158. THE UNFOLDED PROTEIN RESPONSE MAY CONTRIBUTE TO GLUCOCORTICOID-INDUCED PLACENTAL GROWTH RESTRICTION IN THE RAT VIA INCREASED PLACENTAL EXPRESSION OF HEAT SHOCK PROTEIN 70

2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (9) ◽  
pp. 76
Author(s):  
P. J. Mark ◽  
J. L. Lewis ◽  
M. L. Jones ◽  
B. J. Waddell

Perturbations of normal endoplasmic reticulum (ER) physiology occur in a number of pathological conditions, including diabetes and preeclampsia. These pathologies are associated with elevated levels of inappropriately folded proteins and induction of ER stress. Accumulation of misfolded proteins induces the unfolded protein response which increases ER protein folding capacity and promotes ER-associated degradation of unfolded proteins. Glucocorticoids are essential for maturation of fetal organs, however excess exposure during pregnancy retards fetal and placental growth. Glucocorticoids also induce ER stress within macrophages, which reside within the placenta, and activate immune responses which can lead to oxidative stress and subsequent placental dysfunction. We hypothesised that excess glucocorticoid exposure would induce ER stress within the placenta and contribute to restriction of fetal and placental growth. This study compared placentas (n = 6/group) for control (Con) and dexamethasone-exposed pregnancies (Dex; 0.75 μg/mL drinking water from day 13 of gestation) at days 16 and 22 of gestation in the rat (term = 23 days). Placentas were dissected into junctional (JZ) and labyrinth (LZ) zones for separate analysis. Quantitative PCR was used to determine expression of mRNA for markers of ER stress, including heat shock factors (HSF-1 and HSF-2), heat shock proteins (HSP-70 and HSP-90) and C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP10). HSF-1 expression increased 2- to 4-fold from day 16 to 22 in both placental zones, but was not increased by glucocorticoids. Dex-exposure increased HSP-70 expression 2- to 3-fold in the LZ at both days of gestation, indicative of an ER stress response. Similar patterns for JZ expression of HSP-70 were observed. JZ expression of HSP-90 was also upregulated by Dex at day 22 but not day 16. CHOP10 was not induced by Dex-administration in either zone at either gestational time, which suggests that rather than activation of the ATF6/PERK pathway, the activation of ER stress is likely to be via XBP1 induction.

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 705
Author(s):  
Manal H. Alshareef ◽  
Elizabeth L. Hartland ◽  
Kathleen McCaffrey

The unfolded protein response (UPR) is a homeostatic response to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress within eukaryotic cells. The UPR initiates transcriptional and post-transcriptional programs to resolve ER stress; or, if ER stress is severe or prolonged, initiates apoptosis. ER stress is a common feature of bacterial infection although the role of the UPR in host defense is only beginning to be understood. While the UPR is important for host defense against pore-forming toxins produced by some bacteria, other bacterial effector proteins hijack the UPR through the activity of translocated effector proteins that facilitate intracellular survival and proliferation. UPR-mediated apoptosis can limit bacterial replication but also often contributes to tissue damage and disease. Here, we discuss the dual nature of the UPR during infection and the implications of UPR activation or inhibition for inflammation and immunity as illustrated by different bacterial pathogens.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 2567
Author(s):  
Yann S. Gallot ◽  
Kyle R. Bohnert

Skeletal muscle is an essential organ, responsible for many physiological functions such as breathing, locomotion, postural maintenance, thermoregulation, and metabolism. Interestingly, skeletal muscle is a highly plastic tissue, capable of adapting to anabolic and catabolic stimuli. Skeletal muscle contains a specialized smooth endoplasmic reticulum (ER), known as the sarcoplasmic reticulum, composed of an extensive network of tubules. In addition to the role of folding and trafficking proteins within the cell, this specialized organelle is responsible for the regulated release of calcium ions (Ca2+) into the cytoplasm to trigger a muscle contraction. Under various stimuli, such as exercise, hypoxia, imbalances in calcium levels, ER homeostasis is disturbed and the amount of misfolded and/or unfolded proteins accumulates in the ER. This accumulation of misfolded/unfolded protein causes ER stress and leads to the activation of the unfolded protein response (UPR). Interestingly, the role of the UPR in skeletal muscle has only just begun to be elucidated. Accumulating evidence suggests that ER stress and UPR markers are drastically induced in various catabolic stimuli including cachexia, denervation, nutrient deprivation, aging, and disease. Evidence indicates some of these molecules appear to be aiding the skeletal muscle in regaining homeostasis whereas others demonstrate the ability to drive the atrophy. Continued investigations into the individual molecules of this complex pathway are necessary to fully understand the mechanisms.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J Fields ◽  
Lu Li ◽  
Nicholas M Hiers ◽  
Tianqi Li ◽  
Peike Sheng ◽  
...  

