Células eucarióticas contêm vários tipos de proteassomo que regulam o processo de degradação de proteína. Proteassomos são proteases multicatalíticas que são responsáveis pela maior parte de degradação não-lisossomal de proteínas em células eucarióticas. As três subunidades catalíticas do proteassomo são &beta;1, &beta;2 e &beta;5. Em condições de stress e resposta imune essas três subunidades são substituídas por &beta;1i, &beta;2i and &beta;5i, respectivamente, para formar o proteassomo imune. Estas três subunidades induzíveis, parecem alterar as especificidades de peptidase do proteassoma imune em células tratadas com IFN-<font face=\"symbol\">g. Nosso objetivo no presente trabalho foi caracterizar um modelo celular para a indução do proteassomo imune, e ainda investigar o repertório peptídeo intracelular produzido por esta forma particular do proteassoma, através da técnica de espectrometria de massas. Em resumo, os nossos dados mostraram um aumento de 3 vezes do peptídeo EL28 derivado da proteína RPT2 em células HeLa tratadas com o IFN-<font face=\"symbol\">g. O peptídeo EL28 pode ser de relevância clínica para o tratamento de distúrbios relacionados com a apresentação de antígenos, visto que ele parece ativar a atividade quimotripsina-like quando incubado com o extrato celular de células HeLa. / Eukaryotic cells contain several types of proteasome regulating the process of protein degradation. The proteasome are responsible for most non - lysosomal protein degradation in eukaryotic cells. The three catalytic subunits of the proteasome are &beta;1, &beta;2 and &beta;5. Under conditions of stress and immune response these three subunits are replaced by &beta;1i, &beta;2i and &beta;5i, respectively, to form the immune proteasome . These three inducible subunits, appear to alter the specificity of the immune proteasome peptidase in cells treated with IFN-<font face=\"symbol\">g. Our aim in this study was to characterize a cellular model for the induction of the immune proteasome, and even investigate the intracellular peptide repertoire produced by this particular form of the proteasome, through the technique of mass spectrometry. In summary, our data showed an increase of 3 times the peptide derived from RPT2 EL28 protein in HeLa cells treated with IFN-<font face=\"symbol\">g. The EL28 peptide may be of clinical relevance for the treatment of disorders related to antigen presentation, since it seems to activate the chymotrypsin-like activity when incubated with the cell extract of HeLa cells.

Thiopeptides are posttranslationally-processed macrocyclic peptide metabolites, characterized by extensive backbone and side chain modifications that include a six-membered nitrogenous ring, thioazol(in)e/oxazol(in)e rings, and dehydrated amino acid residues. Thiostrepton A, produced by Streptomyces laurentii ATCC 31255, is one of the more structurally complex thiopeptides, containing a second macrocycle bearing a quinaldic acid. Thiostrepton A and other thiopeptides are of great interest due to their potent activities against emerging antibiotic-resistant Gram-positive pathogens, in addition to their antimalarial and anticancer properties. The ribosomal origins for thiopeptides have been established, however, few details are known concerning the posttranslational modification steps. Alteration to the primary amino acid sequence of the precursor peptide provides an avenue to probe the substrate specificity of the thiostrepton A posttranslational machinery. The information gathered from current studies can also be used to refine thiostrepton’s structure-activity relationship, providing insight into the key features of its scaffold that impart specificity toward each biological target. A fosmid-dependent biosynthetic engineering platform for thiostrepton A was developed and a series of thiostrepton analogs were successfully produced adapting this method. The seventh residue of thiostrepton A is predicted to be critical for the metabolite’s antibacterial activity. Our results were consistent this hypothesis and demonstrated that substitution of Thr7 in the thiostrepton A precursor peptide disrupts both biological activity and successful biosynthesis of the analogs. The thiostrepton biosynthetic machinery’s tolerances toward structural variation at the second and fourth positions of the TsrA core peptide were probed by the saturation mutagenesis of Ala2 and Ala4, respectively. Eight thiostrepton Ala2 variants were isolated with two analogs truncated at the N-terminus by one amino acid, bearing a shortened quinaldic acid-containing macrocycle. Our results suggested that the identity of the core peptide second residue influences the biosynthesis of a thiostrepton analog, however, not essential for the antibacterial and proteasome inhibitory activities of the full-length variants. Additionally, the quinaldic acid loop size affects thiostrepton’s antibacterial potency, but is not critical for the proteasome inhibitory activity. Sixteen thiostrepton analogs were isolated from Ala4 mutagenesis studies. We demonstrated that the identity of the amino acid residue at the fourth position in the thiostrepton scaffold is not critical to inhibit either the ribosome or the proteasome in vitro.

