Wang Y et al. (2007) Sci China C Life Sci "The flhDC gene affects motility and biofilm formation in Yersinia pseudotuberculosis."

Zhang Y, Ding L, Chen S, Yang B, Hu Y, Wang Y

[Sci China C Life Sci, 2007]

The flagella master regulatory gene flhDC of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis serotype III (YPIII) was mutated by deleting the middle region and replaced by a tetracycline resistant gene, and the subsequent mutant strain named YPIIIDeltaflhDC was obtained. Swimming assay showed that the swimming motility of the mutant strain was completely abolished. The promoter region of the flagella second-class regulatory gene fliA was fused with the lux box, and was conjugated with the mutant and the parent strains respectively for the first cross. LUCY assay result demonstrated that flhDC regulated the expression of fliA in YPIII as reported in E. coli. Biofilm formation of the mutant strain on abiotic and biotic surfaces was observed and quantified. The results showed that mutation of flhDC decreased biofilm formation on both abiotic and biotic surfaces, and abated the infection on Caenorhabdtis elegans. Our results suggest that mutation of the flagella master regulatory gene flhDC not only abolished the swimming motility, but also affected biofilm formation of YPIII on different surfaces. The new function of flhDC identified in this study provides a novel viewpoint for the control of bacterial biofilm formation.

Leung CK et al. (2013) Mol Cell Biol "A negative-feedback loop between the detoxification/antioxidant response factor SKN-1 and its repressor WDR-23 matches organism needs with environmental conditions."

Deonarine A, Tang L, Prasse S, Choe KP, Wang Y, Leung CK

[Mol Cell Biol, 2013]

Negative-feedback loops between transcription factors and repressors in responses to xenobiotics, oxidants, heat, hypoxia, DNA damage, and infection have been described. Although common, the function of feedback is largely unstudied. Here, we define a negative-feedback loop between the Caenorhabditis elegans detoxification/antioxidant response factor SKN-1/Nrf and its repressor wdr-23 and investigate its function in vivo. Although SKN-1 promotes stress resistance and longevity, we find that tight regulation by WDR-23 is essential for growth and reproduction. By disabling SKN-1 transactivation of wdr-23, we reveal that feedback is required to set the balance between growth/reproduction and stress resistance/longevity. We also find that feedback is required to set the sensitivity of a core SKN-1 target gene to an electrophile. Interestingly, the effect of feedback on target gene induction is greatly reduced when the stress response is strongly activated, presumably to ensure maximum activation of cytoprotective genes during potentially fatal conditions. Our work provides a framework for understanding the function of negative feedback in inducible stress responses and demonstrates that manipulation of feedback alone can shift the balance of competing animal processes toward cell protection, health, and longevity.

Xiao Y et al. (2016) Cell Rep "Gut-Colonizing Bacteria Promote C.elegans Innate Immunity by Producing Nitric Oxide."

Zou CG, Liu F, Tang J, Zhang KQ, Zhang Z, Xiao Y

[Cell Rep, 2016]

Many commensal bacteria in the gut are beneficial to the host immune system, but the underlying mechanisms are largely unclear. Using culture-independent Illumina MiSeq sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene amplicons, we show that bacterial diversity in the intestine of Caenorhabditis elegans, the free-living nematode, is distinct from that in soil. Of these bacteria, Bacillus subtilis is the most prominent species in the worm gut. We demonstrate that B.subtilis confers worm resistance to infection by pathogenic bacteria, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella enterica, and Enterococcus faecalis, by producing nitric oxide (NO). Deletion of the nos gene, which encodes an NO synthase, reduces the protective effect. NO promotes innate immune responses to P.aeruginosa PA14 by activating a conserved p38 mitogen protein kinase (MAPK) in C.elegans. Our work provides an example of antagonism of commensal bacteria against pathogens and illustrates the importance of commensal bacteria in host immunity.

De Domenico I et al. (2011) Cell Metab "The role of ubiquitination in hepcidin-independent and hepcidin-dependent degradation of ferroportin."

Kaplan J, Ward DM, Yang B, Korolnek T, De Domenico I, Hamza I, Lo E

[Cell Metab, 2011]

The iron exporter ferroportin (Fpn) is essential to transfer iron from cells to plasma. Systemic iron homeostasis in vertebrates is regulated by the hepcidin-mediated internalization of Fpn. Here, we demonstrate a second route for Fpn internalization; when cytosolic iron levels are low, Fpn is internalized in a hepcidin-independent manner dependent upon the E3 ubiquitin ligase Nedd4-2 and the Nedd4-2 binding protein Nfdip-1. Retention of cell-surface Fpn through reductions in Nedd4-2 results in cell death through depletion of cytosolic iron. Nedd4-2 is also required for internalization of Fpn in the absence of ferroxidase activity as well as for the entryof hepcidin-induced Fpn into the multivesicularbody. C. elegans lacks hepcidin genes, and C. elegans Fpn expressed in mammalian cells is not internalized by hepcidin but is internalized in response to iron deprivation in a Nedd4-2-dependent manner, supporting the hypothesis that Nedd4-2-induced internalization of Fpn is evolutionarily conserved.

