scholarly journals Intracellular Cleavage of the Cx43 C-Terminal Domain by Matrix-Metalloproteases: A Novel Contributor to Inflammation?

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marijke De Bock ◽  
Nan Wang ◽  
Elke Decrock ◽  
Geert Bultynck ◽  
Luc Leybaert
Keyword(s):  
Protein Interactions ◽  
Posttranslational Modifications ◽  
Tissue Injury ◽  
Matrix Metalloproteases ◽  
Matrix Remodeling ◽  
Protein Protein Interactions ◽  
Channel Function ◽  
Terminal Domain ◽  
Direct Cell ◽  
Electric Signals

The coordination of tissue function is mediated by gap junctions (GJs) that enable direct cell-cell transfer of metabolic and electric signals. GJs are formed by connexin (Cx) proteins of which Cx43 is most widespread in the human body. Beyond its role in direct intercellular communication, Cx43 also forms nonjunctional hemichannels (HCs) in the plasma membrane that mediate the release of paracrine signaling molecules in the extracellular environment. Both HC and GJ channel function are regulated by protein-protein interactions and posttranslational modifications that predominantly take place in the C-terminal domain of Cx43. Matrix metalloproteases (MMPs) are a major group of zinc-dependent proteases, known to regulate not only extracellular matrix remodeling, but also processing of intracellular proteins. Together with Cx43 channels, both GJs and HCs, MMPs contribute to acute inflammation and a small number of studies reports on an MMP-Cx43 link. Here, we build further on these reports and present a novel hypothesis that describes proteolytic cleavage of the Cx43 C-terminal domain by MMPs and explores possibilities of how such cleavage events may affect Cx43 channel function. Finally, we set out how aberrant channel function resulting from cleavage can contribute to the acute inflammatory response during tissue injury.

scholarly journals The Role of Posttranslational Modifications in DNA Repair

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Miaomiao Bai ◽  
Dongdong Ti ◽  
Qian Mei ◽  
Jiejie Liu ◽  
Xin Yan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Damage ◽  
Dna Repair ◽  
Protein Interactions ◽  
Posttranslational Modifications ◽  
Genome Stability ◽  
Protein Localization ◽  
Complex Structure ◽  
Protein Protein Interactions ◽  
Regulate Protein

The human body is a complex structure of cells, which are exposed to many types of stress. Cells must utilize various mechanisms to protect their DNA from damage caused by metabolic and external sources to maintain genomic integrity and homeostasis and to prevent the development of cancer. DNA damage inevitably occurs regardless of physiological or abnormal conditions. In response to DNA damage, signaling pathways are activated to repair the damaged DNA or to induce cell apoptosis. During the process, posttranslational modifications (PTMs) can be used to modulate enzymatic activities and regulate protein stability, protein localization, and protein-protein interactions. Thus, PTMs in DNA repair should be studied. In this review, we will focus on the current understanding of the phosphorylation, poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation, ubiquitination, SUMOylation, acetylation, and methylation of six typical PTMs and summarize PTMs of the key proteins in DNA repair, providing important insight into the role of PTMs in the maintenance of genome stability and contributing to reveal new and selective therapeutic approaches to target cancers.

scholarly journals The Many Roles of Cell Adhesion Molecules in Hepatic Fibrosis

Cells ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 1503 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hintermann ◽  
Christen
Keyword(s):  
Cell Adhesion ◽  
Adhesion Molecules ◽  
Hepatic Fibrosis ◽  
Cell Adhesion Molecules ◽  
Tissue Injury ◽  
Immunoglobulin Superfamily ◽  
Cell Contact ◽  
Matrix Remodeling ◽  
Direct Cell ◽  
The Many

