Direct Interaction of ATP7B and LC3B Proteins Suggests a Cooperative Role of Copper Transportation and Autophagy.

Macroautophagy/autophagy plays an important role in cellular copper clearance. The means by which the copper metabolism and autophagy pathways interact mechanistically is vastly unexplored. Dysfunctional ATP7B, a copper-transporting ATPase, is involved in the development of monogenic Wilson disease, a disorder characterized by disturbed copper transport. Using in silico prediction, we found that ATP7B contains a number of potential binding sites for LC3, a central protein in the autophagy pathway, the so-called LC3 interaction regions (LIRs). The conserved LIR3, located at the C-terminal end of ATP7B, was found to directly interact with LC3B in vitro. Replacing the two conserved hydrophobic residues W1452 and L1455 of LIR3 significantly reduced interaction. Furthermore, autophagy was induced in normal human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2) leading to enhanced colocalization of ATP7B and LC3B on the autophagosome membranes. By contrast, HepG2 cells deficient of ATP7B (HepG2 ATP7B-/-) showed autophagy deficiency at elevated copper condition. This phenotype was complemented by heterologous ATP7B expression. These findings suggest a cooperative role of ATP7B and LC3B in autophagy-mediated copper clearance.

Assessment of Gene Variant Amenability for Pharmacological Chaperone Therapy with 1-Deoxygalactonojirimycin in Fabry Disease.

Fabry disease is one of the most common lysosomal storage disorders caused by mutations in the gene encoding lysosomal α-galactosidase A (α-Gal A) and resultant accumulation of glycosphingolipids. The sugar mimetic 1-deoxygalactonojirimycin (DGJ), an orally available pharmacological chaperone, was clinically approved as an alternative to intravenous enzyme replacement therapy. The decision as to whether a patient should be treated with DGJ depends on the genetic variant within the α-galactosidase A encoding gene (GLA). A good laboratory practice (GLP)-validated cell culture-based assay to investigate the biochemical responsiveness of the variants is currently the only source available to obtain pivotal information about susceptibility to treatment. Herein, variants were defined amenable when an absolute increase in enzyme activity of ≥3% of wild type enzyme activity and a relative increase in enzyme activity of ≥1.2-fold was achieved following DGJ treatment. Efficacy testing was carried out for over 1000 identified GLA variants in cell culture. Recent data suggest that about one-third of the variants comply with the amenability criteria. A recent study highlighted the impact of inter-assay variability on DGJ amenability, thereby reducing the power of the assay to predict eligible patients. This prompted us to compare our own α-galactosidase A enzyme activity data in a very similar in-house developed assay with those from the GLP assay. In an essentially retrospective approach, we reviewed 148 GLA gene variants from our former studies for which enzyme data from the GLP study were available and added novel data for 30 variants. We also present data for 18 GLA gene variants for which no data from the GLP assay are currently available. We found that both differences in experimental biochemical data and the criteria for the classification of amenability cause inter-assay discrepancy. We conclude that low baseline activity, borderline biochemical responsiveness, and inter-assay discrepancy are alarm signals for misclassifying a variant that must not be ignored. Furthermore, there is no solid basis for setting a minimum response threshold on which a clinical indication with DGJ can be justified.

Role of endoplasmic reticulum stress and protein misfolding in disorders of the liver and pancreas.

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is the site of synthesis and folding of membrane and secretory proteins. The fraction of protein passing through the ER represents a large proportion of the total protein in the cell. Protein folding, glycosylation, sorting and transport are essential tasks of the ER and a compromised ER folding network has been recognized to be a key component in the disease pathogenicity of common neurodegenerative, metabolic and malignant diseases. On the other hand, the ER protein folding machinery also holds significant potential for therapeutic interventions. Many causes can lead to ER stress. A disturbed calcium homeostasis, the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and a persistent overload of misfolded proteins within the ER can drive the course of adisease. In this review the role of ER-stress in diseases of the liver and pancreas will be examined using pancreatitis and Wilson´s disease as examples. Potential therapeutic targets in ER-stress pathways will also be discussed.