Protein oxidation and proteolysis

Ubiquitin-independent degradation of proteins by the proteasome

The proteasome is the main proteolytic machinery of the cell and constitutes a recognized drugable target, in particular for treating cancer. It is involved in the elimination of misfolded, altered or aged proteins as well as in the generation of antigenic peptides presented by MHC class I molecules. It is also responsible for the proteolytic maturation of diverse polypeptide precursors and for the spatial and temporal regulation of the degradation of many key cell regulators whose destruction is necessary for progression through essential processes, such as cell division, differentiation and, more generally, adaptation to environmental signals. It is generally believed that proteins must undergo prior modification by polyubiquitin chains to be addressed to, and recognized by, the proteasome. In reality, however, there is accumulating evidence that ubiquitin-independent proteasomal degradation may have been largely underestimated. In particular, a number of proto-oncoproteins and oncosuppressive proteins are privileged ubiquitin-independent proteasomal substrates, the altered degradation of which may have tumorigenic consequences. The identification of ubiquitin-independent mechanisms for proteasomal degradation also poses the paramount question of the multiplicity of catabolic pathways targeting each protein substrate. As this may help design novel therapeutic strategies, the underlying mechanisms are critically reviewed here.

Protein:protein aggregation induced by protein oxidation

When the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cells exceeds a genetically coded defense capacity, the cells experience damage to vital components such as DNA, proteins and lipids that leads to non-specific interactions and the production of a series of high molecular weight protein aggregates. The dynamics of oxidative stress induced aggregation were studied here using model proteins and yeast. Model proteins were oxidized at increasing ROS concentrations and analyzed using size exclusion chromatography (SEC). Changes in the SEC elution profile showed that aggregation happens in stages and protein fragments produced as a result of oxidation also give rise to aggregates. Yeast cells were stressed with hydrogen peroxide to investigate in vivo aggregation. Equal amounts from control and oxidized lysates were chromatographed on a size exclusion column and proteins of molecular weight exceeding 700 kDa were collected from both samples which were then differentially labeled using light and heavy isotope coded N-acetoxysuccinamide and mixed in a 1:1 ratio. The coded mixture was analyzed using LC/MS and peptides that appeared as singlets representing the proteins that aggregated with higher molecular mass protein complexes were identified. Twenty-five proteins were identified to be of this type. Fifteen members in this group were found to have been carbonylated. These proteins are part of the proteome known as the aggresome. The protein content of the aggresome may provide vital information for mechanistic studies targeting disease and aging.

Redox proteomics studies of in vivo amyloid beta-peptide animal models of Alzheimer's disease: Insight into the role of oxidative stress

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disease. AD is characterized by the presence of senile plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, and synaptic loss. Amyloid β-peptide (Aβ), a component of senile plaques, has been proposed to play an important role in oxidative stress in AD brain and could be one of the key factors in the pathogenesis of AD. In the present review, we discuss some of the AD animal models that express Aβ, and compare the proteomics-identified oxidatively modified proteins between AD brain and those of Aβ models. Such a comparison would allow better understanding of the role of Aβ in AD pathogenesis thereby helping in developing potential therapeutics to treat or delay AD.

Structure, function and regulation of plant proteasomes

Proteasomes are large multisubunit, multicatalytic proteases responsible for most of the cytosolic and nuclear protein degradation, and their structure and functions are conserved in eukaryotes. Proteasomes were originally identified as the proteolytic module of the ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis pathway. Today we know that proteasomes also mediate ubiquitin-independent proteolysis, that they have RNAse activity, and play a non-proteolytic role in transcriptional regulation. Here we present an overview of the current knowledge of proteasome function and regulation in plants and highlight the role of proteasome-dependent protein degradation in the control of plant development and responses to the environment.

Molecular determinants of compatibility polymorphism in the Biomphalaria glabrata/Schistosoma mansoni model: new candidates identified by a global comparative proteomics approach

The co-evolutionary dynamics that exist in host-parasite interactions sometimes lead to compatibility polymorphisms, the molecular bases of which are rarely investigated. To identify key molecules that are involved in this phenomenon in the Schistosoma mansoni/Biomphalaria glabrata model, we developed a comparative proteomics approach using the larval stages that interact with the invertebrate host. We used qualitative and quantitative analyses to compare the total proteomes of primary sporocysts from compatible and incompatible parasite strains. The differentially expressed proteins thus detected belong to three main functional groups: (i) scavengers of reactive oxygen species, (ii) components of primary metabolism, and (iii) mucin-like proteins. We discuss the putative roles played by these protein families as determinants of compatibility polymorphism. Since mucins are known to play key roles in the host-parasite interplay, we consider the newly discovered S. mansoni mucin-like proteins (SmMucin-like) as the most promising candidates for influencing the fate of host-parasite interactions. An analysis of their expression is presented in a paper published in the same journal issue.

