HIV-1 Vpr protein upregulates microRNA-210-5p expression to induce G2 arrest by targeting TGIF2.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Qiao J
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8716043 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Vpr is an accessory protein of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) with multiple functions. The induction of G2 arrest by Vpr plays a particularly important role in efficient viral replication because the transcriptional activity of the HIV-1 long terminal repeat is most active in G2 phase. The regulation of apoptosis by Vpr is also important for immune suppression and pathogenesis during HIV infection. However, it is not known whether Vpr-induced apoptosis depends on the ability of Vpr to induce G2 arrest, and the dynamics of Vpr-induced G2 arrest and apoptosis have not been visualized. We performed time-lapse imaging to examine the temporal relationship between Vpr-induced G2 arrest and apoptosis using HeLa cells containing the fluorescent ubiquitination-based cell cycle indicator2 (Fucci2). The dynamics of G2 arrest and subsequent long-term mitotic cell rounding in cells transfected with the Vpr-expression vector were visualized. These cells underwent nuclear mis-segregation after prolonged mitotic processes and then entered G1 phase. Some cells subsequently displayed evidence of apoptosis after prolonged mitotic processes and nuclear mis-segregation. Interestingly, Vpr-induced apoptosis was seldom observed in S or G2 phase. Likewise, visualization of synchronized HeLa/Fucci2 cells infected with an adenoviral vector expressing Vpr clearly showed that Vpr arrests the cell cycle at G2 phase, but does not induce apoptosis at S or G2 phase. Furthermore, time-lapse imaging of HeLa/Fucci2 cells expressing SCAT3.1, a caspase-3-sensitive fusion protein, clearly demonstrated that Vpr induces caspase-3-dependent apoptosis. Finally, to examine whether the effects of Vpr on G2 arrest and apoptosis were reversible, we performed live-cell imaging of a destabilizing domain fusion Vpr, which enabled rapid stabilization and destabilization by Shield1. The effects of Vpr on G2 arrest and subsequent apoptosis were reversible. This study is the first to characterize the dynamics of the morphological changes that occur during Vpr-induced G2 arrest and apoptosis.
| S-EPMC3899331 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Vpr and Vpx are a group of highly related accessory proteins from primate lentiviruses. Despite the high degree of amino acid homology within this group, these proteins can be highly divergent in their functions. In this work, we constructed chimeric and mutant proteins between HIV-1 and SIVagm Vpr in order to better understand the structure-function relationships. We tested these constructs for their abilities to induce G2 arrest in human cells and to degrade agmSAMHD1 and Mus81. We found that the C-terminus of HIV-1 Vpr, when transferred onto SIVagm Vpr, provides the latter with the de novo ability to induce G2 arrest in human cells. We confirmed that HIV-1 Vpr induces degradation of Mus81 although, surprisingly, degradation is independent and genetically separable from Vpr׳s ability to induce G2 arrest.
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Project description:Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) viral protein R (Vpr) has been shown to cause G2 cell cycle arrest in human cells by inducing ATR-mediated inactivation of p34cdc2, but factors directly engaged in this process remain unknown. We used tandem affinity purification to isolate native Vpr complexes. We found that damaged DNA binding protein 1 (DDB1), viral protein R binding protein (VPRBP), and cullin 4A (CUL4A)--components of a CUL4A E3 ubiquitin ligase complex, DDB1-CUL4A(VPRBP)--were able to associate with Vpr. Depletion of VPRBP by small interfering RNA impaired Vpr-mediated induction of G2 arrest. Importantly, VPRBP knockdown alone did not affect normal cell cycle progression or activation of ATR checkpoints, suggesting that the involvement of VPRBP in G2 arrest was specific to Vpr. Moreover, leucine/isoleucine-rich domain Vpr mutants impaired in their ability to interact with VPRBP and DDB1 also produced strongly attenuated G2 arrest. In contrast, G2 arrest-defective C-terminal Vpr mutants were found to maintain their ability to associate with these proteins, suggesting that the interaction of Vpr with the DDB1-VPRBP complex is necessary but not sufficient to block cell cycle progression. Overall, these results point toward a model in which Vpr could act as a connector between the DDB1-CUL4A(VPRBP) E3 ubiquitin ligase complex and an unknown cellular factor whose proteolysis or modulation of activity through ubiquitination would activate ATR-mediated checkpoint signaling and induce G2 arrest.
