Project description:Skeletal muscle atrophy is a debilitating condition that occurs with aging and disease but the underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood. Previous work determined that common transcriptional changes occur in muscle during atrophy induced by different stimuli. However, whether this holds true at the proteome level remains largely unexplored. Here, we find that, contrary to this earlier model, distinct atrophic stimuli (corticosteroids, cancer, and aging) induce largely different mRNA and protein changes during muscle atrophy in mice. Moreover, there is widespread transcriptome-proteome disconnect. Consequently, atrophy markers (atrogenes) identified in earlier microarray-based studies do not emerge from these proteomic surveys as the most relevantly associated with atrophy in all conditions. Rather, we identify proteins that are distinctly modulated by different types of atrophy (herein defined as “atroproteins”) such as the myokine CCN1/Cyr61, which regulates myofiber type switching during sarcopenia. Altogether, these integrated analyses indicate that different catabolic stimuli induce muscle atrophy via largely distinct mechanisms.
Project description:The proteasome maintains protein quality during aging and disease. Challenges to proteasome function can be compensated by local proteasome stress responses. However, whereas proteasome stress is also sensed systemically is unknown. In Drosophila , we find that proteasome stress in skeletal muscle non-autonomously promotes the degradation of proteasome substrates in distant tissues during aging. Several muscle-secreted factors (myokines) are upregulated by proteasomal stress via C/EBP transcription factors, including the amylase Amyrel, which increases the circulating levels of the disaccharide maltose. Muscle-specific Amyrel overexpression promotes the degradation of proteasome substrates in the aging brain and retina via the transcriptional induction of chaperones and proteases. Conversely, RNAi for maltose transporters worsens proteostasis and reduces the expression of Amyrel-induced genes in the brain. Moreover, maltose preserves protein quality in cell culture and human cortical brain organoids challenged by thermal stress. Thus, proteasome stress in skeletal muscle mounts a systemic adaptive response via amylase/maltose signaling.
Project description:The proteasome maintains protein quality during aging and disease. Challenges to proteasome function can be compensated by local proteasome stress responses. However, whereas proteasome stress is also sensed systemically is unknown. In Drosophila , we find that proteasome stress in skeletal muscle non-autonomously promotes the degradation of proteasome substrates in distant tissues during aging. Several muscle-secreted factors (myokines) are upregulated by proteasomal stress via C/EBP transcription factors, including the amylase Amyrel, which increases the circulating levels of the disaccharide maltose. Muscle-specific Amyrel overexpression promotes the degradation of proteasome substrates in the aging brain and retina via the transcriptional induction of chaperones and proteases. Conversely, RNAi for maltose transporters worsens proteostasis and reduces the expression of Amyrel-induced genes in the brain. Moreover, maltose preserves protein quality in cell culture and human cortical brain organoids challenged by thermal stress. Thus, proteasome stress in skeletal muscle mounts a systemic adaptive response via amylase/maltose signaling.
Project description:Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) exhibit considerable cell-intrinsic changes with age. Epigenetic alterations are one of the hallmarks of HSC aging, and profiling of DNA methylation and histone modifications has provided potential mechanisms that contribute to HSC aging. Chromatin accessibility reflects a comprehensive transcriptional network operating in cells; however, it has not yet been investigated in HSC aging. Here we performed an integrated analysis of aged HSCs on transcriptome, chromatin accessibilities, and histone modifications. Alterations in chromatin accessibility preferentially took place in HSCs with aging, the cells at the top of hematopoietic hierarchy, suggesting that the age-associated alterations in chromatin accessibility are memorized in HSCs and are inherited to downstream progenitor cells. However, most genes with differentially accessible regions (DARs) were not actively transcribed and kept poised for activation in aged HSCs. Motifs of ATF/CREB, STAT, and CNC family transcription factors were significantly enriched at DARs in aged HSCs. These transcription factors are activated in response to external stresses such as cytokine and inflammation signals and oxidative stresses, suggesting that the long-term exposure to such stress signals have changed chromatin accessibility in HSCs to augment responses by such trained HSCs to subsequent stimuli. In contrast, aged HSC-specific gene expression occurred mainly at gene loci with poised accessible regions but not DARs without accompanying drastic chromatin reorganization, suggesting that altered cell-extrinsic stimuli or signals from aged niche largely account for this process. Our findings provide key epigenetic molecular insights into HSC aging and serve as a reference for future analysis.
Project description:Skeletal muscle wasting is a debilitating condition that occurs with aging and with many diseases, but the underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood. Previous work determined that common transcriptional changes occur in skeletal muscle during atrophy induced by different stimuli. However, whether this holds true at the proteome level remains largely unexplored. Here, we find that, contrary to this earlier model, distinct atrophic stimuli (corticosteroids, cancer, and aging) induce largely different mRNA and protein changes during muscle wasting in mice. Moreover, there is widespread transcriptome-proteome disconnect. Consequently, atrophy markers (atrogenes) identified in earlier microarray-based studies do not emerge from these proteomic surveys as the most relevantly associated with atrophy. Based on these analyses, we identify atrophy-regulated proteins (here defined as “atroproteins”) such as the myokine CCN1/Cyr61, which we find regulates myofiber type switching during sarcopenia. Altogether, these integrated analyses indicate that different catabolic stimuli induce muscle wasting via largely distinct mechanisms.
Project description:This study was aimed at examining the effects of long-term of heat-stress on the gene expression of skeletal muscle hypertrophy. Heat- and stream-generating (HSG) sheets were placed on thigh laterally. The HSG sheets (heat-stress) were applied 8-hrs/day, once a day, 4 days/weeks, for 10 weeks. A muscle biopsy was taken from the vastus lateralis muscle (2 cm depth) of the treated leg before and after the experiment. Oligonucleotide microarray revealed that genes related to ATP-synthesis, protein synthesis and the molecular chaperonic activity were increased by heat stress. These results suggest that heat-stress might be a useful countermeasure for muscular atrophy during aging.
Project description:Stresses that target mitochondrial function lead to altered transcriptional responses for 100-1000s of genes genome wide, and are signalled via retrograde communication pathways within the cell. rao2 mutants contain a mutation in the NAC family transcription factor ANAC017 and cannot induce stress responsive genes (such as the mitochondrial alternative oxidase 1a) in response to mitochondrial dysfunction. We sought to define the global gene network regulated through RAO2 function in response to mitochondrial stress (mimicked through treatment of plants with antimycin A - a specific inhibitor of complex III in the mitochondrial electron transfer chain), and non-specific stress signals such as hydrogen peroxide. We have defined global stress responses that are positively and negatively mediated by RAO2 function, and show that greater than 80% of transcripts that are differentially regulated under H2O2 stress require proper functioning of ANAC017 for a normal stress responses. We used Affymetrix microarray to characterise global gene expression profiles for mutant plants with compromised mitochondrial retrograde signalling (rao2 mutants), to define the genome wide transcriptional network regulated through RAO1 function under mitochondrial stress and hydrogen peroxide stress.