Publications

Oxidative damage caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS) is implicated in many diseases and in aging. Removal of ROS by antioxidant enzymes plays an important part in limiting this damage. For instance, peroxiredoxins (Prx) are conserved, abundant, thioredoxin peroxidase enzymes that function as tumor suppressors. In addition to detoxifying peroxides, studies in single-cell systems have revealed that Prx act as chaperones and redox sensors. However, it is unknown in what manner the different activities of Prx influence stress resistance or longevity in the context of whole animals. Here, we reveal three distinct roles for the 2-Cys Prx, PRDX-2, in the stress resistance of the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans. (i) The thioredoxin peroxidase activity of PRDX-2 protects against hydrogen peroxide. (ii) Consistent with a chaperone activity for hyperoxidized PRDX-2, peroxide-induced oxidation of PRDX-2 increases resistance to heat stress. (iii) Unexpectedly, loss of PRDX-2 increases the resistance of C. elegans to some oxidative stress-causing agents, such as arsenite, apparently through a signaling mechanism that increases the levels of other antioxidants and phase II detoxification enzymes. Despite their increased resistance to some forms of oxidative stress, prdx-2 mutants are short-lived. Moreover, intestinal expression of PRDX-2 accounts for its role in detoxification of exogenous peroxide, but not its influence on either arsenite resistance or longevity, suggesting that PRDX-2 may promote longevity and protect against environmental stress through different mechanisms. Together the data reveal that in metazoans Prx act through multiple biochemical activities, and have tissue-specific functions in stress resistance and longevity.

During oogenesis, numerous messenger RNAs (mRNAs) are maintained in a translationally silenced state. In eukaryotic cells, various translation inhibition and mRNA degradation mechanisms congregate in cytoplasmic processing bodies (P bodies). The P body protein Dhh1 inhibits translation and promotes decapping-mediated mRNA decay together with Pat1 in yeast, and has been implicated in mRNA storage in metazoan oocytes. Here, we have investigated in Caenorhabditis elegans whether Dhh1 and Pat1 generally function together, and how they influence mRNA sequestration during oogenesis. We show that in somatic tissues, the Dhh1 orthologue (CGH-1) forms Pat1 (patr-1)-dependent P bodies that are involved in mRNA decapping. In contrast, during oogenesis, CGH-1 forms patr-1-independent mRNA storage bodies. CGH-1 then associates with translational regulators and a specific set of maternal mRNAs, and prevents those mRNAs from being degraded. Our results identify somatic and germ cell CGH-1 functions that are distinguished by the involvement of PATR-1, and reveal that during oogenesis, numerous translationally regulated mRNAs are specifically protected by a CGH-1-dependent mechanism.

Insulin/IGF-1-like signaling (IIS) is central to growth and metabolism and has a conserved role in aging. In C. elegans, reductions in IIS increase stress resistance and longevity, effects that require the IIS-inhibited FOXO protein DAF-16. The C. elegans transcription factor SKN-1 also defends against oxidative stress by mobilizing the conserved phase 2 detoxification response. Here we show that IIS not only opposes DAF-16 but also directly inhibits SKN-1 in parallel. The IIS kinases AKT-1, -2, and SGK-1 phosphorylate SKN-1, and reduced IIS leads to constitutive SKN-1 nuclear accumulation in the intestine and SKN-1 target gene activation. SKN-1 contributes to the increased stress tolerance and longevity resulting from reduced IIS and delays aging when expressed transgenically. Furthermore, SKN-1 that is constitutively active increases life span independently of DAF-16. Our findings indicate that the transcription network regulated by SKN-1 promotes longevity and is an important direct target of IIS.

Vasa and Belle are conserved DEAD box RNA helicases required for germ cell function. Homologs of this group of proteins in several species, including mammals, are able to complement a mutation in yeast (DED1) suggesting that their function is highly conserved. It has been proposed that these proteins are required for mRNA translation regulation, but their specific mechanism of action is still unknown. Here we describe functions of VBH-1, a C. elegans protein closely related to Belle and Vasa. VBH-1 is expressed specifically in the C. elegans germline, where it is associated with P granules, the C. elegans germ plasm counterpart. vbh-1(RNAi) animals produce fewer offspring than wild type because of defects in oocyte and sperm production, and embryonic lethality. We also find that VBH-1 participates in the sperm/oocyte switch in the hermaphrodite gonad. We conclude that VBH-1 and its orthologs may perform conserved roles in fertility and development.

