function is required for the decline of PufA protein and mRNA levels in the first 4 hours of development. We propose that PufA is a translational regulator that directly controls PKA-C synthesis and that YakA regulates the initiation of development by inhibiting the expression of PufA. Our work also suggests that Puf protein translational regulation evolved prior to the radiation of metazoan species.


mBio ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Gonzalez ◽  
Justine Collier

ABSTRACTCcrM is an orphan DNA methyltransferase nearly universally conserved in a vast group ofAlphaproteobacteria.InCaulobacter crescentus, it controls the expression of key genes involved in the regulation of the cell cycle and cell division. Here, we demonstrate, using an experimental evolution approach, thatC. crescentuscan significantly compensate, through easily accessible genetic changes like point mutations, the severe loss in fitness due to the absence of CcrM, quickly improving its growth rate and cell morphology in rich medium. By analyzing the compensatory mutations genome-wide in 12 clones sampled from independent ΔccrMpopulations evolved for ~300 generations, we demonstrated that each of the twelve clones carried at least one mutation that potentially stimulatedftsZexpression, suggesting that the low intracellular levels of FtsZ are the major burden of ΔccrMmutants. In addition, we demonstrate that the phosphoenolpyruvate-carbohydrate phosphotransfer system (PTS) actually modulatesftsZandmipZtranscription, uncovering a previously unsuspected link between metabolic regulation and cell division inAlphaproteobacteria. We present evidence that point mutations found in genes encoding proteins of the PTS provide the strongest fitness advantage to ΔccrMcells cultivated in rich medium despite being disadvantageous in minimal medium. This environmental sign epistasis might prevent such mutations from getting fixed under changing natural conditions, adding a plausible explanation for the broad conservation of CcrM.IMPORTANCEIn bacteria, DNA methylation has a variety of functions, including the control of DNA replication and/or gene expression. The cell cycle-regulated DNA methyltransferase CcrM modulates the transcription of many genes and is critical for fitness inCaulobacter crescentus. Here, we used an original experimental evolution approach to determine which of its many targets make CcrM so important physiologically. We show that populations lacking CcrM evolve quickly, accumulating an excess of mutations affecting, directly or indirectly, the expression of theftsZcell division gene. This finding suggests that the most critical function of CcrM inC. crescentusis to promote cell division by enhancing FtsZ intracellular levels. During this work, we also discovered an unexpected link between metabolic regulation and cell division that might extend to otherAlphaproteobacteria.


2019 ◽  
Vol 201 (17) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shruti Mishra ◽  
Reema Chaudhary ◽  
Sudhir Singh ◽  
Swathi Kota ◽  
Hari S. Misra

ABSTRACT Guanine quadruplex (G4) DNA/RNA are secondary structures that regulate the various cellular processes in both eukaryotes and bacteria. Deinococcus radiodurans, a Gram-positive bacterium known for its extraordinary radioresistance, shows a genomewide occurrence of putative G4 DNA-forming motifs in its GC-rich genome. N-Methyl mesoporphyrin (NMM), a G4 DNA structure-stabilizing drug, did not affect bacterial growth under normal conditions but inhibited the postirradiation recovery of gamma-irradiated cells. Transcriptome sequencing analysis of cells treated with both radiation and NMM showed repression of gamma radiation-responsive gene expression, which was observed in the absence of NMM. Notably, this effect of NMM on the expression of housekeeping genes involved in other cellular processes was not observed. Stabilization of G4 DNA structures mapped at the upstream of recA and in the encoding region of DR_2199 had negatively affected promoter activity in vivo, DNA synthesis in vitro and protein translation in Escherichia coli host. These results suggested that G4 DNA plays an important role in DNA damage response and in the regulation of expression of the DNA repair proteins required for radioresistance in D. radiodurans. IMPORTANCE Deinococcus radiodurans can recover from extensive DNA damage caused by many genotoxic agents. It lacks LexA/RecA-mediated canonical SOS response. Therefore, the molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of DNA damage response would be worth investigating in this bacterium. D. radiodurans genome is GC-rich and contains numerous islands of putative guanine quadruplex (G4) DNA structure-forming motifs. Here, we showed that in vivo stabilization of G4 DNA structures can impair DNA damage response processes in D. radiodurans. Essential cellular processes such as transcription, DNA synthesis, and protein translation, which are also an integral part of the double-strand DNA break repair pathway, are affected by the arrest of G4 DNA structure dynamics. Thus, the role of DNA secondary structures in DNA damage response and radioresistance is demonstrated.


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