Cellular Unfolded Protein Response Research Articles

GCN5 inhibits XBP-1S-mediated transcription by antagonizing PCAF action.

Cellular unfolded protein response (UPR) is induced when endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is under stress. XBP-1S, the active isoform of X-box binding protein 1 (XBP-1), is a key regulator of UPR. Previously, we showed that a histone acetyltransferase (HAT), p300/CBP-associated factor (PCAF), binds to XBP-1S and functions as an activator of XBP-1S. Here, we identify general control nonderepressible 5 (GCN5), a HAT with 73% identity to PCAF, as a novel XBP-1S regulator. Both PCAF and GCN5 bind to the same domain of XBP-1S. Surprisingly, GCN5 potently blocks the XBP-1S-mediated transcription, including cellular UPR genes and latent membrane protein 1 of Epstein-Barr virus. Unlike PCAF, GCN5 acetylates XBP-1S and enhances nuclear retention and protein stability of XBP-1S. However, such GCN5-mediated acetylation of XBP-1S shows no effects on XBP-1S activity. In addition, the HAT activity of GCN5 is not required for repression of XBP-1S target genes. We further demonstrate that GCN5 inhibits XBP-1S-mediated transcription by disrupting the PCAF-XBP-1S interaction and preventing the recruitment of XBP-1S to its target genes. Taken together, our results represent the first work demonstrating that GCN5 and PCAF exhibit different functions and antagonistically regulate the XBP-1S-mediated transcription.

Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 Is Regulated by the IRE1α-XBP1 Branch of the Unfolded Protein Response and Counteracts Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-induced Hepatic Steatosis

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress activates the adaptive unfolded protein response (UPR) and represents a critical mechanism that underlies metabolic dysfunctions. Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), a hormone that is predominantly secreted by the liver, exerts a broad range of effects upon the metabolism of carbohydrates and lipids. Although increased circulating levels of FGF21 have been documented in animal models and human subjects with obesity and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, the functional interconnections between metabolic ER stress and FGF21 are incompletely understood. Here, we report that increased ER stress along with the simultaneous elevation of FGF21 expression were associated with the occurrence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease both in diet-induced obese mice and human patients. Intraperitoneal administration of the ER stressor tunicamycin in mice resulted in hepatic steatosis, accompanied by activation of the three canonical UPR branches and increased the expression of FGF21. Furthermore, the IRE1α-XBP1 pathway of the UPR could directly activate the transcriptional expression of Fgf21. Administration of recombinant FGF21 in mice alleviated tunicamycin-induced liver steatosis, in parallel with reduced eIF2α-ATF4-CHOP signaling. Taken together, these results suggest that FGF21 is an integral physiological component of the cellular UPR program, which exerts beneficial feedback effects upon lipid metabolism through counteracting ER stress.

Cellular unfolded protein response against viruses used in gene therapy.

Viruses are excellent vehicles for gene therapy due to their natural ability to infect and deliver the cargo to specific tissues with high efficiency. Although such vectors are usually “gutted” and are replication defective, they are subjected to clearance by the host cells by immune recognition and destruction. Unfolded protein response (UPR) is a naturally evolved cyto-protective signaling pathway which is triggered due to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress caused by accumulation of unfolded/misfolded proteins in its lumen. The UPR signaling consists of three signaling pathways, namely PKR-like ER kinase, activating transcription factor 6, and inositol-requiring protein-1. Once activated, UPR triggers the production of ER molecular chaperones and stress response proteins to help reduce the protein load within the ER. This occurs by degradation of the misfolded proteins and ensues in the arrest of protein translation machinery. If the burden of protein load in ER is beyond its processing capacity, UPR can activate pro-apoptotic pathways or autophagy leading to cell death. Viruses are naturally evolved in hijacking the host cellular translation machinery to generate a large amount of proteins. This phenomenon disrupts ER homeostasis and leads to ER stress. Alternatively, in the case of gutted vectors used in gene therapy, the excess load of recombinant vectors administered and encountered by the cell can trigger UPR. Thus, in the context of gene therapy, UPR becomes a major roadblock that can potentially trigger inflammatory responses against the vectors and reduce the efficiency of gene transfer.

