Interspecies Differences in Proteome Turnover Kinetics Are Correlated With Life Spans and Energetic Demands

Primary Cell Culture as a Model System for Evolutionary Molecular Physiology

Primary cell culture is a powerful model system to address fundamental questions about organismal physiology at the cellular level, especially for species that are difficult, or impossible, to study under natural or semi-natural conditions. Due to their ease of use, primary fibroblast cultures are the dominant model system, but studies using both somatic and germ cells are also common. Using these models, genome evolution and phylogenetic relationships, the molecular and biochemical basis of differential longevities among species, and the physiological consequences of life history evolution have been studied in depth. With the advent of new technologies such as gene editing and the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), the field of molecular evolutionary physiology will continue to expand using both descriptive and experimental approaches.

Metabolic mechanisms of species-specific developmental tempo

Development consists of a highly ordered suite of steps and transitions, like choreography. Although these sequences are often evolutionarily conserved, they can display species variations in duration and speed, thereby modifying final organ size or function. Despite their evolutionary significance, the mechanisms underlying species-specific scaling of developmental tempo have remained unclear. Here, we will review recent findings that implicate global cellular mechanisms, particularly intermediary and protein metabolism, as species-specific modifiers of developmental tempo. In various systems, from somitic cell oscillations to neuronal development, metabolic pathways display species differences. These have been linked to mitochondrial metabolism, which can influence the species-specific speed of developmental transitions. Thus, intermediary metabolic pathways regulate developmental tempo together with other global processes, including proteostasis and chromatin remodeling. By linking metabolism and the evolution of developmental trajectories, these findings provide opportunities to decipher how species-specific cellular timing can influence organism fitness.

Proteome Birthdating Reveals Age-Selectivity of Protein Ubiquitination

Within a cell, proteins have distinct and highly variable half-lives. As a result, the molecular ages of proteins can range from seconds to years. How the age of a protein influences its environmental interactions is a largely unexplored area of biology. To investigate the age-selectivity of cellular pathways, we developed a methodology termed "proteome birthdating" that barcodes proteins based on their time of synthesis. We demonstrate that this approach provides accurate measurements of protein turnover kinetics from a single biological sample encoding multiple labeling time-points. As a first application of the birthdated proteome, we investigated the age distribution of the human ubiquitinome. Our results indicate that the vast majority of ubiquitinated proteins in a cell consist of newly synthesized proteins and that these young proteins constitute the bulk of the degradative flux through the proteasome. Rapidly ubiquitinated nascent proteins are enriched in cytosolic subunits of large protein complexes. Conversely, proteins destined for the secretory pathway and vesicular transport have older ubiquitinated populations. Our data also identify a smaller subset of older ubiquitinated cellular proteins that do not appear to be targeted to the proteasome for rapid degradation. Together, our data provide an age census of the human ubiquitinome and establish proteome birthdating as a robust methodology for investigating the protein age-selectivity of diverse cellular pathways.

The maintenance of oocytes in the mammalian ovary involves extreme protein longevity

Women are born with all of their oocytes. The oocyte proteome must be maintained with minimal damage throughout the woman's reproductive life, and hence for decades. Here we report that oocyte and ovarian proteostasis involves extreme protein longevity. Mouse ovaries had more extremely long-lived proteins than other tissues, including brain. These long-lived proteins had diverse functions, including in mitochondria, the cytoskeleton, chromatin and proteostasis. The stable proteins resided not only in oocytes but also in long-lived ovarian somatic cells. Our data suggest that mammals increase protein longevity and enhance proteostasis by chaperones and cellular antioxidants to maintain the female germline for long periods. Indeed, protein aggregation in oocytes did not increase with age and proteasome activity did not decay. However, increasing protein longevity cannot fully block female germline senescence. Large-scale proteome profiling of ~8,890 proteins revealed a decline in many long-lived proteins of the proteostasis network in the aging ovary, accompanied by massive proteome remodeling, which eventually leads to female fertility decline.

Linking mitochondria metabolism, developmental timing, and human brain evolution

Changes in developmental timing are an important factor of evolution in organ shape and function. This is particularly striking for human brain development, which, compared with other mammals, is considerably prolonged at the level of the cerebral cortex, resulting in brain neoteny. Here, we review recent findings that indicate that mitochondria and metabolism contribute to species differences in the tempo of cortical neuron development. Mitochondria display species-specific developmental timeline and metabolic activity patterns that are highly correlated with the speed of neuron maturation. Enhancing mitochondrial activity in human cortical neurons results in their accelerated maturation, while its reduction leads to decreased maturation rates in mouse neurons. Together with other global and gene-specific mechanisms, mitochondria thus act as a cellular hourglass of neuronal developmental tempo and may thereby contribute to species-specific features of human brain ontogeny.