Fibrogenesis is a progressive scarring event resulting from disrupted regular wound healing due to repeated tissue injury and can end in organ failure, like in liver cirrhosis. The protagonists in this process, either liver-resident cells or patrolling leukocytes attracted to the site of tissue damage, interact with each other by soluble factors but also by direct cell–cell contact mediated by cell adhesion molecules. Since cell adhesion molecules also support binding to the extracellular matrix, they represent excellent biosensors, which allow cells to modulate their behavior based on changes in the surrounding microenvironment. In this review, we focus on selectins, cadherins, integrins and members of the immunoglobulin superfamily of adhesion molecules as well as some non-classical cell adhesion molecules in the context of hepatic fibrosis. We describe their liver-specific contributions to leukocyte recruitment, cell differentiation and survival, matrix remodeling or angiogenesis and touch on their suitability as targets in antifibrotic therapies.

scholarly journals Chemical toolbox for ‘live’ biochemistry to understand enzymatic functions in living systems

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toru Komatsu ◽  
Yasuteru Urano
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Protein Interactions ◽  
Posttranslational Modifications ◽  
Live Cell ◽  
Living Systems ◽  
Protein Protein Interactions ◽  
Redox States ◽  
Recent Advances ◽  
Protein Functions ◽  
Research Tools

Abstract In this review, we present an overview of the recent advances in chemical toolboxes that are used to provide insights into ‘live’ protein functions in living systems. Protein functions are mediated by various factors inside of cells, such as protein−protein interactions, posttranslational modifications, and they are also subject to environmental factors such as pH, redox states and crowding conditions. Obtaining a true understanding of protein functions in living systems is therefore a considerably difficult task. Recent advances in research tools have allowed us to consider ‘live’ biochemistry as a valid approach to precisely understand how proteins function in a live cell context.

scholarly journals Intrinsic Disorder in Tetratricopeptide Repeat Proteins

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (10) ◽  
pp. 3709 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan W. Van Bibber ◽  
Cornelia Haerle ◽  
Roy Khalife ◽  
Bin Xue ◽  
Vladimir N. Uversky
Keyword(s):  
Protein Interactions ◽  
Posttranslational Modifications ◽  
Tandem Repeats ◽  
Intrinsically Disordered Protein ◽  
Intrinsic Disorder ◽  
Protein Protein Interactions ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Tetratricopeptide Repeats ◽  
Intrinsically Disordered ◽  
Tetratricopeptide Repeat Proteins

Among the realm of repeat containing proteins that commonly serve as “scaffolds” promoting protein-protein interactions, there is a family of proteins containing between 2 and 20 tetratricopeptide repeats (TPRs), which are functional motifs consisting of 34 amino acids. The most distinguishing feature of TPR domains is their ability to stack continuously one upon the other, with these stacked repeats being able to affect interaction with binding partners either sequentially or in combination. It is known that many repeat-containing proteins are characterized by high levels of intrinsic disorder, and that many protein tandem repeats can be intrinsically disordered. Furthermore, it seems that TPR-containing proteins share many characteristics with hybrid proteins containing ordered domains and intrinsically disordered protein regions. However, there has not been a systematic analysis of the intrinsic disorder status of TPR proteins. To fill this gap, we analyzed 166 human TPR proteins to determine the degree to which proteins containing TPR motifs are affected by intrinsic disorder. Our analysis revealed that these proteins are characterized by different levels of intrinsic disorder and contain functional disordered regions that are utilized for protein-protein interactions and often serve as targets of various posttranslational modifications.

scholarly journals PathwayMatcher: proteoform-centric network construction enables fine-granularity multiomics pathway mapping

GigaScience ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Francisco Hernández Sánchez ◽  
Bram Burger ◽  
Carlos Horro ◽  
Antonio Fabregat ◽  
Stefan Johansson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protein Interactions ◽  
Posttranslational Modifications ◽  
Knowledge Bases ◽  
Protein Isoforms ◽  
Biomedical Data ◽  
Protein Protein Interactions ◽  
Gene Sets ◽  
Functional Knowledge ◽  
Pathway Analyses ◽  
Different Levels

