Peroxisomes represent crucial subcellular compartments for human life and health. They are remarkably dynamic organelles which respond to stimulation by adapting their structure, abundance, and metabolic functions according to cellular needs. Peroxisomes can form from pre-existing organelles by membrane growth and division, which results in peroxisome multiplication/proliferation. Growth and division in mammalian cells follows a well-defined multi-step process of morphological alterations including elongation/remodeling of the peroxisomal membrane (by PEX11β), constriction and recruitment of division factors (e.g. Fis1, MFF), and final membrane scission (by the dynamin-related GTPase Drp1) (Chapter 1). Although our understanding of the mechanisms by which peroxisomes proliferate is increasing, our knowledge on how the division/multiplication process is linked to extracellular signals is limited, in particular in humans. The classical pathway involved in peroxisome proliferation is mediated by a family of ligand-activated transcription factors known as peroxisome proliferator activated receptors (PPARs) (Chapter 1). This project focused on identifying novel signaling pathways and associated factors involved in peroxisome proliferation in humans. In this study, a cell-based peroxisome proliferation assay using the HepG2 cell model with spherical peroxisomal forms has been developed to investigate different stimuli and their ability to induce peroxisome proliferation (Chapters 2 and 3). In this system, peroxisome elongation has been used as the read-out for peroxisome 4 proliferation. We also showed that the number of peroxisomes increased after division of elongated peroxisomes indicating peroxisome proliferation. Different stimuli, such as fatty acids, PPAR agonists and antagonists, have been used in this study. PPAR agonists and antagonists had no stimulatory or inhibitory effect on peroxisome elongation in our assay, suggesting PPAR-independent regulatory processes. However, arachidonic acid and linoleic acid were able to induce peroxisome elongation, whereas palmitic acid and oleic acid were not effective. These findings indicate that general stimulation of fatty acid β-oxidation is not sufficient to induce peroxisome elongation/proliferation in HepG2 cells. Moreover, mRNA expression levels of peroxismal genes have been monitored during a time course in the HepG2 cell-based assay by qPCR. This analysis shows a regulation of expression of peroxins during peroxisome proliferation in human cells and suggests differences in the regulation pattern of PEX11α and PEX11β. In Chapter 4, motif binding sites for transcription factors in peroxisomal genes were analyzed. An initial map of candidate regulatory motif sites across the human peroxisomal genes has been developed (Secondment at the University of Sevilla, Spain with Prof. D. Devos). This analysis also revealed the presence of different transcription factor binding sites in the promoter regions of PEX11α and PEX11β, supporting different regulatory mechanisms. Based on the computational analysis, PEX11β contained a putative SMAD2/3 binding site suggesting a novel link between the canonical TGFβ signaling pathway and expression of PEX11β, a key regulator of peroxisome dynamics and proliferation. 5 Addition of TGFβ to HepG2 cells cultured under serum-free conditions induced elongation/growth of peroxisomes as well as peroxisome proliferation supporting a role for TGFβ signalling in peroxisomal growth and division (Chapter 5). Furthermore, to demonstrate that this induction is through a direct effect of TFGβ on the SMAD binding site found in PEX11β, we performed functional studies using a dual luciferase reporter assay with PEX11β wild type and mutated promoter regions (Secondment at Amsterdam Medical Center, Netherlands with Prof. H. Waterham). Whereas luciferase activity was induced by TGFβ stimulation with the PEX11β wild type promoter, mutation of the SMAD binding site abolished activation. In summary, this study revealed a new signaling pathway involved in peroxisome proliferation in humans and provided a tool to monitor peroxisome morphology and gene expression upon treatment with defined stimuli. Furthermore, I contributed to a study revealing that ER-peroxisome contacts are important for peroxisome elongation (Chapter 6). Our group identified peroxisomal acyl-CoA binding domain protein 5 (ACBD5), ACBD4 and VABP as a molecular linker between peroxisomes and the ER (Costello et al., 2017). Motif analysis of ACBD4 and ACBD5 promoter regions revealed that unlike PEX11β, these genes do not contain a binding site for SMAD, suggesting they are not co-regulated. Also, ACBD4 and ACBD5 do not share any common transcription factor binding sites suggesting different regulation. An interesting binding motif within the ACBD4 promoter is a glucocorticoid receptor binding site. In our study, we found potential glucocorticoid response elements (GRE) in other peroxisomal genes encoding β-oxidation enzymes. This may suggest an important role for glucocorticoid receptors in activating expression of peroxisomal genes resulting in the stimulation of fatty acid breakdown and energy production.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:754252 |
| Date | January 2018 |
| Creators | Sadeghi Azadi, Afsoon |
| Contributors | Schrader, Michael |
| Publisher | University of Exeter |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/10871/33738 |
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