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Juárez-Montiel M, Clark-Flores D, Tesillo-Moreno P, de la Vega-Camarillo E, Andrade-Pavón D, Hernández-García JA, Hernández-Rodríguez C, Villa-Tanaca L. Vacuolar proteases and autophagy in phytopathogenic fungi: A review. FRONTIERS IN FUNGAL BIOLOGY 2022; 3:948477. [PMID: 37746183 PMCID: PMC10512327 DOI: 10.3389/ffunb.2022.948477] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2022] [Accepted: 10/11/2022] [Indexed: 09/26/2023]
Abstract
Autophagy (macroautophagy) is a survival and virulence mechanism of different eukaryotic pathogens. Autophagosomes sequester cytosolic material and organelles, then fuse with or enter into the vacuole or lysosome (the lytic compartment of most fungal/plant cells and many animal cells, respectively). Subsequent degradation of cargoes delivered to the vacuole via autophagy and endocytosis maintains cellular homeostasis and survival in conditions of stress, cellular differentiation, and development. PrA and PrB are vacuolar aspartyl and serine endoproteases, respectively, that participate in the autophagy of fungi and contribute to the pathogenicity of phytopathogens. Whereas the levels of vacuolar proteases are regulated by the expression of the genes encoding them (e.g., PEP4 for PrA and PRB1 for PrB), their activity is governed by endogenous inhibitors. The aim of the current contribution is to review the main characteristics, regulation, and role of vacuolar soluble endoproteases and Atg proteins in the process of autophagy and the pathogenesis of three fungal phytopathogens: Ustilago maydis, Magnaporthe oryzae, and Alternaria alternata. Aspartyl and serine proteases are known to participate in autophagy in these fungi by degrading autophagic bodies. However, the gene responsible for encoding the vacuolar serine protease of U. maydis has yet to be identified. Based on in silico analysis, this U. maydis gene is proposed to be orthologous to the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genes PRB1 and PBI2, known to encode the principal protease involved in the degradation of autophagic bodies and its inhibitor, respectively. In fungi that interact with plants, whether phytopathogenic or mycorrhizal, autophagy is a conserved cellular degradation process regulated through the TOR, PKA, and SNF1 pathways by ATG proteins and vacuolar proteases. Autophagy plays a preponderant role in the recycling of cell components as well as in the fungus-plant interaction.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Lourdes Villa-Tanaca
- Laboratorio de Biología Molecular de Bacterias y Levaduras, Departamento de Microbiología, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Mexico City, Mexico
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Cortez-Sánchez JL, Cortés-Acosta E, Cueto-Hernández VM, Reyes-Maldonado E, Hernández-Rodríguez C, Villa-Tanaca L, Ibarra JA. Activity and expression of Candida glabrata vacuolar proteases in autophagy-like conditions. FEMS Yeast Res 2019; 18:4828329. [PMID: 29385574 DOI: 10.1093/femsyr/foy006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2017] [Accepted: 01/26/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Candida glabrata is an emerging opportunistic pathogen that has intrinsic resistance to azoles. During infection or while living as a commensal, it encounters nutritional stresses such as deficiency of carbon or nitrogen sources. Herein, we investigate the expression and activity of PrA, Ape1, Ape3 and CpY vacuolar proteases during these stressful nutrimental conditions. Our findings demonstrate a differential activity profile depending on the addition or lack of carbon, nitrogen or both. Of the four proteases tested, PrA and Ape3 showed a higher activity in the absence of nitrogen. Steady-state RNA levels for all the proteases were also differentially expressed although not always correlated with its activity, suggesting multiple levels of regulation. Microscopy observations of C. glabrata cells subjected to the different conditions showed an increase in the vacuolar volume. Moreover, the presence of ATG8-PE and an increased expression of ATG8 were observed in the yeast under the tested conditions suggesting that C. glabrata is in autophagy stage. Taken together, our results showed that PrA, Ape1, Ape3 and CpY have varying activities and expression depending on whether nitrogen or carbon is added to the media, and that these vacuolar proteases might have a role in the autophagy process.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Luis Cortez-Sánchez
- Departamento de Microbiología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Delegación Miguel Hidalgo, Ciudad de México CP 11340, México
| | - Elías Cortés-Acosta
- Departamento de Microbiología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Delegación Miguel Hidalgo, Ciudad de México CP 11340, México
| | - V Mónica Cueto-Hernández
- Departamento de Microbiología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Delegación Miguel Hidalgo, Ciudad de México CP 11340, México
| | - Elba Reyes-Maldonado
- Departamento de Morfología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Delegación Miguel Hidalgo, Ciudad de México CP 11340, México
| | - César Hernández-Rodríguez
- Departamento de Microbiología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Delegación Miguel Hidalgo, Ciudad de México CP 11340, México
| | - Lourdes Villa-Tanaca
- Departamento de Microbiología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Delegación Miguel Hidalgo, Ciudad de México CP 11340, México
| | - J Antonio Ibarra
- Departamento de Microbiología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Delegación Miguel Hidalgo, Ciudad de México CP 11340, México
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Kerstens W, Van Dijck P. A Cinderella story: how the vacuolar proteases Pep4 and Prb1 do more than cleaning up the cell's mass degradation processes. MICROBIAL CELL 2018; 5:438-443. [PMID: 30386788 PMCID: PMC6206407 DOI: 10.15698/mic2018.10.650] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Recently, several research groups have assigned non-vacuolar functions to the well-known Saccharomyces cerevisiae vacuolar proteases Pep4 and Prb1, which are also known as proteinases A and B. These non-vacuolar activities seem to be autophagy-independent and stress-induced and suggest an unexplored but possibly prominent role for the proteases outside the vacuole. The functions range from the involvement in programmed cell death, to protection from hazardous protein forms and regulation of gene expression. We propose that a deeper understanding of these molecular processes will provide new insights that will be important for both fungal biology as well as studies in mammalian cells, as they might open up perspectives in the search for novel drug targets. To illustrate this, we summarize the recent literature on non-vacuolar Pep4 and Prb1 functions in S. cerevisiae and review the current data on the protein homologs in pathogenic fungi.