Kim SH et al. (2007) J Cell Biol "SMK-1/PPH-4.1-mediated silencing of the CHK-1 response to DNA damage in early C. elegans embryos."

Michael WM, Wolff S, Holway AH, Kim SH, Dillin A

[J Cell Biol, 2007]

During early embryogenesis in Caenorhabditis elegans, the ATL-1-CHK-1 (ataxia telangiectasia mutated and Rad3 related-Chk1) checkpoint controls the timing of cell division in the future germ line, or P lineage, of the animal. Activation of the CHK-1 pathway by its canonical stimulus DNA damage is actively suppressed in early embryos so that P lineage cell divisions may occur on schedule. We recently found that the rad-2 mutation alleviates this checkpoint silent DNA damage response and, by doing so, causes damage-dependent delays in early embryonic cell cycle progression and subsequent lethality. In this study, we report that mutations in the smk-1 gene cause the rad-2 phenotype. SMK-1 is a regulatory subunit of the PPH-4.1 (protein phosphatase 4) protein phosphatase, and we show that SMK-1 recruits PPH-4.1 to replicating chromatin, where it silences the CHK-1 response to DNA damage. These results identify the SMK-1-PPH-4.1 complex as a critical regulator of the CHK-1 pathway in a developmentally relevant context.

Ramos CG et al. (2011) J Bacteriol "The second RNA chaperone, Hfq2, is also required for survival under stress and full virulence of Burkholderia cenocepacia J2315."

Sousa SA, Ramos CG, Grilo AM, Leitao JH, Feliciano JR

[J Bacteriol, 2011]

Burkholderia cenocepacia J2315 is a highly virulent and epidemic clinical isolate of the B. cepacia complex (Bcc), a group of bacteria that have emerged as important pathogens to cystic fibrosis patients. This bacterium, together with all Bcc strains and a few other prokaryotes, is unusual for encoding in its genome two distinct and functional Hfq-like proteins. In this work, we show results indicating that the 188-amino-acid Hfq2 protein is required for the full virulence and stress resistance of B. cenocepacia J2315, despite the presence on its genome of the functional 79-amino-acid Hfq protein encoded by the hfq gene. Similar to other Hfq proteins, Hfq2 is able to bind RNA. However, Hfq2 is unique in its ability to apparently form trimers in vitro. Maximal transcription of hfq was observed in B. cenocepacia J2315 cells in the early exponential phase of growth. In contrast, hfq2 transcription reached maximal levels in cells in the stationary phase, depending on the CepR quorum-sensing regulator. These results suggest that tight regulation of the expression of these two RNA chaperones is required to maximize the fitness and virulence of this bacterium. In addition, the ability of Hfq2 to bind DNA, not observed for Hfq, suggests that Hfq2 might play additional roles besides acting as an RNA chaperone.

Ramos CG et al. (2013) J Bacteriol "MtvR is a global small noncoding regulatory RNA in Burkholderia cenocepacia."

Leitao JH, Ramos CG, da Costa PJ, Grilo AM, Feliciano JR

[J Bacteriol, 2013]

Burkholderia cenocepacia J2315 is a highly epidemic and transmissible clinical isolate of the Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc), a group of bacteria causing life-threatening respiratory infections among cystic fibrosis patients. This work describes the functional analysis of the 136-nucleotide (nt)-long MtvR small noncoding RNA (sRNA) from the Bcc member B. cenocepacia J2315, with homologues restricted to the genus Burkholderia. Bioinformatic target predictions revealed a total of 309 mRNAs to be putative MtvR targets. The mRNA levels corresponding to 17 of 19 selected genes were found to be affected when MtvR was either overexpressed or silenced. Analysis of the interaction between MtvR and the hfq mRNA, one of its targets, showed that the sRNA binds exclusively to the 5' untranslated region (UTR) of the hfq mRNA. This interaction resulted in decreased protein synthesis, suggesting a negative regulatory effect of MtvR on the RNA chaperone Hfq. Bacterial strains with MtvR silenced or overexpressed exhibited pleiotropic phenotypes related to growth and survival after several stresses, swimming and swarming motilities, biofilm formation, resistance to antibiotics, and ability to colonize and kill the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Together, the results indicate that the MtvR sRNA is a major posttranscriptional regulator in B. cenocepacia.