Epigenetic control and manipulation of neuronal maturation timing

During brain development, the sequence of developmental steps and the underlying transcriptional regulatory logic are largely conserved across species. However, the temporal unfolding of developmental programs varies dramatically across species and within a given species varies across brain regions and cell identities. The maturation of neurons in the human cerebral cortex is particularly slow and lasts for many years compared with only a few weeks for the corresponding mouse neurons. The mechanisms setting the 'schedule' of neuronal maturation remain unclear but appear to be linked to a cell-intrinsic 'clock'. Here, we discuss recent findings that highlight a role for epigenetic factors in the timing of neuronal maturation. Manipulations of those factors in stem cell-based models can override the intrinsic pace of neuronal maturation, including its protracted nature in human cortical neurons. We then contextualize the epigenetic regulation of maturation programs with findings from other model systems and propose potential interactions between epigenetic pathways and other drivers of developmental rates.

miRNA circuit modules for precise, tunable control of gene expression

The ability to express transgenes at specified levels is critical for understanding cellular behaviors, and for applications in gene and cell therapy. Transfection, viral vectors, and other gene delivery methods produce varying protein expression levels, with limited quantitative control, while targeted knock-in and stable selection are inefficient and slow. Active compensation mechanisms can improve precision, but the need for additional proteins or lack of tunability have prevented their widespread use. Here, we introduce a toolkit of compact, synthetic miRNA-based circuit modules that provide precise, tunable control of transgenes across diverse cell types. These circuits, termed DIMMERs (Dosage-Invariant miRNA-Mediated Expression Regulators) use multivalent miRNA regulatory interactions within an incoherent feed-forward loop architecture to achieve nearly uniform protein expression over more than two orders of magnitude variation in underlying gene dosages or transcription rates. They also allow coarse and fine control of expression, and are portable, functioning across diverse cell types. In addition, a heuristic miRNA design algorithm enables the creation of orthogonal circuit variants that independently control multiple genes in the same cell. These circuits allowed dramatically improved CRISPR imaging, and super-resolution imaging of EGFR receptors with transient transfections. The toolbox provided here should allow precise, tunable, dosage-invariant expression for research, gene therapy, and other biotechnology applications.

The stem cell zoo for comparative studies of developmental tempo

The rate of development is highly variable across animal species. However, the mechanisms regulating developmental tempo have remained elusive due to difficulties in performing direct interspecies comparisons. Here, we discuss how pluripotent stem cell-based models of development can be used to investigate cell- and tissue-autonomous temporal processes. These systems enable quantitative comparisons of different animal species under similar experimental conditions. Moreover, the constantly growing stem cell zoo collection allows the extension of developmental studies to a great number of unconventional species. We argue that the stem cell zoo constitutes a powerful platform to perform comparative studies of developmental tempo, as well as to study other forms of biological time control such as species-specific lifespan, heart rate, and circadian clocks.

Gene purging and the evolution of Neoave metabolism and longevity

Maintenance of the proteasome requires oxidative phosphorylation (ATP) and mitigation of oxidative damage, in an increasingly dysfunctional relationship with aging. SLC3A2 plays a role on both sides of this dichotomy as an adaptor to SLC7A5, a transporter of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA: Leu, Ile, Val), and to SLC7A11, a cystine importer supplying cysteine to the synthesis of the antioxidant glutathione. Endurance in mammalian muscle depends in part on oxidation of BCAA; however, elevated serum levels are associated with insulin resistance and shortened lifespans. Intriguingly, the evolution of modern birds (Neoaves) has entailed the purging of genes including SLC3A2, SLC7A5, -7, -8, -10, and SLC1A4, -5, largely removing BCAA exchangers and their interacting Na+/Gln symporters in pursuit of improved energetics. Additional gene purging included mitochondrial BCAA aminotransferase (BCAT2), pointing to reduced oxidation of BCAA and increased hepatic conversion to triglycerides and glucose. Fat deposits are anhydrous and highly reduced, maximizing the fuel/weight ratio for prolonged flight, but fat accumulation in muscle cells of aging humans contributes to inflammation and senescence. Duplications of the bidirectional α-ketoacid transporters SLC16A3, SLC16A7, the cystine transporters SLC7A9, SLC7A11, and N-glycan branching enzymes MGAT4B, MGAT4C in Neoaves suggests a shift to the transport of deaminated essential amino acid, and stronger mitigation of oxidative stress supported by the galectin lattice. We suggest that Alfred Lotka's theory of natural selection as a maximum power organizer (PNAS 8:151,1922) made an unusually large contribution to Neoave evolution. Further molecular analysis of Neoaves may reveal novel rewiring with applications for human health and longevity.

