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Flaherty SE, Bezy O, Zheng W, Yan D, Li X, Jagarlapudi S, Albuquerque B, Esquejo RM, Peloquin M, Semache M, Mancini A, Kang L, Drujan D, Breitkopf SB, Griffin JD, Jean Beltran PM, Xue L, Stansfield J, Pashos E, Shakey Q, Pehmøller C, Monetti M, Birnbaum MJ, Fortin JP, Wu Z. Chronic UCN2 treatment desensitizes CRHR2 and improves insulin sensitivity. Nat Commun 2023; 14:3953. [PMID: 37402735 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-39597-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2022] [Accepted: 06/21/2023] [Indexed: 07/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Urocortin 2 (UCN2) acts as a ligand for the G protein-coupled receptor corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 2 (CRHR2). UCN2 has been reported to improve or worsen insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance in vivo. Here we show that acute dosing of UCN2 induces systemic insulin resistance in male mice and skeletal muscle. Inversely, chronic elevation of UCN2 by injection with adenovirus encoding UCN2 resolves metabolic complications, improving glucose tolerance. CRHR2 recruits Gs in response to low concentrations of UCN2, as well as Gi and β-Arrestin at high concentrations of UCN2. Pre-treating cells and skeletal muscle ex vivo with UCN2 leads to internalization of CRHR2, dampened ligand-dependent increases in cAMP, and blunted reductions in insulin signaling. These results provide mechanistic insights into how UCN2 regulates insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism in skeletal muscle and in vivo. Importantly, a working model was derived from these results that unifies the contradictory metabolic effects of UCN2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen E Flaherty
- Internal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Olivier Bezy
- Internal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Wei Zheng
- Internal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Dong Yan
- Internal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Xiangping Li
- Internal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Srinath Jagarlapudi
- Internal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Bina Albuquerque
- Internal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Ryan M Esquejo
- Internal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Matthew Peloquin
- Internal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | | | - Liya Kang
- Internal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Doreen Drujan
- Internal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Susanne B Breitkopf
- Internal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - John D Griffin
- Internal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Pierre M Jean Beltran
- Machine Learning and Computational Sciences, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Liang Xue
- Machine Learning and Computational Sciences, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - John Stansfield
- Biostatistics, Early Clinical Development, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Evanthia Pashos
- Internal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Quazi Shakey
- Biomedicine design, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Christian Pehmøller
- Internal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Mara Monetti
- Internal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Morris J Birnbaum
- Internal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Jean-Philippe Fortin
- Internal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Zhidan Wu
- Internal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer Inc., 1 Portland Street, Cambridge, MA, USA.
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Rodríguez JE, Liao JY, He J, Schisler JC, Newgard CB, Drujan D, Glass DJ, Frederick CB, Yoder BC, Lalush DS, Patterson C, Willis MS. The ubiquitin ligase MuRF1 regulates PPARα activity in the heart by enhancing nuclear export via monoubiquitination. Mol Cell Endocrinol 2015; 413:36-48. [PMID: 26116825 PMCID: PMC4523404 DOI: 10.1016/j.mce.2015.06.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2015] [Revised: 05/22/2015] [Accepted: 06/08/2015] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
The transcriptional regulation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) α by post-translational modification, such as ubiquitin, has not been described. We report here for the first time an ubiquitin ligase (muscle ring finger-1/MuRF1) that inhibits fatty acid oxidation by inhibiting PPARα, but not PPARβ/δ or PPARγ in cardiomyocytes in vitro. Similarly, MuRF1 Tg+ hearts showed significant decreases in nuclear PPARα activity and acyl-carnitine intermediates, while MuRF1-/- hearts exhibited increased PPARα activity and acyl-carnitine intermediates. MuRF1 directly interacts with PPARα, mono-ubiquitinates it, and targets it for nuclear export to inhibit fatty acid oxidation in a proteasome independent manner. We then identified a previously undescribed nuclear export sequence in PPARα, along with three specific lysines (292, 310, 388) required for MuRF1's targeting of nuclear export. These studies identify the role of ubiquitination in regulating cardiac PPARα, including the ubiquitin ligase that may be responsible for this critical regulation of cardiac metabolism in heart failure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica E Rodríguez
- Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Jie-Ying Liao
- Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Jun He
- General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, Ningxia, PR China
| | - Jonathan C Schisler
- McAllister Heart Institute, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Christopher B Newgard