Hepatic IRE1α regulates fasting-induced metabolic adaptive programs through the XBP1s–PPARα axis signalling

Although the mammalian IRE1α-XBP1 branch of the cellular unfolded protein response has been implicated in glucose and lipid metabolism, the exact metabolic role of IRE1α signalling in vivo remains poorly understood. Here we show that hepatic IRE1α functions as a nutrient sensor that regulates the metabolic adaptation to fasting. We find that prolonged deprivation of food or consumption of a ketogenic diet activates the IRE1α-XBP1 pathway in mouse livers. Hepatocyte-specific abrogation of Ire1α results in impairment of fatty acid β-oxidation and ketogenesis in the liver under chronic fasting or ketogenic conditions, leading to hepatosteatosis; liver-specific restoration of XBP1s reverses the defects in IRE1α null mice. XBP1s directly binds to and activates the promoter of PPARα, the master regulator of starvation responses. Hence, our results demonstrate that hepatic IRE1α promotes the adaptive shift of fuel utilization during starvation by stimulating mitochondrial β-oxidation and ketogenesis through the XBP1s-PPARα axis.

Activation of the Cellular Unfolded Protein Response by Recombinant Adeno-Associated Virus Vectors

The unfolded protein response (UPR) is a stress-induced cyto-protective mechanism elicited towards an influx of large amount of proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). In the present study, we evaluated if AAV manipulates the UPR pathways during its infection. We first examined the role of the three major UPR axes, namely, endoribonuclease inositol-requiring enzyme-1 (IRE1α), activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6) and PKR-like ER kinase (PERK) in AAV infected cells. Total RNA from mock or AAV infected HeLa cells were used to determine the levels of 8 different ER-stress responsive transcripts from these pathways. We observed a significant up-regulation of IRE1α (up to 11 fold) and PERK (up to 8 fold) genes 12–48 hours after infection with self-complementary (sc)AAV2 but less prominent with single-stranded (ss)AAV2 vectors. Further studies demonstrated that scAAV1 and scAAV6 also induce cellular UPR in vitro, with AAV1 vectors activating the PERK pathway (3 fold) while AAV6 vectors induced a significant increase on all the three major UPR pathways [6–16 fold]. These data suggest that the type and strength of UPR activation is dependent on the viral capsid. We then examined if transient inhibition of UPR pathways by RNA interference has an effect on AAV transduction. siRNA mediated silencing of PERK and IRE1α had a modest effect on AAV2 and AAV6 mediated gene expression (∼1.5–2 fold) in vitro. Furthermore, hepatic gene transfer of scAAV2 vectors in vivo, strongly elevated IRE1α and PERK pathways (2 and 3.5 fold, respectively). However, when animals were pre-treated with a pharmacological UPR inhibitor (metformin) during scAAV2 gene transfer, the UPR signalling and its subsequent inflammatory response was attenuated concomitant to a modest 2.8 fold increase in transgene expression. Collectively, these data suggest that AAV vectors activate the cellular UPR pathways and their selective inhibition may be beneficial during AAV mediated gene transfer.

363. Activation of the Cellular Unfolded Protein Response by Recombinant Adeno-Associated Virus Vectors: Implications in Gene Therapy

363. Activation of the Cellular Unfolded Protein Response by Recombinant Adeno-Associated Virus Vectors: Implications in Gene Therapy

Herpes simplex virus-1 disarms the unfolded protein response in the early stages of infection

Accumulation of mis- and unfolded proteins during viral replication can cause stress in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and trigger the unfolded protein response (UPR). If unchecked, this process may induce cellular changes detrimental to viral replication. In the report, we investigated the impact of HSV-1 on the UPR during lytic replication. We found that HSV-1 effectively disarms the UPR in early stages of viral infection. Only ATF6 activation was detected during early infection, but with no upregulation of target chaperone proteins. Activity of the eIF2α/ATF4 signaling arm increased at the final stage of HSV-1 replication, which may indicate completion of virion assembly and egress, thus releasing suppression of the UPR. We also found that the promoter of viral ICP0 was responsive to ER stress, an apparent mimicry of cellular UPR genes. These results suggest that HSV-1 may use ICP0 as a sensor to modulate the cellular stress response.

