1
|
Desmarini D, Liu G, Jessen H, Bowring B, Connolly A, Crossett B, Djordjevic JT. Arg1 from Cryptococcus neoformans lacks PI3 kinase activity and conveys virulence roles via its IP 3-4 kinase activity. mBio 2024:e0060824. [PMID: 38742909 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.00608-24] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2024] [Accepted: 04/18/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Inositol tris/tetrakis phosphate kinases (IP3-4K) in the human fungal priority pathogens, Cryptococcus neoformans (CnArg1) and Candida albicans (CaIpk2), convey numerous virulence functions, yet it is not known whether the IP3-4K catalytic activity or a scaffolding role is responsible. We therefore generated a C. neoformans strain with a non-functional kinase, referred to as the dead-kinase (dk) CnArg1 strain (dkArg1). We verified that, although dkARG1 cDNA cloned from this strain produced a protein with the expected molecular weight, dkArg1 was catalytically inactive with no IP3-4K activity. Using recombinant CnArg1 and CaIpk2, we confirmed that, unlike the IP3-4K homologs in humans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, CnArg1 and CaIpk2 do not phosphorylate the lipid-based substrate, phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate, and therefore do not function as class I PI3Ks. Inositol polyphosphate profiling using capillary electrophoresis-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry revealed that IP3 conversion is blocked in the dkArg1 and ARG1 deletion (Cnarg1Δ) strains and that 1-IP7 and a recently discovered isomer (4/6-IP7) are made by wild-type C. neoformans. Importantly, the dkArg1 and Cnarg1Δ strains had similar virulence defects, including suppressed growth at 37°C, melanization, capsule production, and phosphate starvation response, and were avirulent in an insect model, confirming that virulence is dependent on IP3-4K catalytic activity. Our data also implicate the dkArg1 scaffold in transcriptional regulation of arginine metabolism but via a different mechanism to S. cerevisiae since CnArg1 is dispensable for growth on different nitrogen sources. IP3-4K catalytic activity therefore plays a dominant role in fungal virulence, and IPK pathway function has diverged in fungal pathogens.IMPORTANCEThe World Health Organization has emphasized the urgent need for global action in tackling the high morbidity and mortality rates stemming from invasive fungal infections, which are exacerbated by the limited variety and compromised effectiveness of available drug classes. Fungal IP3-4K is a promising target for new therapy, as it is critical for promoting virulence of the human fungal priority pathogens, Cryptococcus neoformans and Candida albicans, and impacts numerous functions, including cell wall integrity. This contrasts to current therapies, which only target a single function. IP3-4K enzymes exert their effect through their inositol polyphosphate products or via the protein scaffold. Here, we confirm that the IP3-4K catalytic activity of CnArg1 promotes all virulence traits in C. neoformans that are attenuated by ARG1 deletion, reinforcing our ongoing efforts to find inositol polyphosphate effector proteins and to create inhibitors targeting the IP3-4K catalytic site, as a new antifungal drug class.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Desmarini Desmarini
- Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Sydney, Australia
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, Sydney Institute for Infectious Diseases, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Guizhen Liu
- Institute of Organic Chemistry, University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
- Centre for Integrative Biological Signaling Studies, University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
| | - Henning Jessen
- Institute of Organic Chemistry, University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
- Centre for Integrative Biological Signaling Studies, University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
| | - Bethany Bowring
- Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Sydney, Australia
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, Sydney Institute for Infectious Diseases, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Angela Connolly
- Sydney Mass Spectrometry, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Ben Crossett
- Sydney Mass Spectrometry, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Julianne Teresa Djordjevic
- Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Sydney, Australia
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, Sydney Institute for Infectious Diseases, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
- Westmead Hospital, Western Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Benjamin B, Garg A, Jork N, Jessen HJ, Schwer B, Shuman S. Activities and Structure-Function Analysis of Fission Yeast Inositol Pyrophosphate (IPP) Kinase-Pyrophosphatase Asp1 and Its Impact on Regulation of pho1 Gene Expression. mBio 2022;:e0103422. [PMID: 35536002 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.01034-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Inositol pyrophosphates (IPPs) are signaling molecules that regulate cellular phosphate homeostasis in diverse eukaryal taxa. In fission yeast, mutations that increase 1,5-IP8 derepress the PHO regulon while mutations that ablate IP8 synthesis are PHO hyper-repressive. Fission yeast Asp1, the principal agent of 1,5-IP8 dynamics, is a bifunctional enzyme composed of an N-terminal IPP kinase domain and a C-terminal IPP pyrophosphatase domain. Here we conducted a biochemical characterization and mutational