Depletion of luminal pyridine nucleotides in the endoplasmic reticulum activates autophagy with the involvement of mTOR pathway

The STING-IRF3 Signaling Pathway, Mediated by Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress, Contributes to Impaired Myocardial Autophagic Flux After Ischemia/Reperfusion

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to determine whether endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is involved in impaired autophagy after myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (M-I/R) and elucidate the underlying mechanisms. The expression levels of stimulator of interferon gene (STING) and interferon regulatory transcription factor 3 (IRF3) phosphorylation increased in M-I/R heart tissues and hypoxia-treated/reoxygenation-treated H9c2 cells. The ER stress inhibitor 4-phenylbutyric acid (4-PBA) significantly suppressed the stimulation of STING-IRF3 transcription and alleviated cardiac dysfunction caused by M-I/R injury. In addition, 4-PBA reversed ischemia-induced/reperfusion-induced autophagic flux dysfunction, as demonstrated by a decrease in p 62 and LC3 levels. Similarly, the protective effect of STING deficiency on myocardial cell damage was achieved by the recovery of autophagic flux. Conversely, the protective effect of 4-PBA against hypoxia/reoxygenation injury in cardiomyocytes was offset by STING overexpression, wherein the activated STING-IRF3 pathway promoted the expression of Rubicon (a negatively-regulated autophagic molecule) by binding to the Rubicon promoter. Rubicon ablation effectively counteracts the adverse effects of STING overexpression in cardiomyocytes. The data showed that STING-IRF3 signaling of ER stress receptors is particularly important in the progression of physiological M-I/R caused by the inhibition of autophagic flow in vivo and in vitro.

MicroRNA-661 modulates redox and metabolic homeostasis in colon cancer

Cancer cell survival and metastasis are dependent on metabolic reprogramming that is capable of increasing resistance to oxidative and energetic stress. Targeting these two processes can be crucial for cancer progression. Herein, we describe the role of microRNA‐661 (miR661) as epigenetic regulator of colon cancer (CC) cell metabolism. MicroR661 induces a global increase in reactive oxygen species, specifically in mitochondrial superoxide anions, which appears to be mediated by decreased carbohydrate metabolism and pentose phosphate pathway, and by a higher dependency on mitochondrial respiration. MicroR661 overexpression in non‐metastatic human CC cells induces an epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition phenotype, and a reduced tolerance to metabolic stress. This seems to be a general effect of miR661 in CC, since metastatic CC cell metabolism is also compromised upon miR661 overexpression. We propose hexose‐6‐phosphate dehydrogenase and pyruvate kinase M2 as two key players related to the observed metabolic reprogramming. Finally, the clinical relevance of miR661 expression levels in stage‐II and III CC patients is discussed. In conclusion, we propose miR661 as a potential modulator of redox and metabolic homeostasis in CC.

Composition of the redox environment of the endoplasmic reticulum and sources of hydrogen peroxide

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a metabolically active organelle, which has a central role in proteostasis by translating, modifying, folding, and occasionally degrading secretory and membrane proteins. The lumen of the ER represents a separate compartment of the eukaryotic cell, with a characteristic proteome and metabolome. Although the redox metabolome and proteome of the compartment have not been holistically explored, it is evident that proper redox conditions are necessary for the functioning of many luminal pathways. These redox conditions are defined by local oxidoreductases and the membrane transport of electron donors and acceptors. The main electron carriers of the compartment are identical with those of the other organelles: glutathione, pyridine and flavin nucleotides, ascorbate, and others. However, their composition, concentration, and redox state in the ER lumen can be different from those observed in other compartments. The terminal oxidases of oxidative protein folding generate and maintain an "oxidative environment" by oxidizing protein thiols and producing hydrogen peroxide. ER-specific mechanisms reutilize hydrogen peroxide as an electron acceptor of oxidative folding. These mechanisms, together with membrane and kinetic barriers, guarantee that redox systems in the reduced or oxidized state can be present simultaneously in the lumen. The present knowledge on the in vivo conditions of ER redox is rather limited; development of new genetically encoded targetable sensors for the measurement of the luminal state of redox systems other than thiol/disulfide will contribute to a better understanding of ER redox homeostasis.