Thesis (MSc)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Diabetes is considered a major threat to human health in both developed and developing nations. Cardiovascular disease which is common in diabetic patients has increased the overall disease affliction. Moreover, stress-induced hyperglycemia has led to increased mortality and morbidity in patients with an acute myocardial infarction (MI), whether the patient has diabetes or not. In addition, acute MI might stem from stress-induced hyperglycemia capability to increase inflammation and oxidative stress resulting in a worse functional cardiac outcome. Hyperglycemia-induced oxidative stress can similarly result in the formation of miss folded or damaged proteins that may be eliminated by the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS). Futhermore, hyperglycemia-induced oxidative stress can also result in dysregulation of the UPS that removes these misfolded proteins. Additionally, an increasing body of evidence implicates UPS dysfunction in cardiac diseases and hyperglycemia which has been associated with increased inflammation and blunted cardiac function in response to ischemia-reperfusion. Literature however is blurred whether a reduction or a rise in the UPS is damaging with hyperglycemia and in response to ischemia-reperfusion. In light of this, we hypothesized that UPS inhibitors such as Z-Leu-Leu-Leu-al (MG-132) and lactacystin, protects the rat heart against ischemia-reperfusion under hyperglycemic perfusion conditions. Isolated rat hearts were perfused ex vivo with Krebs-Henseleit buffer containing 33 mM glucose vs. controls (11 mM glucose) for 60 min, followed by 20 min global ischemia and 60 minutes reperfusion ± PI treatment (MG-132 and lactacystin), anti-inflammatory (Ibuprofen) and anti-oxidant (NAC). Infarct size was determined using Evans Blue dye and 1% 2,3,5-triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining with 20 minutes regional ischemia and 2 hours reperfusion ± PI’s treatments. Tissues were collected at the end of the global ischemia experiments and analyzed for UPS activity, oxidative stress, apoptosis and inflammation. Our data expressed a reduced cardiac contractile function in response to ischemia and reperfusion under hyperglycemic conditions as well as an increase in UPS activity. PI treatment resulted in cardio-protection for ex vivo rat heart model exposed to ischemia and reperfusion under hyperglycemic conditions as well as ibuprofen and NAC. In parallel lactacystin treatment significantly decreased myocardial oxidative stress, apoptosis, and inflammation which provided cardio-protection in response to ischemia and reperfusion under hyperglycemic conditions This study shows that acute hyperglycemia elicits myocardial oxidative stress, apoptosis and inflammation that in time results in an increase in contractile dysfunction following ischemia and reperfusion. However, we found that PI treatment with both MG-132 and lactacystin blunted high glucose-induced damaging effects which resulted in a robust cardio-protection in response to ischemia and reperfusion under hyperglycemic conditions, by reducing oxidative stress, decreasing apoptosis and limiting inflammation. A parallel outcome was observed at baseline although the underlying mechanisms driving this process still need to be clarified. Our findings indicate that the UPS may be a unique therapeutic target to treat ischemic heart disease in diabetic patients, and non-diabetic individuals that present with stress-induced hyperglycemia. In summary, this thesis established that PIs act as a novel cardio-protective intervention to treat acute hyperglycemia with associated cardiovascular complications. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Diabeties word beskou as ‘n baie groot problem vir menslieke gesondhied vir biede die ontwikkel en onontwikkelende lande. Kardiovaskulêre siekte wat normaal met diabetiese pasiente geassoseerd word veroorsaak ‘n toeneemende druk, wat hierdie siekte laat toeneem. Verder meer vergroot stresgeïnduseerde hiperglukemie die mortaliteit van pasiente met of sonder diabeties wat akute miokardiale infarksie onder lede het. Akute miokardiale infarksie kan ook ontstaan van stresgeïnduseerde hiperglukemie se bekwaamheid om meer inflamasie en oksidante stress te veroorsaak wat in ‘n meer swakker funksionele kardiale toestand. Hiperglukemiegeïnduseerde oksidatiewe stres ook tot wanregulering van die ubikwitien-proteosoomsisteem (UPS) wat wangevoude protïene verwyder, aanleiding gee. Kontrasterende data bestaan van verhoogde/verlaagde UPS aktiwietiet, sowel as met hiperglukemie en/of in reaksie tot isgemie-reperfussie. As gewolg hiervan,, hipotetiseer ons dat Z-Leu-Leu-Leu-al (MG-132) and lactacystin as ‘n nuwe kardiobeskermingsmiddel kan optree deur miokardiale oksidatiewe stress, inflamasie en UPS aktiwiteit te verlaag in reaksie op isgemie-reperfussie tydens akute hiperglukemiese toestande kan verlaag. Geïsoleerde rotharte is ex vivo met Krebs-Henseleit buffer, wat, 33 mM glukose vs. kontrole (11 mM glukose) bevat, vir 60 min geperfuseer, daarna is dit deur 20 min globale isgemie gevolg en 60 min reperfussie ± PI behandeling (MG-132 and lactacystin), antiflammatoriese behandeling (Ibuprofen) en antioxidant behandeling (NAC). Infarkgrootte is bepaal deur Evans bou kleursel en 1% 2. 3-5 tripfeniel tetrazoloimcholierd (TTC) kleuring met 20 minute regionale ischemie, en 2 uur reprefussie ± PI’s behandeling. Weefsels is aan die einde van die globale isgemie eksperimente versamel, en vir oksidatewe stres, apoptose en inflammasie ontleed. Ons data toon aan dat kardiale kontraktiele funksie in reaksie op isgemie-reperfussie onder hiperglukemiese toestande verlaag het asook ‘n toename in UPS aktiwitiet veroorsaak. PI behandeling het gelei tot kardiale beskerming vir ex vivo rotharte wat aan isgemie-reperfussie onder hiperglukemiese toestande blootgestel was sowel as ibuprofen en NAC. Parallel hiermee het lactacystin oksidatiewe stres, apoptose, inflmasie, en UPS aktiwiteit na isgemie-reperfussie, verlaag in reaksie isgemie-reperfussie onder hiperglukemiese toestande. Hierdie studie het bevind dat akute hiperglukemie, miokardiale oksidatiewe stres lei tot oksidante stress, apoptose, en inflamasie na kontraktiele wanfunksionering na isgemie-reperfussie lei. Ons het bevind dat beide MG-132 en lactacystin behandeling, hoë glukose-geïnduseerde skadelike effekte onderdruk, en kardiale-beskerming in reaksie op isgemie-reperfussie onder hiperglukemiese toestande ondervind was deur oksidante stress, apoptose, en inflamasie te verlaag. ‘n Soorgelyke effek is tydens die basislyn waargeneem, alhoewel die onderliggende meganisme wat hierdie proses meer ondersoek instel. Ons bevinding dei dat die UPS ‘n nuwe behandeling teiken kan word in sgemie-geïnduseerde reperfussie onder aktute en chroniese hoë glukose toestande. In opsomming, het die tesis belowend bevindinge gevind wat ‘n nuwe terapeutiese intervensie vir die behandeling van akute hiperglukemie met geassosieërde kardiovaskulêre komplikasies gebruik kan word.

