Comparison of Steroidogenic and Ovulation-Inducing Effects of Orthosteric and Allosteric Agonists of Luteinizing Hormone/Chorionic Gonadotropin Receptor in Immature Female Rats.

Gonadotropins, including human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), are used to induce ovulation, but they have a number of side effects, including ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). A possible alternative is allosteric luteinizing hormone (LH)/hCG receptor agonists, including the compound TP4/2 we developed, which remains active when administered orally. The aim was to study the effectiveness of TP4/2 (orally, 40 mg/kg) as an ovulation inducer in FSH-stimulated immature female rats, compared with hCG (s.c., 15 IU/rat). TP4/2 stimulated progesterone production and corpus luteum formation; time-dependently increased the ovarian expression of steroidogenic genes (Star, Cyp11a1, Cyp17a1) and genes involved in ovulation regulation (Adamts-1, Cox-2, Egr-1, Mt-1); and increased the content of metalloproteinase ADAMTS-1 in the ovaries. These effects were similar to those of hCG, although in some cases they were less pronounced. TP4/2, in contrast to hCG, maintained normal LH levels and increased the ovarian expression of the LH/hCG receptor gene, indicating preservation of ovarian sensitivity to LH, and did not cause a sustained increase in expression of vascular endothelial growth factor-A involved in OHSS. Thus, TP4/2 is an effective ovulation inducer that, unlike hCG, has a lower risk of OHSS and ovarian LH resistance due to its moderate stimulating effect on steroidogenesis.

A Novel In Vitro CypD-Mediated p53 Aggregation Assay Suggests a Model for Mitochondrial Permeability Transition by Chaperone Systems.

Tissue necrosis as a consequence of ischemia-reperfusion injury and oxidative damage is a leading cause of permanent disability and death worldwide. The complete mechanism by which cells undergo necrosis upon oxidative stress is not understood. In response to an oxidative insult, wild-type p53 has been implicated as a central regulatory component of the mitochondrial permeability transition (mPT), triggering necrosis. This process is associated with cellular stabilization and translocation of p53 into the mitochondrial matrix. Here, we probe the mechanism by which p53 activates the key mPT regulator cyclophilin D (CypD). We explore the involvement of Trap1, an Hsp90-related mitochondrial matrix protein and a member of the mitochondrial unfolded protein response, and its ability to suppress mPT in a p53-dependent manner. Our study finds that catalytically active CypD causes strong aggregation of wild-type p53 protein (both full-length and isolated DNA-binding domain) into amyloid-type fibrils in vitro. The responsible CypD residues for this activity were mapped by NMR to the active site amino acids R55, F60, F113, and W121. The data also present a new proline isomerization assay for CypD by monitoring the aggregation of p53 as an indicator of CypD activity. Moreover, we find that the inhibition of Trap1 by the mitochondria-specific HSP90 ATPase antagonist Gamitrinib strongly sensitizes primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts to mPT and permeability transition pore opening in a p53- and CypD-dependent manner. We propose a mechanism by which the influx of unfolded p53 into the mitochondrial matrix in response to oxidative stress indirectly activates the normally inhibited CypD by displacing it from Trap1 complexes. This activates CypD's isomerase activity. Liberated CypD then isomerizes multiple proteins including p53 (causing p53 aggregation) and the structural components of the mPTP pore, inducing pore opening. This working model can now be tested in the future.

Structural and Functional Analysis of the Allosteric Inhibition of IRE1α with ATP-Competitive Ligands.

The accumulation of unfolded proteins under endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress leads to the activation of the multidomain protein sensor IRE1α as part of the unfolded protein response (UPR). Clustering of IRE1α lumenal domains in the presence of unfolded proteins promotes kinase trans-autophosphorylation in the cytosol and subsequent RNase domain activation. Interestingly, there is an allosteric relationship between the kinase and RNase domains of IRE1α, which allows ATP-competitive inhibitors to modulate the activity of the RNase domain. Here, we use kinase inhibitors to study how ATP-binding site conformation affects the activity of the RNase domain of IRE1α. We find that diverse ATP-competitive inhibitors of IRE1α promote dimerization and activation of RNase activity despite blocking kinase autophosphorylation. In contrast, a subset of ATP-competitive ligands, which we call KIRAs, allosterically inactivate the RNase domain through the kinase domain by stabilizing monomeric IRE1α. Further insight into how ATP-competitive inhibitors are able to divergently modulate the RNase domain through the kinase domain was gained by obtaining the first structure of apo human IRE1α in the RNase active back-to-back dimer conformation. Comparison of this structure with other existing structures of IRE1α and integration of our extensive structure activity relationship (SAR) data has led us to formulate a model to rationalize how ATP-binding site ligands are able to control the IRE1α oligomeric state and subsequent RNase domain activity.