The Clockwork Embryo: Mechanisms Regulating Developmental Rate

Organismal development requires the reproducible unfolding of an ordered sequence of discrete steps (cell fate determination, migration, tissue folding, etc.) in both time and space. Here, we review the mechanisms that grant temporal specificity to developmental steps, including molecular clocks and timers. Individual timing mechanisms must be coordinated with each other to maintain the overall developmental sequence. However, phenotypic novelties can also arise through the modification of temporal patterns over the course of evolution. Two main types of variation in temporal patterning characterize interspecies differences in developmental time: allochrony, where the overall developmental sequence is either accelerated or slowed down while maintaining the relative duration of individual steps, and heterochrony, where the duration of specific developmental steps is altered relative to the rest. New advances in in vitro modeling of mammalian development using stem cells have recently enabled the revival of mechanistic studies of allochrony and heterochrony. In both cases, differences in the rate of basic cellular functions such as splicing, translation, protein degradation, and metabolism seem to underlie differences in developmental time. In the coming years, these studies should identify the genetic differences that drive divergence in developmental time between species.

Phenotypic molecular features of long-lived animal species

One of the challenges facing science/biology today is uncovering the molecular bases that support and determine animal and human longevity. Nature, in offering a diversity of animal species that differ in longevity by more than 5 orders of magnitude, is the best 'experimental laboratory' to achieve this aim. Mammals, in particular, can differ by more than 200-fold in longevity. For this reason, most of the available evidence on this topic derives from comparative physiology studies. But why can human beings, for instance, reach 120 years whereas rats only last at best 4 years? How does nature change the longevity of species? Longevity is a species-specific feature resulting from an evolutionary process. Long-lived animal species, including humans, show adaptations at all levels of biological organization, from metabolites to genome, supported by signaling and regulatory networks. The structural and functional features that define a long-lived species may suggest that longevity is a programmed biological property.

Rate-Limiting Enzymes in Cardiometabolic Health and Aging in Humans

INTRODUCTION

Rate-limiting enzymes (RLEs) are innate slow points in metabolic pathways, and many function in bio-processes related to nutrient sensing. Many RLEs carry causal mutations relevant to inherited metabolic disorders. Because the activity of RLEs in cardiovascular health is poorly characterized, our objective was to assess their involvement in cardiometabolic health and disease and where altered biophysical and biochemical functions can promote disease.

METHODS

A dataset of 380 human RLEs was compared to protein and gene datasets for factors likely to contribute to cardiometabolic disease, including proteins showing significant age-related altered expression in blood and genetic loci with variants that associate with common cardiometabolic phenotypes. The biochemical reactions catalyzed by RLEs were evaluated for metabolites enriched in RLE subsets associating with various cardiometabolic phenotypes. Most significance tests were based on Z-score enrichment converted to p values with a normal distribution function.

RESULTS

Of 380 RLEs analyzed, 112 function in mitochondria, and 53 are assigned to inherited metabolic disorders. There was a depletion of RLE proteins known as aging biomarkers. At the gene level, RLEs were assessed for common genetic variants that associated with important cardiometabolic traits of LDL-cholesterol or any of the five outcomes pertinent to metabolic syndrome. This revealed several RLEs with links to cardiometabolic traits, from a minimum of 26 for HDL-cholesterol to a maximum of 45 for plasma glucose. Analysis of these GWAS-linked RLEs for enrichment of the molecular constituents of the catalyzed reactions disclosed a number of significant phenotype-metabolite links. These included blood pressure with acetate (p = 2.2 × 10-4) and NADP+ (p = 0.0091), plasma HDL-cholesterol and triglyceride with diacylglycerol (p = 2.6 × 10-5, 6.4 × 10-5, respectively) and diolein (p = 2.2 × 10-6, 5.9 × 10-6), and waist circumference with d-glucosamine-6-phosphate (p = 1.8 × 10-4).

