scholarly journals Pharmacological dimerization and activation of the exchange factor eIF2B antagonizes the integrated stress response

eLife ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmela Sidrauski ◽  
Jordan C Tsai ◽  
Martin Kampmann ◽  
Brian R Hearn ◽  
Punitha Vedantham ◽  
...  

The general translation initiation factor eIF2 is a major translational control point. Multiple signaling pathways in the integrated stress response phosphorylate eIF2 serine-51, inhibiting nucleotide exchange by eIF2B. ISRIB, a potent drug-like small molecule, renders cells insensitive to eIF2α phosphorylation and enhances cognitive function in rodents by blocking long-term depression. ISRIB was identified in a phenotypic cell-based screen, and its mechanism of action remained unknown. We now report that ISRIB is an activator of eIF2B. Our reporter-based shRNA screen revealed an eIF2B requirement for ISRIB activity. Our results define ISRIB as a symmetric molecule, show ISRIB-mediated stabilization of activated eIF2B dimers, and suggest that eIF2B4 (δ-subunit) contributes to the ISRIB binding site. We also developed new ISRIB analogs, improving its EC50 to 600 pM in cell culture. By modulating eIF2B function, ISRIB promises to be an invaluable tool in proof-of-principle studies aiming to ameliorate cognitive defects resulting from neurodegenerative diseases.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lan Wang ◽  
Morgane Boone ◽  
Rosalie E Lawrence ◽  
Adam Frost ◽  
Peter Walter ◽  
...  

AbstractIn eukaryotic cells, stressors reprogram the cellular proteome by activating the integrated stress response (ISR). In its canonical form, stress-sensing kinases phosphorylate the eukaryotic translation initiation factor eIF2 (eIF2-P), which ultimately leads to reduced levels of ternary complex required for initiation of mRNA translation. Translational control is primarily exerted through a conformational switch in eIF2’s nucleotide exchange factor, eIF2B, which shifts from its active A-State conformation to its inhibited I-State conformation upon eIF2-P binding, resulting in reduced nucleotide exchange on eIF2. Here, we show functionally and structurally how a single histidine to aspartate point mutation in eIF2B’s β subunit (H160D) mimics the effects of eIF2-P binding by promoting an I-State like conformation, resulting in eIF2-P independent activation of the ISR. These findings corroborate our previously proposed (Schoof et al. 2021) A/I-State model of allosteric ISR regulation.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuhiro Kashiwagi ◽  
Takeshi Yokoyama ◽  
Madoka Nishimoto ◽  
Mari Takahashi ◽  
Ayako Sakamoto ◽  
...  

AbstractA core event in the integrated stress response, an adaptive pathway common to all eukaryotic cells in response to various stress stimuli, is the phosphorylation of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 (eIF2). Normally, unphosphorylated eIF2 transfers methionylated initiator tRNA to the ribosome in a GTP-dependent manner. In contrast, phosphorylated eIF2 inhibits its specific guanine nucleotide exchange factor eIF2B, which leads to a deficiency of active eIF2 and resultant global translation repression. To unveil the mechanism by which the eIF2 phosphorylation status regulates the eIF2B nucleotide exchange activity, we determined cryo-electron microscopic and crystallographic structures of eIF2B in complex with unphosphorylated or phosphorylated eIF2. Intriguingly, the unphosphorylated and phosphorylated forms of eIF2 bind to eIF2B in completely different manners: the nucleotide exchange-active “productive” and nucleotide exchange-inactive “nonproductive” modes, respectively. The nonproductive-mode phosphorylated eIF2, extending from one of the two eIF2B “central cavities”, not only prevents nucleotide exchange on itself, but also sterically prevents unphosphorylated eIF2 from productively binding on the other central cavity of eIF2B, which explains how phosphorylated eIF2 inhibits eIF2B.One Sentence SummaryA drastic change in the binding mode of eIF2 to eIF2B induces translational control in stress.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Schoof ◽  
Morgane Boone ◽  
Lan Wang ◽  
Rosalie Lawrence ◽  
Adam Frost ◽  
...  

AbstractThe integrated stress response (ISR) is activated by phosphorylation of the translation initiation factor eIF2 in response to various stress conditions. Phosphorylated eIF2 (eIF2-P) inhibits eIF2’s nucleotide exchange factor eIF2B, a two-fold symmetric heterodecamer assembled from subcomplexes. Here, we monitor and manipulate eIF2B assembly in vitro and in vivo. In the absence of eIF2B’s α-subunit, the ISR is induced because unassembled eIF2B tetramer subcomplexes accumulate in cells. Upon addition of the small-molecule ISR inhibitor ISRIB, eIF2B tetramers assemble into active octamers. Surprisingly, ISRIB inhibits the ISR even in the context of fully assembled eIF2B decamers, revealing an allosteric communication between the physically distant eIF2, eIF2-P, and ISRIB binding sites. Cryo-EM structures suggest a rocking motion in eIF2B that couples these binding sites. eIF2-P binding converts eIF2B decamers into ‘conjoined tetramers’ with greatly diminished activity. Thus, ISRIB’s effects in disease models could arise from eIF2B decamer stabilization, allosteric modulation, or both.


eLife ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Schoof ◽  
Morgane Boone ◽  
Lan Wang ◽  
Rosalie Lawrence ◽  
Adam Frost ◽  
...  

