{"title":"TBK1 alleviates triptolide-induced nephrotoxic injury by up-regulating mitophagy in HK2 cells.","authors":"Xinxin Lu, Qionghui Huang, Zhaohui He, Huanjie Zhou, Zhenwei Chen, Youjian Zhou, Tiecheng Yang, Lang-Jing Zhu","doi":"10.1515/hsz-2024-0141","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/hsz-2024-0141","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><i>Tripterygium wilfordii</i> has been used for a long time to treat autoimmune diseases. Its toxic side effects limit its clinical application. Mitophagy plays a protective role in various diseases. TANK-binding kinase 1 (TBK1) is a mitophagy-promoting molecule. This study aimed to investigate whether TBK1 could alleviate triptolide (TP)-induced nephrotoxicity by regulating mitophagy. To establish TP-induced nephrotoxic injury in animal model, 16 Sprague-Dawley rats were administered with TP by gavage, then renal tissues were collected for hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining, western blotting and immunofluorescence analysis. To investigate whether up-regulation of TBK1 could alleviate TP-induced nephrotoxic injury and the specific mechanism, HK-2 cells were cultured <i>in vitro</i>, transfected with TBK1-overexpression recombinant lentivirus, then treated with TP. Western blotting, immunofluorescence, flow cytometry, multifunctional microplate detector were used to detect the relevant molecules. Here we found that TP caused kidney function damage, declined mitophagy levels, decreased the expression of TBK1 and mitophagy-related proteins in rats. TP stimulation decreased cell viability, mitochondrial membrane potential, mitophagy-protein, the formation of mito-autophagosomes and mito-autophagolysosomes in HK-2 cells. Upregulating TBK1 could reverse these damages. In summary, TP-induced cell injury had decreased mitophagy levels. Up-regulating TBK1 could increase mitophagy and further alleviate TP-induced cell injury.</p>","PeriodicalId":8885,"journal":{"name":"Biological Chemistry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-05-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143960337","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"CK2 control of human papillomavirus life cycles.","authors":"Apurva T Prabhakar, Iain M Morgan","doi":"10.1515/hsz-2024-0150","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/hsz-2024-0150","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Human papillomaviruses are causative agents in around 5 % of all cancers, and in a number of other human diseases. While prophylactic vaccines will alleviate the HPV disease burden on future generations, there are currently no therapeutic anti-viral strategies for combating HPV infections or lesions. HPV induce the proliferation of infected epithelial cells and modulate the host differentiation response, and both of these controls are required for a successful viral life cycle. Enhanced understanding of viral-host interactions during the viral life cycle will identify potential novel anti-viral strategies for therapeutic development. This minireview will summarize the critical role of the host enzyme CK2 in regulating the function of the viral proteins E1, E2 and E7; such control makes CK2 a critical enzyme for regulating HPV life cycles. Therapeutic strategies blocking CK2 function to combat HPV infections and treat HPV diseases will be described.</p>","PeriodicalId":8885,"journal":{"name":"Biological Chemistry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143973617","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hanna Kavaliova, Barbara Lecis, Demetra Ballardin, Laetitia Cobret, Thierry Bienvenu, Severine Morisset-Lopez, Heike Rebholz
{"title":"Pathogenic missense variants of CSNK2B associated with Poirier-Bienvenu neurodevelopmental disorder impact differently on CK2 holoenzyme formation.","authors":"Hanna Kavaliova, Barbara Lecis, Demetra Ballardin, Laetitia Cobret, Thierry Bienvenu, Severine Morisset-Lopez, Heike Rebholz","doi":"10.1515/hsz-2024-0162","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/hsz-2024-0162","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Poirier-Bienvenu neurodevelopmental syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder associated with <i>de novo</i> variants of the <i>CSNK2B</i> gene, characterized by intellectual disability, developmental delay, frequent seizures and more. While the majority of variants are nonsense variants leading to abortion of protein translation and no or truncated CK2β, many pathogenic missense variants also exist. We investigated the effect of four variants on CK2 holoenzyme formation and activity. We show that variants in the Zinc-finger region leads to reduced protein stability and altered subcellular localization. The instability is partly mediated by proteasomal and lysosomal degradation. We further show that homodimerization of these CK2β variants (p.Arg111Pro, p.Cys137Phe), localized within the Zinc-finger domain, is significantly reduced, while CK2α binding appears not affected. Other variants, p.Asp32Asn and p.Arg86Cys, did not affect stability or CK2β/α binding. For these mutants, the key to understanding the pathological mechanism may depend on external factors, such as altered protein-protein interaction. We conclude that Zinc-finger domain variants appear to destabilize the protein and affect holoenzyme formation, effectively reducing the pool of competent holoCK2. In the context of POBINDS, our findings suggest that Zinc-finger domain variants are likely to affect cells similarly to truncating and splicing variants with reduced translation of full-length CK2β.