title: Coupling endoplasmic reticulum stress to the cell-death program: a novel HSP90-independent role for the small chaperone protein p23.
abstract: The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is the principal organelle for the biosynthesis of proteins, steroids and many lipids, and is highly sensitive to alterations in its environment. Perturbation of Ca(2+) homeostasis, elevated secretory protein synthesis, deprivation of glucose or other sugars, altered glycosylation and/or the accumulation of misfolded proteins may all result in ER stress, and prolonged ER stress triggers cell death. Studies from multiple laboratories have identified the roles of several ER stress-induced cell-death modulators and effectors through the use of biochemical, pharmacological and genetic tools. In the present work, we describe the role of p23, a small chaperone protein, in preventing ER stress-induced cell death. p23 is a highly conserved chaperone protein that modulates HSP90 activity and is also a component of the steroid receptors. p23 is cleaved during ER stress-induced cell death; this cleavage, which occurs close to the carboxy-terminus, requires caspase-3 and/or caspase-7, but not caspase-8. Blockage of the caspase cleavage site of p23 was associated with decreased cell death induced by ER stress. Immunodepletion of p23 or inhibition of p23 expression by siRNA resulted in enhancement of ER stress-induced cell death. While p23 co-immunoprecipitated with the BH3-only protein PUMA (p53-upregulated modulator of apoptosis) in untreated cells, prolonged ER stress disrupted this interaction. The results define a protective role for p23, and provide further support for a model in which ER stress is coupled to the mitochondrial intrinsic apoptotic pathway through the activities of BH3 family proteins.
authors.affiliation: The Buck Institute for Age Research, 8001 Redwood Blvd., Novato, CA 94945, USA. rrao@buckinstitute.org
authors.forename: R V
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Niazi
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mollahan
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Crippen
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Poksay
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Bredesen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D001483:Base Sequence; D020169:Caspases / Q000378:metabolism; D004721:Endoplasmic Reticulum / Q000378:metabolism*; D018841:HSP90 Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D019746:Intramolecular Oxidoreductases; D051379:Mice; D018832:Molecular Chaperones / Q000032:analysis / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D000071876:Prostaglandin-E Synthases; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D034622:RNA Interference; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; C438378:BBC3 protein, human; D018841:HSP90 Heat-Shock Proteins; D018832:Molecular Chaperones; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein; D020169:Caspases; D019746:Intramolecular Oxidoreductases; C490849:PTGES3 protein, human; D000071876:Prostaglandin-E Synthases