A neuraminidase 1 (Neu1) é a enzima que regula o catabolismo de sialoglicoconjugados nos lisossomos. A deficiência da Neu1 é a base da sialidose, doença grave associada a um amplo espectro de manifestações, incluindo hipotonia e fraqueza muscular. Camundongos com deficiência de Neu1 desenvolvem degeneração muscular caracterizada principalmente por atrofia, invasão das fibras musculares por fibroblastos e expansão da matriz extracelular. A Neu1 controla a proliferação de fibroblastos de pacientes por meio da desialilação dos receptores de PDGF e IGF. Além disso, há enzimas lisossomais que são moduladas pela Neu1, tais como as catepsinas, que são capazes de degradar componentes musculares e estariam excessivamente ou erroneamente ativas (sialiladas) em decorrência da deficiência de Neu1. O objetivo deste trabalho foi identificar se o fenótipo da musculatura esquelética de camundongos Neu1-/- poderia estar associado à atividade do IGF-1R, PDGFR e/ou à sialilação de catepsina B, através da análise histológica e proteica de músculos esqueléticos e fibroblastos de camundongos Neu1+/+ e Neu1-/- tratados com inibidores de IGF1-R e PDGFR. O estudo da expressão proteica de catepsina B foi realizado nos músculos tratados com os inibidores de IGF-1R e PDGFR, e nas frações citosólica e lisossomal de fibroblastos tratados com neuraminidase exógena. Em comparação com camundongos Neu1+/+, os músculos de animais Neu1-/- apresentam menor área de fibra, peso corporal, expressão de pAkt e maior expressão de catepsina B; e os fibroblastos Neu1-/- exibem maior proliferação e expressão de pAkt. A inibição do IGF-1R em camundongos Neu1-/- aumentou a área das fibras musculares, expressão de pAKt e diminuiu a expressão de catepsina B; em relação aos fibroblastos Neu1-/-, entretanto aumentou a proliferação celular com diminuição de pAkt. A inibição do PDGFR em músculos de camundongos Neu1-/- levou ao aumento da expressão de pAkt, da área das fibras, com diminuição de pERK e catepsina L, quando comparados com os controles Neu1-/-; a mesma inibição in vitro conduziu à diminuição da expressão de pAkt, pERK e proliferação. A catepsina B encontra-se bastante ativa na fração lisossomal e o tratamento com neuraminidase foi eficaz na correção de seu peso molecular e compartimentalização lisossomal. De forma geral, o fenótipo muscular de camundongos Neu1-/- parece estar relacionado com a atividade de IGF-1R e PDGFR, e a catepsina B hipersialilada é potencialmente deletéria para o músculo esquelético / Neuraminidase 1 (Neu1) is an enzyme that regulates the catabolism of sialoglycoconjugates in lysosomes. Neu1 deficiency is the basis of sialidosis, a severe disease associated with a broad spectrum of manifestations, including hypotonia and muscle weakness. Neu1 deficient mice develop muscular degeneration characterized by atrophy, invasion of muscle fibers by fibroblasts, and expansion of the extracellular matrix. Neu1 controls the proliferation of fibroblasts from patients through the desialylation of PDGF and IGF receptors. In addition, lysosomal enzymes are modulated by Neu1, such as cathepsins, which degrade muscle components and are excessively or erroneously active (sialylated) as a result of Neu1 deficiency. The aim of this study was to identify whether skeletal muscle phenotype of Neu1-/- mice may be associated with IGF-1R, PDGFR and/or sialylation of cathepsin B, through protein and histological analysis of skeletal muscles and fibroblast from Neu1+/+ and Neu1-/- mice treated with IGF-1R and PDGFR inhibitors. The study of cathepsin B protein expression was performed in skeletal muscles treated with IGF-1R and PDGFR inhibitors, and in the cytosolic and lysosomal fractions of fibroblasts treated with exogenous neuraminidase. Compared with Neu1+/+ animals, Neu1-/- muscles showed smaller muscle fiber area, body weight, pAkt expression and higher cathepsin B expression; and Neu1-/- fibroblasts exhibited increased proliferation and expression of pAkt. The inhibition of IGF-1R Neu1-/- mice increased the area of muscle fibers, expression of pAkt and decreased expression of cathepsin B; but, considering Neu1-/- fibroblasts, there was increased cell proliferation with reduction of pAkt. The inhibition of PDGFR in muscles of Neu1-/- mice led to increased expression of pAkt, muscle fiber area, with decreased expression of pERK and cathepsin L, when compared with the Neu1-/- controls; the same inhibition in vitro led to reduced expression of pAkt, pERK and cell proliferation. Cathepsin B presented high activity in the lysosomal fraction and the treatment with neuraminidase was effective in the correction of its molecular weight and lysosomal compartmentalization. In general, the muscular phenotype of Neu1-/- mice is possibly related to IGF-1R and PDGFR activity, and oversialylated cathepsin B is potentially deleterious for the skeletal muscle