The integrated stress response (ISR) is activated by phosphorylation of the translation initiation factor eIF2 in response to various stress conditions. Phosphorylated eIF2 (eIF2-P) inhibits eIF2's nucleotide exchange factor eIF2B, a two-fold symmetric heterodecamer assembled from subcomplexes. Here, we monitor and manipulate eIF2B assembly in vitro and in vivo. In the absence of eIF2B's α-subunit, the ISR is induced because unassembled eIF2B tetramer subcomplexes accumulate in cells. Upon addition of the small-molecule ISR inhibitor ISRIB, eIF2B tetramers assemble into active octamers. Surprisingly, ISRIB inhibits the ISR even in the context of fully assembled eIF2B decamers, revealing allosteric communication between the physically distant eIF2, eIF2-P, and ISRIB binding sites. Cryo-EM structures suggest a rocking motion in eIF2B that couples these binding sites. eIF2-P binding converts eIF2B decamers into 'conjoined tetramers' with diminished substrate binding and enzymatic activity. Canonical eIF2-P-driven ISR activation thus arises due to this change in eIF2B's conformational state.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Schoof ◽  
Lan Wang ◽  
J. Zachery Cogan ◽  
Rosalie E. Lawrence ◽  
Morgane Boone ◽  
...  

AbstractViral infection triggers activation of the integrated stress response (ISR). In response to viral double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), RNA-activated protein kinase (PKR) phosphorylates the translation initiation factor eIF2, converting it from a translation initiator into a potent translation inhibitor and this restricts the synthesis of viral proteins. Phosphorylated eIF2 (eIF2-P) inhibits translation by binding to eIF2’s dedicated, heterodecameric nucleotide exchange factor eIF2B and conformationally inactivating it. We show that the NSs protein of Sandfly Fever Sicilian virus (SFSV) allows the virus to evade the ISR. Mechanistically, NSs tightly binds to eIF2B (KD = 30 nM), blocks eIF2-P binding, and rescues eIF2B GEF activity. Cryo-EM structures demonstrate that SFSV NSs and eIF2-P directly compete, with the primary NSs contacts to eIF2Bα mediated by five ‘aromatic fingers’. NSs binding preserves eIF2B activity by maintaining eIF2B’s conformation in its active A-State.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Schoof ◽  
Lan Wang ◽  
J Zachery Cogan ◽  
Rosalie Lawrence ◽  
Morgane Boone ◽  
...  

Viral infection triggers activation of the integrated stress response (ISR). In response to viral double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), RNA-activated protein kinase (PKR) phosphorylates the translation initiation factor eIF2, converting it from a translation initiator into a potent translation inhibitor and this restricts the synthesis of viral proteins. Phosphorylated eIF2 (eIF2-P) inhibits translation by binding to eIF2's dedicated, heterodecameric nucleotide exchange factor eIF2B and conformationally inactivating it. We show that the NSs protein of Sandfly Fever Sicilian virus (SFSV) allows the virus to evade the ISR. Mechanistically, NSs tightly binds to eIF2B (KD = 43 nM), blocks eIF2-P binding, and rescues eIF2B GEF activity. Cryo-EM structures demonstrate that SFSV NSs and eIF2-P directly compete, with the primary NSs contacts to eIF2Bα; mediated by five 'aromatic fingers'. NSs binding preserves eIF2B activity by maintaining eIF2B's conformation in its active A-State.;


2015 ◽  
Vol 113 (2) ◽  
pp. E117-E126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aude De Gassart ◽  
Bojan Bujisic ◽  
Léa Zaffalon ◽  
Laurent A. Decosterd ◽  
Antonia Di Micco ◽  
...  

Inhibitors of the HIV aspartyl protease [HIV protease inhibitors (HIV-PIs)] are the cornerstone of treatment for HIV. Beyond their well-defined antiretroviral activity, these drugs have additional effects that modulate cell viability and homeostasis. However, little is known about the virus-independent pathways engaged by these molecules. Here we show that the HIV-PI Nelfinavir decreases translation rates and promotes a transcriptional program characteristic of the integrated stress response (ISR). Mice treated with Nelfinavir display hallmarks of this stress response in the liver, including α subunit of translation initiation factor 2 (eIF2α) phosphorylation, activating transcription factor-4 (ATF4) induction, and increased expression of known downstream targets. Mechanistically, Nelfinavir-mediated ISR bypassed direct activation of the eIF2α stress kinases and instead relied on the inhibition of the constitutive eIF2α dephosphorylation and down-regulation of the phophatase cofactor CReP (Constitutive Repressor of eIF2α Phosphorylation; also known as PPP1R15B). These findings demonstrate that the modulation of eIF2α-specific phosphatase cofactor activity can be a rheostat of cellular homeostasis that initiates a functional ISR and suggest that the HIV-PIs could be repositioned as therapeutics in human diseases to modulate translation rates and stress responses.


