Diabetes is an epidemic of worldwide proportions caused by β-cell failure. Nutrient fluctuations and insulin resistance drive β–cells to synthesize insulin beyond their capacity for protein folding and secretion and thereby activate the unfolded protein response (UPR), an adaptive signaling pathway to promote cell survival upon accumulation of unfolded protein in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). PERK signals one component of the UPR through phosphorylation of eukaryotic initiation factor 2 on the alpha subunit (eIF2α) to attenuate protein synthesis, thereby reducing the biosynthetic burden. B–cells uniquely require PERK-mediated phosphorylation of eIF2α to preserve cell function. Unabated protein synthesis in β–cells is sufficient to initiate a cascade of events, including oxidative stress, that are characteristic of β–cell failure observed in type 2 diabetes. In contrast to acute adaptive UPR activation, chronic activation increases expression of the proapoptotic transcription factor CAAT-enhancer binding protein homologous protein (CHOP). Chop deletion in insulin-resistant mice profoundly increases β–cell mass and prevents β–cell failure to forestall the progression of diabetes. The findings suggest an unprecedented link by which protein synthesis and/or misfolding in the ER cause oxidative stress and should encourage the development of novel strategies to treat diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes is a complex metabolic disorder characterized by high blood glucose in the context of insulin resistance and relative insulin deficiency by β-cell failure. Even if the mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of β-cell failure are still under investigation, recent increasing genetic, experimental, and clinical evidence indicate that hyperactivation of the unfolded protein response (UPR) to counteract metabolic stresses is closely related to β-cell dysfunction and apoptosis. Signaling pathways of the UPR are “a double-edged sword” that can promote adaptation or apoptosis depending on the nature of the ER stress condition. In this paper, we summarized our current understanding of the mechanisms and components related to ER stress in the β-cell pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes.

Summary

The unfolded protein response (UPR) is linked to metabolic dysfunction, yet it is not known how ER disruption might influence metabolic pathways. Using a multilayered genetic approach, we find that mice with genetic ablations of either ER stress sensing pathways (ATF6α, eIF2α, IRE1α), or of ER quality control (p58IPK), share a common dysregulated response to ER stress that includes the development of microvesicular steatosis. The rescue of ER protein processing capacity by the combined action of UPR pathways during stress prevents the suppression of a subset of metabolic transcription factors that regulate lipid homeostasis. This suppression occurs in part by unresolved ER stress perpetuating expression of the transcriptional repressor CHOP. As a consequence, metabolic gene expression networks are directly responsive to ER homeostasis. These results reveal an unanticipated direct link between ER homeostasis and the transcriptional regulation of metabolism and suggest mechanisms by which ER stress might underlie microvesicular steatosis.

Summary

A link exists between endoplasmic reticulum (ER) biogenesis and the unfolded protein response (UPR), a complex set of signaling mechanisms triggered by increased demands on the protein folding capacity of the ER. The UPR transcriptional activator X-box binding protein 1 (XBP1) regulates the expression of proteins that function throughout the secretory pathway and is necessary for development of an expansive ER network. We previously demonstrated that overexpression of XBP1(S), the active form of XBP1 generated by UPR-mediated splicing of Xbp1 mRNA, augments the activity of the cytidine diphosphocholine (CDP-choline) pathway for biosynthesis of phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho) and induces ER biogenesis. Another UPR transcriptional activator, activating transcription factor 6α (ATF6α), primarily regulates expression of ER resident proteins involved in the maturation and degradation of ER client proteins. Here, we demonstrate that enforced expression of a constitutively active form of ATF6α drives ER expansion and can do so in the absence of XBP1(S). Overexpression of active ATF6α induces PtdCho biosynthesis and modulates the CDP-choline pathway differently than does enforced expression of XBP1(S). These data indicate that ATF6α and XBP1(S) have the ability to regulate lipid biosynthesis and ER expansion by mechanisms that are at least partially distinct. These studies reveal further complexity in the potential relationships between UPR pathways, lipid production and ER biogenesis.