Background: Tissue factor (TF) is a 47 kDa transmembrane glycoprotein known as the main initiator of blood coagulation. TF is over-expressed on many malignant cells and apart from increasing the risk of thrombosis, the presence of TF/FVIIa also promotes the progression of cancer and metastasis by intracellular signaling. TF expressing microparticles (MP) are, moreover, often found in the circulation of cancer patients. Aim: The aim of this thesis was to study different aspects of TF activity, e.g. the importance of procoagulant MP and TF-induced intracellular signaling pathways, with focus on cell migration (chemotaxis) and apoptosis. Results: The TF signaling complexes were shown to prevent apoptosis induced by serum starvation and TRAIL in cancer cells by reduced activation of caspase-8 in a PI3k/AKT-dependent manner. FVIIa also decreased transcription of pro-apoptotic genes in cancer cells treated with TRAIL. Simvastatin triggered apoptosis by transcriptional reduction of BCL-2 due to cytosolic retention of NFκB. Simvastatin also inactivated the PI3k/AKT pathway and reduced the production of the MP-like prostasomes which, respectively, impaired the anti-apoptotic signaling by TF and reduced the procoagulant activity in the vicinity of prostate cancer cells. Intracellular events conducted by the TF/FVIIa complex selectively enhanced PDGF-BB induced chemotaxis which was partly explained by the TF/FVIIa-induced transactivation of the PDGFβ-receptor. This was dependent on Src-family members and engagement of PAR2. Conclusions: The results presented in this thesis extend the current knowledge of TF-mediated signaling. We report the TF complexes to govern the extrinsic pathway of apoptosis, present data on FVIIa-dependent regulation of apoptosis-related genes, and exclude known surface proteins as transmitters of the anti-apoptotic signals. We moreover describe TF/FVIIa to transactivate the PDGFβ-receptor and play a decisive role in the potentiated chemotaxis toward PDGF-BB in a number of cell types. Finally, we explain the mechanism behind simvastatin-induced apoptosis in cancer cells and how statins interfere with TF-dependent signaling and coagulation.

In 2001 the human proteome organization (HUPO) was created with the ambition to identify and characterize all proteins encoded in the human genome according to several criteria; their expression levels in different tissues and under different conditions; the sub-cellular localization; post-translational modifications; interactions, and if possible also the relationship between their structure and function.When the knowledge of different proteins and their potential interactions increases, so does the need for methods able to unravel the nature of molecular processes in cells and organized tissues, and ultimately for clinical use in samples obtained from patients. The in situ proximity ligation assay (in situ PLA) was developed to provide localized detection of proteins, post-translational modifications and protein-protein interactions in fixed cells and tissues. Dual recognition of the target or interacting targets is a prerequisite for the creation of a circular reporter DNA molecule, which subsequently is locally amplified for visualization of individual protein molecules in single cells. These features offer the high sensitivity and selectivity required for detection of even rare target molecules. Herein in situ PLA was first established and then employed as a tool for detection of both interactions and post-translational modifications in cultured cells and tissue samples. In situ PLA was also adapted to high content screening (HCS) for therapeutic effects, where it was applied for cell-based drug screening of inhibitors influencing post-translational modifications. This was performed using primary cells, paving the way for evaluation of drug effects on cells from patient as a diagnostic tool in personalized medicine. In conclusion, this thesis describes the development and applications of in situ PLA as a tool to study proteins, post-translational modifications and protein-protein interactions in genetically unmodified cells and tissues, and for clinical interactomics.

No description available.