PCAF interacts with XBP-1S and mediates XBP-1S-dependent transcription

X-box binding protein 1 (XBP-1) is a key regulator required for cellular unfolded protein response (UPR) and plasma cell differentiation. In addition, involvement of XBP-1 in host cell–virus interaction and transcriptional regulation of viruses, such as human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1), has been revealed recently. Two XBP-1 isoforms, XBP-1U and XBP-1S, which share an identical N-terminal domain, are present in cells. XBP-1S is a transcription activator while XBP-1U is the inactive isoform. Although the transactivation domain of XBP-1S has been identified within the XBP-1S-specific C-terminus, molecular mechanism of the transcriptional activation by XBP-1S still remains unknown. Here we report the interaction between p300/CBP-associated factor (PCAF) and XBP-1S through the C-terminal domain of XBP-1S. No binding between XBP-1U and PCAF is detected. In a cell-based reporter assay, overexpression of PCAF further stimulates the XBP-1S-mediated cellular and HTLV-1 transcription while knockdown of PCAF exhibits the opposite effect. Expression of endogenous XBP-1S cellular target genes, such as BiP and CHOP, is significantly inhibited when PCAF is knocked down. Furthermore, PCAF is recruited to the promoters of XBP-1S target genes in vivo, in a XBP-1S-dependent manner. Collectively, our results demonstrate that PCAF mediates the XBP-1S-dependent transcription through the interaction with XBP-1S.

Atypical induction of the unfolded protein response by mifepristone

Mifepristone is a synthetic progesterone antagonist that is being used widely for the treatment of various conditions such as endometriosis, glaucoma, meningiomas, breast, ovarian and prostate cancer, as well as for research purposes, in the conditional induction of gene expression by using artificial plasmid-based systems. Here, we report that exposure of A549 human lung cancer cells to mifepristone caused an atypical induction of the cellular unfolded protein response, as evidenced by the time-dependent stimulation of RNA levels of the chaperone Grp94 and PDIa, as well as the endoplasmic reticulum stress-associated receptors ATF6, PERK and eIF2 but not of their downstream target, transcription factor ATF4. This profile was very different from that of progesterone, which at the same dose as mifepristone, failed to induce all of the ER-stress-related genes examined, apart from PERK. Furthermore, XBP1, a transcription factor that is regulated predominantly by alternative splicing by the IRE1 receptor, remains unspliced and therefore inactive either by mifepristone or progesterone treatment. Finally, the pro-apoptotic molecules CHOP and BIM are only induced in the presence of tunicamycin in the culture medium. Tunicamycin, the most commonly used pharmacologic inducer of ER stress that triggers the canonical ER stress response, was used for comparison purposes. Our results suggest that mifepristone can elicit an atypical ER stress response when used at different doses and for different time points. The subsequent induction of UPR should be taken into consideration when this agent is being used either for therapeutic or for experimental uses.

A crucial role for RACK1 in the regulation of glucose-stimulated IRE1alpha activation in pancreatic beta cells.

Autophosphorylation of inositol-requiring enzyme 1alpha (IRE1alpha) is required for its activation, which elicits the cellular unfolded protein response (UPR) and is functionally connected with insulin biosynthesis in pancreatic beta cells. We found that the scaffold protein receptor for activated C-kinase 1 (RACK1) interacted with IRE1alpha in a glucose-stimulated or endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-responsive manner in pancreatic beta cells and primary islets. RACK1 mediated the glucose-inducible assembly of a complex containing IRE1alpha, RACK1, and protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) to promote dephosphorylation of IRE1alpha by PP2A, thereby inhibiting glucose-stimulated IRE1alpha activation and attenuating IRE1alpha-dependent increases in insulin production. Moreover, IRE1alpha activation was increased and RACK1 abundance was decreased in a mouse model of diabetes. Thus, our findings demonstrate that RACK1 functions as a key component in regulating the IRE1alpha signaling pathway in pancreatic beta cells.

