Arginase activities and global arginine bioavailability in wild-type and ApoE-deficient mice: Responses to high fat and high cholesterol diets

Increased catabolism of arginine by arginase is increasingly viewed as an important pathophysiological factor in cardiovascular disease, including atherosclerosis induced by high cholesterol diets. Whereas previous studies have focused primarily on effects of high cholesterol diets on arginase expression and arginine metabolism in specific blood vessels, there is no information regarding the impact of lipid diets on arginase activity or arginine bioavailability at a systemic level. We, therefore, evaluated the effects of high fat (HF) and high fat-high cholesterol (HC) diets on arginase activity in plasma and tissues and on global arginine bioavailability (defined as the ratio of plasma arginine to ornithine + citrulline) in apoE-/- and wild-type C57BL/6J mice. HC and HF diets led to reduced global arginine bioavailability in both strains. The HC diet resulted in significantly elevated plasma arginase in both strains, but the HF diet increased plasma arginase only in apoE-/- mice. Elevated plasma arginase activity correlated closely with increased alanine aminotransferase levels, indicating that liver damage was primarily responsible for elevated plasma arginase. The HC diet, which promotes atherogenesis, also resulted in increased arginase activity and expression of the type II isozyme of arginase in multiple tissues of apoE-/- mice only. These results raise the possibility that systemic changes in arginase activity and global arginine bioavailability may be contributing factors in the initiation and/or progression of cardiovascular disease

Protein misfolding and dysregulated protein homeostasis in autoinflammatory diseases and beyond.

Cells have a number of mechanisms to maintain protein homeostasis, including proteasome-mediated degradation of ubiquitinated proteins and autophagy, a regulated process of ‘self-eating’ where the contents of entire organelles can be recycled for other uses. The unfolded protein response prevents protein overload in the secretory pathway. In the past decade, it has become clear that these fundamental cellular processes also help contain inflammation though degrading pro-inflammatory protein complexes such as the NLRP3 inflammasome. Signaling pathways such as the UPR can also be co-opted by toll-like receptor and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species signaling to induce inflammatory responses. Mutations that alter key inflammatory proteins, such as NLRP3 or TNFR1, can overcome normal protein homeostasis mechanisms, resulting in autoinflammatory diseases. Conversely, Mendelian defects in the proteasome cause protein accumulation, which can trigger interferon-dependent autoinflammatory disease. In non-Mendelian inflammatory diseases, polymorphisms in genes affecting the UPR or autophagy pathways can contribute to disease, and in diseases not formerly considered inflammatory such as neurodegenerative conditions and type 2 diabetes, there is increasing evidence that cell intrinsic or environmental alterations in protein homeostasis may contribute to pathogenesis

Mapping the Complex Morphology of Cell Interactions with Nanowire Substrates Using FIB-SEM

Using high resolution focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM) we study the details of cell-nanostructure interactions using serial block face imaging. 3T3 Fibroblast cellular monolayers are cultured on flat glass as a control surface and on two types of nanostructured scaffold substrates made from silicon black (Nanograss) with low- and high nanowire density. After culturing for 72 hours the cells were fixed, heavy metal stained, embedded in resin, and processed with FIB-SEM block face imaging without removing the substrate. The sample preparation procedure, image acquisition and image post-processing were specifically optimised for cellular monolayers cultured on nanostructured substrates. Cells display a wide range of interactions with the nanostructures depending on the surface morphology, but also greatly varying from one cell to another on the same substrate, illustrating a wide phenotypic variability. Depending on the substrate and cell, we observe that cells could for instance: break the nanowires and engulf them, flatten the nanowires or simply reside on top of them. Given the complexity of interactions, we have categorised our observations and created an overview map. The results demonstrate that detailed nanoscale resolution images are required to begin understanding the wide variety of individual cells' interactions with a structured substrate. The map will provide a framework for light microscopy studies of such interactions indicating what modes of interactions must be considered

A genetic cause of Alzheimer disease: mechanistic insights from Down syndrome

Down syndrome, caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21, is associated with a greatly increased risk of early onset Alzheimer disease. It is thought that this risk is conferred by the presence of three copies of the gene encoding amyloid precursor protein (APP), an Alzheimer risk factor, although the possession of extra copies of other chromosome 21 genes may also play a role. Further study of the mechanisms underlying the development of Alzheimer disease in Down syndrome could provide insights into the mechanisms that cause dementia in the general population

Overexpression of Myocilin in the Drosophila Eye Activates the Unfolded Protein Response: Implications for Glaucoma

