Posttranslational regulation of androgen dependent and independent androgen receptor activities in prostate cancer

Prostate cancer(PCa)is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among men in western countries.Androgen receptor(AR)signaling plays key roles in the development of PCa.Androgen deprivation therapy(ADT)remains the standard therapy for advanced PCa.In addition to its ligand androgen,accumulating evidence indicates that posttranscriptional modification is another important mechanism to regulate AR activities during the progression of PCa,especially in castration resistant prostate cancer(CRPC).To date,a number of posttranscriptional modifications of AR have been identified,including phosphorylation(e.g.by CDK1),acetylation(e.g.by p300 and recognized by BRD4),methylation(e.g.by EZH2),ubiquitination(e.g.by SPOP),and SUMOylation(e.g.by PIAS1).These modifications are essential for the maintenance of protein stability,nuclear localization and transcriptional activity of AR.This review summarizes posttranslational modifications that influence androgen-dependent and-independent activities of AR,PCa progression and therapy resistance.We further emphasize that in addition to androgen,posttranslational modification is another important way to regulate AR activity,suggesting that targeting AR posttranslational modifications,such as proteolysis targeting chimeras(PROTACs)of AR,represents a potential and promising alternate for effective treatment of CRPC.Potential areas to be investigated in the future in the field of AR posttranslational modifications are also discussed.

The pattern of co-existed posttranslational modifications-A case study

Posttranslational modifications are a class of important cellular activities in various bio-chemical processes including signalling trans-duction, gene/metabolite networks, and disease development. It has been found that multiple posttranslational modifications with the same or different modification residues can co-exist in the same protein and this co-occurrence is critical to signalling networks in cells. Although some biological studies have spotted this phe-nomenon, little bioinformatics study has been carried out for understanding its mechanism. Four data sets were downloaded from NCBI for the study. The joint probabilities of any two neighbouring posttranslational modification sites of different modification residues were analyzed. The Bayesian probabilistic network was derived for visualizing the relationship be-tween a target modification and the contributing modifications as the predictive factors.

Legionella pneumophila-mediated host posttranslational modifications

Legionella pneumophila is a Gram-negative bacterium ubiquitously present in freshwater environments and causes a serious type of pneumonia called Legionnaires’disease.During infections,L.pneumophila releases over 300 effector proteins into host cells through an Icm/Dot type IV secretion system to manipulate the host defense system for survival within the host.Notably,certain effector proteins mediate posttranslational modifications(PTMs),serving as useful approaches exploited by L.pneumophila to modify host proteins.Some effectors catalyze the addition of host protein PTMs,while others mediate the removal of PTMs from host proteins.In this review,we summarize L.pneumophila effector-mediated PTMs of host proteins,including phosphorylation,ubiquitination,glycosylation,AMPylation,phosphocholination,methylation,and ADP-ribosylation,as well as dephosphorylation,deubiquitination,deAMPylation,deADP-ribosylation,dephosphocholination,and delipidation.We describe their molecular mechanisms and biological functions in the regulation of bacterial growth and Legionella-containing vacuole biosynthesis and in the disruption of host immune and defense machinery.

LncRNA-mediated posttranslational modifications and reprogramming of energy metabolism in cancer

Altered metabolism is a hallmark of cancer,and the reprogramming of energy metabolism has historically been considered a general phenomenon of tumors.It is well recognized that long noncoding RNAs(lncRNAs)regulate energy metabolism in cancer.However,lncRNA-mediated posttranslational modifications and metabolic reprogramming are unclear at present.In this review,we summarized the current understanding of the interactions between the alterations in cancer-associated energy metabolism and the lncRNA-mediated posttranslational modifications of metabolic enzymes,transcription factors,and other proteins involved in metabolic pathways.In addition,we discuss the mechanisms through which these interactions contribute to tumor initiation and progression,and the key roles and clinical significance of functional lncRNAs.We believe that an in-depth understanding of lncRNA-mediated cancer metabolic reprogramming can help to identify cellular vulnerabilities that can be exploited for cancer diagnosis and therapy.

