Pathways of cellular proteostasis in aging and disease.

Ensuring cellular protein homeostasis, or proteostasis, requires precise control of protein synthesis, folding, conformational maintenance, and degradation. A complex and adaptive proteostasis network coordinates these processes with molecular chaperones of different classes and their regulators functioning as major players. This network serves to ensure that cells have the proteins they need while minimizing misfolding or aggregation events that are hallmarks of age-associated proteinopathies, including neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. It is now clear that the capacity of cells to maintain proteostasis undergoes a decline during aging, rendering the organism susceptible to these pathologies. Here we discuss the major proteostasis pathways in light of recent research suggesting that their age-dependent failure can both contribute to and result from disease. We consider different strategies to modulate proteostasis capacity, which may help develop urgently needed therapies for neurodegeneration and other age-dependent pathologies.

Monitoring conformational heterogeneity of the lid of DnaK substrate-binding domain during its chaperone cycle.

DnaK or Hsp70 of Escherichia coli is a master regulator of the bacterial proteostasis network. Allosteric communication between the two functional domains of DnaK, the N-terminal nucleotide-binding domain (NBD) and the C-terminal substrate- or peptide-binding domain (SBD) regulate its activity. X-ray crystallography and NMR studies have provided snapshots of distinct conformations of Hsp70 proteins in various physiological states; however, the conformational heterogeneity and dynamics of allostery-driven Hsp70 activity remains underexplored. In this work, we employed single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer (sm-FRET) measurements to capture distinct intradomain conformational states of a region within the DnaK-SBD known as the lid. Our data conclusively demonstrate prominent conformational heterogeneity of the DnaK lid in ADP-bound states; in contrast, the ATP-bound open conformations are homogeneous. Interestingly, a nonhydrolysable ATP analogue, AMP-PNP, imparts heterogeneity to the lid conformations mimicking the ADP-bound state. The cochaperone DnaJ confers ADP-like heterogeneous lid conformations to DnaK, although the presence of the cochaperone accelerates the substrate-binding rate by a hitherto unknown mechanism. Irrespective of the presence of DnaJ, binding of a peptide substrate to the DnaK-SBD leads to prominent lid closure. Lid closure is only partial upon binding to molten globule-like authentic cellular substrates, probably to accommodate non-native substrate proteins of varied structures.

Nonconventional chemical inhibitors of microRNA: therapeutic scope.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of genomically encoded small RNA molecules (∼22nts in length), which regulate gene expression post transcriptionally. The term microRNA or miRNA was coined in 2001, and research in the past decade has shed light on their widespread occurrence, evolutionary conservation and tissue specific functions. It is estimated that they modulate the gene expression of approximately 60% of the mammalian genes by regulating the levels of target mRNAs to which they can bind on the basis of sequence complementarities. miRNAs are produced in a well coordinated series of steps from being transcribed in the nucleus to exerting their function in the cytoplasm. miRNAs are now implicated in diverse biological phenomena ranging from development to stress response which makes miRNAs one of the central regulatory molecules which modulate information flow along the central dogma of gene expression. More importantly, like any regulatory molecule, deregulation of miRNAs is causally associated with several diseases (mainly cancer) and is directly involved in a variety of pathophysiologies owing to their aberrant expression. Thus, modulation of miRNA levels is of prime therapeutic importance. Conventional methods of miRNA knockdown using chemically modified antisense-oligonucleotides have been explored extensively but face the challenges of modes of delivery, biostability and biodistribution. This calls for the development of more alternative and non-conventional methods to target miRNA. Small molecules targeting RNA chemical and structural space provide one such timely opportunity. In this article we first provide a brief overview of miRNA biogenesis and its disease associations. We then summarize the major developments in conventional oligonucleotide based approaches to miRNA knockdown and its status. We then focus on the more non-conventional methods like oligonucleotide enzymes and small molecules and provide an outlook on the future of such methods.

Classification of chemical chaperones based on their effect on protein folding landscapes.

Various small molecules present in biological systems can assist protein folding in vitro and are known as chemical chaperones. De novo design of chemical chaperones with higher activity than currently known examples is desirable to ameliorate protein misfolding and aggregation in multiple contexts. However, this development has been hindered by limited knowledge of their activities. It is thought that chemical chaperones are typically poor solvents for a protein backbone and hence facilitate native structure formation. However, it is unknown if different chemical chaperones can act differently to modulate folding energy landscapes. Using a model slow folding protein, double-mutant Maltose-binding protein (DM-MBP), we show that a canonical chemical chaperone, trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO), accelerates refolding by decreasing the flexibility of the refolding intermediate (RI). Among a number of small molecules that chaperone DM-MBP folding, proline and serine stabilize the transition state (TS) enthalpically, while trehalose behaves like TMAO and increases the rate of barrier crossing through nonenthalpic processes. We propose a two-group classification of chemical chaperones based upon their thermodynamic effect on RI and TS, which is also supported by single molecule Förster resonance energy transfer (smFRET) studies. Interestingly, for a different test protein, the molecular mechanisms of the two groups of chaperones are not conserved. This provides a glimpse into the complexity of chemical chaperoning activity of osmolytes. Future work would allow us to engineer synergism between the two classes to design more efficient chemical chaperones to ameliorate protein misfolding and aggregation problems.

