Do nucleic acids moonlight as molecular chaperones?

Organisms use molecular chaperones to combat the unfolding and aggregation of proteins. While protein chaperones have been widely studied, here we demonstrate that DNA and RNA exhibit potent chaperone activity in vitro Nucleic acids suppress the aggregation of classic chaperone substrates up to 300-fold more effectively than the protein chaperone GroEL. Additionally, RNA cooperates with the DnaK chaperone system to refold purified luciferase. Our findings reveal a possible new role for nucleic acids within the cell: that nucleic acids directly participate in maintaining proteostasis by preventing protein aggregation.

PIP5KIβ selectively modulates apical endocytosis in polarized renal epithelial cells

Localized synthesis of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate [PtdIns(4,5)P₂] at clathrin coated pits (CCPs) is crucial for the recruitment of adaptors and other components of the internalization machinery, as well as for regulating actin dynamics during endocytosis. PtdIns(4,5)P₂ is synthesized from phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate by any of three phosphatidylinositol 5-kinase type I (PIP5KI) isoforms (α, β or γ). PIP5KIβ localizes almost exclusively to the apical surface in polarized mouse cortical collecting duct cells, whereas the other isoforms have a less polarized membrane distribution. We therefore investigated the role of PIP5KI isoforms in endocytosis at the apical and basolateral domains. Endocytosis at the apical surface is known to occur more slowly than at the basolateral surface. Apical endocytosis was selectively stimulated by overexpression of PIP5KIβ whereas the other isoforms had no effect on either apical or basolateral internalization. We found no difference in the affinity for PtdIns(4,5)P₂-containing liposomes of the PtdIns(4,5)P₂ binding domains of epsin and Dab2, consistent with a generic effect of elevated PtdIns(4,5)P₂ on apical endocytosis. Additionally, using apical total internal reflection fluorescence imaging and electron microscopy we found that cells overexpressing PIP5KIβ have fewer apical CCPs but more internalized coated structures than control cells, consistent with enhanced maturation of apical CCPs. Together, our results suggest that synthesis of PtdIns(4,5)P₂ mediated by PIP5KIβ is rate limiting for apical but not basolateral endocytosis in polarized kidney cells. PtdIns(4,5)P₂ may be required to overcome specific structural constraints that limit the efficiency of apical endocytosis.