Thesis (Ph. D.)--Case Western Reserve University, 2005. / [School of Medicine] Department of Genetics. Includes bibliographical references. Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.

Thesis (Ph.D. in Microbiology) -- University of Colorado Denver, 2008. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 126-147). Free to UCD Anschutz Medical Campus. Online version available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations;

The endoplasmic reticulum is the primary organelle in the cell which has the responsibility of properly folding proteins belonging to the secretory pathway. Secretory proteins are essential for a variety of functions within the body like metabolism, growth and survival. Hence, proper folding of the proteins in the ER is absolutely essential to maintain cellular and body function. The environment of the ER is substantially different from that of the cytoplasm and is primed essentially to provide the optimum conditions to fold newly synthesized polypeptides following translation by the ribosomes in the cytoplasm and on the surface of the ER. In order for secretory proteins to fold properly, ER homeostasis must be maintained. ER homeostasis is defined by the dynamic balance between the ER protein load and the ER capacity to process this load. The optimum environment of the ER, or ER homeostasis, can be perturbed by pathological processes such as hypoxia, glucose deprivation, viral infections, environmental toxins, inflammatory cytokines, and mutant protein expression, as well as by physiological processes such as aging. Disruption of ER homeostasis causes accumulation of unfolded and misfolded proteins in the ER. This condition is referred to as ER stress. Cells cope with ER stress by activating the unfolded protein response (UPR). The UPR is initiated by three ER transmembrane proteins: Inositol requiring 1 (IRE1), PKR-like ER kinase, and activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6). These three master regulators sense and interpret protein folding conditions in the ER and translate this information across the ER membrane to activate downstream effectors, spliced XBP1, phosphorylated eIF2α and ATF4, and cleaved active ATF6 respectively. These effectors have two distinct outputs, homeostatic and apoptotic. Homeostatic outputs are adaptive responses that function to attenuate ER stress and restore ER homeostasis. These responses include the attenuation of protein translation to reduce ER workload and prevent further accumulation of unfolded proteins, upregulation of molecular chaperones and protein processing enzymes to enhance the ER folding activity, and the increase in ER-associated degradation (ERAD) components to promote clearance of unfolded proteins. When ER stress reaches a point where the cells cannot tolerate the load of unfolded proteins any more, apoptosis sets in. One of the major secretory proteins in mammals, vascular endothelial growth factor VEGF, is essential for either normal or pathological angiogenesis (blood vessel development). VEGFA is the primary member of this family which is expressed in all endothelial cells and is responsible for sprouting and invasion of blood vessels into the interstitium and thus helps in supplying nutrients and oxygen to growing cells. Recent studies have indicated that cells suffering from insufficient blood supply experience ER stress. The ER needs energy and oxygen for the folding process, thus nutrient deprivation (low ATP production) and hypoxia caused by insufficient blood supply leads to inefficient protein folding and ER stress in cells, especially in cancer cells that grow and spread rapidly. This condition also occurs in the development of the mammalian placenta. The placenta is an essential tissue characterized by a lot of blood vessels. It is responsible for the exchange of nutrients and growth factors between maternal and fetal blood vessels and hence is essential for survival of the embryo. Nutrient deprivation and hypoxia stimulate the production of VEGFA and other angiogenic factors, leading to protection against ischaemic injury in both cancer cells as well as the developing placenta. In this dissertation, we report that the three master regulators of the UPR, IRE1α, PERK and ATF6α, mediate transcriptional regulation of VEGFA under ER stress in cancer cells. Inactivation of any of the three master regulators leads to attenuation of VEGFA expression under ER stress. We show that IRE1α is able to regulate VEGFA through its downstream transcription factor XBP1 which activates the VEGFA promoter. IRE1α mediated VEGFA regulation is also essential for normal development of labyrinthine trophoblast cells in the placenta. ATF6α also regulates VEGFA via its promoter. PERK is able to activate VEGFA by preferential activation of its downstream effector, ATF4, which binds intron 1 of the VEGFA gene. Thus our work reveals a twopronged differential regulatory action of the UPR sensors on VEGFA gene expression. This work suggests that a fully active UPR is essential for VEGFA upregulation under ER stress. All three regulators are required in cancer cells for normal VEGFA expression. This tight regulation of VEGFA by the UPR presents a wonderful opportunity for therapeutic intervention into angiogenic growth of tumors.