Biomedical subjects

Florian A Salomons

Publications and source records attributed to Florian A Salomons.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Ubiquitin crosstalk connecting cellular processes.

The polypeptide ubiquitin is used in many processes as different as endocytosis, multivesicular body formation, and regulation of gene transcription. Conjugation of a single ubiquitin moiety is typically used in these processes. A polymer of ubiquitin moieties is required for tagging proteins for proteasomal degradation. Besides its role in protein degradation, ubiquitin is also engaged as mono- or polymer in intracellular signalling and DNA repair. Since free ubiquitin is present in limiting amounts in cells, changes in the demands for ubiquitin in any of these processes is likely to indirectly affect other ubiquitin modifications. For example, proteotoxic stress strongly increases poly-ubiquitylated proteins at the cost of mono-ubiquitylated histones resulting in chromatin remodelling and altered transcription. Here we discuss the interconnection between ubiquitin-dependent processes and speculate on the functional significance of the ubiquitin equilibrium as a signalling route translating cellular stress into molecular responses.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2006

DNA damage triggers nucleotide excision repair-dependent monoubiquitylation of histone H2A.

Chromatin changes within the context of DNA repair remain largely obscure. Here we show that DNA damage induces monoubiquitylation of histone H2A in the vicinity of DNA lesions. Ultraviolet (UV)-induced monoubiquitylation of H2A is dependent on functional nucleotide excision repair and occurs after incision of the damaged strand. The ubiquitin ligase Ring2 is required for the DNA damage-induced H2A ubiquitylation. UV-induced ubiquitylation of H2A is dependent on the DNA damage signaling kinase ATR (ATM- and Rad3-related) but not the related kinase ATM (ataxia telangiectasia-mutated). Although the response coincides with phosphorylation of variant histone H2AX, H2AX was not required for H2A ubiquitylation. Together our data show that monoubiquitylation of H2A forms part of the cellular response to UV damage and suggest a role of this modification in DNA repair-induced chromatin remodeling.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2006

A dynamic ubiquitin equilibrium couples proteasomal activity to chromatin remodeling.

Protein degradation, chromatin remodeling, and membrane trafficking are critically regulated by ubiquitylation. The presence of several coexisting ubiquitin-dependent processes, each of crucial importance to the cell, is remarkable. This brings up questions on how the usage of this versatile regulator is negotiated between the different cellular processes. During proteotoxic stress, the accumulation of ubiquitylated substrates coincides with the depletion of ubiquitylated histone H2A and chromatin remodeling. We show that this redistribution of ubiquitin during proteotoxic stress is a direct consequence of competition for the limited pool of free ubiquitin. Thus, the ubiquitin cycle couples various ubiquitin-dependent processes because of a rate-limiting pool of free ubiquitin. We propose that this ubiquitin equilibrium may allow cells to sense proteotoxic stress in a genome-wide fashion.

Active Transport, Cell Nucleus↗

PubMed2006

Cell-type-specific regulation of degradation of hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha: role of subcellular compartmentalization.

The hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1 alpha) is a transcription factor that mediates adaptive cellular responses to decreased oxygen availability (hypoxia). At normoxia, HIF-1 alpha is targeted by the von Hippel-Lindau tumor suppressor protein (pVHL) for degradation by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. In the present study we have observed distinct cell-type-specific differences in the ability of various tested pVHL-interacting subfragments to stabilize HIF-1 alpha and unmask its function at normoxia. These properties correlated with differences in subcellular compartmentalization and degradation of HIF-1 alpha. We observed that the absence or presence of nuclear localization or export signals differently affected the ability of a minimal HIF-1 alpha peptide spanning residues 559 to 573 of mouse HIF-1 alpha to stabilize endogenous HIFalpha and induce HIF-driven reporter gene activity in two different cell types (primary mouse endothelial and HepG2 hepatoma cells). Degradation of HIF-1 alpha occurred mainly in the cytoplasm of HepG2 cells, whereas it occurs with equal efficiency in nuclear and cytoplasmic compartments of primary endothelial cells. Consistent with these observations, green fluorescent protein-HIF-1 alpha is differently distributed during hypoxia and reoxygenation in hepatoma and endothelial cells. Consequently, we propose that differential compartmentalization of degradation of HIF-1 alpha and the subcellular distribution of HIF-1 alpha may account for cell-type-specific differences in stabilizing HIF-1 alpha protein levels under hypoxic conditions.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2006

Polarised asymmetric inheritance of accumulated protein damage in higher eukaryotes.