2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Bond ◽  
Claudia Lopez-Lloreda ◽  
Patrick J Gannon ◽  
Cagla Akay-Espinoza ◽  
Kelly L Jordan-Sciutto

Abstract The proposed molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative pathogenesis are varied, precluding the development of effective therapies for these increasingly prevalent disorders. One of the most consistent observations across neurodegenerative diseases is the phosphorylation of eukaryotic initiation factor 2α (eIF2α). eIF2α is a translation initiation factor, involved in cap-dependent protein translation, which when phosphorylated causes global translation attenuation. eIF2α phosphorylation is mediated by 4 kinases, which, together with their downstream signaling cascades, constitute the integrated stress response (ISR). While the ISR is activated by stresses commonly observed in neurodegeneration, such as oxidative stress, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and inflammation, it is a canonically adaptive signaling cascade. However, chronic activation of the ISR can contribute to neurodegenerative phenotypes such as neuronal death, memory impairments, and protein aggregation via apoptotic induction and other maladaptive outcomes downstream of phospho-eIF2α-mediated translation inhibition, including neuroinflammation and altered amyloidogenic processing, plausibly in a feed-forward manner. This review examines evidence that dysregulated eIF2a phosphorylation acts as a driver of neurodegeneration, including a survey of observations of ISR signaling in human disease, inspection of the overlap between ISR signaling and neurodegenerative phenomenon, and assessment of recent encouraging findings ameliorating neurodegeneration using developing pharmacological agents which target the ISR. In doing so, gaps in the field, including crosstalk of the ISR kinases and consideration of ISR signaling in nonneuronal central nervous system cell types, are highlighted.


2004 ◽  
Vol 167 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phoebe D. Lu ◽  
Heather P. Harding ◽  
David Ron

Stress-induced eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 (eIF2) α phosphorylation paradoxically increases translation of the metazoan activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4), activating the integrated stress response (ISR), a pro-survival gene expression program. Previous studies implicated the 5′ end of the ATF4 mRNA, with its two conserved upstream ORFs (uORFs), in this translational regulation. Here, we report on mutation analysis of the ATF4 mRNA which revealed that scanning ribosomes initiate translation efficiently at both uORFs and ribosomes that had translated uORF1 efficiently reinitiate translation at downstream AUGs. In unstressed cells, low levels of eIF2α phosphorylation favor early capacitation of such reinitiating ribosomes directing them to the inhibitory uORF2, which precludes subsequent translation of ATF4 and represses the ISR. In stressed cells high levels of eIF2α phosphorylation delays ribosome capacitation and favors reinitiation at ATF4 over the inhibitory uORF2. These features are common to regulated translation of GCN4 in yeast. The metazoan ISR thus resembles the yeast general control response both in its target genes and its mechanistic details.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. i12-i13
Author(s):  
Sofya Langman ◽  
Alberto Delaidelli ◽  
Yue Zhou Huang ◽  
Poul Sorensen

Abstract Medulloblastoma (MB) accounts for 20% of diagnosed brain tumors in children. Group 3 (G3) MB subtype is the most aggressive. Molecularly, G3 MB is characterized by MYC overexpression, which drives elevated mRNA translation in tumor cells. PERK is an eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 (eIF2α) kinase that inhibits mRNA translation under endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress conditions, such as in response to accumulation of unfolded proteins. When unfolded proteins accumulate in the ER, activated PERK phosphorylates eIF2α. This shuts down global translation and triggers integrated stress response (ISR) to help cells adapt through selective translation of mRNA encoding pro-survival proteins. High mRNA expression of PERK correlates with poor survival in G3 MB patients. In vitro, combination of ER or hypoxic stress with PERK knockdown induces apoptosis in MB cells. ISRIB is an ISR inhibitor that maintains translation rates despite eIF2α phosphorylation. Combining ISRIB with stress such as hypoxia induces apoptosis in MB cells and prevents accumulation of key ISR mediators such as ATF4. In addition, combination of ISRIB and hypoxia induces oxidative stress. Current G3 MB treatment regimens include vincristine, a known ISR inducer. Combination of ISRIB with vincristine amplifies vincristine-induced apoptosis, potentially suggesting novel therapeutic approach for MB. Our findings show that inhibition of ISR in G3 MB represents a powerful inducer of cancer cell death.


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