MicroRNAs (miRNA) are short non-coding RNAs widely implicated in gene regulation. Most metazoan miRNAs utilize the RNase III enzymes Drosha and Dicer for biogenesis. One notable exception is the RNA polymerase II transcription start sites (TSS) miRNAs whose biogenesis does not require Drosha. The functional importance of the TSS-miRNA biogenesis is uncertain. To better understand the function of TSS-miRNAs, we applied a modified Crosslinking, Ligation, and Sequencing of Hybrids on Argonaute (AGO-qCLASH) to identify the targets for TSS-miRNAs in HCT116 colorectal cancer cells with or without DROSHA knockout. We observed that miR-320a hybrids dominate in TSS-miRNA hybrids identified by AGO-qCLASH. Targets for miR-320a are enriched in the eIF2 signaling pathway, a downstream component of the unfolded protein response. Consistently, in miR-320a mimic- and antagomir- transfected cells, differentially expressed genes are enriched in eIF2 signaling. Within the AGO-qCLASH data, we identified the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) chaperone Calnexin as a direct miR-320a target, thus connecting miR-320a to the unfolded protein response. During ER stress, but not amino acid deprivation, miR-320a up-regulates ATF4, a critical transcription factor for resolving ER stress. Our study investigates the targetome of the TSS-miRNAs in colorectal cancer cells and establishes miR-320a as a regulator of unfolded protein response.


eLife ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Kimmig ◽  
Marcy Diaz ◽  
Jiashun Zheng ◽  
Christopher C Williams ◽  
Alexander Lang ◽  
...  

The unfolded protein response (UPR) monitors the protein folding capacity of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). In all organisms analyzed to date, the UPR drives transcriptional programs that allow cells to cope with ER stress. The non-conventional splicing of Hac1 (yeasts) and XBP1 (metazoans) mRNA, encoding orthologous UPR transcription activators, is conserved and dependent on Ire1, an ER membrane-resident kinase/endoribonuclease. We found that the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe lacks both a Hac1/XBP1 ortholog and a UPR-dependent-transcriptional-program. Instead, Ire1 initiates the selective decay of a subset of ER-localized-mRNAs that is required to survive ER stress. We identified Bip1 mRNA, encoding a major ER-chaperone, as the sole mRNA cleaved upon Ire1 activation that escapes decay. Instead, truncation of its 3′ UTR, including loss of its polyA tail, stabilized Bip1 mRNA, resulting in increased Bip1 translation. Thus, S. pombe uses a universally conserved stress-sensing machinery in novel ways to maintain homeostasis in the ER.


Blood ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 117 (22) ◽  
pp. 5931-5940 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Haefliger ◽  
Christiane Klebig ◽  
Kerstin Schaubitzer ◽  
Julian Schardt ◽  
Nikolai Timchenko ◽  
...  

Abstract Deregulation of the myeloid key transcription factor CEBPA is a common event in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). We previously reported that the chaperone calreticulin is activated in subgroups of AML patients and that calreticulin binds to the stem loop region of the CEBPA mRNA, thereby blocking CEBPA translation. In this study, we screened for additional CEBPA mRNA binding proteins and we identified protein disulfide isomerase (PDI), an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) resident protein, to bind to the CEBPA mRNA stem loop region. We found that forced PDI expression in myeloid leukemic cells in fact blocked CEBPA translation, but not transcription, whereas abolishing PDI function restored CEBPA protein. In addition, PDI protein displayed direct physical interaction with calreticulin. Induction of ER stress in leukemic HL60 and U937 cells activated PDI expression, thereby decreasing CEBPA protein levels. Finally, leukemic cells from 25.4% of all AML patients displayed activation of the unfolded protein response as a marker for ER stress, and these patients also expressed significantly higher PDI levels. Our results indicate a novel role of PDI as a member of the ER stress–associated complex mediating blocked CEBPA translation and thereby suppressing myeloid differentiation in AML patients with activated unfolded protein response (UPR).


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