Glaucoma is the world's second leading cause of bilateral blindness with progressive loss of vision due to retinal ganglion cell death. Myocilin has been associated with congenital glaucoma and 2-4% of primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) cases, but the pathogenic mechanisms remain largely unknown. Among several hypotheses, activation of the unfolded protein response (UPR) has emerged as a possible disease mechanism.We used a transgenic Drosophila model to analyze whole-genome transcriptional profiles in flies that express human wild-type or mutant MYOC in their eyes. The transgenic flies display ocular fluid discharge, reflecting ocular hypertension, and a progressive decline in their behavioral responses to light. Transcriptional analysis shows that genes associated with the UPR, ubiquitination, and proteolysis, as well as metabolism of reactive oxygen species and photoreceptor activity undergo altered transcriptional regulation. Following up on the results from these transcriptional analyses, we used immunoblots to demonstrate the formation of MYOC aggregates and showed that the formation of such aggregates leads to induction of the UPR, as evident from activation of the fluorescent UPR marker, xbp1-EGFP. CONCLUSIONS / SIGNIFICANCE: Our results show that aggregation of MYOC in the endoplasmic reticulum activates the UPR, an evolutionarily conserved stress pathway that culminates in apoptosis. We infer from the Drosophila model that MYOC-associated ocular hypertension in the human eye may result from aggregation of MYOC and induction of the UPR in trabecular meshwork cells. This process could occur at a late age with wild-type MYOC, but might be accelerated by MYOC mutants to account for juvenile onset glaucoma

A Gain-of-Function Germline Mutation in Drosophila ras1 Affects Apoptosis and Cell Fate during Development

The RAS/MAPK signal transduction pathway is an intracellular signaling cascade that transmits environmental signals from activated receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) on the cell surface and other endomembranes to transcription factors in the nucleus, thereby linking extracellular stimuli to changes in gene expression. Largely as a consequence of its role in oncogenesis, RAS signaling has been the subject of intense research efforts for many years. More recently, it has been shown that milder perturbations in Ras signaling during embryogenesis also contribute to the etiology of a group of human diseases. Here we report the identification and characterization of the first gain-of-function germline mutation in Drosophila ras1 (ras85D), the Drosophila homolog of human K-ras, N-ras and H-ras. A single amino acid substitution (R68Q) in the highly conserved switch II region of Ras causes a defective protein with reduced intrinsic GTPase activity, but with normal sensitivity to GAP stimulation. The ras1R68Q mutant is homozygous viable but causes various developmental defects associated with elevated Ras signaling, including cell fate changes and ectopic survival of cells in the nervous system. These biochemical and functional properties are reminiscent of germline Ras mutants found in patients afflicted with Noonan, Costello or cardio-facio-cutaneous syndromes. Finally, we used ras1R68Q to identify novel genes that interact with Ras and suppress cell death

Inactivation of VCP/ter94 Suppresses Retinal Pathology Caused by Misfolded Rhodopsin in Drosophila

The most common Rhodopsin (Rh) mutation associated with autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (ADRP) in North America is the substitution of proline 23 by histidine (RhP23H). Unlike the wild-type Rh, mutant RhP23H exhibits folding defects and forms intracellular aggregates. The mechanisms responsible for the recognition and clearance of misfolded RhP23H and their relevance to photoreceptor neuron (PN) degeneration are poorly understood. Folding-deficient membrane proteins are subjected to Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) quality control, and we have recently shown that RhP23H is a substrate of the ER–associated degradation (ERAD) effector VCP/ter94, a chaperone that extracts misfolded proteins from the ER (a process called retrotranslocation) and facilitates their proteasomal degradation. Here, we used Drosophila, in which Rh1P37H (the equivalent of mammalian RhP23H) is expressed in PNs, and found that the endogenous Rh1 is required for Rh1P37H toxicity. Genetic inactivation of VCP increased the levels of misfolded Rh1P37H and further activated the Ire1/Xbp1 ER stress pathway in the Rh1P37H retina. Despite this, Rh1P37H flies with decreased VCP function displayed a potent suppression of retinal degeneration and blindness, indicating that VCP activity promotes neurodegeneration in the Rh1P37H retina. Pharmacological treatment of Rh1P37H flies with the VCP/ERAD inhibitor Eeyarestatin I or with the proteasome inhibitor MG132 also led to a strong suppression of retinal degeneration. Collectively, our findings raise the possibility that excessive retrotranslocation and/or degradation of visual pigment is a primary cause of PN degeneration