Ubc9 Is Required for Positive Selection and Late-Stage Maturation of Thymocytes.

SUMOylation is an important posttranslational modification that regulates protein function in diverse biological processes. However, its role in early T cell development has not been genetically studied. UBC9 is the only E2 enzyme for all SUMOylation. In this study, by selectively deleting Ubc9 gene in T cells, we have investigated the functional roles of SUMOylation in T cell development. Loss of Ubc9 results in a significant reduction of CD4 and CD8 single-positive lymphocytes in both thymus and periphery. Ubc9-deficient cells exhibit defective late-stage maturation post the initial positive selection with increased apoptosis and impaired proliferation, among which attenuated IL-7 signaling was correlated with the decreased survival of Ubc9-deficent CD8 single-positive cells. Furthermore, NFAT nuclear retention induced by TCR signals was regulated by SUMOylation during thymocytes development. Our study thus reveals a novel posttranslational mechanism underlying T cell development.

Protein SUMOylation Is Required for Regulatory T Cell Expansion and Function.

Foxp3-expressing regulatory T (Treg) cells are essential for immune tolerance; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying Treg cell expansion and function are still not well understood. SUMOylation is a protein post-translational modification characterized by covalent attachment of SUMO moieties to lysines. UBC9 is the only E2 conjugating enzyme involved in this process, and loss of UBC9 completely abolishes the SUMOylation pathway. Here, we report that selective deletion of Ubc9 within the Treg lineage results in fatal early-onset autoimmunity similar to Foxp3 mutant mice. Ubc9-deficient Treg cells exhibit severe defects in TCR-driven homeostatic proliferation, accompanied by impaired activation and compromised suppressor function. Importantly, TCR ligation enhanced SUMOylation of IRF4, a critical regulator of Treg cell function downstream of TCR signals, which regulates its stability in Treg cells. Our data thus have demonstrated an essential role of SUMOylation in the expansion and function of Treg cells.

Clock-Talk: Interactions between Central and Peripheral Circadian Oscillators in Mammals.

In mammals, including humans, nearly all physiological processes are subject to daily oscillations that are governed by a circadian timing system with a complex hierarchical structure. The central pacemaker, residing in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the ventral hypothalamus, is synchronized daily by photic cues transmitted from the retina to SCN neurons via the retinohypothalamic tract. In turn, the SCN must establish phase coherence between self-sustained and cell-autonomous oscillators present in most peripheral cell types. The synchronization signals (Zeitgebers) can be controlled more or less directly by the SCN. In mice and rats, feeding-fasting rhythms, which are driven by the SCN through rest-activity cycles, are the most potent Zeitgebers for the circadian oscillators of peripheral organs. Signaling through the glucocorticoid receptor and the serum response factor also participate in the phase entrainment of peripheral clocks, and these two pathways are controlled by the SCN independently of feeding-fasting rhythms. Body temperature rhythms, governed by the SCN directly and indirectly through rest-activity cycles, are perhaps the most surprising cues for peripheral oscillators. Although the molecular makeup of circadian oscillators is nearly identical in all cells, these oscillators are used for different purposes in the SCN and in peripheral organs.

Shedding new light on circadian clocks.

Using a clever combination of genetic and biochemical tools researchers have shown that a transcription factor called USF1 has a central role in determining how mutations of the Clock gene manifest themselves in the behaviour of different mouse strains.

Physical and functional interaction between PML and TBX2 in the establishment of cellular senescence.

Cellular senescence acts as a potent barrier for tumour initiation and progression. Previous studies showed that the PML tumour suppressor promotes senescence, although the precise mechanisms remain to be elucidated. Combining gene expression profiling with chromatin-binding analyses and promoter reporter studies, we identify TBX2, a T-box transcription factor frequently overexpressed in cancer, as a novel and direct PML-repressible E2F-target gene in senescence but not quiescence. Recruitment of PML to the TBX2 promoter is dependent on a functional p130/E2F4 repressor complex ultimately implementing a transcriptionally inactive chromatin environment at the TBX2 promoter. TBX2 repression actively contributes to senescence induction as cells depleted for TBX2 trigger PML pro-senescence function(s) and enter senescence. Reciprocally, elevated TBX2 levels antagonize PML pro-senescence function through direct protein-protein interaction. Collectively, our findings indicate that PML and TBX2 act in an autoregulatory loop to control the effective execution of the senescence program.

Sumoylation by Ubc9 regulates the stem cell compartment and structure and function of the intestinal epithelium in mice.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Small ubiquitin-like modifiers (SUMOs) are attached to other proteins to regulate their function (sumoylation). We investigated the role of Ubc9, which covalently attaches SUMOs to proteins, in the gastrointestinal tract of adult mice. METHODS: We investigated the effects of decreased sumoylation in adult mammals by generating mice with an inducible knockout (by injection of 4-hydroxytamoxifen) of the E2 enzyme Ubc9 (Ubc9fl/-/ROSA26-CreERT2 mice). We analyzed the phenotypes using a range of histologic techniques. RESULTS: Loss of Ubc9 from adult mice primarily affected the small intestine. Ubc9fl/-/ROSA26-CreERT2 mice died within 6 days of 4-hydroxytamoxifen injection, losing 20% or less of their body weight and developing severe diarrhea on the second day after injection. Surprisingly, other epithelial tissues appeared to be unaffected at that stage. Decreased sumoylation led to the depletion of the intestinal proliferative compartment and to the rapid disappearance of stem cells. Sumoylation was required to separate the proliferative and differentiated compartments from the crypt and control differentiation and function of the secretory lineage. Sumoylation was required for nucleus positioning and polarized organization of actin in the enterocytes. Loss of sumoylation caused detachment of the enterocytes from the basal lamina, as observed in tissue fragility diseases. We identified the intermediate filament keratin 8 as a SUMO substrate in epithelial cells. CONCLUSIONS: Sumoylation maintains intestinal stem cells and the architecture, mechanical stability, and function of the intestinal epithelium of mice.