CONCLUSION

In the context of cardiometabolic health, aging, and disease, these results highlight key diet-derived metabolites that are central to specific rate-limited processes that are linked to cardiometabolic health. These metabolites include acetate and diacylglycerol, pertinent to blood pressure and triglycerides, respectively, as well as diacylglycerol and HDL-cholesterol.

Distinct longevity mechanisms across and within species and their association with aging

Lifespan varies within and across species, but the general principles of its control remain unclear. Here, we conducted multi-tissue RNA-seq analyses across 41 mammalian species, identifying longevity signatures and examining their relationship with transcriptomic biomarkers of aging and established lifespan-extending interventions. An integrative analysis uncovered shared longevity mechanisms within and across species, including downregulated Igf1 and upregulated mitochondrial translation genes, and unique features, such as distinct regulation of the innate immune response and cellular respiration. Signatures of long-lived species were positively correlated with age-related changes and enriched for evolutionarily ancient essential genes, involved in proteolysis and PI3K-Akt signaling. Conversely, lifespan-extending interventions counteracted aging patterns and affected younger, mutable genes enriched for energy metabolism. The identified biomarkers revealed longevity interventions, including KU0063794, which extended mouse lifespan and healthspan. Overall, this study uncovers universal and distinct strategies of lifespan regulation within and across species and provides tools for discovering longevity interventions.

Cell time: How cells control developmental timetables

An overview on the molecular and metabolic mechanisms behind individual cell differences in developmental timing in the segmentation clock and the central nervous system.

TurnoveR: A Skyline External Tool for Analysis of Protein Turnover in Metabolic Labeling Studies

In spite of its central role in biology and disease, protein turnover is a largely understudied aspect of most proteomic studies due to the complexity of computational workflows that analyze in vivo turnover rates. To address this need, we developed a new computational tool, TurnoveR, to accurately calculate protein turnover rates from mass spectrometric analysis of metabolic labeling experiments in Skyline, a free and open-source proteomics software platform. TurnoveR is a straightforward graphical interface that enables seamless integration of protein turnover analysis into a traditional proteomics workflow in Skyline, allowing users to take advantage of the advanced and flexible data visualization and curation features built into the software. The computational pipeline of TurnoveR performs critical steps to determine protein turnover rates, including isotopologue demultiplexing, precursor-pool correction, statistical analysis, and generation of data reports and visualizations. This workflow is compatible with many mass spectrometric platforms and recapitulates turnover rates and differential changes in turnover rates between treatment groups calculated in previous studies. We expect that the addition of TurnoveR to the widely used Skyline proteomics software will facilitate wider utilization of protein turnover analysis in highly relevant biological models, including aging, neurodegeneration, and skeletal muscle atrophy.

Methionine Metabolism Is Down-Regulated in Heart of Long-Lived Mammals

Methionine constitutes a central hub of intracellular metabolic adaptations leading to an extended longevity (maximum lifespan). The present study follows a comparative approach analyzing methionine and related metabolite and amino acid profiles using an LC-MS/MS platform in the hearts of seven mammalian species with a longevity ranging from 3.8 to 57 years. Our findings demonstrate the existence of species-specific heart phenotypes associated with high longevity characterized by: (i) low concentration of methionine and its related sulphur-containing metabolites; (ii) low amino acid pool; and (iii) low choline concentration. Our results support the existence of heart metabotypes characterized by a down-regulation in long-lived species, supporting the idea that in longevity, less is more.

Understanding AL amyloidosis with a little help from in vivo models

Monoclonal immunoglobulin (Ig) light chain amyloidosis (AL) is a rare but severe disease that may occur when a B or plasma cell clone secretes an excess of free Ig light chains (LCs). Some of these LCs tend to aggregate into organized fibrils with a β-sheet structure, the so-called amyloid fibrils, and deposit into the extracellular compartment of organs, such as the heart or kidneys, causing their dysfunction. Recent findings have confirmed that the core of the amyloid fibrils is constituted by the variable (V) domain of the LCs, but the mechanisms underlying the unfolding and aggregation of this fragment and its deposition are still unclear. Moreover, in addition to the mechanical constraints exerted by the massive accumulation of amyloid fibrils in organs, the direct toxicity of these variable domain LCs, full-length light chains, or primary amyloid precursors (oligomers) seems to play a role in the pathogenesis of the disease. Many in vitro studies have focused on these topics, but the variability of this disease, in which each LC presents unique properties, and the extent and complexity of affected organs make its study in vivo very difficult. Accordingly, several groups have focused on the development of animal models for years, with some encouraging but mostly disappointing results. In this review, we discuss the experimental models that have been used to better understand the unknowns of this pathology with an emphasis on in vivo approaches. We also focus on why reliable AL amyloidosis animal models remain so difficult to obtain and what this tells us about the pathophysiology of the disease.