SUMMARY

Accumulation of unfolded protein within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) lumen attenuates mRNA translation through activation of the protein kinase PERK and subsequent phosphorylation of eukaryotic initiation factor 2 on Ser51 of the alpha subunit (eIF2α). Genetic disruption of the PERK/eIF2α pathway in humans and mice produces severe pancreatic beta cell deficiency and post-natal lethality. To elucidate the role of eIF2α phosphorylation in beta cells, we have rescued the lethality of homozygous eIF2α Ser51Ala mice by expression of a loxP-flanked wild-type eIF2α transgene. Beta cell-specific transgene deletion to prevent eIF2α phosphorylation caused a severe diabetic phenotype due to heightened, unregulated proinsulin translation, defective intracellular trafficking of secretory and plasma membrane proteins, increased oxidative damage, reduced expression of stress response and beta cell-specific genes, and apoptosis. However, glucose intolerance and beta cell death in these mice were attenuated by antioxidant treatment. We conclude that phosphorylation of eIF2α coordinately attenuates mRNA translation, prevents oxidative stress, and optimizes ER protein folding to support insulin production in the beta cell. These findings that show increased proinsulin synthesis causes oxidative stress leading to beta cell failure may reflect events in the beta cell loss associated with insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes.

The cellular stress response (SR) is a phylogenetically conserved protection mechanism that involves inhibition of protein synthesis through recruitment of translation factors such as eIF4G into insoluble stress granules (SGs) and blockade of proinflammatory responses by interruption of the signaling pathway from tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) to nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activation. However, the link between these two physiological phenomena has not been clearly elucidated. Here we report that eIF4GI, which is a scaffold protein interacting with many translation factors, interacts with TRAF2, a signaling molecule that plays a key role in activation of NF-κB through TNF-α. These two proteins colocalize in SGs during cellular exposure to stress conditions. Moreover, TRAF2 is absent from TNFR1 complexes under stress conditions even after TNF-α treatment. This suggests that stressed cells lower their biological activities by sequestration of translation factors and TRAF2 into SGs through a protein-protein interaction.

The p27Kip1 protein plays a critical role in the regulation of cell proliferation through the inhibition of cyclin-dependent kinase activity. Translation of p27Kip1 is directed by an internal ribosomal entry site (IRES) in the 5′ nontranslated region of p27Kip1 mRNA. Here, we report that polypyrimidine tract-binding protein (PTB) specifically enhances the IRES activity of p27Kip1 mRNA through an interaction with the IRES element. We found that addition of PTB to an in vitro translation system and overexpression of PTB in 293T cells augmented the IRES activity of p27Kip1 mRNA but that knockdown of PTB by introduction of PTB-specific small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) diminished the IRES activity of p27Kip1 mRNA. Moreover, the G1 phase in the cell cycle (which is maintained in part by p27Kip1) was shortened in cells depleted of PTB by siRNA knockdown. 12-O-Tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced differentiation in HL60 cells was used to examine PTB-induced modulation of p27Kip1 protein synthesis during differentiation. The IRES activity of p27Kip1 mRNA in HL60 cells was increased by TPA treatment (with a concomitant increase in PTB protein levels), but the levels of p27Kip1 mRNA remained unchanged. Together, these data suggest that PTB modulates cell cycle and differentiation, at least in part, by enhancing the IRES activity of p27Kip1 mRNA.

The translation of polioviral mRNA occurs through an internal ribosomal entry site (IRES). Several RNA-binding proteins, such as polypyrimidine tract-binding protein (PTB) and poly(rC)-binding protein (PCBP), are required for the poliovirus IRES-dependent translation. Here we report that a poliovirus protein, 3Cpro (and/or 3CDpro), cleaves PTB isoforms (PTB1, PTB2, and PTB4). Three 3Cpro target sites (one major target site and two minor target sites) exist in PTBs. PTB fragments generated by poliovirus infection are redistributed to the cytoplasm from the nucleus, where most of the intact PTBs are localized. Moreover, these PTB fragments inhibit polioviral IRES-dependent translation in a cell-based assay system. We speculate that the proteolytic cleavage of PTBs may contribute to the molecular switching from translation to replication of polioviral RNA.

Translational initiation of the human BiP mRNA is directed by an internal ribosomal entry site (IRES) located in the 5′-untranslated region (5′-UTR). In order to understand the mechanism of the IRES-dependent translation of BiP mRNA, cellular proteins interacting with the BiP IRES were investigated. La autoantigen, which augments the translation of polioviral mRNA and hepatitis C viral mRNA, bound specifically to the second half of the 5′-UTR of the BiP IRES and enhanced translation of BiP mRNA in both in vitro and in vivo assays. This finding suggests that cellular and viral IRESs containing very different RNA sequences may share a common mechanism of translation.