Fate and action of ricin in rat liver in vivo: translocation of endocytosed ricin into cytosol and induction of intrinsic apoptosis by ricin B-chain.

Cytotoxicity of many plant and bacterial toxins requires their endocytosis and retrograde transport from endosomes to the endoplasmic reticulum. Using cell fractionation and immunoblotting procedures, we have assessed the fate and action of the plant toxin ricin in rat liver in vivo, focusing on endosome-associated events and induction of apoptosis. Injected ricin rapidly accumulated in endosomes as an intact A/B heterodimer (5-90 min) and was later (15-90 min) partially translocated to cytosol as A- and B-chains. Unlike cholera and diphtheria toxins, which also undergo endocytosis in liver, neither in cell-free endosomes loaded by ricin in vivo nor upon incubation with endosomal lysates did ricin undergo degradation in vitro. A time-dependent translocation of ricin across the endosomal membrane occurred in cell-free endosomes. Endosome-located thioredoxin reductase-1 was required for translocation as shown by its physical association with ricin chains and effects of its removal and inhibition. Ricin induced in vivo intrinsic apoptosis as judged by increased cytochrome c content, activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3, and enrichment of DNA fragments in cytosol. Furthermore, reduced ricin and ricin B-chain caused cytochrome c release from mitochondria in vivo and in vitro, suggesting that the interaction of ricin B-chain with mitochondria is involved in ricin-induced apoptosis.

Processing of N-linked glycans during endoplasmic-reticulum-associated degradation of a short-lived variant of ribophorin I.

Recently, the role of N-linked glycans in the process of ERAD (endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation) of proteins has been widely recognized. In the present study, we attempted to delineate further the sequence of events leading from a fully glycosylated soluble protein to its deglycosylated form. Degradation intermediates of a truncated form of ribophorin I, namely RI(332), which contains a single N-linked oligosaccharide and is a substrate for the ERAD/ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, were characterized in HeLa cells under conditions blocking proteasomal degradation. The action of a deoxymannojirimycin- and kifunensine-sensitive alpha1,2-mannosidase was shown here to be required for both further glycan processing and progression of RI(332) in the ERAD pathway. In a first step, the Man(8) isomer B, generated by ER mannosidase I, appears to be the major oligomannoside structure associated with RI(332) intermediates. Some other trimmed N-glycan species, in particular Glc(1)Man(7)GlcNAc(2), were also found on the protein, indicating that several mannosidases might be implicated in the initial trimming of the oligomannoside. Secondly, another intermediate of degradation of RI(332) accumulated after proteasome inhibition. We demonstrated that this completely deglycosylated form arose from the action of an N-glycanase closely linked to the ER membrane. Indeed, the deglycosylated form of the protein remained membrane-associated, while being accessible from the cytoplasm to ubiquitinating enzymes and to added protease. Our results indicate that deglycosylation of a soluble ERAD substrate glycoprotein occurs in at least two distinct steps and is coupled with the retro-translocation of the protein preceding its proteasomal degradation.

Defect of N-glycosylation is not directly related to congenital disorder of glycosylation Ia fibroblast sensitivity to staurosporine-induced cell death.

Congenital disorder of glycosylation Ia (CDGIa) is an autosomal recessive disease that is caused by mutations in the gene PMM2 encoding phosphomannomutase, an enzyme that synthesizes mannose-1-phosphate, an important intermediate for the N-glycan biosynthesis. Here, we investigated the susceptibility of CDGIa fibroblasts to cell death induction. CDGIa fibroblasts were more sensitive than control fibroblasts to staurosporine-induced apoptosis. Supplementation with mannose, which corrects N-glycosylation in CDGIa fibroblasts, did not abrogate their higher sensitivity to staurosporine. These results show that the sensitivity of CDGIa fibroblasts to apoptosis is not directly related to their defective N-glycosylation.

Free-oligosaccharide control in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae: roles for peptide:N-glycanase (Png1p) and vacuolar mannosidase (Ams1p).

Free oligosaccharides (fOS) are generated during glycoprotein biosynthesis in mammalian cells. Here we report on the origin and fate of these structures in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. After metabolic radiolabelling with [2-(3)H]mannose ([2-(3)H]Man) for 30 min, Man(8)GlcNAc(2) was identified as the predominant fOS in this organism, and radioactivity associated with this structure was found to correspond to approximately 1% of that associated with the same structure N -linked to glycoprotein. Despite provoking a fourfold increase in radioactivity associated with lipid-linked oligosaccharide, the protein-synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide blocked [2-(3)H]Man incorporation into both endo-beta-D- N -acetylglucosamine H-sensitive N-glycans and fOS. Peptide:N-glycanase, encoded by the PNG1 gene, was found to be required for the generation of a large proportion of yeast fOS during, and soon after, protein glycosylation. Use of an ams1 Delta strain deficient in the vacuolar alpha-mannosidase revealed this enzyme to be responsible for the slow growth-associated catabolism of fOS. The present paper constitutes the first description of fOS formation in intact S. cerevisiae, and, with the demonstration that fOS are degraded by the vacuolar mannosidase, a novel function for this poorly understood enzyme has been identified.