Proteotype coevolution and quantitative diversity across 11 mammalian species

Evolutionary profiling has been largely limited to the nucleotide level. Using consistent proteomic methods, we quantified proteomic and phosphoproteomic layers in fibroblasts from 11 common mammalian species, with transcriptomes as reference. Covariation analysis indicates that transcript and protein expression levels and variabilities across mammals remarkably follow functional role, with extracellular matrix-associated expression being the most variable, demonstrating strong transcriptome-proteome coevolution. The biological variability of gene expression is universal at both interindividual and interspecies scales but to a different extent. RNA metabolic processes particularly show higher interspecies versus interindividual variation. Our results further indicate that while the ubiquitin-proteasome system is strongly conserved in mammals, lysosome-mediated protein degradation exhibits remarkable variation between mammalian lineages. In addition, the phosphosite profiles reveal a phosphorylation coevolution network independent of protein abundance.

Nutritional components as mitigators of cellular senescence in organismal aging: a comprehensive review

The process of cellular senescence is rapidly emerging as a modulator of organismal aging and disease. Targeting the development and removal of senescent cells is considered a viable approach to achieving improved organismal healthspan and lifespan. Nutrition and health are intimately linked and an appropriate dietary regimen can greatly impact organismal response to stress and diseases including during aging. With a renewed focus on cellular senescence, emerging studies demonstrate that both primary and secondary nutritional elements such as carbohydrates, proteins, fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, polyphenols, and probiotics can influence multiple aspects of cellular senescence. The present review describes the recent molecular aspects of cellular senescence-mediated understanding of aging and then studies available evidence of the cellular senescence modulatory attributes of major and minor dietary elements. Underlying pathways and future research directions are deliberated to promote a nutrition-centric approach for targeting cellular senescence and thus improving human health and longevity.

Common Ground between Biological Rhythms and Forensics

Simple Summary

Biological clocks regulate the timing of numerous body functions in adaption to daily repeating cycles in the environment, such as the sleep–wake phases that are trained by the cycling changes of night and day light. The identification of a deceased victim is a critical component in a forensic investigation, but it can be significantly hampered by the condition of the dead body and the lack of personal records and documents. This review links current knowledge on the molecular mechanisms of biological rhythms to forensically relevant aspects, including the time period since death, cause of death, the use of insects for forensics, sex and age of a person, ethnic background and development. Putting these findings in context demonstrates how the analysis of molecular clock analysis could be used as tool for future personal identification in forensic investigations.

Abstract

Biological clocks set the timing for a large number of essential processes in the living human organism. After death, scientific evidence is required in forensic investigations in order to collect as much information as possible on the death circumstances and personal identifiers of the deceased victim. We summarize the associations between the molecular mechanisms of biological rhythms and forensically relevant aspects, including post-mortem interval and cause of death, entomological findings, sex, age, ethnicity and development. Given their importance during lifetime, biological rhythms could be potential tools to draw conclusions on the death circumstances and the identity of a deceased person by mechanistic investigations of the different biological clocks in a forensic context. This review puts the known effects of biological rhythms on the functions of the human organism in context with potential applications in forensic fields of interest, such as personal identification, entomology as well as the determination of the post-mortem interval and cause of death.

Plasma Levels of Free NƐ-Carboxymethyllysine (CML) after Different Oral Doses of CML in Rats and after the Intake of Different Breakfasts in Humans: Postprandial Plasma Level of sRAGE in Humans

N-carboxymethyl-lysine (CML) and other dietary advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) are chemically modified amino acids with potential toxicological effects putatively related to their affinity with the receptor for AGEs (RAGE). The goal of this study was to determine the postprandial kinetics of CML in both rodents and humans and, in the latter, to evaluate their relationship with the soluble RAGE isoforms (sRAGE). Four gavage solutions containing different forms of CML were given to rats, and blood was collected over 8 h. Three different breakfasts containing dietary CML (dCML) were administered to 20 healthy volunteers, and blood was collected over 2 h. Concentrations of CML, CEL, and lysine were quantified in plasma and human meals by LC-MS/MS, and sRAGE was determined in human plasma by ELISA. The results showed that dCML did not affect the concentrations of circulating protein-bound CML and that only free CML increased in plasma, with a postprandial peak at 90 to 120 min. In humans, the postprandial plasmatic sRAGE concentration decreased independently of the dAGE content of the breakfasts. This study confirms reports of the inverse postprandial relationship between plasmatic free CML and sRAGE, though this requires further investigation for causality to be established.

