Endoplasmic reticulum proteins SDF2 and SDF2L1 act as components of the BiP chaperone cycle to prevent protein aggregation.

The folding of newly synthesized proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is assisted by ER-resident chaperone proteins. BiP (immunoglobulin heavy-chain-binding protein), a member of the HSP70 family, plays a central role in protein quality control. The chaperone function of BiP is regulated by its intrinsic ATPase activity, which is stimulated by ER-resident proteins of the HSP40/DnaJ family, including ERdj3. Here, we report that two closely related proteins, SDF2 and SDF2L1, regulate the BiP chaperone cycle. Both are ER-resident, but SDF2 is constitutively expressed, whereas SDF2L1 expression is induced by ER stress. Both luminal proteins formed a stable complex with ERdj3 and potently inhibited the aggregation of different types of misfolded ER cargo. These proteins associated with non-native proteins, thus promoting the BiP-substrate interaction cycle. A dominant-negative ERdj3 mutant that inhibits the interaction between ERdj3 and BiP prevented the dissociation of misfolded cargo from the ERdj3-SDF2L1 complex. Our findings indicate that SDF2 and SDF2L1 associate with ERdj3 and act as components in the BiP chaperone cycle to prevent the aggregation of misfolded proteins, partly explaining the broad folding capabilities of the ER under various physiological conditions.

SEL1L protein critically determines the stability of the HRD1-SEL1L endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation (ERAD) complex to optimize the degradation kinetics of ERAD substrates.

The mammalian HRD1-SEL1L complex provides a scaffold for endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-associated degradation (ERAD), thereby connecting luminal substrates for ubiquitination at the cytoplasmic surface after their retrotranslocation through the endoplasmic reticulum membrane. In this study the stability of the mammalian HRD1-SEL1L complex was assessed by performing siRNA-mediated knockdown of each of its components. Although endogenous SEL1L is a long-lived protein, the half-life of SEL1L was greatly reduced when HRD1 is silenced. Conversely, transiently expressed SEL1L was rapidly degraded but was stabilized when HRD1 was coexpressed. This was in contrast to the yeast Hrd1p-Hrd3p, where Hrd1p is destabilized by the depletion of Hrd3p, the SEL1L homologue. Endogenous HRD1-SEL1L formed a large ERAD complex (Complex I) associating with numerous ERAD components including ERAD lectin OS-9, membrane-spanning Derlin-1/2, VIMP, and Herp, whereas transiently expressed HRD1-SEL1L formed a smaller complex (Complex II) that was associated with OS-9 but not with Derlin-1/2, VIMP, or Herp. Despite its lack of stable association with the latter components, Complex II supported the retrotranslocation and degradation of model ERAD substrates α1-antitrypsin null Hong-Kong (NHK) and its variant NHK-QQQ lacking the N-glycosylation sites. NHK-QQQ was rapidly degraded when SEL1L was transiently expressed, whereas the simultaneous transfection of HRD1 diminished that effect. SEL1L unassociated with HRD1 was degraded by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, which suggests the involvement of a ubiquitin-ligase other than HRD1 in the rapid degradation of both SEL1L and NHK-QQQ. These results indicate that the regulation of the stability and assembly of the HRD1-SEL1L complex is critical to optimize the degradation kinetics of ERAD substrates.

Systematic screen for genes involved in the regulation of oxidative stress in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.

Oxygen is essential for animals, but high concentrations of oxygen are toxic to them probably because of an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS). Many genes are involved in the regulation of ROS, but they largely remain to be identified. To identify these genes, we employed the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism, and systematically screened for genes that, when down-regulated by RNAi, lead to an increased sensitivity to ROS. We examined approximately 2400 genes on linkage group I and found that knock-down of 9 genes which participate in various cellular functions led to an increased sensitivity to ROS. This finding suggests an implication of a variety of cellular processes in the regulation of oxidative stress.

Endoplasmic reticulum lectin XTP3-B inhibits endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation of a misfolded α1-antitrypsin variant.

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is an organelle that synthesizes many secretory and membrane proteins. However, proteins often fold incorrectly. Terminally misfolded polypeptides in the ER are retro-translocated to the cytosol, where they are ultimately degraded by the ubiquitin-proteasome system, a process termed ER-associated degradation (ERAD). By recognizing the specific structures of N-linked oligosaccharides attached to polypeptides, lectins play an important role in the quality control of glycoproteins in the ER. Mammalian OS-9 and XTP3-B are ER-resident lectins that contain mannose 6-phosphate receptor homology (MRH) domains, which recognize sugar moieties; OS-9 has one MRH domain and XTP3-B has two. Both are involved in ERAD, but the functional differences between the two are poorly understood. The present study analyzed the function of human XTP3-B, and found, by frontal affinity chromatography analysis, that its C-terminal MRH domain specifically recognized the Man9 GlcNAc2 (M9) glycan in vitro and M9 glycans on an ERAD substrate NHK, a terminally misfolded α1-antitrypsin variant, in vivo. Furthermore, endogenous XTP3-B was a component of the HRD1-SEL1L membrane-embedded ubiquitin ligase complex, an association that was stabilized by a direct interaction with SEL1L. The lectin activity of XTP3-B was required for its binding to NHK, but not for its association with SEL1L. Unlike OS-9, XTP3-B did not enhance the degradation of misfolded glycoproteins, but instead inhibited the degradation of NHK bearing M9 oligosaccharides. Therefore, we propose that XTP3-B recognizes M9 glycans on unfolded polypeptides, thereby acting as a negative regulator of ERAD, and also protects newly synthesized immature polypeptides from premature degradation.