- Sarah W. Stedman Nutrition and Metabolism Center and the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Nutrition, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Doreen Drujan
- Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - David J Glass
- Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - C Brandon Frederick
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Bryan C Yoder
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - David S Lalush
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Cam Patterson
- McAllister Heart Institute, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Presbyterian Hospital/Weill-Cornell Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Monte S Willis
- Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; McAllister Heart Institute, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
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Stitt TN, Drujan D, Clarke BA, Panaro F, Timofeyva Y, Kline WO, Gonzalez M, Yancopoulos GD, Glass DJ. The IGF-1/PI3K/Akt Pathway Prevents Expression of Muscle Atrophy-Induced Ubiquitin Ligases by Inhibiting FOXO Transcription Factors. Mol Cell 2004; 14:395-403. [PMID: 15125842 DOI: 10.1016/s1097-2765(04)00211-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1395] [Impact Index Per Article: 69.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2003] [Revised: 02/23/2004] [Accepted: 02/26/2004] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Skeletal muscle size depends upon a dynamic balance between anabolic (or hypertrophic) and catabolic (or atrophic) processes. Previously, no link between the molecular mediators of atrophy and hypertrophy had been reported. We demonstrate a hierarchy between the signals which mediate hypertrophy and those which mediate atrophy: the IGF-1/PI3K/Akt pathway, which has been shown to induce hypertrophy, prevents induction of requisite atrophy mediators, namely the muscle-specific ubiquitin ligases MAFbx and MuRF1. Moreover, the mechanism for this inhibition involves Akt-mediated inhibition of the FoxO family of transcription factors; a mutant form of FOXO1, which prevents Akt phosphorylation, thereby prevents Akt-mediated inhibition of MuRF1 and MAFbx upregulation. Our study thus defines a previously uncharacterized function for Akt, which has important therapeutic relevance: Akt is not only capable of activating prosynthetic pathways, as previously demonstrated, but is simultaneously and dominantly able to suppress catabolic pathways, allowing it to prevent glucocorticoid and denervation-induced muscle atrophy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Trevor N Stitt
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 777 Old Saw Mill River Road, Tarrytown, NY 10591, USA
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Fernandez-Cobo M, Stewart D, Drujan D, De Maio A. Promoter activity of the rat connexin 43 gene in NRK cells. J Cell Biochem 2001; 81:514-22. [PMID: 11255234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/19/2023]
Abstract
Cellular communication mediated by gap junctions plays a major role in organ function. Gap junction channels are formed by the organization of polypeptide subunits, termed connexins (Cx), on the cell surface of adjacent cells. One mechanism to regulate gap-junctional communication is by change in Cx expression. In the present study, the promoter region of the rat Cx43 gene was characterized. Nested deletions of the 5' flanking region of the first Cx43 exon were coupled to the human growth hormone gene and transfected into normal rat kidney (NRK) cells, that express this gene constitutively. The minimal region of the Cx43 gene that showed maximal promoter activity was localized within 110 bp upstream of the transcriptional initiation site. One particular subregion that contains a Sp-1 binding site (located within 98--93 bp from the transcriptional initiation site) was found to sustain Cx43 promoter activity to the same extent as that of the 110 bp promoter region. Mutations of this Sp-1 binding site abolished transcriptional activity and DNA-protein interactions. These observations suggest that the Sp-1 binding site plays a major role in the basal transcriptional activity of Cx43 gene in NRK cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Fernandez-Cobo
- Division of Pediatric Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA
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Abstract
Expression of heat shock proteins (hsps) results in the protection of cells from subsequent stresses. However, hsps are also toxic when present within cells for a prolonged time period. Thus, the expression of hsps should be tightly regulated. In the present study, the expression of Hsp70 after heat shock was compared between thermotolerant cells, which contain a large concentration of Hsp70, and nonthermotolerant cells (naive). Accumulation of Hsp70, assessed by Western blotting, was negligible when thermotolerant cells were heat-shocked a second time. Hsp70 transcription was similar between thermotolerant and naive cells during heat shock. However, Hsp70 transcription was attenuated more rapidly in thermotolerant than naive cells immediately upon return to non-heat shock conditions. In addition, Hsp70 mRNA stability was reduced in thermotolerant cells as compared with naive cells following the stress. New synthesis of Hsp70 and the efficiency of Hsp70 mRNA translation were similar between thermotolerant and naive cells during the post-stress period. These results suggest that thermotolerant cells limit Hsp70 expression by transcriptional and pretranslational mechanisms, perhaps to avoid the potential cytotoxic effect of these proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- N G Theodorakis
- Division of Pediatric Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA
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