Regulation of XBP‐1 signaling during transient and stable recombinant protein production in CHO cells

X-box binding protein 1 (XBP-1) is a key regulator of cellular unfolded protein response (UPR). The spliced isoform of XBP-1, XBP-1S, is a transcription activator, which is expressed only when UPR is induced. However, the impact of recombinant protein production on the regulation of XBP-1 signaling in CHO cells is not well understood. In this report, we cloned the Chinese hamster XBP-1 homolog to aid the investigation of the interplay between protein productivity, culture conditions, and endogenous XBP-1 signaling in CHO cells. Interestingly, expression of XBP-1S is detected in the non-producing and unstressed CHO-K1 cells. Transient expression of recombinant erythropoietin reveals a positive correlation between XBP-1 mRNA abundance and protein production level. However, such a correlation is not observed in batch cultivation of stable producing cell lines. The increased XBP-1 splicing is detected in late-phase cultures, suggesting that induction of XBP-1S may be a result of nutrient limitations or other environmental stresses rather than that of increased intracellular accumulation of recombinant proteins. Our data suggest that XBP-1 is a key determinant for the secretory capacity of CHO cells. Understanding its dynamic regulation hence provides a rational basis for cellular engineering strategies to improve recombinant protein secretion.

XBP‐1, a novel HTLV‐1 Tax binding protein, activates HTLV‐1 basal and Tax‐activated transcription

X‐box binding protein 1 (XBP‐1) is a CREB/ATF (cyclic AMP response element binding protein/activating transcription factor) family transcription factor. XBP‐1 plays a major role in the cellular unfolded protein response (UPR), which is triggered by accumulation of unfolded or malfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum. There are two XBP‐1 isoforms in cells, the spliced XBP‐1S and the unspliced XBP‐1U. In 1990, XBP‐1U (also known as TREB5) was identified as one of the cellular proteins binding to the Tax‐responsive element of human T‐lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV‐1). However, this study was carried out before the discovery of XBP‐1S. Here we identify XBP‐1S as a transcription activator of HTLV‐1. Compared to XBP‐1U, XBP‐1S demonstrates stronger activating effects on both basal and Tax‐activated HTLV‐1 transcription. Our results show that both XBP‐1S and XBP‐1U interact with Tax and bind to HTLV‐1 LTR in vivo. In addition, elevated mRNA levels of XBP‐1 and several UPR genes are detected in the HTLV‐1‐infected T cell lines, suggesting that HTLV‐1 infection may trigger UPR in the host cells. We also identify Tax as a positive regulator of XBP‐1 gene expression. Collectively, our study demonstrates a novel host‐viral interaction between a cellular factor XBP‐1 and HTLV‐1 transcription.

Coronavirus Infection Modulates the Unfolded Protein Response and Mediates Sustained Translational Repression

During coronavirus replication, viral proteins induce the formation of endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-derived double-membrane vesicles for RNA synthesis, and viral structural proteins assemble virions at the ER-Golgi intermediate compartment. We hypothesized that the association and intense utilization of the ER during viral replication would induce the cellular unfolded protein response (UPR), a signal transduction cascade that acts to modulate translation, membrane biosynthesis, and the levels of ER chaperones. Here, we report that infection by the murine coronavirus mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) triggers the proximal UPR transducers, as revealed by monitoring the IRE1-mediated splicing of XBP-1 mRNA and the cleavage of ATF6alpha. However, we detected minimal downstream induction of UPR target genes, including ERdj4, ER degradation-enhancing alpha-mannosidase-like protein, and p58(IPK), or expression of UPR reporter constructs. Translation initiation factor eIF2alpha is highly phosphorylated during MHV infection, and translation of cellular mRNAs is attenuated. Furthermore, we found that the critical homeostasis regulator GADD34, which recruits protein phosphatase 1 to dephosphorylate eIF2alpha during the recovery phase of the UPR, is not expressed during MHV infection. These results suggest that MHV modifies the UPR by impeding the induction of UPR-responsive genes, thereby favoring a sustained shutdown of the synthesis of host cell proteins while the translation of viral proteins escalates. The role of this modified response and its potential relevance to viral mechanisms for the evasion of innate defense signaling pathways during coronavirus replication are discussed.

