Epsin is an endocytic protein that binds Clathrin, the plasma membrane, Ubiquitin, and also a variety of other endocytic proteins through well-characterized motifs. Although Epsin is a general endocytic factor, genetic analysis in Drosophila and mice revealed that Epsin is essential specifically for internalization of ubiquitinated transmembrane ligands of the Notch receptor, a process required for Notch activation. How Epsin promotes ligand endocytosis and thus Notch signaling is unclear. Here, by generating Drosophila lines containing transgenes that express a variety of different Epsin deletion and substitution variants, I tested each of the five protein or lipid interaction modules of Epsin for a role in Notch activation by each of the two Drosophila ligands, Serrate and Delta. here are five main results of this work that impact present thinking about endocytic machinery/Epsin, Epsin/ligand, or ligand/receptor interactions at the plasma membrane. First, I discovered that deletion or mutation of both UIMs destroys Epsin’s function in Notch signaling and has a greater negative effect on Epsin’s ability to function than removal of any other module type. Second, only one of the two UIMs of Epsin is essential. Third, the lipid-binding function of the ENTH domain is required for maximal Epsin activity. Fourth, although the C-terminal Epsin modules that interact with Clathrin, the adapter protein complex AP-2, or endocytic accessory proteins are necessary collectively for Epsin activity, their functions are highly redundant. Finally, I detected no ligand-specific requirements for Epsin modules. Most unexpected was the finding that Epsin’s Clathrin binding motifs were dispensable. All of these observations are consistent with a model where Epsin’s essential function in ligand cells is to link ubiquitinated Notch ligands to Clathrin-coated vesicles through other Clathrin adapter proteins. / text

Despite important advances in the therapy of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) the majority of patients will die from their disease (Appelbaum, Rowe, Radich, & Dick, 2001). Characterization of the aberrant molecular pathways responsible for this malignancy provides a platform to discover alternative treatments to help alter the fate of patients. AML is characterized by a blockage in the differentiation of myeloid cells resulting in the accumulation of highly proliferating immature hematopoietic cells. Since treatments such as chemotherapy rarely destroy the leukemic cells entirely, differentiation induction therapy has become a very attractive treatment option. Interestingly, previous experiments have shown that ligation of CD44, a cell surface glycoprotein strongly expressed on all AML cells, with anti-CD44 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) could reverse this block in differentiation of leukemic blasts regardless of the AML subtype. To expand the understanding of the cellular regulation and circuitry involved, we aim to apply quantitative phosphoproteomics to monitor dynamic changes in phosphorylation state in response to anti-CD44 treatment. Protein phosphorylation and dephosphorylation is a highly controlled biochemical process that responds to various intracellular and extracellular stimuli. As phosphorylation is a dynamic process, quantification of these phosphorylation events would be vastly insightful. The main objective of this project is to determine the differentiation-dependent phosphoproteome of AML cells upon treatment of cells with the anti-CD44 mAb.In these experiments, optimization of protein extraction, phosphopeptide enrichment and data processing and analysis has been achieved. The primary results show successful phosphoproteome extraction complemented with efficient phosphopeptide enrichment and informative data processing. Further quantification with stable isotope labeling techniques is anticipated to provide candidates for targeted therapy.

A Thesis submitted to The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Medicine. / Post-translational modification of intracellular proteins through acetylation is recognized as an important regulatory mechanism of cellular energy homeostasis. Specific proteins called sirtuins deacetylate other mitochondrial proteins involved in glucose and lipid metabolism, activating them in metabolic processes. SIRT3 is a sirtuin of particular interest as it is found exclusively in mitochondria and has been shown to affect a variety of cellular metabolic processes. The activity of this enzyme is related to cellular insulin sensitivity. This study attempted to identify the relationship between insulin sensitivity and change in amount of SIRT3 following a bout of exercise in non-diabetic individuals. We find a moderate inverse correlation between insulin sensitivity and increase in SIRT3 abundance following exercise. This suggests that this protein may not be involved directly in cells’ ability to regulate energy homeostasis or that it may act through another mechanism not investigated in this study.

