Biology subjects

Inoue, I.

Publications and source records attributed to Inoue, I..

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Transcriptomic signatures associated with mania-to-depression and depression-to-mania transitions in bipolar disorder: a case report using induced microglia-like (iMG) cells

IntroductionBipolar disorder (BD) is characterized by recurring episodes of mania and depression. Despite extensive research, the pathophysiology underlying these mood swings remains elusive. Emerging evidence indicates a potential role for neuroinflammation and microglial activation in the pathophysiology of BD. MethodsWe employed a reverse-translational approach to generate directly induced microglia-like (iMG) cells from peripheral blood monocytes of a single patient with BD, repeatedly sampled across depressive, manic, and subsequent depressive phases. RNA sequencing was performed on iMG cells at each time point to identify differentially expressed genes related to mood state transitions. ResultsA thorough analysis of longitudinal gene expression data has led to the identification of three functional gene categories: "state-dependent genes", "depression-to-mania transition genes (named: firing genes)", and "mania-to-depression transition genes (named: extinguishing genes)". A total of 168 firing, 59 extinguishing, and 77 state-dependent genes were identified. Notably, functional annotation revealed that, compared to the extinction gene set, the firing gene set was enriched in immune and inflammatory response pathways, particularly early-response cytokines such as IL1B and TNF. ConclusionsBased on these findings, we propose that inflammatory immunomodulation by microglia contributes to mood switching in BD, especially in the process of depression-to-mania transition. The classification of genes by their relationship to state transitions offers a novel framework for understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying this complex disorder and may identify potential therapeutic targets to stabilize mood. Further validation with larger cohorts is warranted.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2025

ttc39bl, one of the two duplicated paralogs of the tetratricopeptide repeat domain 39B gene, is essential for carotenoid coloration in medaka (Oryzias latipes) and is the gene responsible for the r locus.

Body color plays key roles in fitness, communication with others, and hiding. In poikilothermal vertebrates, the body color is mainly determined by types and distributions of chromatophores. Among them, carotenoid color of xanthophores/erythrophores is important for interspecific diversity and colorful males as sexual dimorphism. Most vertebrates cannot synthesize carotenoids in their bodies and must ingest them from food. However, the genes involved in the uptake process are not fully understood. Therefore, we tried to identify the causal gene of the carotenoid color mutant of medaka. The HdrR-II1 strain used in the genome project has orange body color in males and white body color in females. The orange and white body color was known to be controlled by the sex-linked R locus, but the causal gene of this was unknown. In this study, we identified that the causal gene of the R locus is tetratricopeptide repeat domain 39b like (ttc39bl). In the HdrR-II1, the ttc39bl on the Y chromosome is normal, but the ttc39bl on the X chromosome has an 821 bases insertion in exon 3 and is broken. This insertion is also present on both the X and Y chromosomes of commercially available white medaka.

zoology↗

bioRxiv2025

Fluorescence analysis of serum lipoproteins using a histidine-imidazole polyacrylamide slab gel electrophoresis method

Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) has traditionally been used to analyze lipoproteins in human and animal sera. Most conventional PAGE systems for lipoprotein analysis use disc electrophoresis, which limits the number of samples simultaneously analyzed and does not allow the comparison of electrophoretic profiles of multiple samples under the same conditions. Other methods, such as high performance liquid chromatography and agarose gel electrophoresis, are also used for lipoprotein analysis; however, they require specialized equipment and expertise. Here, we report an improved slab PAGE method with high-throughput, cost-effective, simple, rapid, and reproducible analysis of lipoproteins in the human serum. This system uses Tris-histidine as the running buffer and imidazole buffer for the polyacrylamide gel; therefore we named it the histidine-imidazole polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (HI-PAGE) system. HI-PAGE effectively prevented band distortions of lipoproteins within an hour of electrophoresis and guaranteed precise quantitative analyses of multiple samples containing lipid-protein complexes. Furthermore, we pre-stained the lipoproteins with a fluorescent dye, Nile Red, and applied it to HI-PAGE electrophoresis. Fluorescent HI-PAGE (fHI-PAGE) was applied to the clinical samples and revealed that the method is highly sensitive and allows the quantitative detection of lipoproteins in human serum.

biochemistry↗

bioRxiv2025

High throughput protein serial crystallography using a grease matrix and a large-area support film

Serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) using ultrashort pulses from X-ray free- electron lasers (XFELs) enables the determination of crystal structures at room temperature while minimizing radiation damage to the samples. This method involves irradiating numerous crystals one by one with XFEL pulses, allowing even the capture snapshots of dynamical structures in biological macromolecules. To achieve this, an efficient sample delivery system is essential for acquiring a large number of diffraction patterns. The most common approach uses a highly viscous grease matrix containing sample crystals, injected into the XFEL path from a narrow nozzle. However, the injection often suffers from clogging issues inside the injector nozzle, resulting in additional challenges such as the need for suitably sized crystals, increased sample consumption and unstable flow rates. Alternatively, a fixed-target approach, which scans a two-dimensional substrate with dispersed samples, can circumvent these issues. However, it must ensure the integrity of biological samples and provide sufficient surface area for efficient data collection. We here present an approach that utilizes a grease matrix and a large-area support film specially designed to address these requirements. This system offers a fast and reliable solution for protein SFX, enabling high-quality structure determination while significantly reducing sample consumption.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2024

Three-spined sticklebacks recognise familiar individuals by facial recognition

Social vertebrates often recognise familiar individuals by facial recognition, a basal cognitive ability by which animals establish stable sociality, including territoriality. The three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), a model species for behavioural studies, is territorial; its ability to visually recognise familiar individuals remains unclear. Here, we report that this species has individual-specific facial colour morph features and can recognise familiar individuals by facial recognition. Territorial neighbours of the same sex established a "dear enemy relationship" with each other. These focal fish were exposed to composite photographic models of four combinations of faces and bodies of familiar neighbours and unknown strangers of the same sex. Focal fish of both sexes frequently attacked photographs of strangers (stranger-face/stranger-body) more frequently than familiar neighbours (neighbour-face/neighbour-body). Furthermore, they attacked composite photographs of stranger-face/neighbour-body more frequently (similar to the stranger model) but less frequently attacked photographs of neighbour-face/stranger-body (similar to the neighbour model). These results suggest that the three-spined stickleback distinguishes familiar neighbours from unknown fish exclusively via facial recognition. The aggressiveness of males was independent of the presence of red nuptial colour on photograph-models. Our findings suggest that this fish controls its aggressiveness against opponent conspecifics in the context of social relationships independent of the sign-stimulus.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2024

Epilepsy protein myoclonin1 interacts with inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) receptor and reduces Ca2+ store in endoplasmic reticulum

Mutations of EFHC1 gene have been identified in patients with epilepsies including juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME), and mice with Efhc1 deficiency exhibit epileptic phenotypes. Myoclonin1 protein encoded by EFHC1 is not expressed in neurons but in cells with motile cilia including those of choroid plexus and ependymal cells which form an epithelial layer lining brain ventricles. Detailed molecular basis of epilepsies caused by EFHC1 mutations, however, remain unclear. Here we report that myoclonin1 is well co-expressed with inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor type 1 (IP3R1) at choroid plexus and ependymal cells and these two proteins bind each other. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of Efhc1-deficient mouse (Efhc1-/-) cells contains larger levels of calcium ions (Ca2+) than that of wild-type (WT) mice, and IP3-induced Ca2+ release (IICR) from ER is higher in Efhc1-/- cells than that of WT. Furthermore, myoclonin1 revealed to interact with PRKCSH, also known as a protein kinase C substrate 80K-H which interacts with IP3R1. Myoclonin1 further binds to IP3R2 and IP3R3. Thus, our results indicate that myoclonin1 modulates ER-Ca2+ homeostasis through interactions with IP3Rs and PRKCSH, and suggest that myoclonin1 dysfunctions cause impaired intracellular Ca2+ mobilization. Its relevance to the epileptic phenotypes of patients with EFHC1 mutations is now of interest.

physiology↗

bioRxiv2024

Investigating demic versus cultural diffusion and sex bias in the spread of Austronesian languages in Vietnam