Markers of oxidative stress in ICU clinical settings: present and future

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Oxidative stress is associated with most conditions requiring intensive care: it contributes to clinical complications, organ failure and mortality. Interestingly, no unique definition exists of oxidative stress, of how it contributes to the clinical worsening and most importantly, no common strategy exists about its measurement. Despite these metrology problems, limiting the intensity of oxidative stress has become a popular therapeutic target. The paper reviews methods used to determine oxidative stress in clinical situations using routine validated methods or those used by research laboratories.

RECENT FINDINGS

Many methods of measuring oxidative stress have proven unreliable and no single method exists enabling objective determination and characterization of oxidative stress in clinical settings whether in critical illness or in chronic disease. Some methods, like determination of malondialdehyde, F2-isoprostanes, or 8-hydroxydesoxyguanosine, are widely used to determine oxidative stress. Other methods - such as the determination of vitamins or micronutrients - are able to determine components of the antioxidant defense. No single method, however, is yet alone able to characterize oxidative stress under clinical conditions.

SUMMARY

Today, strategies to measure oxidative stress are limited in clinical settings. The most reliable available marker remains malondialdehyde or F2-isoprostanes, in combination with circulating levels of micronutrients.

Towards the control of intracellular protein turnover: mitochondrial Lon protease inhibitors versus proteasome inhibitors

Cellular protein homeostasis results from the combination of protein biogenesis processes and protein quality control mechanisms, which contribute to the functional state of cells under normal and stress conditions. Proteolysis constitutes the final step by which short-lived, misfolded and damaged intracellular proteins are eliminated. Protein turnover and oxidatively modified protein degradation are mainly achieved by the proteasome in the cytosol and nucleus of eukaryotic cells while several ATP-dependent proteases including the matrix protease Lon take part in the mitochondrial protein degradation. Moreover, Lon protease seems to play a major role in the elimination of oxidatively modified proteins in the mitochondrial matrix. Specific inhibitors are commonly used to assess cellular functions of proteolytic systems as well as to identify their protein substrates. Here, we present and discuss known proteasome and Lon protease inhibitors. To date, very few inhibitors of Lon have been described and no specific inhibitors of this protease are available. The current knowledge on both catalytic mechanisms and inhibitors of these two proteases is first described and attempts to define specific non-peptidic inhibitors of the human Lon protease are presented.

Alterations of cerebral cortex and hippocampal proteasome subunit expression and function in a traumatic brain injury rat model

Following cellular stress or tissue injury, the proteasome plays a critical role in protein degradation and signal transduction. The present study examined the beta-subunit expression of constitutive proteasomes (beta1, beta2, and beta5), immunoproteasomes (beta1i, beta2i, and beta5i) and the 11S proteasome activator, PA28alpha, in the rat CNS after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Concomitant measures assessed changes in proteasome activities. Quantitative real time PCR results indicated that beta1 and beta2 mRNA levels were not changed, while beta5 mRNA levels were significantly decreased in injured CNS following TBI. However, beta1i, beta2i, beta5i, and PA28alpha mRNA levels were significantly increased in the injured CNS. Western blotting studies found that beta1, beta2, beta5, beta2i, and beta5i subunit protein levels remained unchanged in the injured CNS, but beta1i and PA28alpha protein levels were significantly elevated in ipsilateral cerebral cortex and hippocampus. Proteasome activity assays found that peptidyl glutamyl peptide hydrolase-like and chymotrypsin-like activity were significantly reduced in the CNS after TBI, and that trypsin-like proteasome activity was increased in the injured cerebral cortex. Our results demonstrated that both proteasome composition and function in the CNS were affected by trauma. Treatments that preserve proteasome function following CNS injury may be beneficial as an approach to cerebral neuroprotection.