Measurement of Protein Turnover Rates in Senescent and Non-Dividing Cultured Cells with Metabolic Labeling and Mass Spectrometry

Mounting evidence has shown that the accumulation of senescent cells in the central nervous system contributes to neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Cellular senescence is a state of permanent cell cycle arrest that typically occurs in response to exposure to sub-lethal stresses. However, like other non-dividing cells, senescent cells remain metabolically active and carry out many functions that require unique transcriptional and translational demands and widespread changes in the intracellular and secreted proteomes. Understanding how protein synthesis and decay rates change during senescence can illuminate the underlying mechanisms of cellular senescence and find potential therapeutic avenues for diseases exacerbated by senescent cells. This paper describes a method for proteome-scale evaluation of protein half-lives in non-dividing cells using pulsed stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (pSILAC) in combination with mass spectrometry. pSILAC involves metabolic labeling of cells with stable heavy isotope-containing versions of amino acids. Coupled with modern mass spectrometry approaches, pSILAC enables the measurement of protein turnover of hundreds or thousands of proteins in complex mixtures. After metabolic labeling, the turnover dynamics of proteins can be determined based on the relative enrichment of heavy isotopes in peptides detected by mass spectrometry. In this protocol, a workflow is described for the generation of senescent fibroblast cultures and similarly arrested quiescent fibroblasts, as well as a simplified, single-time point pSILAC labeling time-course that maximizes coverage of anticipated protein turnover rates. Further, a pipeline is presented for the analysis of pSILAC mass spectrometry data and user-friendly calculation of protein degradation rates using spreadsheets. The application of this protocol can be extended beyond senescent cells to any non-dividing cultured cells such as neurons.

Somatic mutation rates scale with lifespan across mammals

The rates and patterns of somatic mutation in normal tissues are largely unknown outside of humans1-7. Comparative analyses can shed light on the diversity of mutagenesis across species, and on long-standing hypotheses about the evolution of somatic mutation rates and their role in cancer and ageing. Here we performed whole-genome sequencing of 208 intestinal crypts from 56 individuals to study the landscape of somatic mutation across 16 mammalian species. We found that somatic mutagenesis was dominated by seemingly endogenous mutational processes in all species, including 5-methylcytosine deamination and oxidative damage. With some differences, mutational signatures in other species resembled those described in humans8, although the relative contribution of each signature varied across species. Notably, the somatic mutation rate per year varied greatly across species and exhibited a strong inverse relationship with species lifespan, with no other life-history trait studied showing a comparable association. Despite widely different life histories among the species we examined-including variation of around 30-fold in lifespan and around 40,000-fold in body mass-the somatic mutation burden at the end of lifespan varied only by a factor of around 3. These data unveil common mutational processes across mammals, and suggest that somatic mutation rates are evolutionarily constrained and may be a contributing factor in ageing.

Insights Into the Links Between Proteostasis and Aging From C. elegans

Protein homeostasis (proteostasis) is maintained by a tightly regulated and interconnected network of biological pathways, preventing the accumulation and aggregation of damaged or misfolded proteins. Thus, the proteostasis network is essential to ensure organism longevity and health, while proteostasis failure contributes to the development of aging and age-related diseases that involve protein aggregation. The model organism Caenorhabditis elegans has proved invaluable for the study of proteostasis in the context of aging, longevity and disease, with a number of pivotal discoveries attributable to the use of this organism. In this review, we discuss prominent findings from C. elegans across the many key aspects of the proteostasis network, within the context of aging and disease. These studies collectively highlight numerous promising therapeutic targets, which may 1 day facilitate the development of interventions to delay aging and prevent age-associated diseases.

