Project description:Disruptions of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) that perturb protein folding cause ER stress and elicit an unfolded protein response (UPR) that involves translational and transcriptional changes in gene expression aimed at expanding the ER processing capacity and alleviating cellular injury. Three ER stress sensors PERK, ATF6, and IRE1 implement the UPR. PERK phosphorylation of eIF2 during ER stress represses protein synthesis, which prevents further influx of ER client proteins, along with preferential translation of ATF4, a transcription activator of the integrated stress response. In this study we show that the PERK/eIF2α~P/ATF4 pathway is required not only for translational control, but also activation of ATF6 and its target genes. The PERK pathway facilitates both the synthesis of ATF6 and trafficking of ATF6 from the ER to the Golgi for intramembrane proteolysis and activation of ATF6. As a consequence, liver-specific depletion of PERK significantly reduces both the translational and transcriptional phases of the UPR, leading to reduced protein chaperone expression, disruptions of lipid metabolism, and enhanced apoptosis. These findings show that the regulatory networks of the UPR are fully integrated, and helps explain the diverse pathologies associated with loss of PERK. 14 gene expression arrays, 3 WT control arrays; 3 lsPERK control arrays; 4 WT Treated arrays; 4 lsPERK treated arrays. Comparison of gene expression profiles for treated vs control in wildtype and knock-out.
Project description:Disruptions of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) that perturb protein folding cause ER stress and elicit an unfolded protein response (UPR) that involves translational and transcriptional changes in gene expression aimed at expanding the ER processing capacity and alleviating cellular injury. Three ER stress sensors PERK, ATF6, and IRE1 implement the UPR. PERK phosphorylation of eIF2 during ER stress represses protein synthesis, which prevents further influx of ER client proteins, along with preferential translation of ATF4, a transcription activator of the integrated stress response. In this study we show that the PERK/eIF2α~P/ATF4 pathway is required not only for translational control, but also activation of ATF6 and its target genes. The PERK pathway facilitates both the synthesis of ATF6 and trafficking of ATF6 from the ER to the Golgi for intramembrane proteolysis and activation of ATF6. As a consequence, liver-specific depletion of PERK significantly reduces both the translational and transcriptional phases of the UPR, leading to reduced protein chaperone expression, disruptions of lipid metabolism, and enhanced apoptosis. These findings show that the regulatory networks of the UPR are fully integrated, and helps explain the diverse pathologies associated with loss of PERK.
Project description:The unfolded protein response maintains endoplasmic reticulum (ER) homeostasis by sensing protein-folding stress and orchestrating cellular adaptation via the ER-transmembrane proteins IRE1, PERK and ATF6. Malignant cells can co-opt IRE1 and PERK to sustain growth; however, the importance of ATF6 in cancer remains poorly deciphered. We observed elevated ATF6 transcriptional activity in several cancers including colorectal carcinoma (CRC). Genetic silencing or small molecule inhibition of ATF6 blocked cell cycle progression and reduced viability of several human CRC cell lines in vitro and disrupted tumor progression in vivo. Unexpectedly, ATF6 interference disabled Wnt and Myc signaling and reduced stemness. ATF6 inhibition attenuated growth of organoids derived from malignant but not normal human intestinal tissue, decreasing Wnt-pathway activity and driving cellular differentiation. Wnt-surrogate agonism in a Wnt-dependent CRC organoid restored pathway activity and rescued growth under ATF6 blockade. Our findings identify ATF6 as an unexpected facilitator of oncogenic Wnt signaling in CRC.
