RESUMO
Drosophila melanogaster Bag-of-marbles (Bam) promotes germline stem cell (GSC) differentiation by repressing the expression of mRNAs encoding stem cell maintenance factors. Bam interacts with Benign gonial cell neoplasm (Bgcn) and the CCR4 deadenylase, a catalytic subunit of the CCR4-NOT complex. Bam has been proposed to bind CCR4 and displace it from the CCR4-NOT complex. Here, we investigated the interaction of Bam with the CCR4-NOT complex by using purified recombinant proteins. Unexpectedly, we found that Bam does not interact with CCR4 directly but instead binds to the CAF40 subunit of the complex in a manner mediated by a conserved N-terminal CAF40-binding motif (CBM). The crystal structure of the Bam CBM bound to CAF40 reveals that the CBM peptide adopts an α-helical conformation after binding to the concave surface of the crescent-shaped CAF40 protein. We further show that Bam-mediated mRNA decay and translational repression depend entirely on Bam's interaction with CAF40. Thus, Bam regulates the expression of its mRNA targets by recruiting the CCR4-NOT complex through interaction with CAF40.
Assuntos
Proteínas de Transporte/metabolismo , DNA Helicases/metabolismo , Proteínas de Drosophila/metabolismo , Drosophila melanogaster/genética , Estabilidade de RNA , Ribonucleases/metabolismo , Sequência de Aminoácidos , Animais , Proteínas de Transporte/química , Proteínas de Transporte/genética , Diferenciação Celular , Linhagem Celular , DNA Helicases/química , DNA Helicases/genética , Proteínas de Drosophila/química , Proteínas de Drosophila/genética , Drosophila melanogaster/metabolismo , Células Germinativas/metabolismo , Humanos , Modelos Moleculares , Ligação Proteica , Proteínas de Ligação a RNA , Ribonucleases/química , Ribonucleases/genética , Alinhamento de Sequência , Células-Tronco/metabolismoRESUMO
Autophagy is a lysosomal degradation process for cytoplasmic components, including organelles, membranes, and proteins, and critically secures eukaryotic cellular homeostasis and survival. Moreover, autophagy-related (ATG) genes are considered essential for longevity control in model organisms. Central to the regulatory relationship between autophagy and longevity is the control of insulin/insulin-like growth factor receptor-driven activation of mTOR (mechanistic target of rapamycin), which inhibits WIPI (WD repeat protein interacting with phosphoinositides)-mediated autophagosome formation. Release of the inhibitory mTOR action on autophagy permits the production of PI3P (phosphatidylinositol-3 phosphate), predominantly at the endoplasmic reticulum, to function as an initiation signal for the formation of autophagosomes. WIPI proteins detect this pool of newly produced PI3P and function as essential PI3P effector proteins that recruit downstream autophagy-related (ATG) proteins. The important role of WIPI proteins in autophagy is highlighted by functional knockout of the WIPI homologues ATG-18 and EPG-6 in Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). Adult lifespan is significantly reduced in ATG-18 mutant animals, demonstrating that longevity as such is crucially determined by essential autophagy factors. In this review we summarize the role of WIPI proteins and their C. elegans homologues with regard to the molecular basis of aging. As the development of strategies on how to increase health span in humans is increasingly appreciated, we speculate that targeting WIPI protein function might represent a therapeutic opportunity to fight and delay the onset of age-related human diseases.