分类： 生物学 >> 生物物理学 >> 生物物理、生物化学与分子生物学 提交时间： 2016-05-12
Yang, Liuqing
Zhang, Jiayu
Gal, Jozsef
Zhu, Haining
Kamelgarn, Marisa
Zhu, Haining
Niu, Chunyan
Gong, Weimin
Gong, Weimin
摘要： Mutations in Fused in sarcoma (FUS) gene cause a subset of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal motor neuron degenerative disease. Wild-type FUS is largely localized in the nucleus, but mutant FUS accumulates in the cytoplasm and forms inclusions. It is unclear whether FUS depletion from the nucleus or FUS inclusions in the cytoplasm triggers motor neuron degeneration. In this study, we revealed that the nuclear and cytoplasmic FUS proteins form distinct local distribution patterns. The nuclear FUS forms oligomers and appears granular under confocal microscope. In contrast, the cytoplasmic FUS forms inclusions with no oligomers detected. These patterns are determined by the subcellular localization of FUS, regardless of wild-type or mutant protein. Moreover, mutant FUS remained or re-directed in the nucleus can oligomerize and behave similarly to the wild-type FUS protein. We further found that nuclear RNAs are critical to its oligomerization. Interestingly, the formation of cytoplasmic FUS inclusions is also dependent on RNA binding. Since the ALS mutations disrupt the nuclear localization sequence, mutant FUS is likely retained in the cytoplasm after translation and interacts with cytoplasmic RNAs. We therefore propose that local RNA molecules interacting with the FUS protein in different subcellular compartments play a fundamental role in determining FUS protein architecture and function.
分类： 生物学 >> 生物物理学 >> 生物物理、生物化学与分子生物学 提交时间： 2016-05-11
摘要： Growing evidence suggests a strong association between cardiovascular risk factors and incidence of Alzheimer disease (AD). Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), the endogenous nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, has been identified as an independent cardiovascular risk factor and is also increased in plasma of patients with AD. However, whether ADMA is involved in the pathogenesis of AD is unknown. In this study, we found that ADMA content was increased in a transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans beta-amyloid (A beta) overexpression model, strain CL2006, and in human SH-SY5Y cells overexpressing the Swedish mutant form of human A beta precursor protein (APPsw). Moreover, ADMA treatment exacerbated A beta-induced paralysis and oxidative stress in CL2006 worms and further elevated oxidative stress and A beta secretion in APPsw cells. Knockdown of type 1 protein arginine N-methyltransferase to reduce ADMA production failed to show a protective effect against A beta toxicity, but resulted in more paralysis in CL2006 worms as well as increased oxidative stress and A beta secretion in APPsw cells. However, overexpression of dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase 1 (DDAH1) to promote ADMA degradation significantly attenuated oxidative stress and A beta secretion in APPsw cells. Collectively, our data support the hypothesis that elevated ADMA contributes to the pathogenesis of AD. Our findings suggest that strategies to increase DDAH1 activity in neuronal cells may be a novel approach to attenuating AD development. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
分类： 生物学 >> 生物物理学 提交时间： 2016-05-12
摘要： Tandem duplications and fusions of single genes have led to magnificent expansions in the divergence of protein structures and functions over evolutionary timescales. One of the possible results is polydomain enzymes with interdomain cooperativities, few examples of which have been structurally characterized at the full-length level to explore their innate synergistic mechanisms. This work reports the crystal structures of a double-domain phosphagen kinase in both apo and ligand-bound states, revealing a novel asymmetric L-shaped arrangement of the two domains. Unexpectedly, the interdomain connections are not based on a flexible hinge linker but on a rigid secondary-structure element: a long alpha-helix that tethers the tandem domains in relatively fixed positions. Besides the connective helix, the two domains also contact each other directly and form an interdomain interface in which hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions further stabilize the L-shaped domain arrangement. Molecular-dynamics simulations show that the interface is generally stable, suggesting that the asymmetric domain arrangement crystallographically observed in the present study is not a conformational state simply restrained by crystal-packing forces. It is possible that the asymmetrically arranged tandem domains could provide a structural basis for further studies of the interdomain synergy.
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