RESUMO
The Hippo pathway, which plays a critical role in organ size control and cancer, features numerous WW domain-based protein-protein interactions. However, ~100 WW domains and 2,000 PY motif-containing peptide ligands are found in the human proteome, raising a "WW-PY" binding specificity issue in the Hippo pathway. In this study, we have established the WW domain binding specificity for Hippo pathway components and uncovered a unique amino acid sequence required for it. By using this criterion, we have identified a WW domain-containing protein, STXBP4, as a negative regulator of YAP. Mechanistically, STXBP4 assembles a protein complex comprising α-catenin and a group of Hippo PY motif-containing components/regulators to inhibit YAP, a process that is regulated by actin cytoskeleton tension. Interestingly, STXBP4 is a potential tumor suppressor for human kidney cancer, whose downregulation is correlated with YAP activation in clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Taken together, our study not only elucidates the WW domain binding specificity for the Hippo pathway, but also reveals STXBP4 as a player in actin cytoskeleton tension-mediated Hippo pathway regulation.
Assuntos
Proteínas Adaptadoras de Transdução de Sinal/metabolismo , Biomarcadores Tumorais/metabolismo , Carcinoma de Células Renais/patologia , Regulação Neoplásica da Expressão Gênica , Neoplasias Renais/patologia , Proteínas Serina-Treonina Quinases/metabolismo , Transdução de Sinais , Fatores de Transcrição/metabolismo , Proteínas de Transporte Vesicular/metabolismo , Proteínas Adaptadoras de Transdução de Sinal/antagonistas & inibidores , Proteínas Adaptadoras de Transdução de Sinal/genética , Animais , Apoptose , Biomarcadores Tumorais/genética , Carcinoma de Células Renais/genética , Carcinoma de Células Renais/metabolismo , Proliferação de Células , Feminino , Via de Sinalização Hippo , Humanos , Neoplasias Renais/genética , Neoplasias Renais/metabolismo , Camundongos , Camundongos Endogâmicos BALB C , Camundongos Nus , Prognóstico , Ligação Proteica , Proteínas Serina-Treonina Quinases/genética , Taxa de Sobrevida , Fatores de Transcrição/antagonistas & inibidores , Fatores de Transcrição/genética , Transcrição Gênica , Células Tumorais Cultivadas , Proteínas de Transporte Vesicular/genética , Domínios WW , Ensaios Antitumorais Modelo de Xenoenxerto , Proteínas de Sinalização YAPRESUMO
Programmed cell death (PCD) is critical for development and responses to environmental stimuli in many organisms. FUZZY ONIONS (FZO) proteins in yeast, flies, and mammals are known to affect mitochondrial fusion and function. Arabidopsis FZO-LIKE (FZL) was shown as a chloroplast protein that regulates chloroplast morphology and cell death. We cloned the FZL gene based on the lesion mimic phenotype conferred by an fzl mutation. Here we provide evidence to support that FZL has evolved new function different from its homologs from other organisms. We found that fzl mutants showed enhanced disease resistance to the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae and the oomycete pathogen Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis. Besides altered chloroplast morphology and cell death, fzl showed the activation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and autophagy pathways. FZL and the defense signaling molecule salicylic acid form a negative feedback loop in defense and cell death control. FZL did not complement the yeast strain lacking the FZO1 gene. Together these data suggest that the Arabidopsis FZL gene is a negative regulator of cell death and disease resistance, possibly through regulating ROS and autophagy pathways in the chloroplast.