Molecular evidence for increased regulatory conservation during metamorphosis, and against deleterious cascading effects of hybrid breakdown in Drosophila

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Speculation regarding the importance of changes in gene regulation in determining major phylogenetic patterns continues to accrue, despite a lack of broad-scale comparative studies examining how patterns of gene expression vary during development. Comparative transcriptional profiling of adult interspecific hybrids and their parental species has uncovered widespread divergence of the mechanisms controlling gene regulation, revealing incompatibilities that are masked in comparisons between the pure species. However, this has prompted the suggestion that misexpression in adult hybrids results from the downstream cascading effects of a subset of genes improperly regulated in early development.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We sought to determine how gene expression diverges over development, as well as test the cascade hypothesis, by profiling expression in males of <it>Drosophila melanogaster</it>, <it>D. sechellia</it>, and <it>D. simulans</it>, as well as the <it>D. simulans </it>(♀) × <it>D. sechellia </it>(♂) male F1 hybrids, at four different developmental time points (3rd instar larval, early pupal, late pupal, and newly-emerged adult). Contrary to the cascade model of misexpression, we find that there is considerable stage-specific autonomy of regulatory breakdown in hybrids, with the larval and adult stages showing significantly more hybrid misexpression as compared to the pupal stage. However, comparisons between pure species indicate that genes expressed during earlier stages of development tend to be more conserved in terms of their level of expression than those expressed during later stages, suggesting that while Von Baer's famous law applies at both the level of nucleotide sequence and expression, it may not apply necessarily to the underlying overall regulatory network, which appears to diverge over the course of ontogeny and which can only be ascertained by combining divergent genomes in species hybrids.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results suggest that complex integration of regulatory circuits during morphogenesis may lead to it being more refractory to divergence of underlying gene regulatory mechanisms - more than that suggested by the conservation of gene expression levels between species during earlier stages. This provides support for a 'developmental hourglass' model of divergence of gene expression in <it>Drosophila </it>resulting in a highly conserved pupal stage.</p

Regulation of proteasome assembly and activity in health and disease

The proteasome degrades most cellular proteins in a controlled and tightly regulated manner and thereby controls many processes, including cell cycle, transcription, signalling, trafficking and protein quality control. Proteasomal degradation is vital in all cells and organisms, and dysfunction or failure of proteasomal degradation is associated with diverse human diseases, including cancer and neurodegeneration. Target selection is an important and well-established way to control protein degradation. In addition, mounting evidence indicates that cells adjust proteasome-mediated degradation to their needs by regulating proteasome abundance through the coordinated expression of proteasome subunits and assembly chaperones. Central to the regulation of proteasome assembly is TOR complex 1 (TORC1), which is the master regulator of cell growth and stress. This Review discusses how proteasome assembly and the regulation of proteasomal degradation are integrated with cellular physiology, including the interplay between the proteasome and autophagy pathways. Understanding these mechanisms has potential implications for disease therapy, as the misregulation of proteasome function contributes to human diseases such as cancer and neurodegeneration.</p

Studies on the reaction coordinates of the water oxidase in PS II membrane fragments from spinach

AbstractThe temperature dependency of the rate constants of the univalent redox steps YzoxSi → YzSi+1 (i = 0,1,2) and YzoxS3 → (YzS4) → YzSo + O2 in the water oxidase was investigated by measuring time resolved absorption changes at 355 nm induced by a laser flash train in dark adapted PS II membrane fragments from spinach. Activation energies of 5.0, 12.0 and 36.0 kJ/mol were obtained for the reactions YzoxSi → YzSi+1 with i = 0,1 and 2, respectively. The reaction YzoxS3 → (YzS4) → YzS0 + O2 exhibits a temperature dependence with a characteristic break point at 279 K with activation energies of 20 kJ/mol (T > 279 K) and 46 kJ/mol (T > 279 K). Evaluation of the data within the framework of the classical Marcus theory of nonadiabatic electron transfer [(1985) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 811, 265–322] leads to the conclusion that the S2 oxidation to S3 is coupled with significant structural changes. Furthermore, the water oxidase in S3 is inferred to attain two different conformational states with populations that markedly change at a characteristic transition temperature

Temperature dependence of anion transport in the human red blood cell

Arrhenius plots of chloride and bromide transport yield two regions with different activation energies (Ea). Below 15 or 25°C (for Cl− and Br−, respectively), Ea is about 32.5 kcal/mol; above these temperatures, about 22.5 kcal/mol (Brahm, J. (1977) J. Gen. Physiol. 70, 283–306). For the temperature dependence of SO42− transport up to 37°C, no such break could be observed. We were able to show that the temperature coefficient for the rate of SO42− transport is higher than that for the rate of denaturation of the band 3 protein (as measured by NMR) or the destruction of the permeability barrier in the red cell membrane. It was possible, therefore, to extend the range of flux measurements up to 60°C and to show that, even for the slowly permeating SO42− in the Arrhenius plot, there appears a break, which is located somewhere between 30 and 37°C and where Ea changes from 32.5 to 24.1 kcal/mol. At the break, the turnover number is approx. 6.9 ions/band 3 per s. Using 35Cl−-NMR (Falke, Pace and Chan (1984) J. Biol. Chem. 259, 6472–6480), we also determined the temperature dependence of Cl−-binding. We found no significant change over the entire range from 0 to 57°C, regardless of whether the measurements were performed in the absence or presence of competing SO42−. We conclude that the enthalpy changes associated with Cl−-or SO42−-binding are negligible as compared to the Ea values observed. It was possible, therefore, to calculate the thermodynamic parameters defined by transition-state theory for the transition of the anion-loaded transport protein to the activated state for Cl−, Br− and SO42− below and above the temperatures at which the breaks in the Arrhenius plots are seen. We found in both regions a high positive activation entropy, resulting in a low free enthalpy of activation. Thus the internal energy required for carrying the complex between anion and transport protein over the rate-limiting energy barrier is largely compensated for by an increase of randomness in the protein and/or its aqueous environment

An evolutionarily conserved pathway controls proteasome homeostasis

The proteasome is essential for the selective degradation of most cellular proteins but how cells maintain adequate amounts of proteasome is unclear. Here we found an evolutionarily conserved signalling pathway controlling proteasome homeostasis. Central to this pathway is TORC1 whose inhibition induced all known yeast 19S regulatory particle assembly-chaperones (RACs) as well as proteasome subunits. Downstream of TORC1 inhibition, the yeast mitogen-activated protein kinase, Mpk1, ensured that the supply of RACs and proteasome subunits increased under challenging conditions to maintain proteasomal degradation and cell viability. This adaptive pathway was evolutionarily conserved, with mTOR and Erk5 controlling the levels of the four mammalian RACs and proteasome abundance. Thus, the central growth and stress controllers, TORC1 and Mpk1/Erk5, endow cells with a rapid and vital adaptive response to adjust proteasome abundance to the rising needs. Enhancing this pathway may be a useful therapeutic approach for diseases resulting from impaired proteasomal degradation