XBP-1, a Novel Human T-Lymphotropic Virus Type 1 (HTLV-1) Tax Binding Protein, Activates HTLV-1 Basal and Tax-Activated Transcription

X-box binding protein 1 (XBP-1), a basic leucine zipper transcription factor, plays a key role in the cellular unfolded protein response (UPR). There are two XBP-1 isoforms in cells, spliced XBP-1S and unspliced XBP-1U. XBP-1U has been shown to bind to the 21-bp Tax-responsive element of the human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) long terminal repeat (LTR) in vitro and transactivate HTLV-1 transcription. Here we identify XBP-1S as a transcription activator of HTLV-1. Compared to XBP-1U, XBP-1S demonstrates stronger activating effects on both basal and Tax-activated HTLV-1 transcription in cells. Our results show that both XBP-1S and XBP-1U interact with Tax and bind to the HTLV-1 LTR in vivo. In addition, elevated mRNA levels of the gene for XBP-1 and several UPR genes were detected in the HTLV-1-infected C10/MJ and MT2 T-cell lines, suggesting that HTLV-1 infection may trigger the UPR in host cells. We also identify Tax as a positive regulator of the expression of the gene for XBP-1. Activation of the UPR by tunicamycin showed no effect on the HTLV-1 LTR, suggesting that HTLV-1 transcription is specifically regulated by XBP-1. Collectively, our study demonstrates a novel host-virus interaction between a cellular factor XBP-1 and transcriptional regulation of HTLV-1.

Effects of overexpression of X‐box binding protein 1 on recombinant protein production in Chinese hamster ovary and NS0 myeloma cells

X-box binding protein 1 (XBP-1) is a key regulator of the cellular secretory pathway and unfolded protein response (UPR). It has been shown that the spliced form of XBP-1, XBP-1S, functions as a transcription activator and up-regulates many genes associated with protein secretion and biosynthesis of endoplasmic reticula. Since the production of some recombinant proteins is widely believed to be limited by the secretory capacity of the host cell, an increase in protein production may be achieved by overexpressing XBP-1S. In this study, the effects of XBP-1S on the productivity of monoclonal antibody (MAb), interferon gamma (IFNgamma), and erythropoietin (EPO) are examined in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) and NS0 cell lines. Results show that XBP-1S may become a determinative factor only when accumulation of recombinant proteins exceeds the secretory capacity of the host cell. In transient transfection systems where a bottleneck in protein secretion was achieved, overexpression of XBP-1S improved protein titers by up to 2.5-fold. In contrast, overexpression of XBP-1S had no detectable effects on protein productivity of stable cell lines that did not exhibit any secretory bottleneck. We conclude that overexpression of XBP-1S is an effective strategy in enhancing recombinant protein production when the secretory pathway of the host cell is saturated by high-level synthesis of recombinant proteins.

Cell Surface Expression of Bacterial Esterase A by Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Its Enhancement by Constitutive Activation of the Cellular Unfolded Protein Response

Yeast cell surface display is a powerful tool for expression and immobilization of biocatalytically active proteins on a unicellular eukaryote. Here bacterial carboxylesterase EstA from Burkholderia gladioli was covalently anchored into the cell wall of Saccharomyces cerevisiae by in-frame fusion to the endogenous yeast proteins Kre1p, Cwp2p, and Flo1p. When p-nitrophenyl acetate was used as a substrate, the esterase specific activities of yeast expressing the protein fusions were 103 mU mg(-1) protein for Kre1/EstA/Cwp2p and 72 mU mg(-1) protein for Kre1/EstA/Flo1p. In vivo cell wall targeting was confirmed by esterase solubilization after laminarinase treatment and immunofluorescence microscopy. EstA expression resulted in cell wall-associated esterase activities of 2.72 U mg(-1) protein for Kre1/EstA/Cwp2p and 1.27 U mg(-1) protein for Kre1/EstA/Flo1p. Furthermore, esterase display on the yeast cell surface enabled the cells to effectively grow on the esterase-dependent carbon source glycerol triacetate (Triacetin). In the case of Kre1/EstA/Flo1p, in vivo maturation within the yeast secretory pathway and final incorporation into the wall were further enhanced when there was constitutive activation of the unfolded protein response pathway. Our results demonstrate that esterase cell surface display in yeast, which, as shown here, is remarkably more effective than EstA surface display in Escherichia coli, can be further optimized by activating the protein folding machinery in the eukaryotic secretion pathway.

Endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced formation of transcription factor complex ERSF including NF-Y (CBF) and activating transcription factors 6alpha and 6beta that activates the mammalian unfolded protein response.

The levels of molecular chaperones and folding enzymes in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) are controlled by a transcriptional induction process termed the unfolded protein response (UPR). The mammalian UPR is mediated by the cis-acting ER stress response element (ERSE), the consensus sequence of which is CCAAT-N(9)-CCACG. We recently proposed that ER stress response factor (ERSF) binding to ERSE is a heterologous protein complex consisting of the constitutive component NF-Y (CBF) binding to CCAAT and an inducible component binding to CCACG and identified the basic leucine zipper-type transcription factors ATF6alpha and ATF6beta as inducible components of ERSF. ATF6alpha and ATF6beta produced by ER stress-induced proteolysis bind to CCACG only when CCAAT is bound to NF-Y, a heterotrimer consisting of NF-YA, NF-YB, and NF-YC. Interestingly, the NF-Y and ATF6 binding sites must be separated by a spacer of 9 bp. We describe here the basis for this strict requirement by demonstrating that both ATF6alpha and ATF6beta physically interact with NF-Y trimer via direct binding to the NF-YC subunit. ATF6alpha and ATF6beta bind to the ERSE as a homo- or heterodimer. Furthermore, we showed that ERSF including NF-Y and ATF6alpha and/or beta and capable of binding to ERSE is indeed formed when the cellular UPR is activated. We concluded that ATF6 homo- or heterodimers recognize and bind directly to both the DNA and adjacent protein NF-Y and that this complex formation process is essential for transcriptional induction of ER chaperones.

Polyglutamine length-dependent interaction of Hsp40 and Hsp70 family chaperones with truncated N-terminal huntingtin: their role in suppression of aggregation and cellular toxicity.

Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder caused by polyglutamine expansion in the disease protein, huntingtin. In HD patients and transgenic mice, the affected neurons form characteristic ubiquitin-positive nuclear inclusions (NIs). We have established ecdysone-inducible stable mouse Neuro2a cell lines that express truncated N-terminal huntingtin (tNhtt) with different polyglutamine lengths which form both cytoplasmic and nuclear aggregates in a polyglutamine length- and inducer dose-dependent manner. Here we demonstrate that newly synthesized polyglutamine-expanded truncated huntingtin interacts with members of Hsp40 and Hsp70 families of chaperones in a polyglutamine length-dependent manner. Of these interacting chaperones, only Hdj-2 and Hsc70 frequently (Hdj-2 > Hsc70) co-localize with both the aggregates in the cellular model and with the NIs in the brains of HD exon 1 transgenic mice. However, Hdj-2 and Hsc70 do not co-localize with cytoplasmic aggregates in the brains of transgenic mice despite these chaperones being primarily localized in the cytoplasmic compartment. This strongly suggests that the chaperone interaction and their redistribution to the aggregates are two completely different phenomena of the cellular unfolded protein response. This unfolded protein response is also evident from the dramatic induction of Hsp70 on expression of polyglutamine-expanded protein in the cellular model. Transient overexpression of either Hdj-1 or Hsc70 suppresses the aggregate formation; however, suppression efficiency is much higher in Hdj-1 compared with Hsc70. Overexpression of Hdj-1 and Hsc70 is also able to protect cell death caused by polyglutamine-expanded tNhtt and their combination proved to be most effective.