analysis of the autonomous Asp1 kinase domain (aa 1-385). Reaction of Asp1 kinase with IP6 and ATP resulted in both IP6 phosphorylation to 1-IP7 and hydrolysis of the ATP γ-phosphate, with near-equal partitioning between productive 1-IP7 synthesis and unproductive ATP hydrolysis under optimal kinase conditions. By contrast, reaction of Asp1 kinase with 5-IP7 is 22-fold faster than with IP6 and is strongly biased in favor of IP8 synthesis versus ATP hydrolysis. Alanine scanning identified essential constituents of the active site. We deployed the Ala mutants to show that derepression of pho1 expression correlated with Asp1's kinase activity. In the case of full-length Asp1, the activity of the C-terminal pyrophosphatase domain stifled net phosphorylation of the 1-position during reaction of Asp1 with ATP and either IP6 or 5-IP7. We report that inorganic phosphate is a concentration-dependent enabler of net IP8 synthesis by full-length Asp1 in vitro, by virtue of its antagonism of IP8 turnover. IMPORTANCE Expression of the fission yeast phosphate regulon is sensitive to the intracellular level of the inositol pyrophosphate (IPP) signaling molecule 1,5-IP8. IP8 dynamics are determined by Asp1, a bifunctional enzyme comprising N-terminal IPP 1-kinase and C-terminal IPP 1-pyrophosphatase domains that catalyze IP8 synthesis and catabolism, respectively. Here, we interrogated the activities and specificities of the Asp1 kinase domain and full length Asp1. We find that reaction of Asp1 kinase with 5-IP7 is 22-fold faster than with IP6 and is strongly biased in favor of IP8 synthesis versus the significant unproductive ATP hydrolysis seen during its reaction with IP6. We report that full-length Asp1 catalyzes futile cycles of 1-phosphate phosphorylation by its kinase component and 1-pyrophosphate hydrolysis by its pyrophosphatase component that result in unproductive net consumption of the ATP substrate. Net synthesis of 1,5-IP8 is enabled by physiological concentrations of inorganic phosphate that selectively antagonize IP8 turnover.
Collapse
|
3
|
Lev S, Li C, Desmarini D, Sorrell TC, Saiardi A, Djordjevic JT. Fungal Kinases With a Sweet Tooth: Pleiotropic Roles of Their Phosphorylated Inositol Sugar Products in the Pathogenicity of Cryptococcus neoformans Present Novel Drug Targeting Opportunities. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2019; 9:248. [PMID: 31380293 PMCID: PMC6660261 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2019.00248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2019] [Accepted: 06/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Invasive fungal pathogens cause more than 300 million serious human infections and 1.6 million deaths per year. A clearer understanding of the mechanisms by which these fungi cause disease is needed to identify novel targets for urgently needed therapies. Kinases are key components of the signaling and metabolic circuitry of eukaryotic cells, which include fungi, and kinase inhibition is currently being exploited for the treatment of human diseases. Inhibiting evolutionarily divergent kinases in fungal pathogens is a promising avenue for antifungal drug development. One such group of kinases is the phospholipase C1-dependent inositol polyphosphate kinases (IPKs), which act sequentially to transfer a phosphoryl group to a pre-phosphorylated inositol sugar (IP). This review focuses on the roles of fungal IPKs and their IP products in fungal pathogenicity, as determined predominantly from studies performed in the model fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans, and compares them to what is known in non-pathogenic model fungi and mammalian cells to highlight potential drug targeting opportunities.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sophie Lev
- Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,Sydney Medical School-Westmead, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Cecilia Li
- Sydney Medical School-Westmead, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology-Public Health, NSW Health Pathology, Westmead Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Desmarini Desmarini
- Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,Sydney Medical School-Westmead, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Tania C Sorrell
- Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,Sydney Medical School-Westmead, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Adolfo Saiardi
- MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Julianne T Djordjevic
- Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,Sydney Medical School-Westmead, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Li C, Lev S, Desmarini D, Kaufman-Francis K, Saiardi A, Silva APG, Mackay JP, Thompson PE, Sorrell TC, Djordjevic JT. IP 3-4 kinase Arg1 regulates cell wall homeostasis and surface architecture to promote clearance of Cryptococcus neoformans infection in a mouse model. Virulence 2017; 8:1833-1848. [PMID: 28976803 DOI: 10.1080/21505594.2017.1385692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022] Open
Abstract