</p>","PeriodicalId":8885,"journal":{"name":"Biological Chemistry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143960535","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The evolution and diversification of the Hsp90 co-chaperone system.","authors":"Sonja Engler, Johannes Buchner","doi":"10.1515/hsz-2025-0112","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/hsz-2025-0112","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The molecular chaperone Hsp90 is the central element of a chaperone machinery in the cytosol of eukaryotic cells that is characterized by a large number of structurally and functionally different co-chaperones that influence the core chaperone component in different ways and increase its influence on the proteome. From yeast to humans, the number of Hsp90 co-chaperones has increased from 14 to over 40, and new co-chaperones are still being discovered. While Hsp90 itself has only undergone limited changes in structure and mechanism from yeast to humans, its increased importance and contribution to different processes in humans is based on the evolution and expansion of the cohort of co-chaperones. In this review, we provide an overview of Hsp90 co-chaperones, focusing on their roles in regulating Hsp90 function and their evolution from yeast to humans.</p>","PeriodicalId":8885,"journal":{"name":"Biological Chemistry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143964159","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Liudy García-Hernández, Lingfeng Dai, Arielis Rodríguez-Ulloa, Ying Yi, Luis J González, Vladimir Besada, Wen Li, Silvio E Perea, Yasser Perera
{"title":"Time- and dose-dependent effects of CIGB-300 on the proteome of lung squamous cell carcinoma.","authors":"Liudy García-Hernández, Lingfeng Dai, Arielis Rodríguez-Ulloa, Ying Yi, Luis J González, Vladimir Besada, Wen Li, Silvio E Perea, Yasser Perera","doi":"10.1515/hsz-2024-0149","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/hsz-2024-0149","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Proteome-wide scale in a dose - and time-depending setting is crucial to fully understand the pharmacological mechanism of anticancer drugs as well as identification of candidates for drug response biomarkers. Here, we investigated the effect of the CIGB-300 anticancer peptide at IC<sub>50</sub> and IC<sub>80</sub> doses during 1 and 4 h of treatment on the squamous lung cancer cell (NCI-H226) proteome. An overwhelming dose-dependent inhibitory effect with minor up-regulated proteins was observed by increasing CIGB-300 dose level. Functional enrichment was also CIGB-300 dose-dependent with common or exclusively regulated proteins in each dose and time settings. A protein core involving small molecule biosynthesis, aldehyde metabolism and metabolism of nucleobases was regulated irrespectively to the dose or the treatment time. Importantly, a group of proteins linked to NSCLC tumor biology, poor clinical outcome and some Protein Kinase CK2 substrates, were significantly regulated by treating with both CIGB-300 doses. Likewise, we observed a consistent downregulation of different proteins that had been already reported to be inhibited by CIGB-300 in lung adenocarcinoma and acute myeloid leukemia. Overall, our proteomics-guided strategy based on time and drug dose served to uncover novel clues supporting the CIGB-300 cytotoxic effect and also to identify putative pharmacodynamic biomarkers in NSCLC.</p>","PeriodicalId":8885,"journal":{"name":"Biological Chemistry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143969635","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The mitochondrial unfolded protein response: acting near and far.","authors":"Nikolaos Charmpilas, Qiaochu Li, Thorsten Hoppe","doi":"10.1515/hsz-2025-0107","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/hsz-2025-0107","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Mitochondria are central hubs of cellular metabolism and their dysfunction has been implicated in a variety of human pathologies and the onset of aging. To ensure proper mitochondrial function under misfolding stress, a retrograde mitochondrial signaling pathway known as UPR<sup>mt</sup> is activated. The UPR<sup>mt</sup> ensures that mitochondrial stress is communicated to the nucleus, where gene expression for several mitochondrial proteases and chaperones is induced, forming a protective mechanism to restore mitochondrial proteostasis and function. Importantly, the UPR<sup>mt</sup> not only acts within cells, but also exhibits a conserved cell-nonautonomous activation across species, where mitochondrial stress in a defined tissue triggers a systemic response that affects distant organs. Here, we summarize the molecular basis of the UPR<sup>mt</sup> in the invertebrate model organism <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> and in mammals. We also describe recent findings on cell-nonautonomous activation of the UPR<sup>mt</sup> in worms, flies and mice, and how UPR<sup>mt</sup> activation in specific tissues affects organismal metabolism and longevity.</p>","PeriodicalId":8885,"journal":{"name":"Biological Chemistry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143963983","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Back to the basics: the molecular blueprint of plant heat stress transcription factors.","authors":"Sotirios Fragkostefanakis, Enrico Schleiff, Klaus-Dieter Scharf","doi":"10.1515/hsz-2025-0115","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/hsz-2025-0115","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Heat stress transcription factors (HSFs) play a pivotal role in regulating plant responses to heat and other environmental stresses, as well as developmental processes. HSFs possess conserved domains responsible for DNA binding, oligomerization, and transcriptional regulation, which collectively enable precise and dynamic control of cellular responses to environmental stimuli. Functional diversification of HSFs has been demonstrated through genetic studies in model plants such as <i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i> and economically important crops like tomato, rice, and wheat. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms that govern HSF function remain only partially understood, and for a handful of HSFs. Advancements in structural biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, and genomics shed light into how HSFs mediate stress responses at the molecular level. These insights offer exciting opportunities to leverage HSF biology for gene editing and crop improvement, enabling the customization of stress tolerance traits via regulation of HSF-dependent regulatory networks to enhance thermotolerance. This review synthesizes current knowledge on HSF structure and function, providing a perspective on their roles in plant adaptation to a changing climate.</p>","PeriodicalId":8885,"journal":{"name":"Biological Chemistry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143952942","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The proteostasis burden of aneuploidy.","authors":"Prince Saforo Amponsah, Zuzana Storchová","doi":"10.1515/hsz-2024-0163","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/hsz-2024-0163","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Aneuploidy refers to chromosome number abnormality that is not an exact multiple of the haploid chromosome set. Aneuploidy has largely negative consequences in cells and organisms, manifested as so-called aneuploidy-associated stresses. A major consequence of aneuploidy is proteotoxic stress due to abnormal protein expression from imbalanced chromosome numbers. Recent advances have improved our understanding of the nature of the proteostasis imbalance caused by aneuploidy and highlighted their relevance with respect to organellar homeostasis, dosage compensation, or mechanisms employed by cells to mitigate the detrimental stress. In this review, we highlight the recent findings and outline questions to be addressed in future research.</p>","PeriodicalId":8885,"journal":{"name":"Biological Chemistry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143961283","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Christian Werner, Sophia Eimermacher, Hugo Harasimowicz, Dietmar Fischer, Markus Pietsch, Karsten Niefind
{"title":"A CK2α' mutant indicating why CK2α and CK2α', the isoforms of the catalytic subunit of human protein kinase CK2, deviate in affinity to CK2β.","authors":"Christian Werner, Sophia Eimermacher, Hugo Harasimowicz, Dietmar Fischer, Markus Pietsch, Karsten Niefind","doi":"10.1515/hsz-2024-0157","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/hsz-2024-0157","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Protein kinase CK2 (casein kinase 2) mainly exists as heterotetrameric holoenzyme with two catalytic subunits (CK2α or CK2α') bound to a homodimer of non-catalytic subunits (CK2β). With <i>CSNK2A1</i> and <i>CSNK2A2</i>, the human genome contains two paralogs encoding catalytic CK2 subunits. Both gene products, called CK2α and CK2α', strongly interact with CK2β. An earlier report that CK2α' has a lower CK2β affinity than CK2α is confirmed via isothermal titration calorimetry in this study. Furthermore, we show with a fluorescence-anisotropy assay that a CK2β-competitive peptide binds less strongly to CK2α' than to CK2α. The reason for the reduced affinity of CK2α' to CK2β and CK2β competitors is puzzling: both isoenzymes have identical amino acid compositions at their CK2β interfaces, but the β4β5 loop, a component of this interface, is conformationally less adaptable in CK2α' than in CK2α due to intramolecular constraints. To release these constraints, we constructed a CK2α' mutant that was equalized to CK2α at the backside of the β4β5 loop. Concerning thermostability, affinity to CK2β or CK2β competitors and 3D-structure next to the β4β5 loop, this CK2α' mutant is more similar to CK2α than to its own wild-type, suggesting a critical role of the β4β5 loop adaptability for CK2β affinity.</p>","PeriodicalId":8885,"journal":{"name":"Biological Chemistry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143952940","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The nascent polypeptide-associated complex (NAC) as regulatory hub on ribosomes.","authors":"Laurenz Rabl, Elke Deuerling","doi":"10.1515/hsz-2025-0114","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/hsz-2025-0114","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The correct synthesis of new proteins is essential for maintaining a functional proteome and cell viability. This process is tightly regulated, with ribosomes and associated protein biogenesis factors ensuring proper protein production, modification, and targeting. In eukaryotes, the conserved nascent polypeptide-associated complex (NAC) plays a central role in coordinating early protein processing by regulating the ribosome access of multiple protein biogenesis factors. NAC recruits modifying enzymes to the ribosomal exit site to process the N-terminus of nascent proteins and directs secretory proteins into the SRP-mediated targeting pathway. In this review we will focus on these pathways, which are critical for proper protein production, and summarize recent advances in understanding the cotranslational functions and mechanisms of NAC in higher eukaryotes.</p>","PeriodicalId":8885,"journal":{"name":"Biological Chemistry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143751004","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}