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1. Holistic insights from pollen omics : co-opting stress-responsive genes and ER-mediated proteostasis for male fertility

   https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiab463  

   Sze, Heven ; Palanivelu, Ravishankar ; Harper, Jeffrey F ; Johnson, Mark A ( October 2021 , Plant Physiology)

   Abstract Sexual reproduction in flowering plants takes place without an aqueous environment. Sperm are carried by pollen through air to reach the female gametophyte, though the molecular basis underlying the protective strategy of the male gametophyte is poorly understood. Here we compared the published transcriptomes of Arabidopsis thaliana pollen, and of heat-responsive genes, and uncovered insights into how mature pollen (MP) tolerates desiccation, while developing and germinating pollen are vulnerable to heat stress. Germinating pollen expresses molecular chaperones or “heat shock proteins” in the absence of heat stress. Furthermore, pollen tubes that grew through pistils at basal temperature showed inductionmore »of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response, which is a characteristic of stressed vegetative tissues. Recent studies show MP contains mRNA–protein (mRNP) aggregates that resemble “stress” granules triggered by heat or other stresses to protect cells. Based on these observations, we postulate that mRNP particles are formed in maturing pollen in response to developmentally programmed dehydration. Dry pollen can withstand harsh conditions as it is dispersed in air. We propose that, when pollen lands on a compatible pistil and hydrates, mRNAs stored in particles are released, aided by molecular chaperones, to become translationally active. Pollen responds to osmotic, mechanical, oxidative, and peptide cues that promote ER-mediated proteostasis and membrane trafficking for tube growth and sperm discharge. Unlike vegetative tissues, pollen depends on stress-protection strategies for its normal development and function. Thus, heat stress during reproduction likely triggers changes that interfere with the normal pollen responses, thereby compromising male fertility. This holistic perspective provides a framework to understand the basis of heat-tolerant strains in the reproduction of crops.« less
2. Role of the Cell Asymmetry Apparatus and Ribosome-Associated Chaperones in the Destabilization of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae Prion by Heat Shock

   https://doi.org/10.1534/genetics.119.302237  

   Howie, Rebecca L. ; Jay-Garcia, Lina Manuela ; Kiktev, Denis A. ; Faber, Quincy L. ; Murphy, Margaret ; Rees, Katherine A. ; Sachwani, Numera ; Chernoff, Yury O. ( July 2019 , Genetics)

   Self-perpetuating transmissible protein aggregates, termed prions, are implicated in mammalian diseases and control phenotypically detectable traits in Saccharomyces cerevisiae . Yeast stress-inducible chaperone proteins, including Hsp104 and Hsp70-Ssa that counteract cytotoxic protein aggregation, also control prion propagation. Stress-damaged proteins that are not disaggregated by chaperones are cleared from daughter cells via mother-specific asymmetric segregation in cell divisions following heat shock. Short-term mild heat stress destabilizes [ PSI + ], a prion isoform of the yeast translation termination factor Sup35 . This destabilization is linked to the induction of the Hsp104 chaperone. Here, we show that the region of Hsp104 knownmore »to be required for curing by artificially overproduced Hsp104 is also required for heat-shock-mediated [ PSI + ] destabilization. Moreover, deletion of the SIR2 gene, coding for a deacetylase crucial for asymmetric segregation of heat-damaged proteins, also counteracts heat-shock-mediated destabilization of [ PSI + ], and Sup35 aggregates are colocalized with aggregates of heat-damaged proteins marked by Hsp104 -GFP. These results support the role of asymmetric segregation in prion destabilization. Finally, we show that depletion of the heat-shock noninducible ribosome-associated chaperone Hsp70-Ssb decreases heat-shock-mediated destabilization of [ PSI + ], while disruption of a cochaperone complex mediating the binding of Hsp70-Ssb to the ribosome increases prion loss. Our data indicate that Hsp70-Ssb relocates from the ribosome to the cytosol during heat stress. Cytosolic Hsp70-Ssb has been shown to antagonize the function of Hsp70-Ssa in prion propagation, which explains the Hsp70-Ssb effect on prion destabilization by heat shock. This result uncovers the stress-related role of a stress noninducible chaperone.« less
3. Four glial cells regulate ER stress resistance and longevity via neuropeptide signaling in C. elegans

   https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaz6896  

   Frakes, Ashley E. ; Metcalf, Melissa G. ; Tronnes, Sarah U. ; Bar-Ziv, Raz ; Durieux, Jenni ; Gildea, Holly K. ; Kandahari, Nazineen ; Monshietehadi, Samira ; Dillin, Andrew ( January 2020 , Science)