We previously identified a series of inositol polyphosphate kinases (IPKs), Arg1, Ipk1, Kcs1 and Asp1, in the opportunistic fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans. Using gene deletion analysis, we characterized Arg1, Ipk1 and Kcs1 and showed that they act sequentially to convert IP3 to PP-IP5 (IP7), a key metabolite promoting stress tolerance, metabolic adaptation and fungal dissemination to the brain. We have now directly characterized the enzymatic activity of Arg1, demonstrating that it is a dual specificity (IP3/IP4) kinase producing IP5. We showed previously that IP5 is further phosphorylated by Ipk1 to produce IP6, which is a substrate for the synthesis of PP-IP5 by Kcs1. Phenotypic comparison of the arg1Δ and kcs1Δ deletion mutants (both PP-IP5-deficient) reveals that arg1Δ has the most deleterious phenotype: while PP-IP5 is essential for metabolic and stress adaptation in both mutant strains, PP-IP5 is dispensable for virulence-associated functions such as capsule production, cell wall organization, and normal N-linked mannosylation of the virulence factor, phospholipase B1, as these phenotypes were defective only in arg1Δ. The more deleterious arg1Δ phenotype correlated with a higher rate of arg1Δ phagocytosis by human peripheral blood monocytes and rapid arg1Δ clearance from lung in a mouse model. This observation is in contrast to kcs1Δ, which we previously reported establishes a chronic, confined lung infection. In summary, we show that Arg1 is the most crucial IPK for cryptococcal virulence, conveying PP-IP5-dependent and novel PP-IP5-independent functions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Cecilia Li
- a Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research , 176 Hawkesbury road, Westmead NSW 2145 , Australia.,b Sydney Medical School-Westmead, The University of Sydney , Westmead NSW 2145 , Australia.,c Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, University of Sydney , NSW Australia
| | - Sophie Lev
- a Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research , 176 Hawkesbury road, Westmead NSW 2145 , Australia.,b Sydney Medical School-Westmead, The University of Sydney , Westmead NSW 2145 , Australia.,c Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, University of Sydney , NSW Australia
| | - Desmarini Desmarini
- a Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research , 176 Hawkesbury road, Westmead NSW 2145 , Australia
| | - Keren Kaufman-Francis
- a Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research , 176 Hawkesbury road, Westmead NSW 2145 , Australia.,c Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, University of Sydney , NSW Australia
| | - Adolfo Saiardi
- d Medical Research Council Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London , Gower street, London WC1E 6BT , UK
| | - Ana P G Silva
- e School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney , Camperdown , NSW 2006 , Australia
| | - Joel P Mackay
- e School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney , Camperdown , NSW 2006 , Australia
| | - Philip E Thompson
- f Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences , Monash University , 381 Royal Parade, Parkville , VIC 3052 , Australia
| | - Tania C Sorrell
- a Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research , 176 Hawkesbury road, Westmead NSW 2145 , Australia.,b Sydney Medical School-Westmead, The University of Sydney , Westmead NSW 2145 , Australia.,c Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, University of Sydney , NSW Australia.,g Westmead Hospital , Westmead , NSW 2145 , Australia
| | - Julianne T Djordjevic
- a Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research , 176 Hawkesbury road, Westmead NSW 2145 , Australia.,b Sydney Medical School-Westmead, The University of Sydney , Westmead NSW 2145 , Australia.,c Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, University of Sydney , NSW Australia.,g Westmead Hospital , Westmead , NSW 2145 , Australia
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Zhan H, Zhong Y, Yang Z, Xia H. Enzyme activities of Arabidopsis inositol polyphosphate kinases AtIPK2α and AtIPK2β are involved in pollen development, pollen tube guidance and embryogenesis. Plant J 2015; 82:758-71. [PMID: 25846941 DOI: 10.1111/tpj.12846] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2014] [Revised: 03/16/2015] [Accepted: 03/31/2015] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Inositol polyphosphate kinase (IPK2) is a key component of inositol polyphosphate signaling. There are two highly homologous inositol polyphosphate kinases (AtIPK2α and AtIPK2β) in Arabidopsis. Previous studies that overexpressed or reduced the expression of AtIPK2α and AtIPK2β revealed their roles in auxiliary shoot branching, abiotic stress responses and root growth. Here, we report that AtIPK2α and AtIPK2β act redundantly during pollen development, pollen tube guidance and embryogenesis. Single knock-out mutants of atipk2α and atipk2β were indistinguishable from the wild type, whereas the atipk2α atipk2β double mutant could not be obtained. Detailed genetic and cytological investigations showed that the mutation of AtIPK2α and AtIPK2β resulted in severely reduced transmission of male gametophyte as a result of abnormal pollen development and defective pollen tube guidance. In addition, the early embryo development of the atipk2α atipk2β double mutant was also aborted. Expressing either catalytically inactive or substrate specificity-altered variants of AtIPK2β could not rescue the male gametophyte and embryogenesis defects of the atipk2α atipk2β double mutant, implying that the kinase activity of AtIPK2 is required for pollen development, pollen tube guidance and embryogenesis. Taken together, our results provide genetic evidence for the requirement of inositol polyphosphate signaling in plant sexual reproduction.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Huadong Zhan
- State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072, China
| | - Yujiao Zhong
- State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072, China
| | - Zhongnan Yang
- College of Life and Environment Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, 200234, China
| | - Huijun Xia
- State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072, China
| |
Collapse
|