Richard Morimoto - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Richard Morimoto

The condition of having a healthy, functional proteome is known as protein homeostasis, or proteo... more The condition of having a healthy, functional proteome is known as protein homeostasis, or proteostasis. Establishing and maintaining proteostasis is the province of the proteostasis network, approximately 2,500 genes that regulate protein synthesis, folding, localization, and degradation. The proteostasis network is a fundamental entity in biology with direct relevance to many diseases of protein conformation. However, it is not well defined or annotated, which hinders its functional characterization in health and disease. In this series of manuscripts, we aim to operationally define the human proteostasis network by providing a comprehensive, annotated list of its components. Here, we provide a curated list of 959 unique genes that comprise the protein synthesis machinery, chaperones, folding enzymes, systems for trafficking proteins into and out of organelles, and organelle-specific degradation systems. In subsequent manuscripts, we will delineate the human autophagy-lysosome pat...

Molecular chaperones influence the process of protein folding and, under conditions of stress, re... more Molecular chaperones influence the process of protein folding and, under conditions of stress, recognize nonnative proteins to ensure that misfolded proteins neither appear nor accumulate. BAG-1, identified as an Hsp70 associated protein, was shown to have the unique properties of a negative regulator of Hsp70. Here, we demonstrate that BAG-1 inhibits the in vitro protein refolding activity of Hsp70 by forming stable ternary complexes with non-native substrates that do not release even in the presence of nucleotide and the co-chaperone, Hdj-1. However, the substrate in the BAG-1-containing ternary complex does not aggregate and remains in a soluble intermediate folded state, indistinguishable from the refolding-competent substrate-Hsp70 complex. BAG-1 neither inhibits the Hsp70 ATPase, nor has the properties of a nucleotide exchange factor; instead, it stimulates ATPase activity, similar to that observed for Hdj-1, but with opposite consequences. In the presence of BAG-1, the conformation of Hsp70 is altered such that the substrate binding domain becomes less accessible to protease digestion, even in the presence of nucleotide and Hdj-1. These results suggest a mechanistic basis for BAG-1 as a negative regulator of the Hsp70-Hdj-1 chaperone cycle.

The Journal of Neuroscience, 1996

During periods of stress, cells depend on a transient, highly conserved, and regulated response t... more During periods of stress, cells depend on a transient, highly conserved, and regulated response to maintain homeostasis. This "heat shock response" is mediated transcriptionally by a multigene family of heat shock factors (HSF). The presence of multiple HSF suggests that activation of a given HSF is stressspecific. Using Western blot analysis, we have demonstrated the inability of primary cultured rat hippocampal neurons to induce a heat shock response after hypet-thermia. In contrast, secondary cultured rat glial cells demonstrated a robust response. Examination of whole-cell extracts from the two cell types with gel shift mobility analysis and Western blot analysis revealed that although glial cells express HSFl and HSF2, hippocampal neurons only express HSF2. Incubation of whole-cell extracts with monoclonal antisera raised against HSFI and HSF2 before gel shift mobility analysis demonstrated HSFI DNA-binding activity in glial cells and HSF2 DNA-binding activity in neurons. HSFl has been shown to be the principal mediator of heat-induced heat shock gene expression. These results suggest that the deficient heat shock response of hippocampal neurons at this developmental stage is attributable to a lack of HSFl expression. Furthermore, these results suggest that considerations of selective neuronal vulnerability to environmental stress should include the principal mediators of the stress response, the HSF.

