Project description:We describe a role for the poorly annotated protein PGRMC2 in retrograde transport of heme from mitochondria to the nucleus. In absence of PGRMC2, less signaling heme reaches the nucleus, with a consequent alteration of heme-sensitive transcriptional programs that ultimately engenders severe mitochondrial dysfunction in brown adipocytes. These mitochondrial defects compromise, not only the primary function of BAT, to activate thermogenesis and preserve body temperature, but also its contribution to maintain systemic glucose and lipid homeostasis.
Project description:Haem is an essential prosthetic group of numerous proteins and a central signalling molecule in many physiologic processes1,2. The chemical reactivity of haem means that a network of intracellular chaperone proteins is required to avert the cytotoxic effects of free haem, but the constituents of such trafficking pathways are unknown3,4. Haem synthesis is completed in mitochondria, with ferrochelatase adding iron to protoporphyrin IX. How this vital but highly reactive metabolite is delivered from mitochondria to haemoproteins throughout the cell remains poorly defined3,4. Here we show that progesterone receptor membrane component 2 (PGRMC2) is required for delivery of labile, or signalling haem, to the nucleus. Deletion of PGMRC2 in brown fat, which has a high demand for haem, reduced labile haem in the nucleus and increased stability of the haem-responsive transcriptional repressors Rev-Erbα and BACH1. Ensuing alterations in gene expression caused severe mitochondrial defects that rendered adipose-specific PGRMC2-null mice unable to activate adaptive thermogenesis and prone to greater metabolic deterioration when fed a high-fat diet. By contrast, obese-diabetic mice treated with a small-molecule PGRMC2 activator showed substantial improvement of diabetic features. These studies uncover a role for PGRMC2 in intracellular haem transport, reveal the influence of adipose tissue haem dynamics on physiology and suggest that modulation of PGRMC2 may revert obesity-linked defects in adipocytes.
Project description:Hemes are essential but potentially cytotoxic cofactors that participate in critical and diverse biological processes. Although the pathway and intermediates for heme biosynthesis have been well defined, the intracellular networks which mediate heme trafficking remain unknown. Caenorhabditis elegans and related helminths are natural heme auxotrophs requiring environmental heme for growth and development. We exploited this auxotrophy to identify HRG-1 and HRG-4 in C. elegans and show that they are essential for heme homeostasis and normal vertebrate development. We demonstrate that heme deficiency upregulates expression of hrg-4 and its evolutionarily conserved paralog hrg-1. Depletion of either HRG-1 or HRG-4 in worms results in disruption of organismal heme sensing and abnormal response to heme analogs. HRG-1 and HRG-4 are novel transmembrane proteins that bind heme and have evolutionarily conserved functions. Transient knockdown of hrg-1 in zebrafish leads to hydrocephalus, yolk tube malformations, and, most strikingly, profound defects in erythropoiesis - phenotypes that are fully rescued by worm HRG-1. These findings reveal unanticipated and conserved pathways for cellular heme trafficking in animals that defines the paradigm for eukaryotic heme transport. Uncovering the mechanisms of heme transport in C. elegans will provide novel insights into human disorders of heme metabolism and generate unique anthelmintics to combat worm infestations. Keywords: dose-response
Project description:Control of intracellular heme levels by extracellular scavenger proteins and intracellular heme oxygenases are essential functions during disease states with enhanced extracellular heme release. During severe hemolysis or rhabdomyolysis uncontrolled heme exposure can cause acute kidney injury and endothelial damage. The cytotoxic activity of heme has been primarily attributed to its pro-oxidative potential. However, the mechanisms of heme toxicity have never been systematically explored. Besides its redox reactivity, heme could also adversely alter cellular functions through its broad binding affinity to multiple non-hemoproteins. Such interactions may impair protein functions and support heme toxicity. In this study we mapped the gene expression profile of Hb triggered acute kidney injury in old blood transfused guinea pigs by serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE). Additionally, the toxic heme response of mouse embryo fibroblasts was systematically characterized on the gene and protein expression levels by gene array experiments and quantitative mass-spectrometry of stable isotope labeled cells. In all these studies, in addition to oxidative stress signals, the most significant signals were reproducibly found for biologic networks related to altered protein degradation, which ultimately triggers the response to unfolded proteins and apoptosis. These screening data could be mechanistically explained by heme-proteasome interactions and a proteasome inhibitor activity of heme. Proteasome inhibition drastically reduced the threshold of cellular toxicity during heme exposure. We therefore propose a novel model of heme toxicity whereby proteasome inhibition by the porphyrin fuels a vicious cycle of oxidative protein modification, accumulation of damaged proteins, cell damage and apoptosis.