A new approach method for characterizing inter-species toxicodynamic variability

Inter-species differences in toxicodynamics are often a critical source of uncertainty in safety evaluations and typically dealt with using default adjustment factors. In vitro studies that use cells from different species demonstrated some success for estimating the relationships between life span and/or body weight and sensitivity to cytotoxicity; however, no apparent investigation evaluated the utility of these models for risk assessment. It was hypothesized that an in vitro model using dermal fibroblasts derived from diverse species and individuals might be utilized to inform the extent of inter-species and inter-individual variability in toxicodynamics. To test this hypothesis and characterize both inter-species and inter-individual variability in cytotoxicity, concentration-response cytotoxicity screening of 40 chemicals in primary dermal fibroblasts from 68 individuals of 54 diverse species was conducted. Chemicals examined included drugs, environmental pollutants, and food/flavor/fragrance agents; most of these were previously assessed either in vivo or in vitro for inter-species or inter-individual variation. Species included humans, the typical preclinical species and representatives from other orders of mammals and birds. Data demonstrated that both inter-species and inter-individual components of variability contribute to the observed differences in sensitivity to cell death. Further, it was found that the magnitude of the observed inter-species and inter-individual differences was chemical-dependent. This study contributes to the paradigm shift in risk assessment from reliance on in vivo toxicity testing to higher-throughput in vitro or alternative approaches, extending the strategy to replace use of default adjustment factors with experimental characterization of toxicodynamic inter-individual variability and to also address toxicodynamic inter-species variability.

Effects of Human Nucleolus Upon Guest Viral-Life, Focusing in COVID-19 Infection: A Mini- Review

The nucleolus is a subcellular membrane-less structure of eukaryotic cells. In 1965, in a world's southern summer summit in Uruguay, the role of the nucleolus as the site of ribosome synthesis, biogenesis, and processing of tRNA was conclusively established. Today, accumulating evidence confirm the multiple functions of the nucleolus, including tRNA precursor processing, cell stress sensing, as well as being influential in gene silencing, senescence, lifespan, DNA damage response (DDR), and cell cycle regulation. Therefore, nucleolopathy is observed in various human diseases. Modern advances have provided fundamental insights concerning how and why the nucleolus is targeted by different pathogenic organisms. Viruses are major organisms that disrupt the normal function of the nucleus and produce nucleoli proteins for facilitating the replication of viruses causing viral infections. In this review, we focus on the possible role of nucleoli upon coronavirus infections, particularly in coronavirus disease 2019.

In vivo assay and modelling of protein and mitochondrial turnover during aging

To maintain homoeostasis, cells must degrade damaged or misfolded proteins and synthesize functional replacements. Maintaining a balance between these processes, known as protein turnover, is necessary for stress response and cellular adaptation to a changing environment. Damaged mitochondria must also be removed and replaced. Changes in protein and mitochondrial turnover are associated with aging and neurodegenerative disease, making it important to understand how these processes occur and are regulated in cells. To achieve this, reliable assays of turnover must be developed. Several methods exist, including pulse-labelling with radioactive or stable isotopes and strategies making use of fluorescent proteins, each with their own advantages and limitations. Both cell culture and live animals have been used for these studies, in systems ranging from yeast to mammals. In vivo assays are especially useful for connecting turnover to aging and disease. With its short life cycle, suitability for fluorescent imaging, and availability of genetic tools, Drosophila melanogaster is particularly well suited for this kind of analysis.

Selectivity aspects of activity-based (chemical) probes

Selective chemical modulators are ideal tools to study the function of a protein. Yet, the poor ligandability of many proteins has hampered the development of specific chemical probes for numerous protein classes. Tools, such as covalent inhibitors and activity-based protein profiling, have enhanced our understanding of thus-far difficult-to-target proteins and have enabled correct assessment of the selectivity of small-molecule modulators. This also requires deeper knowledge of compound and target site reactivity, evaluation of binding to noncovalent targets and protein turnover. The availability of highly selective chemical probes, the evolution of activity-based probes, and the development of profiling methods will open a new era of drugging the undruggable proteome.

