Degradation of ribosome and chaperone proteins is attenuated during the Differentiation of Replicatively Aged C2C12 Myoblasts

Age-related impairments in myoblast differentiation may contribute to reductions in muscle function in older adults, however, the underlying proteostasis processes are not well understood. Young (P6-10) and replicatively aged (P48-50) C2C12 myoblast cultures were investigated during early (0h-24h) and late (72h-96h) stages of differentiation using deuterium oxide (D2O) labelling and mass spectrometry. The absolute dynamic profiling technique for proteomics (Proteo-ADPT) was applied to quantify the absolute rates of abundance change, synthesis and degradation of individual proteins. Proteo-ADPT encompassed 116 proteins and 74 proteins exhibited significantly (P<0.05, FDR <5 %) different changes in abundance between young and aged cells at early and later periods of differentiation. Young cells exhibited a steady pattern of growth, protein accretion and fusion, whereas aged cells failed to gain protein mass or undergo fusion during later differentiation. Maturation of the proteome was retarded in aged myoblasts at the onset of differentiation, but their proteome appeared to "catch up" with the young cells during the early phase of the differentiation period. However, this "catch up" process in aged cells was not accomplished by higher levels of protein synthesis. Instead, a lower level of protein degradation in aged cells was responsible for the elevated gains in protein abundance. Our novel data point to a loss of proteome quality as a precursor to the lack of fusion of aged myoblasts and highlights dysregulation of protein degradation, particularly of ribosomal and chaperone proteins, as a key mechanism that may contribute to age-related declines in the capacity of myoblasts to undergo differentiation.

Endoplasmic Reticulum Chaperones in Viral Infection: Therapeutic Perspectives

Viruses are intracellular parasites that subvert the functions of their host cells to accomplish their infection cycle. The endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-residing chaperone proteins are central for the achievement of different steps of the viral cycle, from entry and replication to assembly and exit. The most abundant ER chaperones are GRP78 (78-kDa glucose-regulated protein), GRP94 (94-kDa glucose-regulated protein), the carbohydrate or lectin-like chaperones calnexin (CNX) and calreticulin (CRT), the protein disulfide isomerases (PDIs) and the DNAJ chaperones.

Identification of Chaperone proteins by Integration of PseAAC and Statistical Moments

Background: Chaperones are a group of proteins that have functional similarities and support protein folding. These are proteins that can prevent non-specific aggregation by binding to non-natural proteins. These are mainly linked with the folding or assembly, which are important biological procedures of molecular biology. Not only is chaperone an important stress protein for maintaining the survival of other proteins and cells, but its therapeutic applications are dramatically increasing. Objectives: Herein, we report the first and the novel predictor for identification of Chaperone proteins. Methods: The predictor is developed using Chou’s pseudo amino acid composition (PseAAC), statistical moments and various position-based features. Results: The predictor is validated through 10-fold cross-validation and Jackknife testing, which gave 94.04% and 96.62% accurate results. Conclusion: Thus, the proposed predictor can help predict the Chaperone proteins efficiently and accurately and provide baseline data for the discovery of new drugs and biomarkers.

Staphylococcus aureus Trigger Factor is Involved in Biofilm Formation and Cooperates with the Chaperone PpiB

Peptidyl-prolyl cis/trans isomerases (PPIases) are enzymes that assist in protein folding around proline-peptide bonds, and often possess chaperone activity. Staphylococcus aureus encodes three PPIases; PrsA, PpiB and Trigger factor (TF). Previous work by our group demonstrated a role for both PrsA and PpiB in S. aureus, however, TF remains largely unstudied. Here, we identify a role for TF in S. aureus biofilm formation, and demonstrate cooperation between TF and the cytoplasmic PPIase PpiB. Mutation of the tig gene (encoding TF) leads to reduced biofilm development in vitro but no significant attenuation of virulence in a mouse model of infection. To investigate if TF possesses chaperone activity, we analyzed the ability of a tig mutant to survive acid and basic stress. While there was no significant decrease in a tig mutant, a ppiB/tig double mutant exhibited a significant decrease in cell viability after acid and base challenge. We then demonstrate that a ppiB/tig double mutant has exacerbated phenotypes in vitro and in vivo when compared to either single mutant. Finally, in vivo immunoprecipitation of epitope tagged PpiB reveals that PpiB interacts with four times the number of proteins when TF is absent from the cell, suggesting it may be compensating for the loss of TF. Interestingly, the only proteins found to interact with TF are TF itself, FnBPB and the chaperone protein ClpB. Collectively, these results support the first phenotype for S. aureus TF and demonstrate a greater network of cooperation between chaperone proteins in Staphylococcus aureus. IMPORTANCE S. aureus encodes a large number of virulence factors that aid the bacterium in survival and pathogenesis. These virulence factors have a wide variety of functions, however, they must all be properly secreted in order to be functional. Bacterial chaperone proteins often assist in secretion by trafficking proteins to secretion machinery or assisting in proper protein folding. Here, we report that the S. aureus chaperone Trigger factor (TF) contributes to biofilm formation and cooperates with the chaperone PpiB to regulate S. aureus virulence processes. These data highlight the first known role for TF in S. aureus, and suggest that S. aureus chaperone proteins may be involved in a greater regulatory network in the cell.