The plant hormone cytokinin plays essential roles in many aspects of growth and development. The cytokinin signal is transmitted by a multistep phosphorelay to the members of two functionally antagonistic classes of Arabidopsis response regulators (ARRs): the type-B ARRs (response activators) and type-A ARRs (negative-feedback regulators). Previous studies have shown that mutations in AXR1, encoding a subunit of the E1 enzyme in the related to ubiquitin (RUB) modification pathway, leads to decreased cytokinin sensitivity. This research shows that the cytokinin resistance of axr1 seedlings is suppressed by loss-of-function of type-A ARRs and that the cytokinin resistance caused by ectopic expression of ARR5, a type-A ARR family member, is enhanced in axr1 background. Based on the established role of the RUB pathway in ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis, these data suggested that AXR1 promotes the cytokinin response by facilitating type-A ARR degradation. Indeed, both genetic (axr1 mutants) and chemical (MLN4924) suppression of RUB E1 increased ARR5 stability, suggesting that the ubiquitin ligase that promotes ARR5 proteolysis requires RUB modification for optimal activity. In addition, ARR1, a type-B ARR family member, also accumulated in the axr1 mutant background, suggesting that AXR1 regulates primary cytokinin signaling at multiple levels.

Ubiquitin is an essential 76 amino acid protein which can be conjugated to lysine residues on a variety of substrates via its C-terminal diglycine motif. This conjugation allows the protein to act as a molecular tag in a range of processes, including regulation of chromatin compaction, signalling cascades and DNA repair. In addition, ubiquitin moieties are capable of forming chains through the successive conjugation to lysine residues within ubiquitin itself. One of the most well characterized functions of ubiquitin is its role in protein quality control and degradation. Tetra-ubiquitin chains, most commonly through a lysine-48 linkage, are responsible for directing proteins to the 26S proteasome for degradation. This process is of importance both in the removal of miss-folded proteins, and in the regulated destruction of specific targets, such as the cyclins. The 90kDa AAA-ATPase Cdc48/p97/VCP is an essential protein that forms a hexameric complex, which interacts with a wide variety of ubiquitinated substrates. The specificity of Cdc48 is modulated by a series of different cofactors, which together allow Cdc48 to operate in several different contexts, from removal of misfolded proteins from the ER, to regulating securin stability. The role of two Cdc48 cofactors, Ubx4 and Ubx5, was studied in an attempt to dissect their function and to determine how they may modulate the function of Cdc48. Neither protein was found to be essential, as knockouts of either were found to be viable with no major defect in growth rate. The work also describes the findings of a yeast two-hybrid screen to identify potential substrates for both cofactors. Delivery of ubiquitinated proteins to the proteasome is mediated by shuttling factors, which are able to bind to both ubiquitin and the proteasome, and hence mediate the interaction between both. The shuttling factor Dph1 binds ubiquitin via a C-terminal UBA domain, while its N-terminal UBL domain mediates its interaction with the proteasome. This work identified a novel interaction between the Sti1 domains of Dph1 and the N-terminal region of a mitochondrial localized AAA-ATPase, homologous to the Saccaromyces cerevisiae protein Msp1. In addition, cell fractionation experiments revealed the presence of Dph1 at the mitochondria. This interaction provides hints that Mlp1 may be involved in the removal of ubiquitinated proteins from the mitochondria, and their delivery to the proteasome. The thesis begins to try and attempt to identify possible substrates of this proposed mitochondria associated degradation pathway, and looks for ways in which the hypothesis may be tested.

No description available.