Cell reports, Jan 7, 2017

In Caenorhabditis elegans, the programmed repression of the heat shock response (HSR) accompanies... more In Caenorhabditis elegans, the programmed repression of the heat shock response (HSR) accompanies the transition to reproductive maturity, leaving cells vulnerable to environmental stress and protein aggregation with age. To identify the factors driving this event, we performed an unbiased genetic screen for suppressors of stress resistance and identified the mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC) as a central regulator of the age-related decline of the HSR and cytosolic proteostasis. Mild downregulation of ETC activity, either by genetic modulation or exposure to mitochondria-targeted xenobiotics, maintained the HSR in adulthood by increasing HSF-1 binding and RNA polymerase II recruitment at HSF-1 target genes. This resulted in a robust restoration of cytoplasmic proteostasis and increased vitality later in life, without detrimental effects on fecundity. We propose that low levels of mitochondrial stress regulate cytoplasmic proteostasis and healthspan during aging by coordi...

Molecular and Cellular Biology, 1993

The existence of multiple heat shock factor (HSF) genes in higher eukaryotes has promoted questio... more The existence of multiple heat shock factor (HSF) genes in higher eukaryotes has promoted questions regarding the functions of these HSF family members, especially with respect to the stress response. To address these questions, we have used polyclonal antisera raised against mouse HSF1 and HSF2 to examine the biochemical, physical, and functional properties of these two factors in unstressed and heat-shocked mouse and human cells. We have identified HSF1 as the mediator of stress-induced heat shock gene transcription. HSF1 displays stress-induced DNA-binding activity, oligomerization, and nuclear localization, while HSF2 does not. Also, HSF1 undergoes phosphorylation in cells exposed to heat or cadmium sulfate but not in cells treated with the amino acid analog L-azetidine-2-carboxylic acid, indicating that phosphorylation of HSF1 is not essential for its activation. Interestingly, HSF1 and HSF2 overexpressed in transfected 3T3 cells both display constitutive DNA-binding activity, ...

The EMBO Journal, 2001

Heat shock factor 1 (HSF1) is a serine-rich constitutively phosphorylated mediator of the stress ... more Heat shock factor 1 (HSF1) is a serine-rich constitutively phosphorylated mediator of the stress response. Upon stress, HSF1 forms DNA-binding trimers, relocalizes to nuclear granules, undergoes inducible phosphorylation and acquires the properties of a transactivator. HSF1 is phosphorylated on multiple sites, but the sites and their function have remained an enigma. Here, we have analyzed sites of endogenous phosphorylation on human HSF1 and developed a phosphopeptide antibody to identify Ser230 as a novel in vivo phosphorylation site. Ser230 is located in the regulatory domain of HSF1, and promotes the magnitude of the inducible transcriptional activity. Ser230 lies within a consensus site for calcium/calmodulindependent protein kinase II (CaMKII), and CaMKII overexpression enhances both the level of in vivo Ser230 phosphorylation and transactivation of HSF1. The importance of Ser230 was further established by the S230A HSF1 mutant showing markedly reduced activity relative to wild-type HSF1 when expressed in hsf1 ±/± cells. Our study provides the ®rst evidence that phosphorylation is essential for the transcriptional activity of HSF1, and hence for induction of the heat shock response.

Molecular and Cellular Biology, 1994

Two members of the heat shock transcription factor (HSF) family, HSF1 and HSF2, both function as ... more Two members of the heat shock transcription factor (HSF) family, HSF1 and HSF2, both function as transcriptional activators of heat shock gene expression. However, the inducible DNA-binding activities of these two factors are regulated by distinct pathways. HSF1 is activated by heat shock and other forms of stress, whereas HSF2 is activated during hemin-induced differentiation of human K562 erythroleukemia cells, suggesting a role for HSF2 in regulating heat shock gene expression under nonstress conditions such as differentiation and development. To understand the distinct regulatory pathways controlling HSF2 and HSF1 activities, we have examined the biochemical and physical properties of the control and activated states of HSF2 and compared these with the properties of HSF1. Our results reveal that the inactive, non-DNA-binding forms of HSF2 and HSF1 exist primarily in the cytoplasm of untreated K562 cells as a dimer and monomer, respectively. This difference in the control oligome...

