Inositol pyrophosphates promote MYC polyubiquitination by FBW7 to regulate cell survival.

The transcription factor MYC regulates cell survival and growth, and its level is tightly controlled in normal cells. We report that serine pyrophosphorylation - a posttranslational modification triggered by inositol pyrophosphate signaling molecules - controls MYC levels via regulated protein degradation. We find that endogenous MYC is stabilized and less polyubiquitinated in cells with reduced inositol pyrophosphates. We show that the inositol pyrophosphate 5-IP7 transfers its high-energy beta phosphate moiety to pre-phosphorylated serine residues in the central PEST domain of MYC. Loss of serine pyrophosphorylation in the PEST domain lowers the extent of MYC polyubiquitination and increases its stability. Fusion to the MYC PEST domain lowers the stability of GFP, but this effect is dependent on the extent of PEST domain pyrophosphorylation. The E3 ubiquitin ligase FBW7 can bind directly to the PEST domain of MYC, and this interaction is exclusively dependent on serine pyrophosphorylation. A stabilized, pyrophosphorylation-deficient form of MYC increases cell death during growth stress in untransformed cells. Splenocytes from mice lacking IP6K1, a kinase responsible for the synthesis of 5-IP7, have higher levels of MYC, and show increased cell proliferation in response to mitogens, compared with splenocytes from wild type mice. Thus, control of MYC stability through a novel pyro-phosphodegron provides unexpected insight into the regulation of cell survival in response to environmental cues.

Protein charge transfer absorption spectra: an intrinsic probe to monitor structural and oligomeric transitions in proteins.

Protein Charge Transfer Spectra (ProCharTS) originate when charged amino/carboxylate groups in the side chains of Lys/Glu act as electronic charge acceptors/donors for photoinduced charge transfer either from/to the polypeptide backbone or to each other. The absorption band intensities in ProCharTS at wavelengths of 250-800 nm are dependent on the 3D spatial proximity of these charged functional groups across the protein. Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) are an important class of proteins involved in signalling and regulatory functions in the eukaryotic cell. IDPs are rich in charged amino acids, but lack structure-promoting intrinsic spectral probes like Tyr or Trp in their sequences, making their structural characterisation difficult. Here, we exploit the richness of charged amino acid populations among IDPs (like the PEST fragment of human c-Myc, its mutant and dehydrin from maize) to sense structural transitions in IDPs using ProCharTS absorption spectra. Conformational changes induced in the protein by altering the pH and temperature of the aqueous medium were monitored by ProCharTS and confirmed by CD spectra. Further, the utility of ProCharTS to detect protein aggregation was examined using Hen Egg-White Lysozyme (HEWL) protein. The results revealed that in the presence of Trp/Tyr, ProCharTS absorbance was substantially reduced, specifically at wavelengths where the absorption by Trp or Tyr was near its maximum. Significant changes in the ProCharTS spectra were observed with changing pH in the range of 3-11, which correlated with changes in the secondary structure of the PEST fragment. Importantly, the absorbance at 280 nm, which is often employed as a measure of protein concentration, was profoundly altered by changes in ProCharTS intensity in response to changing the pH in dehydrin. The ProCharTS intensity was sensitive to temperature-induced changes in the secondary structures of the PEST fragments between 25-85 °C. The presence of 0.25 M NaCl or KCl in the medium also altered the ProCharTS spectrum. Finally, an increase in ProCharTS absorbance with time in HEWL at pH 2 directly correlated with the growth of HEWL aggregates and amyloid fibrils, as confirmed by the increasing thioflavin T fluorescence. Taken together, our work highlights the utility of ProCharTS as a label-free intrinsic probe to monitor changes in protein charge, structure and oligomeric state.

Hyperglycemia-enhanced ischemic brain damage in mutant manganese SOD mice is associated with suppression of HIF-1alpha.

Both preischemic hyperglycemia and reduction of manganese superoxide dismutase activity are known to enhance neuronal death induced by transient cerebral ischemia. Transcriptional factor hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) regulates multiple downstream genes that modulate cell metabolism, survival, death, angiogenesis, hematopoiesis, and other functions. The objectives of this study were to determine (i) whether hyperglycemia is able to increase ischemic brain damage in mutant manganese superoxide dismutase (SOD2) mice and (ii) whether the reduction of SOD2 activity has a profound effect on HIF-1 protein expression under hyperglycemic ischemic condition. Both wild type and mutant SOD deficient (SOD2(-/+)) mice were induced to hyperglycemia 30min before induction of a 30-min transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO). Brains were extracted after 5 and 24h of reperfusion for immunohistochemistry and Western blot analyses. The results showed that preischemic hyperglycemia significantly increased infarct volume in SOD2(-/+)mice and that HIF-1alpha protein levels were significantly reduced in ischemic core area at 5- and 24-h of reperfusion in hyperglycemic SOD2(-/+) mice. However, the HIF-1alpha protein levels were not significantly decreased in hyperglycemic wild type animals subjected to stroke. The results suggest that the increased brain damage observed in hyperglycemic SOD2(-/+) mice is associated with HIF-1alpha suppression, while hyperglycemia per se does not seem to exert its detrimental effects on ischemic brain via modulating HIF-1 pathway.