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Project description:Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play a critical role in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF); however, the underlying molecular mechanisms are unclear. Our study demonstrated that lncRNA small nucleolar RNA host gene 8 (SNHG8) was increased in bleomycin (BLM)-induced A549 cells. LncRNA SNHG8 overexpression further elevated fibrosis-related factors monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP1), CC motif chemokine ligand 18 (CCL18), and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), as well as increased collagen type I alpha-1 chain (COL1A1) and collagen type III alpha-1 chain (COL3A1). Meanwhile, lncRNA SNHG8 knockdown exhibited an opposite role in reducing BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis. With regard to the mechanism, SNHG8 was then revealed to act as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) for microRNA (miR)-4701-5p in regulating Mucin 5B (MUC5B) expression. Furthermore, the interactions between SNHG8 and miR-4701-5p, between miR-4701-5p and MUC5B, and between SNHG8 and MUC5B on the influence of fibrosis-related indicators were confirmed, respectively. In addition, SNHG8 overexpression enhanced the levels of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 and phosphorylation Smad2/3 (p-Smad2/3), which was suppressed by SNHG8 knockdown in BLM-induced A549 cells. Moreover, miR-4701-5p inhibitor-induced elevation of TGF-β1 and p-Smad2/3 was significantly suppressed by SNHG8 knockdown. In conclusion, SNHG8 knockdown attenuated pulmonary fibrosis progression by regulating miR-4701-5p/MUC5B axis, which might be associated with the modulation of TGF-β1/Smad2/3 signaling. These findings reveal that lncRNA SNHG8 may become a potential target for the treatment of IPF.
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Project description:Vascular dementia (VD) is the most common form of dementia in elderly people. However, little is understood about the role of microRNAs (miRNAs) involved in cognitive impairment in early VD. Here, a VD model induced by chronic cerebral ischemia and fetal bovine serum (FBS)-free cell model that detects synapse formation was established to investigate the function of miRNAs in early VD. The microarray analysis and real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) showed that miR-210-5p increased significantly in the hippocampus of rats with 4 weeks of ischemia. The VD model rats also displayed significant cognitive deficits and synaptic loss. The overexpression of miR-210-5p decreased the synaptic number in primary hippocampal neurons, whereas specific suppression of miR-210-5p resulted in the formation of more synapses. Additionally, intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of miR-210-5p agomir to VD rats aggravated phenotypes of cognitive impairment and synaptic loss. These VD-induced phenotypes were effectively attenuated by miR-210-5p antagomir. Moreover, bioinformatic prediction revealed that synaptosomal-associated protein of 25 KDa (Snap25) mRNA is targeted by miR-210-5p. The miR-210-5p decreased the luciferase activities of 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) of Snap25 mRNA. Mutation of predicted miR-210-5p binding sites in the 3' UTR of Snap25 mRNA abolished the miR-210-5p-induced decrease in luciferase activity. Western blot and immunofluorescence staining confirmed that miR-210-5p targets Snap25. Finally, RT-quantitative PCR (qPCR) and immunofluorescence staining detected that miR-210-5p agomir downregulated Snap25 expression in the cornu ammonis1 (CA1) region of hippocampi in VD rats, whereas miR-210-5p antagomir upregulated Snap25 expression. Altogether, miR-210-5p contributes to cognitive impairment in chronic ischemia-induced VD model through the regulation of Snap25 expression, which potentially provides an opportunity to develop a new therapeutic strategy for VD.