HslVU est une protéase dépendante de l'ATP découverte initialement chez certaines bactéries, et considérée comme une forme ancestrale du protéasome. Elle est constituée par l'association de deux sous-complexes : la protéase HslV, formée elle-même de deux anneaux hexamériques de la sous-unité HslV, et l'ATPase HslU, un hexamère de la sous-unité HslU, qui active l'activité peptidasique de HslV en s'associant à l'une ou à ses deux extrémités. HslVU a été identifiée dans la mitochondrie de protozoaires parasites, dont ceux de la famille des trypanosomatidae comme Leishmania major (agent de la leishmaniose) et Trypanosoma brucei (agent de la maladie du sommeil). Différents travaux ont montré que, chez T. brucei, l'inactivation d'HslVU par interférence ARN conduit à l'arrêt de la division cellulaire et à la mort du parasite. Puisqu'elle est absente chez l'homme, HslVU constitue donc une cible thérapeutique potentielle intéressante pour lutter contre ces parasites. Dans le cadre d'un projet collaboratif, le but de ma thèse était de caractériser la protéase HslVU de Leishmania major (LmHslVU), et de tester l'intérêt d'exploiter la symétrie de HslV pour développer des inhibiteurs empêchant la formation du complexe HslVU en se fixant à l'interface HslV/HslU. Dans ce contexte, ma thèse s'est développée autour de 3 axes principaux : (i) Production et caractérisation biochimique de LmHslV recombinant. J'ai montré que le complexe LmHslV seul est inactif, contrairement à son homologue bactérien qui a une activité basale même sans HslU, et qu'il peut être activé par des peptides synthétiques correspondant à l'extrémité C-terminale de son régulateur HslU, comme HslV d'E.coli et d'H.influenzae. Cela m'a permis de développer un test de l'activité peptidasique de LmHslV in vitro, miniaturisable pour un futur criblage de banques de molécules chimiques. La protéase LmHslV a également été caractérisée en testant l'effet de différents inhibiteurs de protéases sur son activité. Ce travail m'a également permis de montrer que l'activité peptidasique de HslV est très sensible à la présence d'ions Mg2+ dans les tampons d'activité, ce qui suggère qu'il existe des régulations allostériques des sites actifs de la protéase. (ii) Exploiter la symétrie de HslV pour développer des interacteurs multivalents de HslV. Nous avons cherché à vérifier expérimentalement si le fait d'utiliser des molécules multivalentes, c'est à dire possédant plusieurs sites d'interaction à HslV, permettait d'augmenter sensiblement l'affinité de ces molécules. Une molécule pentamérique, le « peptabody », capable de se fixer sur LmHslV via cinq sites d'interaction potentiels et agissant comme un inhibiteur de l'activité peptidasique de HslV, a été développée.(iii) Caractérisation du mode d'activation de LmHslV. Nous avons réalisé en collaboration des expériences de microscopie électronique sur LmHslV, qui ont révélé une possible rotation des deux anneaux de LmHslV liée à l'activation de la protéase. Cette rotation est spécifique de LmHslV puisqu'on ne l'observe pas chez HslV d'E. coli. La confirmation de ces résultats encore préliminaires est en cours. / HslVU is an ATP-dependent protease initially discovered in certain bacteria, and considered as a proteasome ancestor. It is formed by assembly of two subcomplexes: the HslV protease, itself resulting from the assembly of two hexameric rings of the HslV subunit, and the HslU ATPase, an hexamer of the HslU subunit that activates HslV upon binding.HslVU has been identified within the mitochondrion of protozoan parasites, including the Trypanosomatids Leishmania major (leishmaniasis) and Trypanosoma brucei (sleeping sickness). Different results have shown that inactivation by siRNA of HslVU leads in T. brucei to growth arrest and cell death. Since HslVU is absent in human, it thus represents an attractive drug target for the fight against these parasites. In the frame of a collaborative project, the objective of my thesis was to characterize the HslVU protease of Leishmania major (LmHslVU) and to assess the interest of exploiting HslV symmetry to develop inhibitory molecules that would block the formation of the HslVU complex by binding at the HslV/HslU interface.In this context, I studied three main issues during my PhD thesis:(i) Production and biochemical characterization of recombinant LmHslV: I could show that the HslV complex alone is inactive, contrary to its bacterial homolog which has a basal activity even in the absence of HslU, and that, as E. coli HslV, it can be activated by synthetic peptides corresponding to the C-terminal end of HslU. This work allowed me to develop an in vitro assay of HslV peptidase activity, that can be miniaturized for future screenings of chemical libraries. The active site of the LmHslV protease has also been characterized by testing the effect of different protease inhibitors on the peptidase activity. During this work, I could show that LmHslV activity is sensitive to Mg2+ ions in the activity buffers, suggesting the existence of allosteric regulations of the active sites.(ii) To exploit HslV symmetry to develop multivalent interactors of HslV. Our goal was to experimentally verify whether the use of multivalent molecules, i.e. molecules with several interaction sites to HslV, could help to develop high affinity inhibitors. A pentameric molecule, called the “peptabody”, able to bind to HslV via five interaction sites and acting as a strong inhibitor of HslV, has been developed.(iii) Characterization of the mode of activation of HslV. We performed through a collaboration electronic miscroscopy analyses of LmHslV, which revealed that the activation of the protease could be linked to a possible rotation of its two rings. Such rotation was not seen with E. coli HslV, suggesting that it is a mechanism specific of LmHslV. Study are ongoing to confirm these results.