Austronesian (AN) is the second-largest language family in the world, particularly widespread in Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) and Oceania. In Mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA), groups speaking these languages are concentrated in the highlands of Vietnam. However, our knowledge of the spread of AN-speaking populations in MSEA remains limited; in particular, it is not clear if AN languages were spread by demic or cultural diffusion. In this study, we present and analyze new data consisting of complete mitogenomes from 369 individuals and 847 Y-chromosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 170 individuals from all five Vietnamese Austronesian groups (VN-AN) and five neighboring Vietnamese Austroasiatic groups (VN-AA). We found genetic signals consistent with matrilocality in some, but not all, of the VN-AN groups. Population affinity analyses indicated connections between the AN-speaking Giarai and certain Taiwanese AN groups (Rukai, Paiwan, and Bunun). However, overall, there were closer genetic affinities between VN-AN groups and neighboring VN-AA groups, suggesting language shifts. Our study provides insights into the genetic structure of AN-speaking communities in MSEA, characterized by some contact with Taiwan and language shift in neighboring groups, indicating that the expansion of AN speakers in MSEA was a combination of cultural and demic diffusion.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2023

Transcriptome analyses of mouse cardiac myocytes and non-cardiomyocytes: postmitotic vs. proliferative cells

Adult heart mostly contains long-lived postmitotic cardiomyocytes and non-cardiomyocytes that have proliferative potential. Here, we isolated cardiomyocytes and non-cardiomyocytes from young and aged mouse heart, and performed transcriptome analyses by RNA sequencing to understand the differences of gene expression in postmitotic and proliferative cells. Gene ontology analyses revealed that genes associated with inflammatory response were upregulated in aged cardiac myocytes, whereas genes including two ATP synthases in mitochondrial respiratory complex V (Atp5l and Atp5J2) and two NADH dehydrogenases in complex I (Ndufa11 and Ndufv3) were significantly downregulated. In aged non-cardiomyocytes, genes related to inflammatory responses were also upregulated, while genes involved in cell cycle and DNA replication process were downregulated. We also found that the expression levels of some small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) are decreased cardiomyocytes with aging. snoRNAs are deeply involved in RNA modification such as pseudouridylation stabilizing ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and mRNA splicing. Therefore, the age-related reduction in snoRNA expression may lead to the destabilization of rRNA, splicing dysfunction, and ultimately a decrease in protein synthesis capacity. A comparison with transcriptome results obtained for non-cardiomyocytes suggests that the decline in the expression of mitochondria-related genes and snoRNAs accompanying aging is specific to cardiomyocytes, implying their potential utility as one of novel aging markers in postmitotic cells.

physiology↗

bioRxiv2023

Positive feedback regulation of Pparγ1sv and Pparγ2 during adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 cells

We have previously identified the novel splicing variant of mouse Ppar{gamma} (Ppar{gamma}1sv) and proposed the synergistic regulation of the early stage of adipocyte differentiation by Ppar{gamma}1sv and Ppar{gamma}2. Here, we report the finding of PPAR{gamma}-binding sites within the Ppar{gamma} gene locus and its importance in adipogenesis and propose the positive feedback regulation of Ppar{gamma}1sv and Ppar{gamma}2 expression during the adipocyte differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2023

Distinct haplogroups with star-like diversification in the APOBEC3 regulatory region indicate ancient viral pandemics before and during the Out-of-Africa migration of modern humans

Human anti-viral APOBEC3s are crucial components of the innate immune response, playing a key role in inhibiting viral replication and proliferation by inducing mutations in viral genomes. In this study, in a regulatory region of [~]16 kb in the APOBEC3 gene cluster on human chromosome 22, we identified three distinct haplogroups that are maintained at high frequencies in both African and non-African populations today. Despite the long persistence of these haplogroups, one of which is shared by archaic hominins, the nucleotide diversity within each haplogroup was unusually low in non-Africans. The simultaneous observations of low intra-haplogroup diversity and high inter-haplogroup divergence were incompatible with neutrality, as demonstrated by the genome-wide empirical distribution and coalescence-based simulation tests. In addition to the three shared haplogroups, an ancestral sequence group was identified exclusively in African populations. To explain these features and investigate the underlying evolutionary mechanisms, we performed forward simulations to model the joint effects of balancing selection and population bottlenecks. We demonstrated the operation of balancing selection over the past [~]1 million years, as well as a hitherto unexplored reduction in intra-haplogroup diversity. The only unexplainable observation was the low diversity within African haplogroup I, which is unaffected by the non-African-specific bottleneck. We hypothesized that an extra haplotype turnover within haplogroup I occurred prior to the Out-of-Africa dispersal of modern humans. Finally, we discussed the functional importance of the APOBEC3 regulatory region in terms of evolutionary conservation in Hominidae, a target of natural selection in modern humans, and its relevance in GTEx eQTL. Significance statementThis study provides new insights into the joint effects of population bottlenecks and balancing selection on genetic diversity within haplogroups. First, we reveal how balancing selection interacts with demographic history to shape intra-haplogroup diversity, a previously unexplored aspect. Second, our findings are generalizable, as illustrated by the ABO locus--an established example of balancing selection--where low within-haplogroup diversity and high between-haplogroup divergence are also observed in non-African populations. Third, the involvement of balancing selection in a highly conserved regulatory region suggests functional significance in modulating the expression of all seven APOBEC3 genes. While further validation is needed, our findings underscore the evolutionary and functional importance of this region in human innate immunity.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2022