Abstract Background Mapping biomedical data to functional knowledge is an essential task in bioinformatics and can be achieved by querying identifiers (e.g., gene sets) in pathway knowledge bases. However, the isoform and posttranslational modification states of proteins are lost when converting input and pathways into gene-centric lists. Findings Based on the Reactome knowledge base, we built a network of protein-protein interactions accounting for the documented isoform and modification statuses of proteins. We then implemented a command line application called PathwayMatcher (github.com/PathwayAnalysisPlatform/PathwayMatcher) to query this network. PathwayMatcher supports multiple types of omics data as input and outputs the possibly affected biochemical reactions, subnetworks, and pathways. Conclusions PathwayMatcher enables refining the network representation of pathways by including proteoforms defined as protein isoforms with posttranslational modifications. The specificity of pathway analyses is hence adapted to different levels of granularity, and it becomes possible to distinguish interactions between different forms of the same protein.

scholarly journals Distinct p53 acetylation cassettes differentially influence gene-expression patterns and cell fate

2006 ◽  
Vol 173 (4) ◽  
pp. 533-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chad D. Knights ◽  
Jason Catania ◽  
Simone Di Giovanni ◽  
Selen Muratoglu ◽  
Ricardo Perez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Cell Fate ◽  
Protein Interactions ◽  
Posttranslational Modifications ◽  
Biological Activities ◽  
Expression Profiles ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Gene Expression Profiles ◽  
P53 Gene ◽  
Protein Protein Interactions

The activity of the p53 gene product is regulated by a plethora of posttranslational modifications. An open question is whether such posttranslational changes act redundantly or dependently upon one another. We show that a functional interference between specific acetylated and phosphorylated residues of p53 influences cell fate. Acetylation of lysine 320 (K320) prevents phosphorylation of crucial serines in the NH2-terminal region of p53; only allows activation of genes containing high-affinity p53 binding sites, such as p21/WAF; and promotes cell survival after DNA damage. In contrast, acetylation of K373 leads to hyperphosphorylation of p53 NH2-terminal residues and enhances the interaction with promoters for which p53 possesses low DNA binding affinity, such as those contained in proapoptotic genes, leading to cell death. Further, acetylation of each of these two lysine clusters differentially regulates the interaction of p53 with coactivators and corepressors and produces distinct gene-expression profiles. By analogy with the “histone code” hypothesis, we propose that the multiple biological activities of p53 are orchestrated and deciphered by different “p53 cassettes,” each containing combination patterns of posttranslational modifications and protein–protein interactions.

Regulative interactions of the osmosensing C-terminal domain in the trimeric glycine betaine transporter BetP from Corynebacterium glutamicum

2009 ◽  
Vol 390 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Reinhard Krämer ◽  
Christine Ziegler
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acid ◽  
Corynebacterium Glutamicum ◽  
Protein Interactions ◽  
Regulation Mechanism ◽  
Protein Protein Interactions ◽  
Molecular Switching ◽  
X Ray ◽  
X Ray Crystallography ◽  
Terminal Domain ◽  
Domain Reorientation

Abstract Activation of the osmoregulated trimeric betaine transporter BetP from Corynebacterium glutamicum was shown to depend mainly on the correct folding and integrity of its 55 amino acid long, partly α-helical C-terminal domain. Reorientation of the three C-terminal domains in the BetP trimer indicates different lipid-protein and protein-protein interactions of the C-terminal domain during osmoregulation. A regulation mechanism is suggested where this domain switches the transporter from the inactive to the active state. Interpretation of recently obtained electron and X-ray crystallography data of BetP led to a structure-function based model of C-terminal molecular switching involved in osmoregulation.

scholarly journals The Disordered Cellular Multi-Tasker WIP and Its Protein–Protein Interactions: A Structural View

Biomolecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 1084 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chana G. Sokolik ◽  
Nasrin Qassem ◽  
Jordan H. Chill
Keyword(s):  
Protein Interactions ◽  
Cell Biology ◽  
Intrinsically Disordered Proteins ◽  
Disordered Proteins ◽  
Actin Binding ◽  
Structural Description ◽  
Protein Protein Interactions ◽  
Intrinsically Disordered ◽  
Terminal Domain ◽  
Binding Partners