Nas células eucariotas a maioria das proteínas citoplasmáticas não são degradadas nos lisossomas, mas em organelas altamente conservadas encontradas em humanos, arquibactérias, plantas e leveduras, os proteassomas. Esta estrutura multicatalítica é constituída por componentes menores, cujo núcleo funcional é o componente 20S, que contém várias atividades proteolíticas (tríptica, quimotríptica, de peptidilglutamil peptidase, BrAAP e SNAAP). Esse componente 20S, associado ao complexo regulatório 19S, que é composto de múltiplas ATPases, forma o complexo 26S, responsável pela degradação de proteínas conjugadas com a ubiquitina. Estas estruturas citosólicas certamente desempenham papel importante no desenvolvimento de protozoários parasitas e na sua interação com células dos hospedeiros permissivos. Nesta dissertação, apresentamos um estudo sobre o papel do proteassoma na interação e desenvolvimento de promastigotas de Leishmania chagasi em macrófagos murinos. Inicialmente, purificamos e caracterizamos parcialmente o proteassoma de promastigotas de L. chagasi. Observamos que o complexo presente na L. chagasi possui atividades proteolíticas frente a pelo menos dois substratos sintéticos, LLVY-AMC e LRR-AMC, que avaliam, respectivamente, as atividades quimiotripsina-símile e tripsina-símile. A atividade tripsina-simile é maior que a atividade quimiotripsina-simile; e além disso, esta última é totalmente inibida pela lactacistina, um inibidor específico do proteassoma, enquanto a atividade tripsina-simile é apenas parcialmente inibida. Utilizando a lactacistina foi possível analisar o papel desse complexo proteolítico durante a infecção e desenvolvimento intracelular da L. chagasi. Promastigotas mantidas em cultura na presença de 50&#956;M de lactacistina tiveram seu crescimento bloqueado. Essas promastigotas eram capazes de infectar macrófagos peritoneais de camundongos BALB/c, mas não conseguiam sobreviver dentro desses macrófagos. Esta incapacidade de sobrevivência foi específica para os parasitas tratados com a lactacistina, não sendo observado nos parasitas tratados com outros inibidores de proteases. Estes resultados sugerem que o proteassoma pode ter um papel importante no desenvolvimento intracelular e na replicação das promastigotas de L. chagasi no hospedeiro vertebrado. / Proteasomes are multicatalitic and multisubunit endopeptidase complexes widely distributed in eukaryotic cells. These enzymes are central proteases in the cytosol and nucleus and are involved in removal of abnormal, misfolded or incorrectly assembled proteins, in processing and degradation of transcriptional regulators in stress response and in the processing of protein antigens. This multicatalytic proteinase complex is composed of a catalytic core, 20S proteasome, which have multiple proteolytic activities (trypsin-like, chymotrypsin-like, peptidylglutamtyl-peptide hydrolyzing, BrAAP and SNAAP). The 20S proteasome associates with the multisubunit complex 19S to produce the 26S proteasome. The 26S proteasome has specificity for ubiquitinylated protein substrates and hydrolyses ATP during proteolysis of ubiquitinylated proteins. In the present work we have purified a 20S form of proteasome from Leishmania chagasi and partially characterized it. The purified 20S proteasome has activity towards fluorogenic substrates that are cleaved by trypsin or chymotrypsin, and is sensitive to lactacystin, a specific inhibitor of the proteasome. We show that the L.chagasi proteasome the trypsin-like activity is higher than the chymotrypsin-like. Therefore the chymotrypsin-like activity is inhibited by lactacystin and the trypsin-like it is only partially inhibited. We show here that lactacystin blocks in vitro L chagasi promastigote replication at a final