Alexander disease:the road ahead

Alexander disease is a rare neurodegenerative disorder caused by mutations in the glial fibrillary acidic protein,a type III intermediate filament protein expressed in astrocytes.Both early(infantile or juvenile)and adult onsets of the disease are known and,in both cases,astrocytes present characteristic aggregates,named Rosenthal fibers.Mutations are spread along the glial fibrillary acidic protein sequence disrupting the typical filament network in a dominant manner.Although the presence of aggregates suggests a proteostasis problem of the mutant forms,this behavior is also observed when the expression of wild-type glial fibrillary acidic protein is increased.Additionally,several isoforms of glial fibrillary acidic protein have been described to date,while the impact of the mutations on their expression and proportion has not been exhaustively studied.Moreover,the posttranslational modification patterns and/or the protein-protein interaction networks of the glial fibrillary acidic protein mutants may be altered,leading to functional changes that may modify the morphology,positioning,and/or the function of several organelles,in turn,impairing astrocyte normal function and subsequently affecting neurons.In particular,mitochondrial function,redox balance and susceptibility to oxidative stress may contribute to the derangement of glial fibrillary acidic protein mutant-expressing astrocytes.To study the disease and to develop putative therapeutic strategies,several experimental models have been developed,a collection that is in constant growth.The fact that most cases of Alexander disease can be related to glial fibrillary acidic protein mutations,together with the availability of new and more relevant experimental models,holds promise for the design and assay of novel therapeutic strategies.

Protein arginine methyltransferase 6 is a novel substrate of protein arginine methyltransferase 1

BACKGROUND Post-translational modifications play key roles in various biological processes.Protein arginine methyltransferases(PRMTs)transfer the methyl group to specific arginine residues.Both PRMT1 and PRMT6 have emerges as crucial factors in the development and progression of multiple cancer types.We posit that PRMT1 and PRMT6 might interplay directly or in-directly in multiple ways accounting for shared disease phenotypes.AIM To investigate the mechanism of the interaction between PRMT1 and PRMT6.METHODS Gel electrophoresis autoradiography was performed to test the methyltranferase activity of PRMTs and characterize the kinetics parameters of PRMTs.Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometryanalysis was performed to detect the PRMT6 methylation sites.RESULTS In this study we investigated the interaction between PRMT1 and PRMT6,and PRMT6 was shown to be a novel substrate of PRMT1.We identified specific arginine residues of PRMT6 that are methylated by PRMT1,with R106 being the major methylation site.Combined biochemical and cellular data showed that PRMT1 downregulates the enzymatic activity of PRMT6 in histone H3 methylation.CONCLUSION PRMT6 is methylated by PRMT1 and R106 is a major methylation site induced by PRMT1.PRMT1 methylation suppresses the activity of PRMT6.

Critical protein GAPDH and its regulatory mechanisms in cancer cells

Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase （GAPDH）, initially identified as a glycolytic enzyme and considered as a housekeeping gene, is widely used as an internal control in experiments on proteins, mRNA, and DNA. However, emerging evidence indicates that GAPDH is implicated in diverse functions independent of its role in energy metabolism; the expression status of GAPDH is also deregulated in various cancer cells. One of the most common effects of GAPDH is its inconsistent role in the determination of cancer cell fate. Furthermore, studies have described GAPDH as a regulator of cell death; other studies have suggested that GAPDH participates in tumor progression and serves as a new therapeutic target. However, related regulatory mechanisms of its numerous cellular functions and deregulated expression levels remain unclear. GAPDH is tightly regulated at transcriptional and pnsttranscriptional levels, which are involved in the regulation of diverse GAPDH functions. Several cancer-related factors, such as insulin, hypoxia inducible factor-1 （HIF-1）, p53, nitric oxide （NO）, and acetylated histone, not only modulate GAPDH gene expression but also affect protein functions via common pathways. Moreover, posttranslational modifications （PTMs） occurring in GAPDH in cancer cells result in new activities unrelated to the original glycnlytic function of GAPDH. In this review, recent findings related to GAPDH transcriptional regulation and PTMs are summarized. Mechanisms and pathways involved in GAPDH regulation and its different roles in cancer cells are also described.

PTEN： a default gate-keeping tumor suppressor with a versatile tail

The tumor suppressor PTEN controls a variety of biological processes including cell proliferation, growth, migration, and death. As a master cellular regulator, PTEN itself is also subjected to deliberated regulation to ensure its proper function. Defects in PTEN regulation have a profound impact on carcinogenesis. In this review, we briefly discuss recent advances concerning PTEN regulation and how such knowledge facilitates our understanding and further exploration of PTEN biology. The carboxyl-tail of PTEN, which appears to be associated with multiple types of posttranslational regulation, will be under detailed scrutiny. Further, a comparative analysis of PTEN and p53 suggests while p53 needs to be activated to suppress tumorigenesis （a dormant gatekeeper）, PTEN is probably a constitutive surveillant against cancer development, thus a default gatekeeper.