A Comprehensive Systems Biological Study of Autophagy-Apoptosis Crosstalk during Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress

One of the most important tasks of a living organism is to maintain its genetic integrity with respect to stress. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) has a crucial role in sensing cellular homeostasis by controlling metabolism, proteostasis, and several signaling processes. ER stressors can induce autophagy-dependent survival; however excessive level of stress results in apoptotic cell death. Although many molecular components of these networks have already been discovered, the analysis of the dynamical features of the regulatory network of life-or-death decision is still lacking. Our goal was to incorporate both theoretical and molecular biological techniques to explore the autophagy-apoptosis crosstalk under ER stress. Using various levels of different ER stressors we confirmed that the control network always generated an evidently detectable autophagy-dependent threshold for apoptosis activation. We explored the features of this threshold by introducing both autophagy activators and inhibitors, and transient treatment with excessive level of ER stressor was also performed. Our experimental data were also supported by a stochastic approach. Our analysis suggests that even if the switch-like characteristic of apoptosis activation is hardly seen on population level the double negative feedback loop between autophagy and apoptosis inducers introduces bistability in the control network.

Ampelopsin-induced autophagy protects breast cancer cells from apoptosis through Akt-mTOR pathway via endoplasmic reticulum stress

Our previous study has shown that ampelopsin (AMP), a flavonol mainly found in Ampelopsis grossedentata, could induce cell death in human breast cancer cells via reactive oxygen species generation and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress pathway. Here, we examined whether autophagy is activated in AMP-treated breast cancer cells and, if so, sought to find the exact role and underlying molecular profile of autophagy in AMP-induced cell death. Our results showed that AMP treatment activated autophagy in MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 breast cancer cells, as evidenced by the accumulation of autophagosomes, an increase of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 beta-2 (LC3B-II) and the conversion of LC3B-I to LC3B-II, the degradation of the selective autophagic target p62/SQSTM1, and the formation of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-LC3 puncta. Blockage of autophagy augmented AMP-induced cell death, suggesting that autophagy has cytoprotective effects. Meanwhile, AMP treatment suppressed Akt-mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway as evidenced by dose- and time-dependent decrease of the phosphorylation of Akt, mTOR and ribosomal protein S6 kinase (p70S6K), whereas Akt activator insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) pretreatment partially restored Akt-mTOR pathway inhibited by AMP and decreased AMP-inuduced autophagy, signifying that AMP activated autophagy via inhibition of the Akt-mTOR pathway. Additionally, blocking ER stress not only reduced autophagy induction, but also alleviated inhibition of the Akt-mTOR pathway induced by AMP, suggesting that activation of ER stress was involved in induction of autophagy and inhibition of the Akt-mTOR pathway. Taken together, these findings indicate that AMP induces protective autophagy in human breast cancer cells through Akt-mTOR pathway via ER stress.

mTOR inhibition increases cell viability via autophagy induction during endoplasmic reticulum stress - An experimental and modeling study

Unfolded or misfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) trigger an adaptive ER stress response known as unfolded protein response (UPR). Depending on the severity of ER stress, either autophagy-controlled survival or apoptotic cell death can be induced. The molecular mechanisms by which UPR controls multiple fate decisions have started to emerge. One such molecular mechanism involves a master regulator of cell growth, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), which paradoxically is shown to have pro-apoptotic role by mutually interacting with ER stress response. How the interconnections between UPR and mTOR influence the dynamics of autophagy and apoptosis activation is still unclear. Here we make an attempt to explore this problem by using experiments and mathematical modeling. The effect of perturbed mTOR activity in ER stressed cells was studied on autophagy and cell viability by using agents causing mTOR pathway inhibition (such as rapamycin or metyrapone). We observed that mTOR inhibition led to an increase in cell viability and was accompanied by an increase in autophagic activity. It was also shown that autophagy was activated under conditions of severe ER stress but that in the latter phase of stress it was inhibited at the time of apoptosis activation. Our mathematical model shows that both the activation threshold and temporal dynamics of autophagy and apoptosis inducers are sensitive to variation in mTOR activity. These results confirm that autophagy has cytoprotective role and is activated in mutually exclusive manner with respect to ER stress levels.