| S-EPMC6243094 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Generating insulin-producing cells (IPCs) from human pluripotent stem cells is a promising method for studying the molecular mechanism underlying pancreas development and a potential treatment source for type 1 diabetes. Previous studies have shown that miR-181c-5p is highly enriched in adult islets; however, its role in pancreatic β cell differentiation is poorly understood. In this study, we differentiated human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) into IPCs in a stepwise process that recapitulated pancreas organogenesis and observed that miR-181c-5p continuously accumulated throughout the entire differentiation process. hiPSCs were transduced with lentiviral vectors containing human miR-181c-5p precursor, which significantly increased the endodermal markers SOX17, FOXA2, CXCR4 and GATA4 and pancreatic endocrine-specific gene expression, including PDX1, NKX6.1, MAFA and Insulin. miR-181c-5p overexpression exerted little effect on the efficiency of definitive endoderm, whereas it promoted the differentiation of pancreatic progenitors and IPCs, especially for NKX6.1-positive and insulin-positive cells differentiation. Transplanted these cells exhibit glucose-stimulated C-peptide secretion in vivo and protect mice from chemically induced diabetes. It was found that miR-181c-5p directly targets the 3'UTR of smad7 and TGIF2 mRNA, which are known to be endogenous repressors of TGF-β-smad2/3 signaling, to decrease their mRNA and protein levels. Furthermore, overexpressed miR-181c-5p led to an elevation of the smad2/3 phosphorylation levels in hiPSC-derived cells, while treatment with smad2/3 inhibitors following miR-181c-5p overexpression had opposite effects on IPC formation. These results suggest that miR-181c-5p is critically involved in pancreatic lineage commitment through direct repression of smad7 and TGIF2 and that it modulates TGF-β-smad2/3 signaling activation and increases the feasibility of using patient-specific hiPSCs for β cell replacement therapy for type 1 diabetes.
| S-EPMC7295798 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The accessory gene vpr, common to all primate lentiviruses, induces potent G2/M arrest in cycling cells. A recent study showed that human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) viral protein R (Vpr) mediates this through activation of the SLX4/MUS81/EME1 exonuclease complex that forms part of the Fanconi anemia DNA repair pathway. To confirm these observations, we have examined the G2/M arrest phenotypes of a panel of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) Vpr proteins. We show that SIV Vpr proteins differ in their ability to promote cell cycle arrest in human cells. While this is dependent on the DCAF1/DDB1/CUL4 ubiquitin ligase complex, interaction with human DCAF1 does not predict G2/M arrest activity of SIV Vpr in human cells. In all cases, SIV Vpr-mediated cell cycle arrest in human cells correlated with interaction with human SLX4 (huSLX4) and could be abolished by small interfering RNA (siRNA) depletion of any member of the SLX4 complex. In contrast, all but one of the HIV/SIV Vpr proteins tested, including those that lacked activity in human cells, were competent for G2/M arrest in grivet cells. Correspondingly, here cell cycle arrest correlated with interaction with the grivet orthologues of the SLX4 complex, suggesting a level of host adaptation in these interactions. Phylogenetic analyses strongly suggest that G2/M arrest/SLX4 interactions are ancestral activities of primate lentiviral Vpr proteins and that the ability to dysregulate the Fanconi anemia DNA repair pathway is an essential function of Vpr in vivo.The Vpr protein of HIV-1 and related viruses is essential for the virus in vivo. The ability of Vpr to block the cell cycle at mitotic entry is well known, but the importance of this function for viral replication is unclear. Recent data have shown that HIV-1 Vpr targets the Fanconi anemia DNA repair pathway by interacting with and activating an endonuclease complex, SLX4/MUS81/EME1, that processes interstrand DNA cross-links. Here we show that the ability of a panel of SIV Vpr proteins to mediate cell cycle arrest correlates with species-specific interactions with the SLX4 complex in human and primate cells. The results of these studies suggest that the SLX4 complex is a conserved target of primate lentiviral Vpr proteins and that the ability to dysregulate members of the Fanconi anemia DNA repair pathway is essential for HIV/SIV replication in vivo.
| S-EPMC4301105 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) accessory protein, Vpr, arrests the cell cycle of the G2 phase, and this Vpr-mediated G2 arrest is implicated in an efficient HIV-1 spread in monocyte-derived macrophages. Here, we screened new candidates for Vpr-targeting HIV-1 inhibitors by using fission yeast- and mammalian cell-based high-throughput screening. First, fission yeast strains expressing the HIV-1 Vpr protein were generated and then treated for 48 h with 20 μM of a synthetic library, including 140,000 chemical compounds. We identified 268 compounds that recovered the growth of Vpr-overexpressing yeast. The selected compounds were then tested in mammalian cells, and those displaying high cytotoxicity were excluded from further cell cycle analysis and imaging-based screening. A flow cytometry analysis confirmed that seven compounds recovered from the Vpr-induced G2 arrest. The cell toxicity and inhibitory effect of HIV-1 replication in human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM) were examined, and three independent structural compounds, VTD227, VTD232, and VTD263, were able to inhibit HIV-1 replication in MDM. Furthermore, we showed that VTD227, but not VTD232 and VTD263, can directly bind to Vpr. Our results indicate that three new compounds and their derivatives represent new drugs targeting HIV-1 replication and can be potentially used in clinics to improve the current antiretroviral therapy.
