Project description:Here we found that ILF3 prefers to bind telomere R-loops and protects telomere from aberrant homologous recombination. ILF3 knockout induces TERRA aggregation onto telomere and activates telomere DNA damage response (DDR). Furthermore, ILF3 deficiency disrupts telomere homeostasis and induces abnormal ALT-mediated telomere lengthening
Project description:T lymphocytes are pivotal in adaptive immunity. The role of trafficking protein particle complex (TRAPPC) in regulating T cell development and homeostasis are unknown. Using CD4cre-Trappc1flox/flox (Trappc1 cKO) mice, we found that Trappc1 deficiency in T cells significantly decreased cell number of naïve T cells in the periphery, whereas thymic T cell development in Trappc1 cKO mice was identical as in WT mice. In the culture assays and mouse models with adoptive transfer of the sorted WT (CD45.1+CD45.2+) and Trappc1 cKO naive T cells (CD45.2+) to CD45.1+ syngeneic mice, Trappc1-deficienct naive T cells showed significantly reduced survival ability compared with WT cells. RNA-seq and molecular studies showed that Trappc1 deficiency in naive T cells reduced protein transport from the endoplasmic reticulum to Golgi apparatus, enhanced unfolded protein responses, increased P53 transcription, intracellular Ca2+, Atf4-CHOP, oxidative phosphorylation and lipid peroxide accumulation, and subsequently led to ferroptosis.
Project description:The ARV1-encoded protein mediates sterol transport from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the plasma membrane. Yeast ARV1 mutants accumulate multiple lipids in the ER and are sensitive to pharmacological modulators of both sterol and sphingolipid metabolism. Using fluorescent and electron microscopy, we demonstrate sterol accumulation, subcellular membrane expansion, elevated lipid droplet formation and vacuolar fragmentation in ARV1 mutants. Motif-based regression analysis of ARV1 deletion transcription profiles indicates activation of Hac1p, an integral component of the UPR. Accordingly, we show constitutive splicing of HAC1 transcripts, induction of a UPR reporter and elevated expression of UPR targets in ARV1 mutants. IRE1, encoding the unfolded protein sensor in the ER lumen, exhibits a lethal genetic interaction with ARV1, indicating a viability requirement for the UPR in cells lacking ARV1. Surprisingly, ARV1 mutants expressing a variant of Ire1p defective in sensing unfolded proteins are viable. Moreover these strains also exhibit constitutive HAC1 splicing that interacts with DTT-mediated perturbation of protein folding. These data suggest a component of UPR induction in arv1? strains is distinct from protein misfolding. Decreased ARV1 expression in murine macrophages also results in UPR induction, particularly up-regulation of activating transcription factor-4, C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) and apoptosis. Cholesterol loading or inhibition of cholesterol esterification further elevated CHOP expression in ARV1 knockdown cells. Thus, loss or down-regulation of ARV1 disturbs membrane and lipid homeostasis resulting in a disruption of ER integrity, one consequence of which is induction of the UPR. Yeast strains were grown to mid-logarithmic stage (A600=0.5-0.6) for RNA extraction and hybridization on Ye6100 or S98 Affymetrix gene chips. The control array (sample name C) was carried out in duplicate. The ARV1 mutant array (sample name A) was carried out in triplicate. Both ARV1 mutants Ye6100 arrays were compared to the same control Ye6100 array. Strains represent different isolates of the same genotype, mating type and genetic background (w303). Sturley lab collection (SCY) strains include SCY328 and SCY2004 for controls and SCY820 and SCY840 for ARV1 mutants.
Project description:The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is an organelle associated with lipid metabolism. However, the involvement of the ER in nutritional status-dependent energy homeostasis is largely unknown. The results of this study demonstrate that IRE-1, an ER protein known to be involved in the unfolded protein response, and HSP-4, an ER chaperone, regulate expression of the novel fasting-induced lipases FIL-1 and FIL-2, which induce fat granule hydrolysis upon fasting in C. elegans. RNAi and ectopic expression experiments demostrated that FIL-1 and FIL-2 are both necessary and sufficient for fasting-induced fat granule breakdown. Failure of ire-1 and hsp-4 mutant animals to hydrolyze fat granules during starvation impaired their motility, which was rescued by glucose supplementation of their media, implicating the importance of ire-1/hsp-4-dependent lipolysis for energy supply from stored fat during fasting. Taken together, these data suggest that the ER-resident proteins IRE-1 and HSP-4 are key nutritional sensors that modulate expression of inducible lipases to maintain whole-body energy homeostasis in C. elegans. Synchronized L4 worms were divided into well-fed and 6 hours fasted samples for RNA extraction and hybridization on an Agilent microarray.