There is hardly a cellular process that is not regulated in some way by phosphoinositides, which makes biochemical and physiological studies of these lipids extremely important. PI 3-kinases are key regulators of phosphoinositide metabolism and have been shown to affect a large variety of cellular responses. The key products of PI 3-kinases that have functional activity in higher eukaryotic cells are PI(3,4,5)P₃ and PI(3,4)P₂. PI(3,4,5)P₃ is universally accepted as one of the most important second messengers in signal transduction. However, our knowledge of the functions of PI(3,4)P₂ as a lipid second messenger is much less precise. In this dissertation, work was undertaken to elucidate the regulation of PI(3,4,5)P₃ and PI(3,4)P₂ production and downstream signaling in B cells. Cells with membrane targeted exogenous SHIP were utilized to manipulate phosphoinositide levels. The relationship of PI(3,4,5)P₃ and PI(3,4)P₂ levels to downstream PKB phosphorylation and activation was studied. PI(3,4,5)P₃ and PI(3,4)P₂ levels were found to closely correlate with PKB phosphorylation levels at Thr308 and Ser473, respectively. In addition, PI(3,4)P₂ levels determine the PKB activity in the cytosol; while PI(3,4,5)P₃ levels determine PKB activity at the plasma membrane. Different doses and different forms of B cell receptor (BCR) agonists were used for stimulation. PI 3-kinase activation was studied carefully following stimulation with low doses of anti-BCR antibody and F(ab')₂ fragments. Low concentrations of F(ab')₂ fragments produced higher levels of PI(3,4,5)P₃ than did a high concentration of F(ab')₂ fragments. Downstream PKB signaling was studied in these models. Similar conclusions were drawn from both SHIP over-expressing BJAB cells and dose-dependent BCR stimulations. We speculated that phosphoinositides’ regulation of the kinetics of PKB phosphorylation at Ser473 and Thr308 might be mediated by additional proteins. Investigation of plasma membrane-associated PKB showed that it formed a protein complex of around 400KD, which we attempted to characterize further with respect to PKB phosphorylation and association with lipids. In conclusion, phosphoinositide production is intricately regulated in vivo to control downstream signaling. The levels of PI(3,4)P₂ and PI(3,4,5)P₃ have precise and profound effects on PKB and other molecules such as TAPP and Bam32. This study has contributed new insight into the PI 3-kinase signaling pathway from the aspect of phosphoinositide lipid function.

I develop three models that are designed to aid in the analysis of environments in which agents i) benefit from interacting with others, and ii) optimally choose their characteristics mindful of the fact that such choices will influence the quality of interaction that they can expect. Of central interest is the ways in which a concern for interaction affects the efficiency with which agents choose their characteristics. The first two models contrast with previous work in that each agents' relevant characteristics are both unobserved and endogenously determined. The first model provides an explanation for credentialism in the labour market, and demonstrates how a concern for interaction can lead to over-investment in the relevant characteristic. The second model is motivated by human capital development in the presence of peer effects, and demonstrates how a concern for interaction can exacerbate an inherent under-investment problem. The third model retains the feature of unobserved characteristics, and contrasts with previous work by embedding frictions in the process by which agents compete for partners. The model is set in a labour market and demonstrates that outcomes of interest (equilibrium matching patterns, income, inequality and welfare) are generally not monotonic in the level of frictions.