| S-EPMC9227106 | biostudies-literature
Project description:HIV viral protein R (Vpr) induces a cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase by activating the ATR DNA damage/replication stress signalling pathway through engagement of the DDB1-CUL4A-DCAF1 E3 ubiquitin ligase via a direct binding to the substrate specificity receptor DCAF1. Since no high resolution structures of the DDB1-DCAF1-Vpr substrate recognition module currently exist, we used a mutagenesis approach to better define motifs in DCAF1 that are crucial for Vpr and DDB1 binding. Herein, we show that the minimal domain of DCAF1 that retained the ability to bind Vpr and DDB1 was mapped to residues 1041 to 1393 (DCAF1 WD). Mutagenic analyses identified an ?-helical H-box motif and F/YxxF/Y motifs located in the N-terminal domain of DCAF1 WD that are involved in exclusive binding to DDB1. While we could not identify elements specifically involved in Vpr binding, overall, the mutagenesis data suggest that the predicted ?-propeller conformation of DCAF1 is likely to be critical for Vpr association. Importantly, we provide evidence that binding of Vpr to DCAF1 appears to modulate the formation of a DDB1/DCAF1 complex. Lastly, we show that expression of DCAF1 WD in the absence of endogenous DCAF1 was not sufficient to enable Vpr-mediated G2 arrest activity. Overall, our results reveal that Vpr and DDB1 binding on DCAF1 can be genetically separated and further suggest that DCAF1 contains determinants in addition to the Vpr and DDB1 minimal binding domain, which are required for Vpr to enable the induction of a G2 arrest.
| S-EPMC3928422 | biostudies-literature
Project description:HIV-1 Vpr-mediated G2 cell cycle arrest is dependent on the interaction of Vpr with an E3 ubiquitin ligase that contains damage-specific DNA binding protein 1 (DDB1), Cullin 4A (Cul4A), DDB1 and Cul4-associated factor 1 (DCAF1), and Rbx1. Vpr is thought to associate directly with DCAF1 in the E3 ubiquitin ligase complex although the exact interaction pattern of the proteins in the complex is not completely defined. The Vpr of SIVagm induces G2 arrest of cognate African Green Monkey (AGM) cells but not human cells. The molecular mechanism by which SIVagm Vpr exhibits its species-specific function remained unknown.Physical interaction of proteins in the E3 ubiquitin ligase complex was assessed by co-immunoprecipitation followed by western blotting. In addition, co-localization of the proteins in cells was investigated by confocal microscopy. The cell cycle was analyzed by propidium iodide staining and flow cytometry. DNA damage response elicited by Vpr was evaluated by detecting phosphorylation of H2AX, a marker for DNA damage response.We show that RNAi knock-down of DCAF1 prevented the co-immunoprecipitation of DDB1 with HIV-1 Vpr while DDB1 knock-down did not influence the binding of Vpr to DCAF1. HIV-1 Vpr mutants with a L64P or a R90K mutation maintained the ability to associate with DCAF1 but did not appear to be in a complex with DDB1. SIVagm Vpr associated with AGM DCAF1 and DDB1 while, in human cells, it binds to human DCAF1 but hardly binds to human DDB1, resulting in the reduced activation of H2AX.The identification of Vpr mutants which associate with DCAF1 but only poorly with DDB1 suggests that DCAF1 is necessary but the simple binding of Vpr to DCAF1 is not sufficient for the Vpr association with DDB1-containing E3 ligase complex. Vpr may interact both with DCAF1 and DDB1 in the E3 ligase complex. Alternatively, the interaction of Vpr and DCAF1 may induce a conformational change in DCAF1 or Vpr that promotes the interaction with DDB1. The ability of SIVagm Vpr to associate with DDB1, but not DCAF1, can explain the species-specificity of SIVagm Vpr-mediated G2 arrest.
| S-EPMC4058697 | biostudies-literature