Cell-based HTS identifies a chemical chaperone for preventing ER protein aggregation and proteotoxicity
- Tokushima University, Japan
- The University of Tokyo, Japan
- Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU), Japan
Abstract
The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is responsible for folding secretory and membrane proteins, but disturbed ER proteostasis may lead to protein aggregation and subsequent cellular and clinical pathologies. Chemical chaperones have recently emerged as a potential therapeutic approach for ER stress-related diseases. Here, we identified 2-phenylimidazo[2,1-b]benzothiazole derivatives (IBTs) as chemical chaperones in a cell-based high-throughput screen. Biochemical and chemical biology approaches revealed that IBT21 directly binds to unfolded or misfolded proteins and inhibits protein aggregation. Finally, IBT21 prevented cell death caused by chemically induced ER stress and by a proteotoxin, an aggression-prone prion protein. Taken together, our data show the promise of IBTs as potent chemical chaperones that can ameliorate diseases resulting from protein aggregation under ER stress.
Data availability
All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files.
Article and author information
Author details
Funding
Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (JP18nk0101336)
- Seiichi Oyadomari
Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (JP17am0101086)
- Hirotatsu Kojima
Platform Project for Supporting Drug Discovery and Life Science Research, Basis for Supporting Innovative Drug Discovery and Life Science Research (JP18am0101098)
- Takamitsu Hosoya
a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (16H05222)
- Seiichi Oyadomari
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Reviewing Editor
- Matthew D Shoulders, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States
Publication history
- Received: November 1, 2018
- Accepted: November 24, 2019
- Accepted Manuscript published: December 17, 2019 (version 1)
- Version of Record published: December 19, 2019 (version 2)
Copyright
© 2019, Kitakaze et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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Cell-based HTS identifies a chemical chaperone for preventing ER protein aggregation and proteotoxicity
eLife 8:e43302.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.43302
Further reading
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- Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
Signal-anchored (SA) proteins are anchored into the mitochondrial outer membrane (OM) via a single transmembrane segment at their N-terminus while the bulk of the proteins is facing the cytosol. These proteins are encoded by nuclear DNA, translated on cytosolic ribosomes, and are then targeted to the organelle and inserted into its OM by import factors. Recently, research on the insertion mechanisms of these proteins into the mitochondrial OM have gained a lot of attention. In contrast, the early cytosolic steps of their biogenesis are unresolved. Using various proteins from this category and a broad set of in vivo, in organello, and in vitro assays, we reconstituted the early steps of their biogenesis. We identified a subset of molecular (co)chaperones that interact with newly synthesized SA proteins, namely, Hsp70 and Hsp90 chaperones and co-chaperones from the Hsp40 family like Ydj1 and Sis1. These interactions were mediated by the hydrophobic transmembrane segments of the SA proteins. We further demonstrate that interfering with these interactions inhibits the biogenesis of SA proteins to a various extent. Finally, we could demonstrate direct interaction of peptides corresponding to the transmembrane segments of SA proteins with the (co)chaperones and reconstitute in vitro the transfer of such peptides from the Hsp70 chaperone to the mitochondrial Tom70 receptor. Collectively, this study unravels an array of cytosolic chaperones and mitochondrial import factors that facilitates the targeting and membrane integration of mitochondrial SA proteins.
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- Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
- Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
Cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinases (PKGs) are key mediators of the nitric oxide/cGMP signaling pathway that regulates biological functions as diverse as smooth muscle contraction, cardiac function, and axon guidance. Understanding how cGMP differentially triggers mammalian PKG isoforms could lead to new therapeutics that inhibit or activate PKGs, complementing drugs that target nitric oxide synthases and cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases in this signaling axis. Alternate splicing of PRKG1 transcripts confers distinct leucine zippers, linkers, and auto-inhibitory pseudo-substrate sequences to PKG Iα and Iβ that result in isoform-specific activation properties, but the mechanism of enzyme auto-inhibition and its alleviation by cGMP is not well understood. Here we present a crystal structure of PKG Iβ in which the auto-inhibitory sequence and the cyclic nucleotide binding domains are bound to the catalytic domain, providing a snapshot of the auto-inhibited state. Specific contacts between the PKG Iβ auto-inhibitory sequence and the enzyme active site help explain isoform-specific activation constants and the effects of phosphorylation in the linker. We also present a crystal structure of a PKG I cyclic nucleotide binding domain with an activating mutation linked to Thoracic Aortic Aneurysms and Dissections. Similarity of this structure to wild type cGMP-bound domains and differences with the auto-inhibited enzyme provide a mechanistic basis for constitutive activation. We show that PKG Iβ auto-inhibition is mediated by contacts within each monomer of the native full-length dimeric protein, and using the available structural and biochemical data we develop a model for the regulation and cooperative activation of PKGs.