The Notch receptor is part of a highly conserved signaling pathway shared in Drosophila, C. elegans and mammals. Extensive studies of Notch signaling have revealed its participation in the development of diverse organ systems including brain, blood cells, blood vessels, gut, and skin. Many genetic modifiers of the Notch signaling pathway have been identified, including some which act at the membrane and others in the nucleus. One such member is Deltex, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, which was originally identified as a modifier of Notch in a Drosophila genetic screen. In early lymphoid development, Deltex has been demonstrated functionally to antagonize Notch signaling but the precise molecular mechanism for this functional antagonism between Notch and Deltex is not understood. However, in Drosophila, recent data supports the formation of a trimeric complex between Deltex, Kurtz and Notch that promotes Notch ubiquitin-mediated proteosomal degradation. Beta-arrestin1 is one of the closest mammalian homologues of Kurtz and functions as an adaptor protein in a variety of cellular processes such as endocytosis, ubiquitination and nuclear shuttling. We hypothesize that a similar interaction occurs in mammalian cells between Notch, beta-arrestin1 and Deltex to negatively modulate the Notch signaling pathway. Our data reveal a physical interaction between beta-arrestin1 and the Notch receptor. We could not, however, detect an interaction between Deltex and beta-arrestin1 by co-immunoprecipitation. We also demonstrate that Notch and beta-arrestin1 physically associate with both a membrane-bound form of activated Notch, as well as the intracellular form of Notch after membrane cleavage. Using RNA interference, as well as overexpression of beta-arrestin1, we demonstrate that beta-arrestin1 negatively regulates a Notch/CSL dependant reporter assay. We also show that the presence of Deltex enhances the negative modulation of the Notch signaling pathway mediated by beta-arrestin1. Therefore, we reveal a new Notch interacting protein and a novel role for beta-arrestin1 in the Notch signaling pathway.

Interleukin-11 (IL-11) is a cytokine that promotes intestinal epithelial resistance to injury, however the mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Evidence from the Ropeleski Lab supports IL-11 dependent activation of the transcription factor Nuclear Factor кB (NFкB), without the degradation of the inhibitor кB (IкB), which deviates from the classical mechanism involving proteolytic processing of IкB. Also, IL-11 mediates the modulation of genes associated with healing, such as cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). It was hypothesized that IL-11 activates NFкB in intestinal epithelial cells by direct modulation of NFкB which, in a physiological setting, stimulates restitution during the healing response in the gut. Both cultured rat IEC-18 and human HIEC epithelial crypt cells were used as models to investigate whether the effect of IL-11 was species-specific. Activated NFкB is targeted to the nucleus therefore immunoblotting of nuclear extracts for expression of NFкB protein subunits including p65, activated p65 (phospho-p65Ser536), p50, and RelB, as well as by immunofluorescent detection of p65 were used. Inhibition of IL-11 signaling was carried out using various pharmacological inhibitors in order to determine their effect on p65 phosphorylation. Mechanically wounded cells were used as a model of gut injury and restitution where immunoblotting was used to examine IL-11 dependent effects on phospho-p65Ser536 and COX-2 expression. The binding of p65 to the кB binding site on DNA was detected with an ELISA-based system. IL-11 treatment was associated with the nuclear accumulation of phospho-p65ser536 in epithelial cell lines. Inhibition of PI3K/Akt signaling with LY294002 and AktiVIII suggested a partial reduction in phospho-p65Ser536 while inhibition of MEK1,2 signaling with U0126 indicated almost a complete abrogation of phospho-p65Ser536 accumulation in the nucleus. Inhibition of inhibitor of кB kinase-β (IKKβ) with SC-514 also revealed a strong attenuation of IL-11 induced phospho-p65Ser536. Inhibition of p90RSK1 with SL0101 was inconsistent but suggested a partial blockage of phospho-p65Ser536 whereas inhibition of Src kinase with PP2, did not affect phospho-p65Ser536 in IL-11 treated IEC-18 cells. There was no increased binding of p65 to the кB binding motif on DNA after IL-11 treatment. In mechanically wounded cells treated with IL-11, nuclear phospho-p65Ser536 was unaffected; however there was an evident potentiation of wound-induced COX-2 expression compared to untreated cells. In conclusion, IL-11 activates NFкB signaling in a non-classical manner through the phosphorylation of the p65 subunit. The predominant pathway appears to involve IKK and MEK signaling. Also, IL-11 modulates COX-2 expression in response to wounding in intestinal epithelial cells. / Thesis (Master, Anatomy & Cell Biology) -- Queen's University, 2008-07-31 10:12:18.794

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