Temporal inhibition of electron transport chain attenuates stress-induced cellular senescence by prolonged disturbance of proteostasis in human fibroblasts

We previously developed a stress-induced premature senescence (SIPS) model in which normal human fibroblast MRC-5 cells were treated with either the proteasome inhibitor MG132 or the V-ATPase inhibitor bafilomycin A1 (BAFA1). To elucidate the involvement of mitochondrial function in our SIPS model, we treated cells with an inhibitor of electron transport chain (ETC) complexes I, III, or a mitochondrial uncoupler reagent along with MG132 or BAFA1 and evaluated the induction of premature senescence. SIPS induced by MG132 or BAFA1 was partially attenuated by co-treatment with antimycin A (AA) and rotenone, but not carbonyl cyanide 3-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP), in which intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, acute mitochondrial unfolded protein responses, and accumulation of protein aggregates were remarkably suppressed. Co-treatment with AA also reversed the temporal depletion of SOD2 in the mitochondrial fraction on day 1 of MG132 treatment. Furthermore, co-treatment with AA suppressed the induction of mitophagy in MG132-treated cells and enhanced mitochondrial biogenesis. These findings provide evidence that the temporal inhibition of mitochondrial respiration exerts protective effects against the progression of premature senescence caused by impaired proteostasis. Graphical abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=199 HEIGHT=200 SRC="FIGDIR/small/515395v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (33K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@165a9eaorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1766e79org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@4ef4beorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1a5e827_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT Cellular senescence is induced by prolonged inhibition of proteasome or lysosome function using MG132 and bafilomycin A1 (BAFA1), respectively. When cells were co-treated with a mitochondrial respiration inhibitor, antimycin A, and MG132 or BAFA1, oxidative stress, mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPRmt), accumulation of protein aggregates, and mitophagy were suppressed whereas mitochondrial biogenesis was enhanced, resulting in the attenuation of stress-induced cellular senescence (SIPS). C_FIG

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2021

Scn1a-GFP transgenic mouse revealed Nav1.1 expression in neocortical pyramidal tract projection neurons

Expressions of voltage-gated sodium channels Nav1.1 and Nav1.2, encoded by SCN1A and SCN2A genes respectively, have been reported to be mutually exclusive in most brain regions. In juvenile and adult neocortex, Nav1.1 is predominantly expressed in inhibitory neurons while Nav1.2 is in excitatory neurons. Although a distinct subpopulation of layer V (L5) neocortical excitatory neurons were also reported to express Nav1.1, their nature has been uncharacterized. In hippocampus, Nav1.1 has been proposed to be expressed only in inhibitory neurons. By using newly-generated transgenic mouse lines expressing Scn1a promoter-driven green fluorescent protein (GFP), here we confirm the mutually-exclusive expressions of Nav1.1 and Nav1.2 and the absence of Nav1.1 in hippocampal excitatory neurons. We also show that Nav1.1 is expressed in inhibitory and a subpopulation of excitatory neurons not only in L5 but all layers of neocortex. By using neocortical excitatory projection neuron markers including FEZF2 for L5 pyramidal tract (PT) and TBR1 for layer VI (L6) cortico-thalamic (CT) projection neurons, we further show that most L5 PT neurons and a minor subpopulation of layer II/III (L2/3) cortico-cortical (CC) neurons express Nav1.1 while the majority of L6 CT, L5/6 cortico-striatal (CS) and L2/3 CC neurons express Nav1.2. These observations now contribute to the elucidation of pathological neural circuits for diseases such as epilepsies and neurodevelopmental disorders caused by SCN1A and SCN2A mutations.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2020