concentration of 50 µM. To evaluate the effect of proteasome inhibition on the infectivity and intracellular development of L. chagasi, murine macropages were challenged with promastigotes from early stationary phase treated with lactacystin. Infectivity of macrophages was the same in lactacystin-treated parasites as in the untreated ones. Contrarywise, the intracellular development of the parasite is impaired by pretreating promastigotes with lactacystin. These promastigotes were able to infect BALB/c peritoneal macrophages but they did not survive inside macrophages. These data indicate the important role of the proteasomes of L. chagasi promastigotes on the intracellular development and replication in host cells in vitro.

O proteassomo é o componente do sistema Ubiquitina-Proteassomo (UPS), responsável pela degradação de proteínas intracelulares marcadas com cauda de ubiquitina. No entanto, a unidade catalítica do proteassomo (20SPT), destituída de unidades regulatórias, é capaz de degradar proteínas de maneira ubiquitina-independente. Diversas modificações pós-traducionais já foram descritas para o 20SPT, incluindo a S-glutatiolação. De acordo com Demasi e col., (2003) o 20SPT da levedura Saccharomyces cerevisiae possui a atividade tipo-quimiotripsina modulada por glutationa e o mecanismo de glutatiolação implica na formação do intermediário ácido sulfênico. No presente trabalho, identificamos por espectrometria de massas (MS/MS) um total de sete resíduos diferentes de cisteína glutatiolados no 20SPT, sendo seis in vitro por incubação com GSH e três in vivo, extraído de células crescidas até atingir fase estacionária tardia em meio rico. Analisando a estrutura 3D do 20SPT, observou-se que os resíduos de cisteína glutatiolados não estão localizados na entrada da câmara catalítica nem próximos aos sítios-ativos, indicando um mecanismo alostérico da modulação da atividade proteassomal. O proteassomo glutatiolado extraído de leveduras é capaz de degradar proteínas oxidadas de maneira mais eficiente que o proteassomo reduzido por DTT, e ainda, esta degradação gera perfis peptídicos diferenciados por utilizar distintamente as atividades sítio-especificas, como visualizado por análises de HPLC e MS/MS. Por microscopia eletrônica verificamos a conformação aberta da câmara catalítica do proteassomo glutatiolado, sendo esta imediatamente fechada pela remoção da glutationa do 20SPT na presença de DTT. Caracterizamos ainda, enzimas reponsáveis pela desglutatiolação do 20SPT, capazes de recuperar as atividades proteassomais que haviam sido diminuídas pela glutatiolação: as oxidoredutases glutarredoxina 2 e as tiorredoxinas citosólicas. O mecanismo ainda inclui a hidrólise dessas oxidorredutases, fenômeno também verificado para diversas proteínas da suprafamília tiorredoxina, provavelmente devido a propriedades estruturais desta família. A glutatiolação do proteassomo apresenta-se como uma nova modificação pós-traducional de ocorrência fisiológica dependente do estado redox celular. Esta modificação promove aumento da atividade proteolítica, sugerindo uma função antioxidante atuante na remoção de proteínas oxidadas durante desafios oxidativos / The proteasome is the protease of the Ubiquitin-Proteasome System (UPS) responsible for the breakdown of intracellular ubiquitin-tagged proteins. However, the catalytic particle of the proteasome (20SPT) is capable of hydrolyzing some substrates in an ubiquitin-independent fashion. The S-glutathiolation of the 20SPT was described among several post-translational modifications and according to Demasi et. al. (2003), the chymotrypsin-like activity of proteasome from yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is regulated by glutathione. The mechanism of S-glutathiolation is dependent