High-coverage proteome analysis reveals the first insight of protein modification systems in the pathogenic spirochete Leptospira interrogans

Leptospirosis is a widespread zoonotic disease caused by pathogenic spirochetes of the genus Leptospira that infects humans and a wide range of animals. By combining computational prediction and high-accuracy tandem mass spectra, we revised the genome annotation of Leptospira interrogans serovar Lai, a free-living pathogenic spirochete responsible for leptospirosis, providing substantial peptide evidence for novel genes and new gene boundaries. Subsequently, we presented a high-coverage proteome analysis of protein expression and multiple posttranslational modifications （PTMs）. Approximately 64.3% of the predicted L. interrogans proteins were cataloged by detecting 2 540 proteins. Meanwhile, a profile of multiple PTMs was concurrently established, containing in total 32 phosphorylated, 46 acetylated and 155 methylated proteins. The PTM systems in the serovar Lai show unique features. Unique eukaryotic-like features of L. interrogans protein modifications were demonstrated in both phosphorylation and arginine methylation. This systematic analysis provides not only comprehensive information of high-coverage protein expression and multiple modifications in prokaryotes but also a view suggesting that the evolutionarily primitive L. interrogans shares significant similarities in protein modification systems with eukaryotes.

Deacetylase inhibitors-focus on non-histone targets and effects

Inhibitors of protein deacetylases have recently been established as a novel therapeutic principle for several human diseases,including cancer.The original notion of the mechanism of action of these compounds focused on the epigenetic control of transcriptional processes, especially of tumor suppressor genes,by interfering with the acetylation status of nuclear histone proteins,hence the name histone deacetylase inhibitors was coined.Yet,this view could not explain the high specificity for tumor cells and recent evidence now suggests that non-histone proteins represent major targets for protein deacetylase inhibitors and that the post-translational modification of the acetylome is involved in various cellular processes of differentiation,survival and cell death induction.

Global characterization of modifications to the charge isomers of IgG antibody

Posttranslational modifications of antibody products affect their stability,charge distribution,and drug activity and are thus a critical quality attribute.The comprehensive mapping of antibody modifications and different charge isomers(CIs)is of utmost importance,but is challenging.We intended to quantitatively characterize the posttranslational modification status of CIs of antibody drugs and explore the impact of posttranslational modifications on charge heterogeneity.The CIs of antibodies were fractionated by strong cation exchange chromatography and verified by capillary isoelectric focusing-whole column imaging detection,followed by stepwise structural characterization at three levels.First,the differences between CIs were explored at the intact protein level using a top-down mass spectrometry approach;this showed differences in glycoforms and deamidation status.Second,at the peptide level,common modifications of oxidation,deamidation,and glycosylation were identified.Peptide mapping showed nonuniform deamidation and glycoform distribution among CIs.In total,10 N-glycoforms were detected by peptide mapping.Finally,an in-depth analysis of glycan variants of CIs was performed through the detection of enriched glycopeptides.Qualitative and quantitative analyses demonstrated the dynamics of 24 N-glycoforms.The results revealed that sialic acid modification is a critical factor accounting for charge heterogeneity,which is otherwise missed in peptide mapping and intact molecular weight analyses.This study demonstrated the importance of the comprehensive analyses of antibody CIs and provides a reference method for the quality control of biopharmaceutical analysis.

Biomarkers in inflammatory bowel diseases:Current status and proteomics identification strategies

Unambiguous diagnosis of the two main forms of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD): Ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD), represents a challenge in the early stages of the diseases. The diagnosis may be established several years after the debut of symptoms. Hence, protein biomarkers for early and accurate diagnostic could help clinicians improve treatment of the individual patients. Moreover, the biomarkers could aid physicians to predict disease courses and in this way, identify patients in need of intensive treatment. Patients with low risk of disease flares may avoid treatment with medications with the concomitant risk of adverse events. In addition, identification of disease and course specific biomarker profiles can be used to identify biological pathways involved in the disease development and treatment. Knowledge of disease mechanisms in general can lead to improved future development of preventive and treatment strategies. Thus, the clinical use of a panel of biomarkers represents a diagnostic and prognostic tool of potentially great value. The technological development in recent years within proteomic research (determination and quantification of the complete protein content) has made the discovery of novel biomarkers feasible. Several IBD-associated protein biomarkers are known, but none have been successfully implemented in daily use to distinguish CD and UC patients. The intestinal tissue remains an obvious place to search for novel biomarkers, which blood, urine or stool later can be screened for. When considering the protein complexity encountered in intestinal biopsy-samples and the recent development within the field of mass spectrometry driven quantitative proteomics, a more thorough and accurate biomarker discovery endeavor could today be performed than ever before. In this review, we report the current status of the proteomics IBD biomarkers and discuss various emerging proteomic strategies for identifying and characterizing novel biomarkers, as well as suggesting future targets for analysis.