WASp-interacting protein (WIP), a regulator of actin cytoskeleton assembly and remodeling, is a cellular multi-tasker and a key member of a network of protein–protein interactions, with significant impact on health and disease. Here, we attempt to complement the well-established understanding of WIP function from cell biology studies, summarized in several reviews, with a structural description of WIP interactions, highlighting works that present a molecular view of WIP’s protein–protein interactions. This provides a deeper understanding of the mechanisms by which WIP mediates its biological functions. The fully disordered WIP also serves as an intriguing example of how intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) exert their function. WIP consists of consecutive small functional domains and motifs that interact with a host of cellular partners, with a striking preponderance of proline-rich motif capable of interactions with several well-recognized binding partners; indeed, over 30% of the WIP primary structure are proline residues. We focus on the binding motifs and binding interfaces of three important WIP segments, the actin-binding N-terminal domain, the central domain that binds SH3 domains of various interaction partners, and the WASp-binding C-terminal domain. Beyond the obvious importance of a more fundamental understanding of the biology of this central cellular player, this approach carries an immediate and highly beneficial effect on drug-design efforts targeting WIP and its binding partners. These factors make the value of such structural studies, challenging as they are, readily apparent.

Quantitative Imaging of FRET-Based Biosensors for Cell- and Organelle-Specific Analyses in Plants

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 300-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Swayoma Banerjee ◽  
Luis Rene Garcia ◽  
Wayne K. Versaw
Keyword(s):  
High Precision ◽  
Protein Interactions ◽  
Posttranslational Modifications ◽  
Dynamic Range ◽  
Quantitative Imaging ◽  
Resonance Energy Transfer ◽  
Resonance Energy ◽  
High Dynamic Range ◽  
Imaging Data ◽  
Protein Protein Interactions

AbstractGenetically encoded Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based biosensors have been used to report relative concentrations of ions and small molecules, as well as changes in protein conformation, posttranslational modifications, and protein–protein interactions. Changes in FRET are typically quantified through ratiometric analysis of fluorescence intensities. Here we describe methods to evaluate ratiometric imaging data acquired through confocal microscopy of a FRET-based inorganic phosphate biosensor in different cells and subcellular compartments of Arabidopsis thaliana. Linear regression was applied to donor, acceptor, and FRET-derived acceptor fluorescence intensities obtained from images of multiple plants to estimate FRET ratios and associated location-specific spectral correction factors with high precision. FRET/donor ratios provided a combination of high dynamic range and precision for this biosensor when applied to the cytosol of both root and leaf cells, but lower precision when this ratiometric method was applied to chloroplasts. We attribute this effect to quenching of donor fluorescence because high precision was achieved with FRET/acceptor ratios and thus is the preferred ratiometric method for this organelle. A ligand-insensitive biosensor was also used to distinguish nonspecific changes in FRET ratios. These studies provide a useful guide for conducting quantitative ratiometric studies in live plants that is applicable to any FRET-based biosensor.

Topoisomerase II forms multimers in vitro: effects of metals, beta-glycerophosphate, and phosphorylation of its C-terminal domain

1994 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 6962-6974
Author(s):  
Y S Vassetzky ◽  
Q Dang ◽  
P Benedetti ◽  
S M Gasser
Keyword(s):  
Chromosome Segregation ◽  
Protein Interactions ◽  
Topoisomerase Ii ◽  
Dna Topoisomerase Ii ◽  
Protein Protein Interactions ◽  
Dna Topoisomerase ◽  
Terminal Domain ◽  
Terminal Amino ◽  
In Vitro Effects

We present a novel assay for the study of protein-protein interactions involving DNA topoisomerase II. Under various conditions of incubation we observe that topoisomerase II forms complexes at least tetrameric in size, which can be sedimented by centrifugation through glycerol. The multimers are enzymatically active and can be visualized by electron microscopy. Dephosphorylation of topoisomerase II inhibits its multimerization, which can be restored at least partially by rephosphorylation of multiple sites within its 200 C-terminal amino acids by casein kinase II. Truncation of topoisomerase II just upstream of the major phosphoacceptor sites reduces its aggregation, rendering the truncated enzyme insensitive to either kinase treatments or phosphatase treatments. This is consistent with a model in which interactions involving the phosphorylated C-terminal domain of topoisomerase II aid either in chromosome segregation or in chromosome condensation.

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