   The ability of the nervous system to sense cellular stress and coordinate protein homeostasis is essential for organismal health. Unfortunately, stress responses that mitigate disturbances in proteostasis, such as the unfolded protein response of the endoplasmic reticulum (UPR^ER), become defunct with age. In this work, we expressed the constitutively active UPR^ERtranscription factor, XBP-1s, in a subset of astrocyte-like glia, which extended the life span inCaenorhabditis elegans. Glial XBP-1s initiated a robust cell nonautonomous activation of the UPR^ERin distal cells and rendered animals more resistant to protein aggregation and chronic ER stress. Mutants deficient in neuropeptide processing and secretion suppressed glialmore »cell nonautonomous induction of the UPR^ERand life-span extension. Thus, astrocyte-like glial cells play a role in regulating organismal ER stress resistance and longevity.

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4. Orphan Hybrid Histidine Protein Kinase SinK Acts as a Signal Integrator To Fine-Tune Multicellular Behavior in Myxococcus xanthus

   https://doi.org/10.1128/JB.00561-18  

   Glaser, Maike M. ; Higgs, Penelope I. ; Stock, Ann M. ( March 2019 , Journal of Bacteriology)

   ABSTRACT His-Asp phosphorelay (also known as two-component signal transduction) proteins are the predominant mechanism used in most bacteria to control behavior in response to changing environmental conditions. In addition to systems consisting of a simple two-component system utilizing an isolated histidine kinase/response regulator pair, some bacteria are enriched in histidine kinases that serve as signal integration proteins; these kinases are usually characterized by noncanonical domain architecture, and the responses that they regulate may be difficult to identify. The environmental bacterium Myxococcus xanthus is highly enriched in these noncanonical histidine kinases. M. xanthus is renowned for a starvation-induced multicellular developmental programmore »in which some cells are induced to aggregate into fruiting bodies and then differentiate into environmentally resistant spores. Here, we characterize the M. xanthus orphan hybrid histidine kinase SinK (Mxan_4465), which consists of a histidine kinase transmitter followed by two receiver domains (REC 1 and REC 2 ). Nonphosphorylatable sinK mutants were analyzed under two distinct developmental conditions and using a new high-resolution developmental assay. These assays revealed that SinK autophosphorylation and REC 1 impact the onset of aggregation and/or the mobility of aggregates, while REC 2 impacts sporulation efficiency. SinK activity is controlled by a genus-specific hypothetical protein (SinM; Mxan_4466). We propose that SinK serves to fine-tune fruiting body morphology in response to environmental conditions. IMPORTANCE Biofilms are multicellular communities of microorganisms that play important roles in host disease or environmental biofouling. Design of preventative strategies to block biofilms depends on understanding the molecular mechanisms used by microorganisms to build them. The production of biofilms in bacteria often involves two-component signal transduction systems in which one protein component (a kinase) detects an environmental signal and, through phosphotransfer, activates a second protein component (a response regulator) to change the transcription of genes necessary to produce a biofilm. We show that an atypical kinase, SinK, modulates several distinct stages of specialized biofilm produced by the environmental bacterium Myxococcus xanthus . SinK likely integrates multiple signals to fine-tune biofilm formation in response to distinct environmental conditions.« less
5. Yeast Models for Amyloids and Prions: Environmental Modulation and Drug Discovery

   https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24183388  

   Chernova, Tatiana A. ; Chernoff, Yury O. ; Wilkinson, Keith D. ( September 2019 , Molecules)

   Amyloids are self-perpetuating protein aggregates causing neurodegenerative diseases in mammals. Prions are transmissible protein isoforms (usually of amyloid nature). Prion features were recently reported for various proteins involved in amyloid and neural inclusion disorders. Heritable yeast prions share molecular properties (and in the case of polyglutamines, amino acid composition) with human disease-related amyloids. Fundamental protein quality control pathways, including chaperones, the ubiquitin proteasome system and autophagy are highly conserved between yeast and human cells. Crucial cellular proteins and conditions influencing amyloids and prions were uncovered in the yeast model. The treatments available for neurodegenerative amyloid-associated diseases are few and theirmore »efficiency is limited. Yeast models of amyloid-related neurodegenerative diseases have become powerful tools for high-throughput screening for chemical compounds and FDA-approved drugs that reduce aggregation and toxicity of amyloids. Although some environmental agents have been linked to certain amyloid diseases, the molecular basis of their action remains unclear. Environmental stresses trigger amyloid formation and loss, acting either via influencing intracellular concentrations of the amyloidogenic proteins or via heterologous inducers of prions. Studies of environmental and physiological regulation of yeast prions open new possibilities for pharmacological intervention and/or prophylactic procedures aiming on common cellular systems rather than the properties of specific amyloids.« less