De novo virus inference and host prediction from metagenome using CRISPR spacers

Viruses are the most numerous biological entity, existing in all environments and infecting all cellular organisms. Compared with cellular life, the evolution and origin of viruses are poorly understood; viruses are enormously diverse and most lack sequence similarity to cellular genes. To uncover viral sequences without relying on either reference viral sequences from databases or marker genes known to characterize specific viral taxa, we developed an analysis pipeline for virus inference based on clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR). CRISPR is a prokaryotic nucleic acid restriction system that stores memory of previous exposure. Our protocol can infer viral sequences targeted by CRISPR and predict their hosts using unassembled short-read metagenomic sequencing data. Analysing human gut metagenomic data, we extracted 11,391 terminally redundant CRISPR-targeted sequences which are likely complete circular genomes of viruses or plasmids. The sequences include 257 complete crAssphage family genomes, 11 genomes larger than 200 kilobases, 766 genomes of Microviridae species, 114 genomes of Inoviridae species and many entirely novel genomes of unknown taxa. We predicted the host(s) of approximately 70% of discovered genomes by linking protospacers to taxonomically assigned CRISPR direct repeats. These results support that our protocol is efficient for de novo inference of viral genomes and host prediction. In addition, we investigated the origin of the diversity-generating retroelement (DGR) locus of the crAssphage family. Phylogenetic analysis and gene locus comparisons indicate that DGR is orthologous in human gut crAssphages and shares a common ancestor with baboon-derived crAssphage; however, the locus has likely been lost in multiple lineages recently.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2020

Movements of ancient human endogenous retroviruses detected in SOX2-expressing cells

Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) occupy approximately 8% of human genome. HERVs, which are transcribed in early embryos, are epigenetically silenced in somatic cells, except in pathological contexts. HERV-K is thought to protect the embryo from exogenous viral infection. However, uncontrollable HERV-K expression in somatic cells has been implicated in several diseases. Here, we show that SOX2, which plays a key role in maintaining pluripotency of stem cells, is critical for the transcription of HERV-K LTR5Hs. HERV-K can undergo retrotransposition within producer cells in the absence of Env expression. Furthermore, new HERV-K integration sites were identified in a long-term culture of induced pluripotent stem cells, which express SOX2. Together, these results suggest the possibility that the strict dependence of HERV-K on SOX2 have allowed contribution of HERV-K to the protection of early embryos during evolution while limiting potentially harmful effects of HERV-K retrotransposition on host genome integrity to these early embryos.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2020

Targeted disruption of Pparγ1 promotes trophoblast endoreplication in the murine placenta

In murine placentas, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) {gamma}1, a nuclear receptor, is abundant at the late stage of pregnancy (E15-E16), but its functional roles are still elusive because PPAR{gamma}-full knockout embryos die early (E10). We generated mice disrupted in only Ppar{gamma}1, one of the two major mRNA splicing variants of PPAR{gamma}1. Ppar{gamma}1- knockout embryos developed normally until 15.5 dpc, but their growth was retarded thereafter and they did not survive. At 15.5 dpc, in the wild-type placentas, intense PPAR{gamma}-immunostaining was detected in sinusoidal trophoblast giant cells (sTGCs), a cell lineage that coordinates the maternal blood microcirculation in the labyrinth, whereas they were absent in the knockouts. Although Ppar{gamma}1-knockout placentas were normal in morphology, we observed severely dilated maternal blood sinuses in the labyrinth. The Ppar{gamma}1-knockout sTGCs had abnormally large nuclei, an enhanced endocycling phenotype, indicating insufficient differentiation. RNA-sequencing of the placentas showed increased expression of genes coding for nucleosome assembly factors. Labyrinthine gene expressions for atypical E2Fs and cyclin E, key drivers for endocycling, were increased >3-fold. These findings suggested that PPAR{gamma}1 plays a key role in endocycle termination.

developmental biology↗

bioRxiv2020

NPC1L1 inhibition disturbs lipid trafficking and induces large lipid droplet formation in intestinal absorptive epithelial cells