A molecular-beacon-based screen for small molecule inhibitors of miRNA maturation.

miRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that regulate about 60% of mammalian genes by modulating their transcript levels. Network scale studies of miRNA-mediated regulatory circuits demonstrate the central importance of this class of small RNA in the maintenance of biological robustness. More recently, several reports have described the deregulation of numerous miRNA to be causally associated with many diseases, including cancer. These studies have highlighted the potential for development of therapeutic modalities against miRNA. Previous screening protocols, for small molecules targeting miRNA function, are either costly or technically too complex to be applied in a high-throughput manner in standard chemical laboratories. We describe a simple in vitro screening method using a DNA-based molecular beacon that overcomes the limitations associated with earlier screens. We used this method to identify inhibitors of miR-27a function from a library of 14 aminoglycosides as a pilot study. Inhibitory molecules identified were further scrutinized to identify the validity of screen. With this proof of concept we illustrate the utility of a scalable molecular-beacon-based screening strategy for miRNA inhibitors.

Unique structural modulation of a non-native substrate by cochaperone DnaJ.

The role of bacterial DnaJ protein as a cochaperone of DnaK is strongly appreciated. Although DnaJ unaccompanied by DnaK can bind unfolded as well as native substrate proteins, its role as an individual chaperone remains elusive. In this study, we demonstrate that DnaJ binds a model non-native substrate with a low nanomolar dissociation constant and, more importantly, modulates the structure of its non-native state. The structural modulation achieved by DnaJ is different compared to that achieved by the DnaK-DnaJ complex. The nature of structural modulation exerted by DnaJ is suggestive of a unique unfolding activity on the non-native substrate by the chaperone. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the zinc binding motif along with the C-terminal substrate binding domain of DnaJ is necessary and sufficient for binding and the subsequent binding-induced structural alterations of the non-native substrate. We hypothesize that this hitherto unknown structural alteration of non-native states by DnaJ might be important for its chaperoning activity by removing kinetic traps of the folding intermediates.

Integrative transcriptome analysis suggest processing of a subset of long non-coding RNAs to small RNAs.

BACKGROUND: The availability of sequencing technology has enabled understanding of transcriptomes through genome-wide approaches including RNA-sequencing. Contrary to the previous assumption that large tracts of the eukaryotic genomes are not transcriptionally active, recent evidence from transcriptome sequencing approaches have revealed pervasive transcription in many genomes of higher eukaryotes. Many of these loci encode transcripts that have no obvious protein-coding potential and are designated as non-coding RNA (ncRNA). Non-coding RNAs are classified empirically as small and long non-coding RNAs based on the size of the functional RNAs. Each of these classes is further classified into functional subclasses. Although microRNAs (miRNA), one of the major subclass of ncRNAs, have been extensively studied for their roles in regulation of gene expression and involvement in a large number of patho-physiological processes, the functions of a large proportion of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) still remains elusive. We hypothesized that some lncRNAs could potentially be processed to small RNA and thus could have a dual regulatory output. RESULTS: Integration of large-scale independent experimental datasets in public domain revealed that certain well studied lncRNAs harbor small RNA clusters. Expression analysis of the small RNA clusters in different tissue and cell types reveal that they are differentially regulated suggesting a regulated biogenesis mechanism. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis suggests existence of a potentially novel pathway for lncRNA processing into small RNAs. Expression analysis, further suggests that this pathway is regulated. We argue that this evidence supports our hypothesis, though limitations of the datasets and analysis cannot completely rule out alternate possibilities. Further in-depth experimental verification of the observation could potentially reveal a novel pathway for biogenesis.

Information encoded in non-native states drives substrate-chaperone pairing.

Many proteins refold in vitro through kinetic folding intermediates that are believed to be by-products of native-state centric evolution. These intermediates are postulated to play only minor roles, if any, in vivo because they lack any information related to translation-associated vectorial folding. We demonstrate that refolding intermediate of a test protein, generated in vitro, is able to find its cognate chaperone, from the whole complement of Escherichia coli soluble chaperones. Cognate chaperone-binding uniquely alters the conformation of non-native substrate. Importantly, precise chaperone targeting of substrates are maintained as long as physiological molar ratios of chaperones remain unaltered. Using a library of different chaperone substrates, we demonstrate that kinetically trapped refolding intermediates contain sufficient structural features for precise targeting to cognate chaperones. We posit that evolution favors sequences that, in addition to coding for a functional native state, encode folding intermediates with higher affinity for cognate chaperones than noncognate ones.

Potential G-quadruplexes in the human long non-coding transcriptome.

DNA G-quadruplexes are known as modulators of transcription. More recently G-quadruplexes, located in the untranslated regions of the mRNA of protein coding genes, have been described to negatively regulate gene expression at the post transcriptional/ translational levels. Here we describe the possibility of the existence of G-quadruplexes in non-coding RNA (ncRNA) and discuss their potential biological roles. Using an in house prediction tool (Quadfinder) we observe a significant occurrence and distribution of G-quadruplexes in ncRNA of various sizes. We also observe that most of non-coding RNAs harboring these potential quadruplex motifs peak at the sizes ranging from 200-300 bases. More importantly we report enrichment for single and dinucleotide loops indicating a degree of high stability of these G-quadruplexes and their potential functions in vivo. Subsequent in vitro analyses of a subset of these sequences were performed which support our predictions.