Hepatitis D virus infection, replication and cross-talk with the hepatitis B virus

Viral hepatitis remains a worldwide public health problem.The hepatitis D virus(HDV)must either coinfect or superinfect with the hepatitis B virus(HBV).HDV contains a small RNA genome(approximately 1.7 kb)with a single open reading frame(ORF)and requires HBV supplying surface antigens(HBsAgs)to assemble a new HDV virion.During HDV replication,two isoforms of a delta antigen,a small delta antigen(SDAg)and a large delta antigen(LDAg),are produced from the same ORF of the HDV genome.The SDAg is required for HDV replication,whereas the interaction of LDAg with HBsAgs is crucial for packaging of HDV RNA.Various clinical outcomes of HBV/HDV dual infection have been reported,but the molecular interaction between HBV and HDV is poorly understood,especially regarding howHBV and HDV compete with HBsAgs for assembling virions.In this paper,we review the role of endoplasmic reticulum stress induced by HBsAgs and the molecular pathway involved in their promotion of LDAg nuclear export.Because the nuclear sublocalization and export of LDAg is regulated by posttranslational modifications(PTMs),including acetylation,phosphorylation,and isoprenylation,we also summarize the relationship among HBsAg-induced endoplasmic reticulum stress signaling,LDAg PTMs,and nuclear export mechanisms in this review.

Regulation of RNA binding proteins in trypanosomatid protozoan parasites

Posttranscriptional mechanisms have a critical role in the overall outcome of gene expression. These mechanisms are especially relevant in protozoa from the genus Trypanosoma, which is composed by death threatening parasites affecting people in Sub-saharan Africa or in the Americas. In these parasites the classic view of regulation of transcription initiation to modulate the products of a given gene cannot be applied. This is due to the presence of transcription start sites that give rise to long polycistronic units that need to be processed costranscriptionally by trans-splicing and polyadenylation to give mature monocistronic mRNAs. Posttranscriptional mechanisms such as mRNA degradation and translational repression are responsible for the final synthesis of the required protein products. In this context, RNA-binding proteins(RBPs) in trypanosomes have a relevant role as modulators of mRNA abundance and translational repression by associating to the 3' untranslated regions in mRNA. Many different RBPs have been proposed to modulate cohorts of mRNAs in trypanosomes. However, the current understanding of their functions lacks a dynamic view on the different steps at which these RBPs are regulated. Here, we discuss different evidences to propose regulatory events for different RBPs in these parasites. These events vary from regulated developmental expression, to biogenesis of cytoplasmic ribonucleoprotein complexes in the nucleus, and condensation of RBPs and mRNA into large cytoplasmic granules. Finally, we discuss how newly identified posttranslational modifications of RBPs and mRNA metabolism-related proteins could have an enormous impact on the modulation of m RNA abundance. To understand these modifications is especially relevant in these parasites due to the fact that the enzymes involved could be interesting targets for drug therapy.

The complexity of nitric oxide generation and function in plants

Plants are exposed to environmental stress,in natural and agricultural conditions.Nitric oxide(NO),a small gaseous molecule which plays important roles in plants,has been involved in many physiological processes,and emerged as an important endogenous signaling molecule in the adaptation of plants to biotic and abiotic stress.NO is produced from a variety of enzymatic and non enzymatic sources,which are not yet fully understood.Also,NO and reactive nitrogen species(RNS)can produce posttranslational modifications affecting protein function.Nitrate reductase,a key enzyme in the nitrogen metabolism,is a proposed source of NO in plants which could be affected by posttranslational modifications.Thus,different pathways seem to be involved and can also regulate NO synthesis in the plant cell under physiological or stress conditions.However,how the levels of NO are reached in such time and place to fulfill its functions,are still puzzles to elucidate.

Protein lysine crotonylation in cellular processions and disease associations

Protein lysine crotonylation(Kcr)is one conserved form of posttranslational modifications of proteins,which plays an important role in a series of cellular physiological and pathological processes.Lysine e-amino groups are the primary sites of such modification,resulting in four-carbon planar lysine crotonylation that is structurally and functionally distinct from the acetylation of these residues.High levels of Kcr modifications have been identified on both histone and non-histone proteins.The present review offers an update on the research progression regarding protein Kcr modifications in biomedical contexts and provides a discussion of the mechanisms whereby Kcr modification governs a range of biological processes.In addition,given the importance of protein Kcr modification in disease onset and progression,the potential viability of Kcr regulators as therapeutic targets is elucidated.