Cell, Jan 7, 2015

Aging has been associated with a progressive decline of proteostasis, but how this process affect... more Aging has been associated with a progressive decline of proteostasis, but how this process affects proteome composition remains largely unexplored. Here, we profiled more than 5,000 proteins along the lifespan of the nematode C. elegans. We find that one-third of proteins change in abundance at least 2-fold during aging, resulting in a severe proteome imbalance. These changes are reduced in the long-lived daf-2 mutant but are enhanced in the short-lived daf-16 mutant. While ribosomal proteins decline and lose normal stoichiometry, proteasome complexes increase. Proteome imbalance is accompanied by widespread protein aggregation, with abundant proteins that exceed solubility contributing most to aggregate load. Notably, the properties by which proteins are selected for aggregation differ in the daf-2 mutant, and an increased formation of aggregates associated with small heat-shock proteins is observed. We suggest that sequestering proteins into chaperone-enriched aggregates is a prot...

Current biology : CB, Jan 19, 2014

The proper folding of proteins is continuously challenged by intrinsic and extrinsic stresses, an... more The proper folding of proteins is continuously challenged by intrinsic and extrinsic stresses, and the accumulation of toxic misfolded proteins is associated with many human diseases. Eukaryotic cells have evolved a complex network of protein quality control pathways to protect the proteome, and these pathways are specialized for each subcellular compartment. While many details have been elucidated for how the cytosol and endoplasmic reticulum counteract proteotoxic stress, relatively little is known about the pathways protecting the nucleus from protein misfolding. Proper maintenance of nuclear proteostasis has important implications in preserving genomic integrity, as well as for aging and disease. Here, we offer a conceptual framework for how proteostasis is maintained in this organelle. We define the particular requirements that must be considered for the nucleus to manage proteotoxic stress, summarize the known and implicated pathways of nuclear protein quality control, and ide...

The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 2014

The maintenance of the proteome is essential to preserve cell functionality and the ability to re... more The maintenance of the proteome is essential to preserve cell functionality and the ability to respond and adapt to the changing environment. This is regulated by the proteostasis network, a dedicated set of molecular components comprised of molecular chaperones and protein clearance mechanisms, regulated by cell stress signaling pathways, that prevents the toxicity associated with protein misfolding and accumulation of toxic aggregates in different subcellular compartments and tissues. The efficiency of the proteostasis network declines with age and this failure in protein homeostasis has been proposed to underlie the basis of common age-related human disorders. The current advances in the understanding of the mechanisms and regulation of proteostasis and of the different types of digressions in this process in aging have turned the attention toward the therapeutic opportunities offered by the restoration of proteostasis in age-associated degenerative diseases. Here, we discuss som...

F1000prime reports, 2014

Aging is a complex process regulated by multiple cellular pathways, including the proteostasis ne... more Aging is a complex process regulated by multiple cellular pathways, including the proteostasis network. The proteostasis network consists of molecular chaperones, stress-response transcription factors, and protein degradation machines that sense and respond to proteotoxic stress and protein misfolding to ensure cell viability. A loss of proteostasis is associated with aging and age-related disorders in diverse model systems, moreover, genetic or pharmacological enhancement of the proteostasis network has been shown to extend lifespan and suppress age-related disease. However, our understanding of the relationship between aging, proteostasis, and the proteostasis network remains unclear. Here, we propose, from studies in Caenorhabditis elegans, that proteostasis collapse is not gradual but rather a sudden and early life event that triggers proteome mismanagement, thereby affecting a multitude of downstream processes. Furthermore, we propose that this phenomenon is not stochastic but ...