Disease-associated misfolded proteins or proteins damaged due to cellular stress are generally disposed via the cellular protein quality-control system. However, under saturating conditions, misfolded proteins will aggregate. In higher eukaryotes, these aggregates can be transported to accumulate in aggresomes at the microtubule organizing center. The fate of cells that contain aggresomes is currently unknown. Here we report that cells that have formed aggresomes can undergo normal mitosis. As a result, the aggregated proteins are asymmetrically distributed to one of the daughter cells, leaving the other daughter free of accumulated protein damage. Using both epithelial crypts of the small intestine of patients with a protein folding disease and Drosophila melanogaster neural precursor cells as models, we found that the inheritance of protein aggregates during mitosis occurs with a fixed polarity indicative of a mechanism to preserve the long-lived progeny.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Fluorescent reporters for the ubiquitin-proteasome system.

Regulated turnover of proteins in the cytosol and nucleus of eukaryotic cells is primarily performed by the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS). The UPS is involved in many essential cellular processes. Alterations in this proteolytic system are associated with a variety of human pathologies, such as neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, immunological disorders and inflammation. The precise role of the UPS in the pathophysiology of these diseases, however, remains poorly understood. Detection of UPS aberrations has been a major challenge because of the complexity of the system. Most studies focus on various aspects of the UPS, such as substrate recognition, ubiquitination, deubiquitination or proteasome activity, and do not provide a complete picture of the UPS as an integral system. To monitor the efficacy of the UPS, a number of reporter substrates have been developed based on fluorescent proteins, such as the green fluorescent protein and its spectral variants. These fluorescent UPS reporters contain specific degradation signals that target them with high efficiency and accuracy for proteasomal degradation. Several studies have shown that these reporters can probe the functionality of the UPS in cellular and animal models and provide us with important information on the status of the UPS under various conditions. Moreover, these reporters can aid the identification and development of novel anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory drugs based on UPS inhibition.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Overexpression of the cochaperone CHIP enhances Hsp70-dependent folding activity in mammalian cells.

CHIP is a cochaperone of Hsp70 that inhibits Hsp70-dependent refolding in vitro. However, the effect of altered expression of CHIP on the fate of unfolded proteins in mammalian cells has not been determined. Surprisingly, we found that overexpression of CHIP in fibroblasts increased the refolding of proteins after thermal denaturation. This effect was insensitive to geldanamycin, an Hsp90 inhibitor, and required the tetratricopeptide repeat motifs but not the U-box domain of CHIP. Inhibition of Hsp70 chaperone activity abolished the effects of CHIP on protein folding, indicating that the CHIP-mediated events were Hsp70 dependent. Hsp40 competitively inhibited the CHIP-dependent refolding, which is consistent with in vitro data indicating that these cofactors act on Hsp70 in the ATP-bound state and have opposing effects on Hsp70 ATPase activity. Consistent with these observations, CHIP overexpression did not alter protein folding in the setting of ATP depletion, when Hsp70 is in the ADP-bound state. Concomitant with its effects on refolding heat-denatured substrates, CHIP increased the fraction of nascent chains coimmunoprecipitating with Hsc70, but only when sufficient ATP was present to allow Hsp70 to cycle rapidly. Our data suggest that, consistent with in vitro studies, CHIP attenuates the Hsp70 cycle in living cells. The impact of this effect on the fate of unfolded proteins in cells, however, is different from what might be expected from the in vitro data. Rather than resulting in inhibited refolding, CHIP increases the folding capacity of Hsp70 in eukaryotic cells.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

PubMed2002

Removal of Pex3p is an important initial stage in selective peroxisome degradation in Hansenula polymorpha.

Selective degradation of peroxisomes (macropexophagy) in Hansenula polymorpha involves the sequestration of individual organelles to be degraded by membranes prior to the fusion of this compartment with the vacuole and subsequent degradation of the whole organelle by vacuolar hydrolases. Here we show that Pex3p, a peroxisomal membrane protein essential for peroxisome biogenesis, escapes this autophagic process. Upon induction of macropexophagy, Pex3p is removed from the organelle tagged for degradation prior to its sequestration. Our data indicate that Pex3p degradation is essential to allow the initiation of the organellar degradation process. Also, in a specific peroxisome degradation-deficient (pdd) mutant in which sequestration still occurs but the vacuolar fusion event is disturbed, the turnover of Pex3p is still observed. Taken together, our data suggest that degradation of Pex3p is part of the initial degradation machinery of individual peroxisomes.

ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters↗