If misfolded proteins leave the endoplasmic reticulum, the cell will trigger its self-destruct program. Image credit: Adapted from Davide Bonazzi (CC BY 4.0)
Proteins are chains of building blocks called amino acids, folded into a flexible 3D shape that is critical for its biological activity. This shape depends on many factors, but one is the chemistry of the amino acids. Because the internal and external environments of cells are mostly water-filled, correctly folded proteins often display so-called hydrophilic (or ‘water-loving’) amino acids on their surface, while tucking hydrophobic (or ‘water-hating’) amino acids on the inside.
A compartment within the cell called the endoplasmic reticulum folds the proteins that are destined for the outside of the cell. It can handle a steady stream of protein chains, but a sudden increase in demand for production, or issues with the underlying machinery, can stress the endoplasmic reticulum and hinder protein folding. This is problematic because incorrectly folded proteins cannot work as they should and can be toxic to the cell that made them or even to other cells. Many cells handle this kind of stress by activating a failsafe alarm system called the unfolded protein response. It detects the presence of incorrectly shaped proteins and sends signals that try to protect the cell and restore protein folding to normal. If that fails within a certain period of time, it switches to signals that tell the cell to safely self-destruct. That switch, from protection to self-destruction, involves a protein called death receptor 5, or DR5 for short. DR5 typically triggers the cell’s self-destruct program by forming molecular clusters at the cell’s surface, in response to a signal it receives from the exterior. During a failed unfolded protein response, DR5 seems instead to act in response to signals from inside the cell, but it was not clear how this works.
To find out, Lam et al. stressed the endoplasmic reticulum in human cells by forcing it to fold a lot of proteins. This revealed that DR5 sticks to misfolded proteins when they leave the endoplasmic reticulum. In response, DR5 molecules form clusters that trigger the cell's self-destruct program. DR5 directly recognized hydrophobic amino acids on the misfolded protein’s surface that would normally be hidden inside. When Lam et al. edited these hydrophobic regions to become hydrophilic, the DR5 molecules could no longer detect them as well. This stopped the cells from dying so easily when they were under stress. It seems that DR5 decides the fate of the cell by detecting proteins that were incorrectly folded in the endoplasmic reticulum.
Problems with protein folding occur in many human diseases, including metabolic conditions, cancer and degenerative brain disorders. Future work could reveal whether controlling the activation of DR5 could help to influence if and when cells die. The next step is to understand how DR5 interacts with incorrectly folded proteins at the atomic level. This could aid the design of drugs that specifically target such receptors.