Developing oocytes produce materials that will support early embryonic development, then cease transcription before fertilization. Later, a distinct transcription program is established in the embryo. Little is understood about how these global gene regulation transitions are effected. We have investigated in C. elegans how oocyte transcription is influenced by maturation, a process that releases meiotic arrest and prepares for fertilization. By monitoring transcription-associated phosphorylation of the RNA Polymerase II (Pol II) C-terminal domain (CTD), we find that oocyte transcription shuts down independently of maturation. Surprisingly, maturation signals then induce CTD phosphorylation that is associated specifically with transcription initiation steps, and accumulates to high levels when expression of the CTD phosphatase FCP-1 is inhibited. This CTD phosphorylation is also uncovered when a ubiquitylation pathway is blocked, or when maturation is stimulated precociously. CTD phosphorylation is similarly detected during embryonic mitosis, when transcription is also largely silenced. We conclude that oocyte maturation signals induce abortive transcription events in which FCP-1 may recycle phosphorylated Pol II, and that analogous processes may occur during mitosis. Our findings suggest that maturation signals may initiate preparations for embryonic transcription, possibly as part of a broader program that begins the transition from maternal to zygotic gene expression.

Oxidative stress influences cell survival and homeostasis, but the mechanisms underlying the biological effects of oxidative stress remain to be elucidated. Here, we demonstrate that the protein kinase MST1 mediates oxidative-stress-induced cell death in primary mammalian neurons by directly activating the FOXO transcription factors. MST1 phosphorylates FOXO proteins at a conserved site within the forkhead domain that disrupts their interaction with 14-3-3 proteins, promotes FOXO nuclear translocation, and thereby induces cell death in neurons. We also extend the MST-FOXO signaling link to nematodes. Knockdown of the C. elegans MST1 ortholog CST-1 shortens life span and accelerates tissue aging, while overexpression of cst-1 promotes life span and delays aging. The cst-1-induced life-span extension occurs in a daf-16-dependent manner. The identification of the FOXO transcription factors as major and evolutionarily conserved targets of MST1 suggests that MST kinases play important roles in diverse biological processes including cellular responses to oxidative stress and longevity.

Appropriate regulation of mRNA transcription is central to the differentiation and functions of eukaryotic cells, and to the development of complex organisms. mRNAs are synthesized by the coordinated action of a set of general transcription and mRNA modification factors. These factors and the fundamental mechanisms involved in transcription are conserved among eukaryotes, including C. elegans. Recent studies in various systems have revealed that this apparatus is not controlled through a simple on/off “switch” at the promoter, and that the factors and mechanisms involved in transcription are instead subject to regulation at a surprising number of different levels. In this chapter we will discuss examples in which regulation involving the general mRNA transcription apparatus or other transcription co-factors plays a central role in C. elegans development, and in which C. elegans studies have provided new insights into eukaryotic transcription mechanisms. Together, these studies have shown that regulatory mechanisms that involve the general Pol II machinery are a central participant in many aspects of C. elegans biology.

Oxidative stress plays a central role in many human diseases and in aging. In Caenorhabditis elegans the SKN-1 protein induces phase II detoxification gene transcription, a conserved oxidative stress response, and is required for oxidative stress resistance and longevity. Oxidative stress induces SKN-1 to accumulate in intestinal nuclei, depending on p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling. Here we show that, in the absence of stress, phosphorylation by glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) prevents SKN-1 from accumulating in nuclei and functioning constitutively in the intestine. GSK-3 sites are conserved in mammalian SKN-1 orthologs, indicating that this level of regulation may be conserved. If inhibition by GSK-3 is blocked, background levels of p38 signaling are still required for SKN-1 function. WT and constitutively nuclear SKN-1 comparably rescue the skn-1oxidative stress sensitivity, suggesting that an inducible phase II response may provide optimal stress protection. We conclude that (i) GSK-3 inhibits SKN-1 activity in the intestine, (ii) the phase II response integrates multiple regulatory signals, and (iii), by inhibiting this response, GSK-3 may influence redox conditions.

Two conserved features of oogenesis are the accumulation of translationally quiescent mRNA, and a high rate of stage-specific apoptosis. Little is understood about the function of this cell death. In C. elegans, apoptosis occurring through a specific ;physiological' pathway normally claims about half of all developing oocytes. The frequency of this germ cell death is dramatically increased by a lack of the RNA helicase CGH-1, orthologs of which are involved in translational control in oocytes and decapping-dependent mRNA degradation in yeast processing (P) bodies. Here, we describe a predicted RNA-binding protein, CAR-1, that associates with CGH-1 and Y-box proteins within a conserved germline RNA-protein (RNP) complex, and in cytoplasmic particles in the gonad and early embryo. The CGH-1/CAR-1 interaction is conserved in Drosophila oocytes. When car-1 expression is depleted by RNA interference (RNAi), physiological apoptosis is increased, brood size is modestly reduced, and early embryonic cytokinesis is abnormal. Surprisingly, if apoptosis is prevented car-1(RNAi) animals are characterized by a progressive oogenesis defect that leads rapidly to gonad failure. Elevated germ cell death similarly compensates for lack of the translational regulator CPB-3 (CPEB), orthologs of which function together with CGH-1 in diverse organisms. We conclude that CAR-1 is of critical importance for oogenesis, that the association between CAR-1 and CGH-1 has been conserved, and that the regulation of physiological germ cell apoptosis is specifically influenced by certain functions of the CGH-1/CAR-1 RNP complex. We propose that this cell death pathway facilitates the formation of functional oocytes, possibly by monitoring specific cytoplasmic events during oogenesis.