Ezetimibe inhibits Niemann-Pick C1-like 1 (NPC1L1) protein, which mediates intracellular cholesterol trafficking from the brush border membrane to the endoplasmic reticulum, where chylomicron assembly takes place in enterocytes or in the intestinal absorptive epithelial cells. Cholesterol is a minor lipid component of chylomicrons; however, whether or not a shortage of cholesterol attenuates chylomicron assembly is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of NPC1L1 inhibition on trans-epithelial lipid transport, and chylomicron assembly and secretion in enterocytes. Caco-2 cells, an absorptive epithelial model, grown onto culture inserts were given lipid micelles from the apical side, and chylomicron-like triacylglycerol-rich lipoprotein secreted basolaterally were analyzed after a 24-h incubation period in the presence of ezetimibe up to 50 M. The secretion of lipoprotein and apolipoprotein B48 were reduced by adding ezetimibe (30%, p<0.01 and 34%, p<0.05, respectively). Additionally, ezetimibe accelerated intracellular apoB protein degradation by approximately 2.8-fold and activated sterol regulatory element binding protein 2 by approximately 1.5-fold: These are indicators whether the cells are sensing cellular cholesterol shortage. Thus, ezetimibe appeared to limit cellular cholesterol mobilization required for lipoprotein assembly. In such conditions, large lipid droplet formation in Caco-2 cells and the enterocytes in mice were induced, implying that unprocessed triglyceride was sheltered in these compartments. Although ezetimibe did not reduce the post-prandial lipid surge appreciably in triolein-infused mice, the results of the present study indicated that NPC1L1-mediated supply chylomicron with cholesterol may participate in a novel regulatory mechanism for the efficient chylomicron assembly and secretion.

biochemistry↗

bioRxiv2020

Endogenous retroviruses drive KRAB zinc-finger family protein expression for tumor suppression

Numerous genes are aberrantly expressed in tumors, but its cause remains unclear. Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) are repetitive elements in the genome and have a potential to work as enhancers modulating adjacent genes. Since numerous HERVs are activated epigenetically in tumors, their activation could alter gene expression globally in tumors and change the tumor characteristics. Here, we show the HERV activation in tumors is associated with the upregulation of hundreds of transcriptional suppressors, Kruppel-associated box domain-containing zinc-finger family proteins (KZFPs). KZFP genes are preferentially encoded nearby the activated HERVs in tumors and transcriptionally regulated by the adjacent HERVs. Increased HERV and KZFP expression in tumors was associated with better disease conditions. Many KZFPs could suppress the progressive characteristics of cancer cells by downregulating genes related to the cell cycle and cell-matrix adhesion. Our data suggest that HERV activation in tumors drives the concerted expression of KZFP genes for tumor suppression.

cancer biology↗

bioRxiv2020

Prolonged disturbance of proteostasis induces cellular senescence via temporal mitochondrial dysfunction and enhanced mitochondrial biogenesis in human fibroblasts

Proteolytic activities decline with age, resulting in the accumulation of aggregated proteins in aged organisms. To investigate how disturbance in proteostasis causes cellular senescence, we developed a stress-induced premature senescence (SIPS) model, in which normal human fibroblast MRC-5 cells were treated with either the proteasome inhibitor MG132 or the V-ATPase inhibitor bafilomycin A1 (BAFA1) for 5 days. Time-course studies revealed significant increase in intracellular and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) during and after drug treatment. Mitochondrial membrane potential initially decreased, but recovered along with PGC-1-mediated mitochondrial biogenesis, especially after drug treatment. Mitochondrial antioxidant enzymes SOD2 and GPx4 were temporally depleted in mitochondria on day 1 of the treatment, which in turn could cause excess production of mitochondrial ROS. Extra-mitochondrial SOD2 colocalized with protein aggregates and lysosomes in MG132-treated cells on day 1. SOD2 partially interacted with HSC70 and LAMP2, implying that dysfunctional SOD2 was degraded through chaperon-mediated autophagy (CMA) and caused SOD2 depletion in mitochondria. SIPS induction by MG132 or BAFA1 was partially attenuated by co-treatment with rapamycin, in which generation of excess ROS and mitochondrial biogenesis were suppressed. Rapamycin co-treatment also augmented the upregulation of HSP70 and decreased protein aggregates after drug treatment. Our study proposes a possible pathway from the disturbance of proteostasis to cellular senescence via functional changes in mitochondria.

cell biology↗