Fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) and metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 5 (mGlu5) control stress granule formation in astrocytes

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a common form of intellectual disability and autism caused by the lack of Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein (FMRP), an RNA-binding protein involved in RNA transport and protein synthesis. Upon cellular stress, global protein synthesis is blocked and mRNAs are recruited into stress granules (SGs), together with RNA-binding proteins including FMRP. Activation of group-I metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptors stimulates FMRP-mediated mRNA transport and protein synthesis, but their role in SGs formation is unexplored. To this aim, we pre-treated wild type (WT) and Fmr1 knockout (KO) cultured astrocytes with the group-I-mGlu receptor agonist (S)-3,5-Dihydroxyphenylglycine (DHPG) and exposed them to sodium arsenite (NaAsO2), a widely used inducer of SGs formation. In WT cultures the activation of group-I mGlu receptors reduced SGs formation and recruitment of FMRP into SGs, and also attenuated phosphorylation of eIF2α, a key event crucially involved in SGs formation and inhibition of protein synthesis. In contrast, Fmr1 KO astrocytes, which exhibited a lower number of SGs than WT astrocytes, did not respond to agonist stimulation. Interestingly, the mGlu5 receptor negative allosteric modulator (NAM) 2-methyl-6-(phenylethynyl)pyridine (MPEP) antagonized DHPG-mediated SGs reduction in WT and reversed SGs formation in Fmr1 KO cultures. Our findings reveal a novel function of mGlu5 receptor as modulator of SGs formation and open new perspectives for understanding cellular response to stress in FXS pathophysiology

Scintigraphic imaging of neuroadrenergic cardiac function: An in vitro and in-vivo study

[No abstract available

Heat shock response relieves ER stress

Accumulation of misfolded protein in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) causes stress. The unfolded protein response (UPR), a transcriptional induction pathway, is activated to relieve ER stress. Although UPR is not essential for viability, UPR-deficient cells are more sensitive to ER stress; ire1Δ cells cannot grow when challenged with tunicamycin or by overexpression of misfolded CPY*. In these cells, multiple functions are defective, including translocation, ER-associated degradation (ERAD), and ER-to-Golgi transport. We tested whether heat shock response (HSR) can relieve ER stress. Using a constitutively active Hsf1 transcription factor to induce HSR without temperature shift, we find that HSR rescues growth of stressed ire1Δ cells, and partially relieves defects in translocation and ERAD. Cargo-specific effects of constitutively active Hsf1 on ER-to-Golgi transport are correlated with enhanced protein levels of the respective cargo receptors. In vivo, HSR is activated by ER stress, albeit to a lower level than that caused by heat. Genomic analysis of HSR targets reveals that >25% have function in common with UPR targets. We propose that HSR can relieve stress in UPR-deficient cells by affecting multiple ER activities

CLN8 is an endoplasmic reticulum cargo receptor that regulates lysosome biogenesis

Organelle biogenesis requires proper transport of proteins from their site of synthesis to their target subcellular compartment1-3. Lysosomal enzymes are synthesized in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and traffic through the Golgi complex before being transferred to the endolysosomal system4-6, but how they are transferred from the ER to the Golgi is unknown. Here, we show that ER-to-Golgi transfer of lysosomal enzymes requires CLN8, an ER-associated membrane protein whose loss of function leads to the lysosomal storage disorder, neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis 8 (a type of Batten disease)7. ER-to-Golgi trafficking of CLN8 requires interaction with the COPII and COPI machineries via specific export and retrieval signals localized in the cytosolic carboxy terminus of CLN8. CLN8 deficiency leads to depletion of soluble enzymes in the lysosome, thus impairing lysosome biogenesis. Binding to lysosomal enzymes requires the second luminal loop of CLN8 and is abolished by some disease-causing mutations within this region. Our data establish an unanticipated example of an ER receptor serving the biogenesis of an organelle and indicate that impaired transport of lysosomal enzymes underlies Batten disease caused by mutations in CLN8