on the formation of the sulfenic acid intermediate in the cisteine residues of the 20SPT. In this present work, we identified in vitro and in vivo, a total of seven different S-glutathiolated proteasomal cysteine residues by mass spectrometry studies (MS/MS) and, by analyzing the 3D structure of the 20SPT, the modified cysteine residues are not located either on the entrance of the catalytic core or near to the active sites, indicating an allosteric mechanism of proteasomal modulation. During protein degradation, the natively S-glutathiolated 20SPT produces different patterns of peptide products when compared to the DTT-reduced particle through distinct site-specific cleavage of the protein substrates, as herein demonstrated by HPLC and MS/MS analyses. Furthermore, by electron microscopy, we showed that the entrance of the natively glutathiolated 20SPT is in the open conformation that immediately shifts to the closed conformation in the presence of DTT. We have also characterized the deglutathiolase role of the oxidoreductases Glutaredoxin 2 and Citosolic Thioredoxins 1 and 2 which recover the partially inhibited 20SPT activities. The deglutathiolation mechanism also includes the oxidoreductase degradation dependent on the 20SPT activation. The proteasome Sglutathiolation emerges as a new physiological post-translational modification correlated to the cellular redox state. Moreover, the S-glutathiolation of the 20SPT increases its proteolytic activity suggesting an antioxidant role by removing oxidized proteins generated during oxidative challenges.

A autofagia é o processo de degradação de estruturas celulares através do seu direcionamento ao lisossomo. As proteínas TRIMs reconhecem as -cargas? autofágicas e reúnem o complexo de nucleação do fagóforo, contudo se desconhece a função de cada domínio e a importância da atividade de E3 ligase para a sua atividade. A proteína TRIM49 clonada e expressa em E. coli ou em células humanas HEK293T não apresentou atividade de E3 ubiquitina ligase in vitro e reduziu os níveis totais de ubiquitinação in vivo, indicando que não é um E3 ubiquitina ligase. Células desafiadas com Htt74Q apresentaram menores níveis de citotoxicidade quando co-transfectadas com TRIM49 selvagem, mas não com os mutantes do domínio RING ou SPRY, indicando os dois domínios são necessários para sua atividade celular. A proteína selvagem se colocaliza com o marcador autofágico LC3, após o bloqueio da autofagia com bafilomicina A1. Os resultados indicam que a TRIM49 pode atuar na degradação intracelular de proteínas, por um mecanismo não dependente de atividade de E3 ligase. / Autophagy is the process of degradation of intracellular proteins through their directioning to the lysosome. TRIM proteins can directely recognize autophagic cargo and also act as a hub for the phagophore nucleation complex, however the function of each domain and the role of the E3 ligase activity in this process is unknown. The TRIM49 protein cloned and expressed in E. coli or in human cells HEK23T showed no ubiquitin E3 ligase activity in vitro and cells transfected with the wild type protein showed lower levels of polyubiquitinated proteins, indicating that TRIM49 is not a bona fide E3 ubiquitin ligase. Cells challenged with Htt74Q presented lower cytotoxicity levels when cotransfected with wild type TRIM49, when compared with the RING domain mutant or with the truncated protein lacking the SPRY domain, indicating that both domains are required for its cellular activity. The wild type protein colocalizes with the autophagic marker LC3 after treatment with the autophagy inhibitor bafilomycin A1. Taken together, these results indicate that the TRIM49 protein plays a role in protein degradation independently of a E3 ligase activity.