Project description:The unfolded protein response maintains endoplasmic reticulum (ER) homeostasis by sensing protein-folding stress and orchestrating cellular adaptation via the ER-transmembrane proteins IRE1, PERK and ATF6. Malignant cells can co-opt IRE1 and PERK to sustain growth; however, the importance of ATF6 in cancer remains poorly deciphered. We observed elevated ATF6 transcriptional activity in several cancers including colorectal carcinoma (CRC). Genetic silencing or small molecule inhibition of ATF6 blocked cell cycle progression and reduced viability of several human CRC cell lines in vitro and disrupted tumor progression in vivo. Unexpectedly, ATF6 interference disabled Wnt and Myc signaling and reduced stemness. ATF6 inhibition attenuated growth of organoids derived from malignant but not normal human intestinal tissue, decreasing Wnt-pathway activity and driving cellular differentiation. Wnt-surrogate agonism in a Wnt-dependent CRC organoid restored pathway activity and rescued growth under ATF6 blockade. Our findings identify ATF6 as an unexpected facilitator of oncogenic Wnt signaling in CRC.
Project description:Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress triggers an adaptive response which fosters tumor cell survival and resilience to stress conditions. Activation of the endoplasmic reticulum stress response, through its PERK branch, promotes the phosphorylation of the α-subunit of translation initiation factor eIF2alpha, thereby repressing general protein translation and selectively augmenting the translation of ATF4 with the downstream CHOP transcription factor and the protein disulfide oxidase ERO1. Here, we show that ISRIB, a small molecule, which inhibits the action of the phosphorylated α-subunit of eIF2, thereby activating protein translation, synergistically interacts with the genetic deficiency of protein disulfide oxidase ERO1 enfeebling tumor growth and spreading. ISRIB represses CHOP signal but surprisingly does not inhibit ERO1. Mechanistically, ISRIB increases the ER protein load with a prominent perturbing effect on ERO1 deficient Triple-Negative breast cells, which have adapted to live with low client protein load, while ERO1 deficiency selectively impairs VEGF-dependent angiogenesis. Strikingly, ERO1-deficient Triple Negative Breast Cancer xenografts have augmented ER stress response and PERK branch. In vivo, ISRIB synergistically with ERO1 deficiency inhibits the growth of Triple-Negative Breast cancer xenografts by impairing proliferation and angiogenesis, while it is not effective on the xenograft counterparts with ERO1. In summary, these results demonstrate that ISRIB together with ERO1 deficiency synergistically shatters a feature of the adaptive ER stress response while ERO1 deficiency selectively impairs angiogenesis in tumors, thereby together promoting tumor cytotoxicity. Therefore, our findings suggest two surprising findings in breast tumors: ERO1 is not regulated via CHOP and ISRIB represents a therapeutic option to efficiently inhibit tumor progression in those tumors with limited ERO1 and high PERK.
Project description:Imbalances in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) proteostasis are associated with etiologically-diverse degenerative diseases linked to excessive extracellular protein misfolding and aggregation. Reprogramming of the ER proteostasis environment through genetic activation of the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR)-associated transcription factor ATF6 attenuates secretion and extracellular aggregation of amyloidogenic proteins. Here, we employed a screening approach that included complementary arm-specific UPR reporters and medium-throughput transcriptional profiling to identify non-toxic small molecules that phenocopy the ATF6-mediated reprogramming of the ER proteostasis environment. Comprehensive transcriptome analysis was employed to validate the capacity of three prioritized compounds to remodel the ER proteostasis environment, and to assess the prefential activation of ATF6 transcriptional targets relative to targets of the IRE1/XBP1s and PERK arms of the UPR. HEK293T-Rex and HEK293-DAX cells were treated for 6 hr with vehicle (DMSO), 1 µM Tg, 10 mM TMP (in HEK293DAX), or 10 µM 132, 147 or 263 in biological triplicate at 37 ÌC
Project description:Proteostasis is essential for survival and particularly important for highly specialized post mitotic cells like neurons. Transient reduction of protein synthesis by protein kinase R–like endoplasmic reticulum (ER) kinase (PERK)-mediated phosphorylation of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2α (eIF2α) is a major proteostatic survival response during ER stress. Paradoxically, neurons are remarkably tolerant to PERK dysfunction, which suggests the existence of cell type-specific mechanisms that secure proteostatic stress resilience. We employed PERK-deficient neuron and astrocyte monocultures to investigate the mechanisms underlying neuron-specific ER stress resilience in the absence of PERK.