Iwatsubo T (2007) Neuropathology "Pathological biochemistry of alpha-synucleinopathy."

Iwatsubo T

[Neuropathology, 2007]

Lewy bodies (LBs) are hallmark lesions in the brains of patients with Parkinson''s disease (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). We raised a monoclonal antibody LB509 against purified LBs from the brains of patients with DLB that strongly immunolabled LBs, and found that alpha-synuclein is one of the major components of LBs. Thus, the deposition of alpha-synuclein, an abundant presynaptic brain protein, as fibrillary aggregates in affected neurons or glial cells, was highlighted as a hallmark lesion of a subset of neurodegenerative disorders, including PD, DLB and multiple system atrophy collectively referred to as synucleinopathies. Importantly, the identification of missense mutations in and multiplication of alpha-synuclein gene in some pedigrees of familial PD has strongly implicated alpha-synuclein in the pathogenesis of PD and other synucleinopathies. We then examined the specific posttranslational modifications that characterize and underlie the aggregation of alpha-synuclein in synucleinopathy brains by mass spectrometry and using a specific antibody, and found that serine 129 of alpha-synuclein deposited in synucleinopathy lesions is selectively and extensively phosphorylated. Furthermore we generated transgenic C. elegans overexpressing alpha-synuclein in neurons, and found that overexpression of familial PD-linked mutant form of alpha-synuclein impairs functions of dopamine neurons. These findings collectively underscore the importance of deposition of alpha-synuclein as well as its phosphorylation in the pathogenesis of alpha-synucleinopathies.

Taub J et al. (1999) Nature "A cytosolic catalase is needed to extend adult lifespan in C. elegans daf-C and clk-1 mutants."

Ma C, Lau JF, Taub J, Hoque R, Rothblatt JA, Chalfie M, Hahn J-H

[Nature, 1999]

The dauer larva is an alternative larval stage in Caenorhabditis elegans which allows animals to survive through periods of low food availability. Well-fed worms live for about three weeks, but dauer larvae can live for at least two months without affecting post-dauer lifespan. Mutations in daf-2 and age-1, which produce a dauer constitutive (Daf-C) phenotype, and in clk-1, which are believed to slow metabolism, markedly increase adult lifespan. Here we show that a ctl-1 mutation reduces adult lifespan in otherwise wild-type animals and eliminates the daf-c and clk-1-mediated extension of adult lifespan. ctl-1 encodes an unusual cytosolic catalase; a second gene, ctl-2, encodes a peroxisomal catalase. ctl-1 messenger RNA is increased in dauer larvae and adults with the daf-c mutations. We suggest that the ctl-1 catalase is needed during periods of starvation, as in the dauer larva, and that its misexpression in daf-c and clk-1 adults extends lifespan. Cytosolic catalase may have evolved to protect nematodes from oxidative damage produced during prolonged dormancy before reproductive maturity, or it may represent a general mechanism for permitting organisms to cope with the metabolic changes that accompany starvation.

Leung CK et al. (2014) Mol Cell Biol "Direct interaction between the WD40 repeat protein WDR-23 and SKN-1/Nrf inhibits binding to target DNA."

Choe KP, Hasegawa K, Deonarine A, Wang Y, Miwa J, Tang L, Leung CK

[Mol Cell Biol, 2014]

SKN-1/Nrf transcription factors activate cytoprotective genes in response to reactive small molecules and strongly influence stress resistance, longevity, and development. The molecular mechanisms of SKN-1/Nrf regulation are poorly defined. We previously identified the WD40 repeat protein WDR-23 as a repressor of Caenorhabditis elegans SKN-1 that functions with a ubiquitin ligase to presumably target the factor for degradation. However, SKN-1 activity and nuclear accumulation are not always correlated, suggesting that there could be additional regulatory mechanisms. Here, we integrate forward genetics and biochemistry to gain insights into how WDR-23 interacts with and regulates SKN-1. We provide evidence that WDR-23 preferentially regulates one of three SKN-1 variants through a direct interaction that is required for normal stress resistance and development. Homology modeling predicts that WDR-23 folds into a -propeller, and we identify the top of this structure and four motifs at the termini of SKN-1c as essential for the interaction. Two of these SKN-1 motifs are highly conserved in human Nrf1 and Nrf2 and two directly interact with target DNA. Lastly, we demonstrate that WDR-23 can block the ability of SKN-1c to interact with DNA sequences of target promoters identifying a new mechanism of regulation that is independent of the ubiquitin proteasome system, which can become occupied with damaged proteins during stress.