Pre-mRNA splicing is an important level in posttranscriptional gene regulation that is essential for accurate protein synthesis and generating protein diversity. The abundance of cryptic splice sites and long intronic DNA sequences makes their splicing a complex one. The identification of correct exons and introns needs additional information in the form of splicing regulatory elements (SREs) along with canonical splice signals. The interplay among these SREs and the trans factors (which bind to SREs) gives the identity to introns and exons which in turn leads to precise pre-mRNA splicing. Previous studies from our laboratory showed, that when expressed in mammalian cells from an expression vector, PDGF-B ORF was re-spliced at 4/5 exon junction with the downstream SV40 splice acceptor site in the vector. However, deletion of the 66-nt PDGF-B 3’ UTR region resulted in about 25% reduction in re-splicing. Sequence analysis of this region revealed presence of binding sites for splicing factors ASF/SF2 and SRp55, and an AU-rich element (ARE), mutation each of which affected re-splicing partially. In mammals, AREs are commonly found in the 3’UTR of mRNAs encoding proteins involved in diverse functions and are involved in selective mRNA degradation. Several ARE binding proteins are crucial for ARE’s function. Since mutation of the single ARE in the 3’UTR region altered the re-splicing efficiency, the role of AU-rich elements and ARE-binding proteins (AU-BPs) in modulation of splicing was investigated using siRNAs against AU-BPs, BRF1, hnRNPD, HuR, GAPDH and TTP. Down regulation of expression of these factors indeed affected the level of re-spliced product. We have studied the interactions between the full-length splicing factors (U1-70K and U2AF35) and the AU-BPs (BRF1, hnRNPD and HuR) as well as among the AU-BPs using three different assay methods: Yeast-two hybrid, co-immunoprecipitation and pull down assays. Our study has revealed that the BRF1 interacts with U1-70K and U2AF35 as well as the other AU-BPs hnRNPD and HuR but with different affinities. We have also analyzed the ability of AU-BPs to interact with SR proteins SRp20 and 9G8. We did find strong interaction of BRF1 with SRp20 and 9G8. Generation of a large number of nested deletion mutants of all the proteins allowed us to identify the interaction regions on the surface of BRF1, U1-70K, hnRNPD, U2AF35 and HuR. The results of Y2H analyses were further confirmed by pull down assay using purified interacting regions. It was found that a single region from aa 181-254 in BRF1 interacts with multiple partners i.e., splicing factors and the AU-BP hnRNPD. However, the RNA-binding zinc-finger domain from residue 120-181 independently interacts with HuR. Further, the multiple protein interacting region (MPIR) (aa 181-254) in BRF1 exhibits different affinities towards its interacting partners with that for U1-70K and hnRNPD being stronger than that for U2AF35 and HuR. This observation suggests that BRF1 activity can be modulated by interaction with different partners at different sites. U1-70K interacted only with BRF1 among the proteins tested in this study and this interaction appears to be RNA independent .This could have implications in splice site selection and RNA stability since BRF1 has been shown to promote RNA degradation. While the Arg/Glu-rich C-terminal region in U1-70K is sufficient for its interaction with BRF1, U2AF35 requires both the zinc-finger 2 and the arg/Gly/Ser-rich C-terminal regions for its association with BRF1. hnRNPD also interacts with multiple partners that include BRF1, HuR and U2AF35 using the N-terminal region that harbors a Ala-rich domain. The interaction of hnRNPD with HuR is RNA dependent while with BRF1 and U2AF35, it is RNA independentt. Further, its interaction with all the partners is equally strong. This suggests that hnRNPD could exert differential influence depending on the context of its interaction and abundance of the interacting partner. HuR, primarily known as an mRNA stabilizing factor, interacts with both BRF1 and hnRNPD with equal affinity involving the hinge region, the interaction with the former being RNA-independent and the later being RNA-dependent. This differential RNA-dependent and independent interactions with the two AU-BPs using a single interacting domain suggests a balancing act of HuR on the activities of BRF1 and hnRNPD. These interactions can further be differentially modulated by posttranslational modifications on one or all of the interacting partners depending on the physiological status of the cell. We have also analyzed the multiple protein complexes formed in absence of cellular RNA. Though we are unable to see direct protein-protein interaction between HuR and U1-70K in Yeast two hybrid analysis, we could detect the presence of U1-70K in HuR immunoprecipitate. It appears that U1-70K associates with HuR via BRF. We also detected the presence of HuR in U1-70K complexes which could be due to its association with BRF1. We are unable to find hnRNPD and U2AF35 in these complexes indicating that they may have been excluded. In anti-U2AF35 immunoprecipitates, we detected the presence of U1-70K as well as hnRNPD but no HuR. This may be due to RNase treatment as hnRNPD and HuR interactions are RNA dependent. Our findings that AU-rich elements in conjunction with AU-BPs function as intronic splicing modulators or enhancers, reveal hitherto unidentified new players in the poorly understood complex mechanisms that mediate alternative splicing. The possibility of dynamic nature of the interactions among splicing factors and AU-BPs mediated by post-translational modifications provide a basis for rapid cellular responses to changing environmental cues through generation of differentially spliced mRNAs and corresponding protein products that differ in their stability and hence their relative abundance. Our results also unfold enormous possibilities for future investigations on interactions among the many splicing factors and AU-BPs, and in understanding these complex interactions in modulation of pre-mRNA splicing, mRNA translation and degradation. The finding of coupling of AU-BPs to splicing machinery could further lead to better understanding of the mechanism of AU-BP-mediated targeting of mRNAs to processing bodies and ultimate degradation of the mRNAs.

No description available.