PLoS genetics, 2011

A hallmark of diseases of protein conformation and aging is the appearance of protein aggregates ... more A hallmark of diseases of protein conformation and aging is the appearance of protein aggregates associated with cellular toxicity. We posit that the functional properties of the proteostasis network (PN) protect the proteome from misfolding and combat the proteotoxic events leading to cellular pathology. In this study, we have identified new components of the proteostasis network that can suppress aggregation and proteotoxicity, by performing RNA interference (RNAi) genetic screens for multiple unrelated conformationally challenged cytoplasmic proteins expressed in Caenorhabditis elegans. We identified 88 suppressors of polyglutamine (polyQ) aggregation, of which 63 modifiers also suppressed aggregation of mutant SOD1(G93A). Of these, only 23 gene-modifiers suppressed aggregation and restored animal motility, revealing that aggregation and toxicity can be genetically uncoupled. Nine of these modifiers were shown to be effective in restoring the folding and function of multiple endo...

Trends in Biochemical Sciences, 2013

Huntington's disease (HD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder for which no disease modify... more Huntington's disease (HD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder for which no disease modifying treatments exist. Many molecular changes and cellular consequences that underlie HD are observed in other neurological disorders suggesting that common pathological mechanisms and pathways may exist. Recent findings have enhanced our understanding of the way cells regulate and respond to expanded polyglutamine proteins such as mutant huntingtin. These studies demonstrate that in addition to effects on folding, aggregation, and clearance pathways, a general transcriptional mechanism also dictates the expression of polyglutamine proteins. Here we summarize the key pathways and networks that are important in HD in the context of recent therapeutic advances and highlight how their interplay may be of relevance to other protein folding disorders.

Journal of Experimental Biology, 2013

The ability of each cell within a metazoan to adapt to and survive environmental and physiologica... more The ability of each cell within a metazoan to adapt to and survive environmental and physiological stress requires cellular stress-response mechanisms, such as the heat shock response (HSR). Recent advances reveal that cellular proteostasis and stress responses in metazoans are regulated by multiple layers of intercellular communication. This ensures that an imbalance of proteostasis that occurs within any single tissue ‘at risk’ is protected by a compensatory activation of a stress response in adjacent tissues that confers a community protective response. While each cell expresses the machinery for heat shock (HS) gene expression, the HSR is regulated cell non-autonomously in multicellular organisms, by neuronal signaling to the somatic tissues, and by transcellular chaperone signaling between somatic tissues and from somatic tissues to neurons. These cell non-autonomous processes ensure that the organismal HSR is orchestrated across multiple tissues and that transmission of stress...

Science, 2008

The protein components of eukaryotic cells face acute and chronic challenges to their integrity. ... more The protein components of eukaryotic cells face acute and chronic challenges to their integrity. Eukaryotic protein homeostasis, or proteostasis, enables healthy cell and organismal development and aging and protects against disease. Here, we describe the proteostasis network, a set of interacting activities that maintain the health of proteome and the organism. Deficiencies in proteostasis lead to many metabolic, oncological, neurodegenerative, and cardiovascular disorders. Small-molecule or biological proteostasis regulators that manipulate the concentration, conformation, quaternary structure, and/or the location of protein(s) have the potential to ameliorate some of the most challenging diseases of our era.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2014

Significance The aggregation of mutant proteins is pathologically implicated in a large number of... more Significance The aggregation of mutant proteins is pathologically implicated in a large number of neuropathies, including Huntington disease and ALS. Although the appearance of protein aggregates is known to sequester other proteins, how this results in the gain-of-function toxicity in these diseases is unclear. Here, we show that the aggregation of disease-associated proteins causes the reversible collapse of clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) and inhibits the internalization of membrane receptors that affect neuronal function. CME inhibition occurs through aggregate-mediated sequestration of the molecular chaperone heat shock cognate protein 70, which is essential for CME. We propose that a toxic “tug-of-war” occurs between aggregates and endogenous client proteins for available chaperones, leading to the collapse of multiple cellular processes in neurodegeneration and other protein conformation diseases.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 1994