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Affiliation(s)
- Winnie Kerstens
- VIB-KU Leuven Center for Microbiology, Kasteelpark Arenberg 31, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium.,Laboratory of Molecular Cell Biology, Institute of Botany and Microbiology, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 31, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Patrick Van Dijck
- VIB-KU Leuven Center for Microbiology, Kasteelpark Arenberg 31, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium.,Laboratory of Molecular Cell Biology, Institute of Botany and Microbiology, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 31, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
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Juárez-Montiel M, Tesillo-Moreno P, Cruz-Angeles A, Soberanes-Gutiérrez V, Chávez-Camarillo G, Ibarra JA, Hernández-Rodríguez C, Villa-Tanaca L. Heterologous expression and characterization of the aspartic endoprotease Pep4um from Ustilago maydis, a homolog of the human Chatepsin D, an important breast cancer therapeutic target. Mol Biol Rep 2018; 45:1155-1163. [PMID: 30076522 DOI: 10.1007/s11033-018-4267-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2018] [Accepted: 07/16/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
The pep4um gene (um04926) of Ustilago maydis encodes a protein related to either vacuolar or lysosomal aspartic proteases. Bioinformatic analysis of the Pep4um protein revealed that it is a soluble protein with a signal peptide suggesting that it likely passes through the secretory pathway, and it has two probable self-activation sites, which are similar to those in Saccharomyces cerevisiae PrA. Moreover, the active site of the Pep4um has the two characteristic aspartic acid residues of aspartyl proteases. The pep4um gene was cloned, expressed in Pichia pastoris and a 54 kDa recombinant protein was observed. Pep4um-rec was confirmed to be an aspartic protease by specifically inhibiting its enzymatic activity with pepstatin A. Pep4um-rec enzymatic activity on acidic hemoglobin was optimal at pH 4.0 and at 40 °C. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report about the heterologous expression of an aspartic protease from a basidiomycete. An in-depth in silico analysis suggests that Pep4um is homolog of the human cathepsin D protein. Thus, the Pep4um-rec protein may be used to test inhibitors of human cathepsin D, an important breast cancer therapeutic target.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margarita Juárez-Montiel
- Departamento de Microbiología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City, DF, Mexico.,Laboratorio de Biología Molecular de Bacterias y Levaduras, Departamento de Microbiología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Plan de Ayala y Prol. Carpio. Col. Casco de Santo Tomás, Mexico City, DF, CP 11340, Mexico
| | - Pedro Tesillo-Moreno
- Departamento de Microbiología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City, DF, Mexico.,Laboratorio de Biología Molecular de Bacterias y Levaduras, Departamento de Microbiología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Plan de Ayala y Prol. Carpio. Col. Casco de Santo Tomás, Mexico City, DF, CP 11340, Mexico
| | - Ana Cruz-Angeles
- Departamento de Microbiología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City, DF, Mexico
| | - Valentina Soberanes-Gutiérrez
- Departamento de Microbiología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City, DF, Mexico
| | - Griselda Chávez-Camarillo
- Departamento de Microbiología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City, DF, Mexico
| | - J Antonio Ibarra
- Departamento de Microbiología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City, DF, Mexico
| | - César Hernández-Rodríguez
- Departamento de Microbiología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City, DF, Mexico.,Laboratorio de Biología Molecular de Bacterias y Levaduras, Departamento de Microbiología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Plan de Ayala y Prol. Carpio. Col. Casco de Santo Tomás, Mexico City, DF, CP 11340, Mexico
| | - Lourdes Villa-Tanaca
- Departamento de Microbiología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City, DF, Mexico. .,Laboratorio de Biología Molecular de Bacterias y Levaduras, Departamento de Microbiología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Plan de Ayala y Prol. Carpio. Col. Casco de Santo Tomás, Mexico City, DF, CP 11340, Mexico.
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