The environmental stress response regulates ribosome content in cell cycle-arrested S. cerevisiae.

Prolonged cell cycle arrests occur naturally in differentiated cells and in response to various stresses such as nutrient deprivation or treatment with chemotherapeutic agents. Whether and how cells survive prolonged cell cycle arrests is not clear. Here, we used S. cerevisiae to compare physiological cell cycle arrests and genetically induced arrests in G1-, meta- and anaphase. Prolonged cell cycle arrest led to growth attenuation in all studied conditions, coincided with activation of the Environmental Stress Response (ESR) and with a reduced ribosome content as determined by whole ribosome purification and TMT mass spectrometry. Suppression of the ESR through hyperactivation of the Ras/PKA pathway reduced cell viability during prolonged arrests, demonstrating a cytoprotective role of the ESR. Attenuation of cell growth and activation of stress induced signaling pathways also occur in arrested human cell lines, raising the possibility that the response to prolonged cell cycle arrest is conserved.

The environmental stress response causes ribosome loss in aneuploid yeast cells.

Aneuploidy, a condition characterized by whole chromosome gains and losses, is often associated with significant cellular stress and decreased fitness. However, how cells respond to the aneuploid state has remained controversial. In aneuploid budding yeast, two opposing gene-expression patterns have been reported: the "environmental stress response" (ESR) and the "common aneuploidy gene-expression" (CAGE) signature, in which many ESR genes are oppositely regulated. Here, we investigate this controversy. We show that the CAGE signature is not an aneuploidy-specific gene-expression signature but the result of normalizing the gene-expression profile of actively proliferating aneuploid cells to that of euploid cells grown into stationary phase. Because growth into stationary phase is among the strongest inducers of the ESR, the ESR in aneuploid cells was masked when stationary phase euploid cells were used for normalization in transcriptomic studies. When exponentially growing euploid cells are used in gene-expression comparisons with aneuploid cells, the CAGE signature is no longer evident in aneuploid cells. Instead, aneuploid cells exhibit the ESR. We further show that the ESR causes selective ribosome loss in aneuploid cells, providing an explanation for the decreased cellular density of aneuploid cells. We conclude that aneuploid budding yeast cells mount the ESR, rather than the CAGE signature, in response to aneuploidy-induced cellular stresses, resulting in selective ribosome loss. We propose that the ESR serves two purposes in aneuploid cells: protecting cells from aneuploidy-induced cellular stresses and preventing excessive cellular enlargement during slowed cell cycles by down-regulating translation capacity.

Deregulation of the G1/S-phase transition is the proximal cause of mortality in old yeast mother cells.

Budding yeast cells produce a finite number of daughter cells before they die. Why old yeast cells stop dividing and die is unclear. We found that age-induced accumulation of the G1/S-phase inhibitor Whi5 and defects in G1/S cyclin transcription cause cell cycle delays and genomic instability that result in cell death. We further identified extrachromosomal rDNA (ribosomal DNA) circles (ERCs) to cause the G1/S cyclin expression defect in old cells. Spontaneous segregation of Whi5 and ERCs into daughter cells rejuvenates old mothers, but daughters that inherit these aging factors die rapidly. Our results identify deregulation of the G1/S-phase transition as the proximal cause of age-induced proliferation decline and cell death in budding yeast.

High-throughput measurement of single-cell growth rates using serial microfluidic mass sensor arrays.

Methods to rapidly assess cell growth would be useful for many applications, including drug susceptibility testing, but current technologies have limited sensitivity or throughput. Here we present an approach to precisely and rapidly measure growth rates of many individual cells simultaneously. We flow cells in suspension through a microfluidic channel with 10-12 resonant mass sensors distributed along its length, weighing each cell repeatedly over the 4-20 min it spends in the channel. Because multiple cells traverse the channel at the same time, we obtain growth rates for >60 cells/h with a resolution of 0.2 pg/h for mammalian cells and 0.02 pg/h for bacteria. We measure the growth of single lymphocytic cells, mouse and human T cells, primary human leukemia cells, yeast, Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis. Our system reveals subpopulations of cells with divergent growth kinetics and enables assessment of cellular responses to antibiotics and antimicrobial peptides within minutes.

