RESUMEN
In the presence of aggregation-prone proteins, the cytosol and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) undergo a dramatic shift in their respective redox status, with the cytosol becoming more oxidized and the ER more reducing. However, whether and how changes in the cellular redox status may affect protein aggregation is unknown. Here, we show that C. elegans loss-of-function mutants for the glutathione reductase gsr-1 gene enhance the deleterious phenotypes of heterologous human, as well as endogenous worm aggregation-prone proteins. These effects are phenocopied by the GSH-depleting agent diethyl maleate. Additionally, gsr-1 mutants abolish the nuclear translocation of HLH-30/TFEB transcription factor, a key inducer of autophagy, and strongly impair the degradation of the autophagy substrate p62/SQST-1::GFP, revealing glutathione reductase may have a role in the clearance of protein aggregates by autophagy. Blocking autophagy in gsr-1 worms expressing aggregation-prone proteins results in strong synthetic developmental phenotypes and lethality, supporting the physiological importance of glutathione reductase in the regulation of misfolded protein clearance. Furthermore, impairing redox homeostasis in both yeast and mammalian cells induces toxicity phenotypes associated with protein aggregation. Together, our data reveal that glutathione redox homeostasis may be central to proteostasis maintenance through autophagy regulation.
Asunto(s)
Autofagia/genética , Caenorhabditis elegans/genética , Glutatión Reductasa/metabolismo , Glutatión/metabolismo , Péptidos/toxicidad , Agregación Patológica de Proteínas/metabolismo , Proteostasis/genética , Péptidos beta-Amiloides/genética , Péptidos beta-Amiloides/metabolismo , Animales , Factores de Transcripción con Motivo Hélice-Asa-Hélice Básico/genética , Factores de Transcripción con Motivo Hélice-Asa-Hélice Básico/metabolismo , Caenorhabditis elegans/crecimiento & desarrollo , Caenorhabditis elegans/metabolismo , Proteínas de Caenorhabditis elegans/genética , Proteínas de Caenorhabditis elegans/metabolismo , Línea Celular , Retículo Endoplásmico/metabolismo , Glutatión/genética , Glutatión Reductasa/genética , Homeostasis/efectos de los fármacos , Homeostasis/genética , Humanos , Maleatos/farmacología , Células Musculares/metabolismo , Neuronas/metabolismo , Oxidación-Reducción/efectos de los fármacos , Péptidos/antagonistas & inhibidores , Fenotipo , Proteolisis/efectos de los fármacos , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/genética , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/metabolismo , Proteína Sequestosoma-1/genética , Proteína Sequestosoma-1/metabolismo , alfa-Sinucleína/genética , alfa-Sinucleína/metabolismoRESUMEN
Glutathione is the most abundant thiol in the vast majority of organisms and is maintained in its reduced form by the flavoenzyme glutathione reductase. In this work, we describe the genetic and functional analysis of the Caenorhabditis elegans gsr-1 gene that encodes the only glutathione reductase protein in this model organism. By using green fluorescent protein reporters we demonstrate that gsr-1 produces two GSR-1 isoforms, one located in the cytoplasm and one in the mitochondria. gsr-1 loss of function mutants display a fully penetrant embryonic lethal phenotype characterized by a progressive and robust cell division delay accompanied by an aberrant distribution of interphasic chromatin in the periphery of the cell nucleus. Maternally expressed GSR-1 is sufficient to support embryonic development but these animals are short-lived, sensitized to chemical stress, have increased mitochondrial fragmentation and lower mitochondrial DNA content. Furthermore, the embryonic lethality of gsr-1 worms is prevented by restoring GSR-1 activity in the cytoplasm but not in mitochondria. Given the fact that the thioredoxin redox systems are dispensable in C. elegans, our data support a prominent role of the glutathione reductase/glutathione pathway in maintaining redox homeostasis in the nematode.