Palmatine Inhibits Up-Regulation of GRP78 and CALR Protein in a STZ-Induced Diabetic Rat Model

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is characterized by hyperglycemia (high blood glucose levels) which is due to the destruction of insulin producing β-cells in the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. It is associated with oxidative and endoplasmic reticulum stress. The plant alkaloid Palmatine has been previously reported to possess antidiabetic and antioxidant properties as well as other protective properties against kidney and liver tissue damage. Objective: Here, we investigated the ability of Palmatine to reduce the up-regulation of chaperone proteins glucose regulatory protein 78 (GRP78), and calreticulin (CALR) protein in a streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rat model. Method: Streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetes sprague dawley rats treated with 2mg/kg of Palmatine for 12 weeks after elevation of plasma glucose levels above 11mmol/L post-STZ administration. Proteins were extracted from pancreas after treatment and Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE), PD Quest software genomic solutions and mass spectrometer were used to analyze differentially expression protein. Mass spectrometry (MS/MS), multidimensional protein identification technology (MudPIT) was used for protein identification. Results: There was an up-regulation of the expression of chaperone proteins CALR and GRP78 and down-regulation of the expression of antioxidant and protection proteins peroxidoxin 4 (Prdx4), protein disulfide isomerase (PDIA2/3), Glutathione-s-transferase (GST), and Serum Albumin (ALB) in non-diabetic rats. Palmatine treatment down regulated the expression of chaperone proteins CALR and GRP78 and up-regulated the expression of Prdx4, PDIA2/3, GST, and ALB. Conclusion: Palmatine may have activated antioxidant proteins, which protected the cells against reactive oxygen species and endoplasmic stress. The result is in consonance with our previous report on Palmatine.

Phase separation of proSAAS into spheres results in core sequestration of TDP-43216-414 aggregates

SUMMARYChaperone proteins perform vital functions in the maintenance of cellular proteostasis and play important roles during the development of neurodegenerative diseases involving protein aggregation. We have previously reported that a secreted neuronal chaperone known as proSAAS exhibits potent chaperone activity in vitro against protein aggregation and blocks the cytotoxic effects of amyloid and α-synuclein oligomers. Here we report that overexpression of proSAAS generates dense, membraneless 2 μm spheres which can increase by fusion up to 4 μM during expression within the cytoplasm. The presence of dense proSAAS spheres was confirmed using electron microscopy. ProSAAS spheres selectively sequestered GFP-TDP-43216-414 within their cores, resulting in cellular redistribution and retardation of degradation. ProSAAS expression was protective against TDP-43 cytotoxicity in a yeast model system. Aggregate sequestration via proSAAS encapsulation may provide protection from cell-to-cell transmission of aggregates and explain the as-yet unclear mechanism underlying the cytoprotective chaperone action of proSAAS.

Fine Tuning: Effects of Post-Translational Modification on Hsp70 Chaperones

The discovery of heat shock proteins shaped our view of protein folding in the cell. Since their initial discovery, chaperone proteins were identified in all domains of life, demonstrating their vital and conserved functional roles in protein homeostasis. Chaperone proteins maintain proper protein folding in the cell by utilizing a variety of distinct, characteristic mechanisms to prevent aberrant intermolecular interactions, prevent protein aggregation, and lower entropic costs to allow for protein refolding. Continued study has found that chaperones may exhibit alternative functions, including maintaining protein folding during endoplasmic reticulum (ER) import and chaperone-mediated degradation, among others. Alternative chaperone functions are frequently controlled by post-translational modification, in which a given chaperone can switch between functions through covalent modification. This review will focus on the Hsp70 class chaperones and their Hsp40 co-chaperones, specifically highlighting the importance of post-translational control of chaperones. These modifications may serve as a target for therapeutic intervention in the treatment of diseases of protein misfolding and aggregation.