Project description:Biological membranes have a stunning ability to adapt their composition in response to physiological stress and metabolic challenges. Little is known how such perturbations affect individual organelles in eukaryotic cells. Pioneering work provided insights into the subcellular distribution of lipids in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, but the composition of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane, which also crucially regulates lipid metabolism and the unfolded protein response, remained insufficiently characterized. Here we describe a method for purifying organelle membranes from yeast, MemPrep. We demonstrate the purity of our ER membrane preparations by proteomics and document the general utility of MemPrep by isolating vacuolar membranes. Quantitative lipidomics establishes the lipid composition of the ER and the vacuolar membrane. Our findings provide a baseline for studying membrane protein biogenesis and have important implications for understanding the role of lipids in regulating the unfolded protein response (UPR). The combined preparative and analytical MemPrep approach uncovers a dynamic remodeling of ER membranes in stressed cells and establishes distinct molecular fingerprints of lipid bilayer stress.
Project description:The ARV1-encoded protein mediates sterol transport from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the plasma membrane. Yeast ARV1 mutants accumulate multiple lipids in the ER and are sensitive to pharmacological modulators of both sterol and sphingolipid metabolism. Using fluorescent and electron microscopy, we demonstrate sterol accumulation, subcellular membrane expansion, elevated lipid droplet formation and vacuolar fragmentation in ARV1 mutants. Motif-based regression analysis of ARV1 deletion transcription profiles indicates activation of Hac1p, an integral component of the UPR. Accordingly, we show constitutive splicing of HAC1 transcripts, induction of a UPR reporter and elevated expression of UPR targets in ARV1 mutants. IRE1, encoding the unfolded protein sensor in the ER lumen, exhibits a lethal genetic interaction with ARV1, indicating a viability requirement for the UPR in cells lacking ARV1. Surprisingly, ARV1 mutants expressing a variant of Ire1p defective in sensing unfolded proteins are viable. Moreover these strains also exhibit constitutive HAC1 splicing that interacts with DTT-mediated perturbation of protein folding. These data suggest a component of UPR induction in arv1? strains is distinct from protein misfolding. Decreased ARV1 expression in murine macrophages also results in UPR induction, particularly up-regulation of activating transcription factor-4, C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) and apoptosis. Cholesterol loading or inhibition of cholesterol esterification further elevated CHOP expression in ARV1 knockdown cells. Thus, loss or down-regulation of ARV1 disturbs membrane and lipid homeostasis resulting in a disruption of ER integrity, one consequence of which is induction of the UPR.
Project description:Major causes of lipid accumulation in liver are increased import, synthesis or decreased catabolism of fatty acids. The latter is caused by dysfunction of cellular organelle controlling energy homeostasis, i.e. mitochondria. However, peroxisomes appear to be an important organelle in lipid metabolism of hepatocytes, but little is known about their role in the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). To investigate the role of peroxisomes next to mitochondria in excessive hepatic lipid accumulation we used the leptin resistant db/db mice on C57BLKS background, a mouse model that develops hyperphagia induced diabetes with obesity and NAFLD. We used microarrays to determine differences in hepatic gene expression in a mouse model for NAFDL (BKS.Cg-Leprdb (db/db)) and their wildtype littermates C57BL/KSlepr+/+ (BKS) to determine the effect of persistent hepatic lipid accumulation.
Project description:Disruption of local iron homeostasis is a common feature of neurodegenerative diseases. We focused on dopaminergic neurons, asking how iron transport proteins modulate iron homeostasis in vivo. Inactivation of the transmembrane iron exporter ferroportin had no apparent consequences. However, loss of the transferrin receptor 1, involved in iron uptake, caused profound, age-progressive neurodegeneration with features similar to Parkinson’s disease. There was gradual loss of dopaminergic projections in the striatum with subsequent death of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. After depletion of 30% of the neurons the mice developed neurobehavioral parkinsonism, with evidence of mitochondrial dysfunction and impaired mitochondrial autophagy. Molecular analysis revealed strong signatures indicative of attempted axonal regeneration, a metabolic switch to glycolysis and the unfolded protein response. We speculate that cellular iron deficiency may contribute to neurodegeneration in human patients Using Ribotag technology, from mouse ventral midbrain lysates, we isolated actively translated mRNA species from control and Transferrin receptor 1-null dopaminergic neurons. Two mouse ages were used 3 wks (early neurodegeration) 10 wks (late neurodegeneration)