Project description:Control of intracellular heme levels by extracellular scavenger proteins and intracellular heme oxygenases are essential functions during disease states with enhanced extracellular heme release. During severe hemolysis or rhabdomyolysis uncontrolled heme exposure can cause acute kidney injury and endothelial damage. The cytotoxic activity of heme has been primarily attributed to its pro-oxidative potential. However, the mechanisms of heme toxicity have never been systematically explored. Besides its redox reactivity, heme could also adversely alter cellular functions through its broad binding affinity to multiple non-hemoproteins. Such interactions may impair protein functions and support heme toxicity. In this study we mapped the gene expression profile of Hb triggered acute kidney injury in old blood transfused guinea pigs by serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE). Additionally, the toxic heme response of mouse embryo fibroblasts was systematically characterized on the gene and protein expression levels by gene array experiments and quantitative mass-spectrometry of stable isotope labeled cells. In all these studies, in addition to oxidative stress signals, the most significant signals were reproducibly found for biologic networks related to altered protein degradation, which ultimately triggers the response to unfolded proteins and apoptosis. These screening data could be mechanistically explained by heme-proteasome interactions and a proteasome inhibitor activity of heme. Proteasome inhibition drastically reduced the threshold of cellular toxicity during heme exposure. We therefore propose a novel model of heme toxicity whereby proteasome inhibition by the porphyrin fuels a vicious cycle of oxidative protein modification, accumulation of damaged proteins, cell damage and apoptosis.
Project description:Control of intracellular heme levels by extracellular scavenger proteins and intracellular heme oxygenases are essential functions during disease states with enhanced extracellular heme release. During severe hemolysis or rhabdomyolysis uncontrolled heme exposure can cause acute kidney injury and endothelial damage. The cytotoxic activity of heme has been primarily attributed to its pro-oxidative potential. However, the mechanisms of heme toxicity have never been systematically explored. Besides its redox reactivity, heme could also adversely alter cellular functions through its broad binding affinity to multiple non-hemoproteins. Such interactions may impair protein functions and support heme toxicity. In this study we mapped the gene expression profile of Hb triggered acute kidney injury in old blood transfused guinea pigs by serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE). Additionally, the toxic heme response of mouse embryo fibroblasts was systematically characterized on the gene and protein expression levels by gene array experiments and quantitative mass-spectrometry of stable isotope labeled cells. In all these studies, in addition to oxidative stress signals, the most significant signals were reproducibly found for biologic networks related to altered protein degradation, which ultimately triggers the response to unfolded proteins and apoptosis. These screening data could be mechanistically explained by heme-proteasome interactions and a proteasome inhibitor activity of heme. Proteasome inhibition drastically reduced the threshold of cellular toxicity during heme exposure. We therefore propose a novel model of heme toxicity whereby proteasome inhibition by the porphyrin fuels a vicious cycle of oxidative protein modification, accumulation of damaged proteins, cell damage and apoptosis. A two color common reference design was chosen with 2-4 independent biological replicates of each condition. Each experimental sample (Cy5 labeled) was hybridized against a non-treated reference sample (Cy3 labeled). To compensate for dye bias control arrays with competitively hybridized Cy3- and Cy5-labeled non-treated reference samples were used. The latter allowed for a very robust statistical analysis with pair-wise comparison of treatment array replicates versus the corresponding control array replicates.
Project description:Control of intracellular heme levels by extracellular scavenger proteins and intracellular heme oxygenases are essential functions during disease states with enhanced extracellular heme release. During severe hemolysis or rhabdomyolysis uncontrolled heme exposure can cause acute kidney injury and endothelial damage. The cytotoxic activity of heme has been primarily attributed to its pro-oxidative potential. However, the mechanisms of heme toxicity have never been systematically explored. Besides its redox reactivity, heme could also adversely alter cellular functions through its broad binding affinity to multiple non-hemoproteins. Such interactions may impair protein functions and support heme toxicity. In this study we mapped the gene expression profile of Hb triggered acute kidney injury in old blood transfused guinea pigs by serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE). Additionally, the toxic heme response of mouse embryo fibroblasts was systematically characterized on the gene and protein expression levels by gene array experiments and quantitative mass-spectrometry of stable isotope labeled cells. In all these studies, in addition to oxidative stress signals, the most significant signals were reproducibly found for biologic networks related to altered protein degradation, which ultimately triggers the response to unfolded proteins and apoptosis. These screening data could be mechanistically explained by heme-proteasome interactions and a proteasome inhibitor activity of heme. Proteasome inhibition drastically reduced the threshold of cellular toxicity during heme exposure. We therefore propose a novel model of heme toxicity whereby proteasome inhibition by the porphyrin fuels a vicious cycle of oxidative protein modification, accumulation of damaged proteins, cell damage and apoptosis. A two color common reference design was chosen with 2-8 independent biological replicates of each condition. Each experimental sample (Cy5 labeled) was hybridized against a non-treated reference sample (Cy3 labeled). To compensate for dye bias control arrays with competitively hybridized Cy3- and Cy5-labeled non-treated reference samples were used. The latter allowed for a very robust statistical analysis with pair-wise comparison of treatment array replicates versus the corresponding control array replicates.
Project description:Transcription profiling of P. gingivalis W50 grown in continuous culture under conditions of heme-excess and heme-limitation. Reference design (using Cy5 labelled genomic DNA as the reference) to compare two conditions: heme-excess vs heme-limitation. Three samples for each condition, independently grown.
Project description:Inflammatory macrophage activation is a critical component of the antitumor immune response and an emerging therapeutic concept. To evaluate the impact of heme exposure on antitumoral macrophage activity, we grew spheroids of mixed GFP-MC38 and BMDMs that were either untreated or pretreated with heme, INFγ, or heme + INFγ, and characterized them by scRNA-seq.