Liver proteome response to torpor in a basoendothermic mammal, Tenrec ecaudatus, provides insights into the evolution of homeothermy

Many mammals use adaptive heterothermy (e.g., torpor, hibernation) to reduce metabolic demands of maintaining high body temperature (T_b). Torpor is typically characterized by coordinated declines in T_b and metabolic rate (MR) followed by active rewarming. Most hibernators experience periods of euthermy between bouts of torpor during which homeostatic processes are restored. In contrast, the common tenrec, a basoendothermic Afrotherian mammal, hibernates without interbout arousals and displays extreme flexibility in T_b and MR. We investigated the molecular basis of this plasticity in tenrecs by profiling the liver proteome of animals that were active or torpid with high and more stable T_b (∼32°C) or lower T_b (∼14°C). We identified 768 tenrec liver proteins, of which 50.9% were differentially abundant between torpid and active animals. Protein abundance was significantly more variable in active cold and torpid compared with active warm animals, suggesting poor control of proteostasis. Our data suggest that torpor in tenrecs may lead to mismatches in protein pools due to poor coordination of anabolic and catabolic processes. We propose that the evolution of endothermy leading to a more realized homeothermy of boreoeutherians likely led to greater coordination of homeostatic processes and reduced mismatches in thermal sensitivities of metabolic pathways.

Protein structure and aggregation: a marriage of necessity ruled by aggregation gatekeepers

Protein aggregation propensity is a pervasive and seemingly inescapable property of proteomes. Strikingly, a significant fraction of the proteome is supersaturated, meaning that, for these proteins, their native conformation is less stable than the aggregated state. Maintaining the integrity of a proteome under such conditions is precarious and requires energy-consuming proteostatic regulation. Why then is aggregation propensity maintained at such high levels over long evolutionary timescales? Here, we argue that the conformational stability of the native and aggregated states are correlated thermodynamically and that codon usage strengthens this correlation. As a result, the folding of stable proteins requires kinetic control to avoid aggregation, provided by aggregation gatekeepers. These unique residues are evolutionarily selected to kinetically favor native folding, either on their own or by coopting chaperones.

Temporal differences of neurodevelopment processes between species

The ontogeny programs are highly conserved across all vertebrates, although there are significant temporal variations in interspecies developmental processes. Changing the timing and rate of developmental processes could affect subsequent organogenesis profoundly and may also have been critical factors in evolutionary diversity. However, despite their potential importance, the cellular and molecular mechanisms that control interspecies differences in developmental timescale remain unclear. This review highlights recent advances in the experimental models to compare interspecies differences in neurodevelopmental processes, neurogenesis, and neuronal maturation and discusses the possible mechanisms that could generate species-specific timescales.

Cross-species comparisons and in vitro models to study tempo in development and homeostasis

Time is inherent to biological processes. It determines the order of events and the speed at which they take place. However, we still need to refine approaches to measure the course of time in biological systems and understand what controls the pace of development. Here, we argue that the comparison of biological processes across species provides molecular insight into the timekeeping mechanisms in biology. We discuss recent findings and the open questions in the field and highlight the use of in vitro systems as tools to investigate cell-autonomous control as well as the coordination of temporal mechanisms within tissues. Further, we discuss the relevance of studying tempo for tissue transplantation, homeostasis and lifespan.

Deciphering the whale's secrets to have a long life

Whales are marine creatures known for their enormous size and that live in all the oceans on earth. One of the oldest known organisms is bowhead whales, which can survive up to 200 years, and similarly, other species of whales have shown a remarkable long lifespan. In addition to this, whales are highly resistant to cancer, a disease that is strongly related to aging and the accumulation of damage over time. These two characteristics make whales an interesting model to study and that can provide us with a track both to delay aging and to avoid pathologies associated with it, such as cancer. In the present work, we try to analyze different aspects of whales such as metabolism, hematological and biochemical characteristics, and properties of their genome and transcriptome in order to elucidate possible molecular mechanisms that evolution has provided to these aquatic mammals.

Proteome Turnover in the Spotlight: Approaches, Applications, and Perspectives

In all cells, proteins are continuously synthesized and degraded to maintain protein homeostasis and modify gene expression levels in response to stimuli. Collectively, the processes of protein synthesis and degradation are referred to as protein turnover. At a steady state, protein turnover is constant to maintain protein homeostasis, but in dynamic responses, proteins change their rates of synthesis and degradation to adjust their proteomes to internal or external stimuli. Thus, probing the kinetics and dynamics of protein turnover lends insight into how cells regulate essential processes such as growth, differentiation, and stress response. Here, we outline historical and current approaches to measuring the kinetics of protein turnover on a proteome-wide scale in both steady-state and dynamic systems, with an emphasis on metabolic tracing using stable isotope-labeled amino acids. We highlight important considerations for designing proteome turnover experiments, key biological findings regarding the conserved principles of proteome turnover regulation, and future perspectives for both technological and biological investigation.