Pael receptor is involved in dopamine metabolism in the nigrostriatal system.

Pael receptor (Pael-R) has been identified as one of the substrates of Parkin, a ubiquitin ligase responsible for autosomal recessive juvenile Parkinsonism (AR-JP). When Parkin is inactivated, unfolded Pael-R accumulates in the endoplasmic reticulum and results in neuronal death by unfolded protein stress, suggesting that Pael-R has an important role in the pathogenesis of AR-JP. Here we report the analyses on Pael-R-deficient (KO) and Pael-R-transgenic (Tg) mice. The striatal dopamine (DA) level of Pael-R KO mice was only 60% of that in normal mice, while in Pael-R Tg mice, striatal 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) as well as vesicular DA content increased. Moreover, the nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons of Pael-R Tg mice are more vulnerable to Parkinson's disease-related neurotoxins while those of Pael-R KO mice are less. These results strongly suggest that the Pael-R signal regulates the amount of DA in the dopaminergic neurons and that excessive Pael-R expression renders dopaminergic neurons susceptible to chronic DA toxicity.

Pael receptor induces death of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra via endoplasmic reticulum stress and dopamine toxicity, which is enhanced under condition of parkin inactivation.

Selective loss of dopaminergic neurons is the final common pathway in Parkinson's disease. Expression of Parkin associated endothelin-receptor like receptor (Pael-R) in mouse brain was achieved by injecting adenoviral vectors carrying a modified neuron-specific promoter and Cre recombinase into the striatum. Upregulation of Pael-R in the substantia nigra pars compacta of mice by retrograde infection induced endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress leads to death of dopaminergic neurons. The role of ER stress in dopaminergic neuronal vulnerability was highlighted by their decreased survival in mice deficient in the ubiquitin-protein ligase Parkin and the ER chaperone ORP150 (150 kDa oxygen-regulated protein). Dopamine-related toxicity was also a key factor, as a dopamine synthesis inhibitor blocked neuronal death in parkin null mice. These data suggest a model in which ER- and dopamine-related stress are major contributors to decreased viability of dopaminergic neurons in a setting relevant to Parkinson's disease.

A product of the human gene adjacent to parkin is a component of Lewy bodies and suppresses Pael receptor-induced cell death.

Parkin, a RING-type ubiquitin ligase, is the product of the gene responsible for autosomal recessive juvenile parkinsonism. A reverse strand gene located upstream of the parkin gene in the human genome has been identified. The gene product, termed Glup/PACRG, forms a large molecular chaperone complex containing heat shock proteins 70 and 90 and chaperonin components. Glup suppressed cell death induced by accumulation of unfolded Pael receptor (Pael-R), a substrate of Parkin. On the other hand, Glup facilitated the formation of inclusions consisting of Pael-R, molecular chaperones, protein degradation molecules, and Glup itself, when proteasome is inhibited. Glup knockdown attenuated the formation of Pael-R inclusions, which resulted in the promotion of cell death with extensive vacuolization. Moreover, Glup turned out to be a component of Lewy bodies in Parkinson's disease cases. These data suggest that Glup may play an important role in the formation of Lewy bodies and protection of dopaminergic neurons against Parkinson's disease.

Reverse transformation of hepatic myofibroblast-like cells by TGFbeta1/LAP.

The activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) to myofibroblasts (MFBs) is a key process for initiation of hepatic fibrosis and accumulation of the extracellular matrix (ECM). In this process, transforming growth factor beta1 (TGFbeta1) plays an important role in activating HSCs. In this study, we determined whether the activation of HSC was suppressed by latency-associated peptide (LAP) that is a part of TGFbeta1 precursor peptide. An MFB-like cell line (MFBY2) established from a fibrotic rat liver was infected with a recombinant adenovirus expressing LAP (AxCALAP). As results, AxCALAP-infected MFBY2 arrested cell proliferation and significantly decreased in expression of TGFbeta1 and ECM components. Interestingly, the expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein and up-take of retinoic acid were enhanced by AxCALAP-infection, while expression of alpha-smooth muscle actin was inhibited. These results suggested that overexpression of LAP in MFBs induces the reverse transformation to HSC phenotype. The adenoviral vector used in this study may have possible therapeutic applications in liver fibrosis.

CHIP is associated with Parkin, a gene responsible for familial Parkinson's disease, and enhances its ubiquitin ligase activity.

Unfolded Pael receptor (Pael-R) is a substrate of the E3 ubiquitin ligase Parkin. Accumulation of Pael-R in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of dopaminergic neurons induces ER stress leading to neurodegeneration. Here, we show that CHIP, Hsp70, Parkin, and Pael-R formed a complex in vitro and in vivo. The amount of CHIP in the complex was increased during ER stress. CHIP promoted the dissociation of Hsp70 from Parkin and Pael-R, thus facilitating Parkin-mediated Pael-R ubiquitination. Moreover, CHIP enhanced Parkin-mediated in vitro ubiquitination of Pael-R in the absence of Hsp70. Furthermore, CHIP enhanced the ability of Parkin to inhibit cell death induced by Pael-R. Taken together, these results indicate that CHIP is a mammalian E4-like molecule that positively regulates Parkin E3 activity.