Cell and tissue injury activate the inflammatory response through the action(s) of arachidonic ac... more Cell and tissue injury activate the inflammatory response through the action(s) of arachidonic acid and its metabolites, leading to the expression of acute-phase proteins and inflammatory cytokines. At the molecular level, little is known how arachidonic acid regulates the inflammatory response. As inflammation is also associated with local increase in tissue temperatures, we examined whether arachidonic acid was directly involved in the heat shock response. Extracellular exposure to arachidonic acid induced heat shock gene transcription in a dose-dependent manner via acquisition of DNA-binding activity and phosphorylation of heat shock factor 1 (HSF1). In addition, exposure of cells to low concentrations of arachidonic acid, which by themselves did not induce HSF1 DNA-binding activity, reduced the temperature threshold for HSF1 activation from elevated temperatures which are not physiologically relevant (> 42 degrees C) to temperatures which can be attained during the febrile re...

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2009

Protein damage contributes prominently to cellular aging. To address whether this occurs at a spe... more Protein damage contributes prominently to cellular aging. To address whether this occurs at a specific period during aging or accumulates gradually, we monitored the biochemical, cellular, and physiological properties of folding sensors expressed in different tissues of C. elegans . We observed the age-dependent misfolding and loss of function of diverse proteins harboring temperature-sensitive missense mutations in all somatic tissues at the permissive condition. This widespread failure in proteostasis occurs rapidly at an early stage of adulthood, and coincides with a severely reduced activation of the cytoprotective heat shock response and the unfolded protein response. Enhancing stress responsive factors HSF-1 or DAF-16 suppresses misfolding of these metastable folding sensors and restores the ability of the cell to maintain a functional proteome. This suggests that a compromise in the regulation of proteostatic stress responses occurs early in adulthood and tips the balance bet...

PLoS Genetics, 2013

Protein quality control requires constant surveillance to prevent misfolding, aggregation, and lo... more Protein quality control requires constant surveillance to prevent misfolding, aggregation, and loss of cellular function. There is increasing evidence in metazoans that communication between cells has an important role to ensure organismal health and to prevent stressed cells and tissues from compromising lifespan. Here, we show in C. elegans that a moderate increase in physiological cholinergic signaling at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) induces the calcium (Ca 2+)-dependent activation of HSF-1 in post-synaptic muscle cells, resulting in suppression of protein misfolding. This protective effect on muscle cell protein homeostasis was identified in an unbiased genome-wide screening for modifiers of protein aggregation, and is triggered by downregulation of gei-11, a Myb-family factor and proposed regulator of the L-type acetylcholine receptor (AChR). This, in-turn, activates the voltage-gated Ca 2+ channel, EGL-19, and the sarcoplasmic reticulum ryanodine receptor in response to acetylcholine signaling. The release of calcium into the cytoplasm of muscle cells activates Ca 2+-dependent kinases and induces HSF-1-dependent expression of cytoplasmic chaperones, which suppress misfolding of metastable proteins and stabilize the folding environment of muscle cells. This demonstrates that the heat shock response (HSR) can be activated in muscle cells by neuronal signaling across the NMJ to protect proteome health.

Molecular Biology of the Cell, 2003

The correlation between longevity and stress resistance observed in long-lived mutant animals sug... more The correlation between longevity and stress resistance observed in long-lived mutant animals suggests that the ability to sense and respond to environmental challenges could be important for the regulation of life span. We therefore examined the role of heat shock factor (HSF-1), a master transcriptional regulator of stress-inducible gene expression and protein folding homeostasis, in the regulation of longevity. Down-regulation of hsf-1 by RNA interference suppressed longevity of mutants in an insulin-like signaling (ILS) pathway that functions in the nervous system of Caenorhabditis elegans to influence aging. hsf-1 was also required for temperature-induced dauer larvae formation in an ILS mutant. Using tissue-specific expression of wild-type or dominant negative HSF-1, we demonstrated that HSF-1 acts in multiple tissues to regulate longevity. Down-regulation of individual molecular chaperones, transcriptional targets of HSF-1, also decreased longevity of long-lived mutant but no...