Targeting the PD-L1 cytoplasmic domain and its regulatory pathways to enhance cancer immunotherapy

As a significant member of the immune checkpoint,programmed cell death 1 ligand 1(PD-L1)plays a critical role in cancer immune escape and has become an important target for cancer immunotherapy.Clinically approved drugs mainly target the extracellular domain of PD-L1.Recently,the small cytoplasmic domain of PD-L1 has been reported to regulate PD-L1 stability and function through multiple pathways.Therefore,the intracellular domain of PD-L1 and its regulatory pathways could be promising targets for cancer therapy,expanding available strategies for combined immunotherapy.Here,we summarize the emerging roles of the PD-L1 cytoplasmic domain and its regulatory pathways.The conserved motifs,homodimerization,and posttranslational modifications ofthe PD-L1 cytoplasmic domain have been reported to regulate the membrane anchoring,degradation,nucleartranslocation,and glycosylation of PD-L1.This summary provides a comprehensive understanding of the functions of the PD-L1 cytoplasmic domain and evaluates the broad prospects for targeted therapy.

Th17 Cells in autoimmune diseases

Th17 cells are a new subset of CD4^＋ T cells fungi. Accumulating evidence suggests that Tb17 cells involved in the clearance of extracellular pathogens and and their signature cytokines have a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of multiple autoimmune-mediated inflammatory diseases. Here, we summarize recent research progress on Th17 function in the development and pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. We also propose to identify new small molecule compounds to manipulate Th17 function for potential therapeutic application to treat human autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjogren＇s syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, and multiple sclerosis.

PTMD: A Database of Human Disease-associated Post-translational Modifications

Various posttranslational modifications （PTMs） participate in nearly all aspects of biological processes by regulating protein functions, and aberrant states of PTMs are frequently implicated in human diseases. Therefore, an integral resource of PTM–disease associations （PDAs）would be a great help for both academic research and clinical use. In this work, we reported PTMD,a well-curated database containing PTMs that are associated with human diseases. We manually collected 1950 known PDAs in 749 proteins for 23 types of PTMs and 275 types of diseases from the literature. Database analyses show that phosphorylation has the largest number of disease associations, whereas neurologic diseases have the largest number of PTM associations. We classified all known PDAs into six classes according to the PTM status in diseases and demonstrated that the upregulation and presence of PTM events account for a predominant proportion of diseaseassociated PTM events. By reconstructing a disease–gene network, we observed that breast cancers have the largest number of associated PTMs and AKT1 has the largest number of PTMs connected to diseases. Finally, the PTMD database was developed with detailed annotations and can be a useful resource for further analyzing the relations between PTMs and human diseases. PTMD is freely accessible at http：//ptmd.biocuckoo.org.

Characterization of Evolutionarily ConservedMotifs Involved in Activity and Regulation of theABA-INSENSITIVE （ABI） 4 Transcription Factor

In recent years, the transcription factor ABI4 has emerged as an important node of integration for externaland internal signals such as nutrient status and hormone signaling that modulates critical transitions during the growthand development of plants. For this reason, understanding the mechanism of action and regulation of this protein rep-resents an important step towards the elucidation of crosstalk mechanisms in plants. However, this understanding hasbeen hindered due to the negligible levels of this protein as a result of multiple posttranscriptional regulations. To betterunderstand the function and regulation of the ABI4 protein in this work, we performed a functional analysis of severalevolutionarily conserved motifs. Based on these conserved motifs, we identified ortholog genes of ABI4 in differentplant species. The functionality of the putative ortholog from Theobroma cacao was demonstrated in transient expres-sion assays and in complementation studies in plants. The function of the highly conserved motifs was analyzed aftertheir deletion or mutagenesis in the Arabidopsis ABI4 sequence using mesophyll protoplasts. This approach permitted usto immunologically detect the ABI4 protein and identify some of the mechanisms involved in its regulation. We identi-fied sequences required for the nuclear localization （AP2-associated motif） as well as those for transcriptional activationfunction （LRP motif）. Moreover, this approach showed that the protein stability of this transcription factor is controlledthrough protein degradation and subcellular localization and involves the AP2-associated and the PEST motifs. We dem-onstrated that the degradation of ABI4 protein through the PEST motif is mediated by the 26S proteasome in responseto changes in the sugar levels.