Project description:Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is an important clinical problem. Here we used a genomics approach to establish the critical drug-induced toxicity pathways that act in synergy with the pro-inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor M-oM-^AM-! (TNFM-oM-^AM-!) to cause cell death of liver HepG2 cells. Transcriptomics of the cell injury stress response pathways initiated by two hepatoxicants, diclofenac and carbamazepine, revealed the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress/translational initiation signaling and Nrf2 antioxidant signaling as two major affected pathways, which was similar to that observed for the majority of ~80 DILI compounds in primary human hepatocytes. The ER stress was primarily related to PERK and ATF4 activation and subsequent expression of CHOP, which was all independent of TNFM-NM-1 signaling. Identical ATF4 dependent transcriptional programs were observed in primary human hepatocytes as well as primary precision cut human liver slices. Targeted RNA interference studies revealed that while ER stress signaling through IRE1M-NM-1 and ATF6 acted cytoprotective, activation of the ER stress protein kinase PERK and subsequent expression of CHOP was pivotal for the onset of drug/TNF-induced apoptosis. While inhibition of the Nrf2-dependent adaptive oxidative stress response enhanced the drug/TNF cytotoxicity, Nrf2 signaling did not affect CHOP expression. Both hepatotoxic drugs enhanced expression of the translational initiation factor EIF4A1, which was essential for CHOP expression and drug/TNFM-oM-^AM-!-mediated cell killing. Our data support a model in which enhanced drug-induced translation initiates PERK-mediated CHOP signaling in an EIF4A1 dependent manner, thereby sensitizing towards caspase-8-dependent TNF induced apoptosis. 4 biological replicates of Diclofenac and 6 biological replicates of vehicle. 46 hours after isolation, cells were exposed to either 300 M-BM-5M DCF or the solvent DMSO for 24 hours.
Project description:The molecular mechanisms linking the stress of unfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER stress) to glucose intolerance in obese animals are poorly understood. In this study enforced expression of a translation initiation 2α (eIF2α)-specific phosphatase, GADD34, was used to selectively compromise signaling in the eIF2(αP)-dependent arm of the ER unfolded protein response in liver of transgenic mice. The transgene resulted in lower liver glycogen levels and susceptibility to fasting hypoglycemia in lean mice and glucose tolerance and diminished hepato-steatosis in animals fed a high fat diet. Attenuated eIF2(αP) correlated with lower expression of the adipogenic nuclear receptor PPARγ and its upstream regulators, the transcription factors C/EBPα and C/EBPβ, in transgenic mouse liver, whereas eIF2α phosphorylation promoted C/EBP translation in cultured cells and primary hepatocytes. These observations suggest that eIF2(αP)-mediated translation of key hepatic transcriptional regulators of intermediary metabolism contributes to the detrimental consequences of nutrient excess. Keywords: genotype comparison The low expressing Ttr::Fv2E-Perk transgene (#58) was bred into the Atf4 knockout strain and the derivative compound heterozygous mice (in the mixed FvB/n; Swiss Webster background) were backcrossed to the Atf4+/- parental stock and Ttr::Fv2E-PERK positive siblings with Atf4+/+ and Atf4-/- genetypes were analyzed.
Project description:Imbalances in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) proteostasis are associated with etiologically-diverse degenerative diseases linked to excessive extracellular protein misfolding and aggregation. Reprogramming of the ER proteostasis environment through genetic activation of the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR)-associated transcription factor ATF6 attenuates secretion and extracellular aggregation of amyloidogenic proteins. Here, we employed a screening approach that included complementary arm-specific UPR reporters and medium-throughput transcriptional profiling to identify non-toxic small molecules that phenocopy the ATF6-mediated reprogramming of the ER proteostasis environment. Comprehensive transcriptome analysis was employed to validate the capacity of three prioritized compounds to remodel the ER proteostasis environment, and to assess the prefential activation of ATF6 transcriptional targets relative to targets of the IRE1/XBP1s and PERK arms of the UPR.