Protein and lipid oxidation during frozen storage of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

This study aimed at investigating protein and lipid oxidation during frozen storage of rainbow trout. Rainbow trout fillets were stored for 13 months at -20, -30, or -80 degrees C, and samples were analyzed at regular intervals for lipid and protein oxidation markers. Lipid oxidation was followed by measuring lipid hydroperoxides (PV), as well as secondary oxidation products (volatiles) using dynamic headspace GC-MS. Free fatty acids (FFA) were measured as an estimation of lipolysis. Protein oxidation was followed using the spectrophotometric determination of protein carbonyls and immunoblotting. Significant oxidation was observed in samples stored at -20 degrees C, and at this temperature lipid and protein oxidation seemed to develop simultaneously. FFA, PV, and carbonyls increased significantly for the fish stored at -20 degrees C, whereas the fish stored at -30 and -80 degrees C did not show any increase in oxidation during the entire storage period when these methods were used. In contrast, the more sensitive GC-MS method used for measurement of the volatiles showed that the fish stored at -30 degrees C oxidized more quickly than those stored at -80 degrees C. Detection of protein oxidation using immunoblotting revealed that high molecular weight proteins were oxidized already at t = 0 and that no new protein oxidized during storage irrespective of the storage time and temperature. The results emphasize the need for the development of more sensitive and reliable methods to study protein oxidation in order to gain more explicit knowledge about the significance of protein oxidation for food quality and, especially, to correlate protein oxidation with physical and functional properties of foods.

Rosiglitazone increases PPARgamma in renal tubular epithelial cells and protects against damage by hydrogen peroxide

BACKGROUND/AIMS

Thiazolidinediones (TZD) are ligands known to bind to and activate the nuclear peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma), and are currently used as insulin sensitizers in type 2 diabetes. Recently, several studies have shown that TZD may have a role in renal protection in various experimental models. However, the precise mechanisms by which TZD may possibly affect tubular cell survival after injury remain unclear. We studied the influence of the TZD rosiglitazone on PPARgamma expression and cell function with cellular damage induced by increasing hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) concentrations in bovine renal tubular epithelial cells (bEPC) to determine whether rosiglitazone is cytoprotective under these conditions.

METHODS

bEPC were cultured in the presence of H2O2 after pretreatment with or without 25 microM rosiglitazone. The expression of PPARgamma mRNA and protein were determined using RT-PCR or Western blots, respectively, after 6 and 24 h. Some cells also received actinomycin D or cycloheximide and PPARgamma protein expression was tested. Proliferation rates of cultures were compared after 15 h and after a recovery phase of 6 days. Apoptosis was assessed by DNA fragmentation. Nuclear PPARgamma activity was evaluated by electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA), and the cellular location was detected using immunofluorescence.

RESULTS

Incubation of bEPC with H2O2 concentrations up to 0.75 mM did not induce apoptosis as tested by DNA fragmentation assay, but significantly and dose-dependently reduced proliferation 15 h after injury as measured by [3H]thymidine incorporation. 25 microM rosiglitazone alone also reduced proliferation and failed to attenuate the H2O2-mediated inhibition of proliferation. However, rosiglitazone facilitates recovery of tubular cells 6 days after H2O2-induced injury. Rosiglitazone (25 microM) increased PPARgamma mRNA and protein expression in bEPC in the absence of H2O2. Rosiglitazone failed to increase PPARgamma mRNA in cells with oxidative stress, but Western blots revealed an increase in cellular PPARgamma protein content in the presence of rosiglitazone and increasing concentrations of H2O2. This increase in PPARgamma protein content was almost totally abolished in the presence of 1 microg/ml cycloheximide, but was only marginally reduced by 0.1 microg/ml actinomycin D. EMSA showed a robust increase in nuclear PPARgamma protein binding in vitro to its consensus site after rosiglitazone whereas H2O2 treatment reduced PPARgamma activation. Rosiglitazone treatment of cells with oxidative stress preserved nuclear transactivation of PPARgamma.

CONCLUSIONS

Rosiglitazone increases the PPARgamma content in bEPC after H2O2-induced injury by a posttranscriptional mechanism. Activation of PPARgamma facilitates the long-term recovery of tubular cells 6 days after oxidative injury, but had no effect on the attenuated proliferation shortly after injury. TZD cannot prevent oxidative injury to tubular cells, but may be important mediators to enhance cellular recovery after oxidative stress.

Oxidized proteins: intracellular distribution and recognition by the proteasome

The formation of oxidized proteins is one of the highlights of oxidative stress. In order not to accumulate such proteins have to be degraded. The major proteolytic system responsible for the removal of oxidized proteins is the proteasome. The proteasome is distributed throughout the cytosolic and nuclear compartment of mammalian cells, with high concentrations in the nucleus. On the other hand a major part of protein oxidation is taking place in the cytosol. The present review highlights the current knowledge on the intracellular distribution of oxidized proteins and put it into contrast with the concentration and distribution of the proteasome.