Dynamic enzyme docking to the ribosome coordinates N-terminal processing with polypeptide folding.

Newly synthesized polypeptides undergo various cotranslational maturation steps, including N-terminal enzymatic processing, chaperone-assisted folding and membrane targeting, but the spatial and temporal coordination of these steps is unclear. We show that Escherichia coli methionine aminopeptidase (MAP) associates with ribosomes through a charged loop that is crucial for nascent-chain processing and cell viability. MAP competes with peptide deformylase (PDF), the first enzyme to act on nascent chains, for binding sites at the ribosomal tunnel exit. PDF has extremely fast association and dissociation kinetics, which allows it to frequently sample ribosomes and ensure the processing of nascent chains after their emergence. Premature recruitment of the chaperone trigger factor, or polypeptide folding, negatively affect processing efficiency. Thus, the fast ribosome association kinetics of PDF and MAP are crucial for the temporal separation of nascent-chain processing from later maturation events, including chaperone recruitment and folding.

Selective ribosome profiling reveals the cotranslational chaperone action of trigger factor in vivo.

As nascent polypeptides exit ribosomes, they are engaged by a series of processing, targeting, and folding factors. Here, we present a selective ribosome profiling strategy that enables global monitoring of when these factors engage polypeptides in the complex cellular environment. Studies of the Escherichia coli chaperone trigger factor (TF) reveal that, though TF can interact with many polypeptides, ß-barrel outer-membrane proteins are the most prominent substrates. Loss of TF leads to broad outer-membrane defects and premature, cotranslational protein translocation. Whereas in vitro studies suggested that TF is prebound to ribosomes waiting for polypeptides to emerge from the exit channel, we find that in vivo TF engages ribosomes only after ~100 amino acids are translated. Moreover, excess TF interferes with cotranslational removal of the N-terminal formyl methionine. Our studies support a triaging model in which proper protein biogenesis relies on the fine-tuned, sequential engagement of processing, targeting, and folding factors.

A peptide deformylase-ribosome complex reveals mechanism of nascent chain processing.

Messenger-RNA-directed protein synthesis is accomplished by the ribosome. In eubacteria, this complex process is initiated by a specialized transfer RNA charged with formylmethionine (tRNA(fMet)). The amino-terminal formylated methionine of all bacterial nascent polypeptides blocks the reactive amino group to prevent unfavourable side-reactions and to enhance the efficiency of translation initiation. The first enzymatic factor that processes nascent chains is peptide deformylase (PDF); it removes this formyl group as polypeptides emerge from the ribosomal tunnel and before the newly synthesized proteins can adopt their native fold, which may bury the N terminus. Next, the N-terminal methionine is excised by methionine aminopeptidase. Bacterial PDFs are metalloproteases sharing a conserved N-terminal catalytic domain. All Gram-negative bacteria, including Escherichia coli, possess class-1 PDFs characterized by a carboxy-terminal alpha-helical extension. Studies focusing on PDF as a target for antibacterial drugs have not revealed the mechanism of its co-translational mode of action despite indications in early work that it co-purifies with ribosomes. Here we provide biochemical evidence that E. coli PDF interacts directly with the ribosome via its C-terminal extension. Crystallographic analysis of the complex between the ribosome-interacting helix of PDF and the ribosome at 3.7 A resolution reveals that the enzyme orients its active site towards the ribosomal tunnel exit for efficient co-translational processing of emerging nascent chains. Furthermore, we have found that the interaction of PDF with the ribosome enhances cell viability. These results provide the structural basis for understanding the coupling between protein synthesis and enzymatic processing of nascent chains, and offer insights into the interplay of PDF with the ribosome-associated chaperone trigger factor.