Manipulating Heat Shock Factor-1 in Xenopus Tadpoles: Neuronal Tissues Are Refractory to Exogenous Expression

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Co-chaperones are limiting in a depleted chaperone network

To probe the limiting nodes in the chaperoning network which maintains cellular proteostasis, we expressed a dominant negative mutant of heat shock factor 1 (dnHSF1), the regulator of the cytoplasmic proteotoxic stress response. Microarray analysis of non-stressed dnHSF1 cells showed a two- or more fold decrease in the transcript level of 10 genes, amongst which are the (co-)chaperone genes HSP90AA1, HSPA6, DNAJB1 and HSPB1. Glucocorticoid signaling, which requires the Hsp70 and the Hsp90 folding machines, was severely impaired by dnHSF1, but fully rescued by expression of DNAJA1 or DNAJB1, and partially by ST13. Expression of DNAJB6, DNAJB8, HSPA1A, HSPB1, HSPB8, or STIP1 had no effect while HSP90AA1 even inhibited. PTGES3 (p23) inhibited only in control cells. Our results suggest that the DNAJ co-chaperones in particular become limiting in a depleted chaperoning network. Our results also suggest a difference between the transcriptomes of cells lacking HSF1 and cells expressing dnHSF1

Hsp27 Enhances Recovery of Splicing as well as Rephosphorylation of SRp38 after Heat Shock

A heat stress causes a rapid inhibition of splicing. Exogenous expression of Hsp27 did not prevent that inhibition but enhanced the recovery of splicing afterward. Another small heat shock protein, αB-crystallin, had no effect. Hsp27, but not αB-crystallin, also hastened rephosphorylation of SRp38—dephosphorylated a potent inhibitor of splicing—after a heat shock, although it did not prevent dephosphorylation by a heat shock. The effect of Hsp27 on rephosphorylation of SRp38 required phosphorylatable Hsp27. A Hsp90 client protein was required for the effect of Hsp27 on recovery of spicing and on rephosphorylation of SRp38. Raising the Hsp70 level by either a pre-heat shock or by exogenous expression had no effect on either dephosphorylation of SRp38 during heat shock or rephosphorylation after heat shock. The phosphatase inhibitor calyculin A prevented dephosphorylation of SRp38 during a heat shock and caused complete rephosphorylation of SRp38 after a heat shock, indicating that cells recovering from a heat shock are not deficient in kinase activity. Together our data show that the activity of Hsp27 in restoring splicing is not due to a general thermoprotective effect of Hsp27, but that Hsp27 is an active participant in the (de)phosphorylation cascade controlling the activity of the splicing regulator SRp38

Lens crystallins and oxidation: the special case of γS

International audienceAmong lens crystallins, gamma -crystallins are particularly sensitive to oxidation, because of their high amount of Cys and Met residues. They have the reputation to induce, upon ageing, lens structural modifications leading to opacities. A combination of small angle X-ray scattering and chromatography was used to study the oxidation of gamma -crystallins. At pH 7.0, all the gamma -crystallins under study were checked to have the same structure in solution. Under gentle oxidation conditions at pH 8.0, human gammaS (h gammaS) and bovine gammaS (b gammaS) formed disulfide-linked dimers, whereas the other b gamma -crystallins did not. Cys20 was shown to be responsible for dimer formation since the C20S mutant only formed monomers. The h gammaS dimers were stable for weeks and did not form higher oligomers. In contrast, monomeric gammaS-crystallins freshly prepared at pH 8.0, and submitted to more drastic oxidation by X-ray induced free radicals, were rapidly transformed into higher oligomers. So, only extensive oxidation causing partial unfolding could be detrimental to the lens and linked to cataract formation. The gammaS-crystallins lack the temperature-induced opacification observed with the other gamma -crystallins and known as cold cataract. The oxidation-induced associative behaviour and cold cataract are therefore demonstrated to be uncoupled. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

Human γ-crystallin genes. A gene family on its way to extinction

During hominoid evolution the γ-crystallins of the lens have decreased in quantity as well as complexity, a change correlated with an increased water content of the lens. To trace the molecular basis for the decrease in γ-crystallin gene expression, we have characterized the structure and expression of the human γ-crystallin gene family. We show that the human γ-crystallin gene family consists of six complete genes (γA, γB, γC, γD, ψγE and ψγF) and one second exon fragment, the γG gene. Model experiments showed that, although the γG sequence is bordered by consensus splice sites, it is most likely transcriptionally inactive in the lens. In the human embryonic lens the γC and γD genes accounted for 81 % of the γ-crystallin transcripts, the γA gene contributed 14% and the γB gene only 5%. The composition of the γ-crystallin mRNA pool changed only after birth, with the γD transcript as the only detectable transcript at ten years of age. The relative activities of the γA, γC and γD promoters in a transient expression system were in agreement with the ratio of their in vivo RNA levels, suggesting that the difference in accumulation of these transcripts is due to differences in the rate of transcription. The γB promoter was much more active than expected and had lost its tissue-specificity. Model experiments showed that the low yield of the γB transcript is due to post-transcriptional processes, most likely RNA instability mediated by third exon sequences. Together with previous data, our results show that the decrease in expression of the γ-crystallin genes in the human lens is the consequence of gene loss (γG), inactivation of coding sequences (ψγE and ψγF), decrease in rate of transcription (γA), increase in rate of RNA turn-over (γB) and a delay in the onset of transcription during development