Identification of the Target of the Retrograde Response that Mediates Replicative Lifespan Extension in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The retrograde response signals mitochondrial status to the nucleus, compensating for accumulating mitochondrial dysfunction during Saccharomyces cerevisiae aging and extending replicative lifespan. The histone acetylase Gcn5 is required for activation of nuclear genes and lifespan extension in the retrograde response. It is part of the transcriptional coactivators SAGA and SLIK, but it is not known which of these complexes is involved. Genetic manipulation showed that these complexes perform interchangeably in the retrograde response. These results, along with the finding that the histone deacetylase Sir2 was required for a robust retrograde response informed a bioinformatics screen that reduced to four the candidate genes causal for longevity of the 410 retrograde response target genes. Of the four, only deletion of PHO84 suppressed lifespan extension. Retrograde-response activation of PHO84 displayed some preference for SAGA. Increased PHO84 messenger RNA levels from a second copy of the gene in cells in which the retrograde response is not activated achieved >80% of the lifespan extension observed in the retrograde response. Our studies resolve questions involving the roles of SLIK and SAGA in the retrograde response, pointing to the cooperation of these complexes in gene activation. They also finally pinpoint the gene that is both necessary and sufficient to extend replicative lifespan in the retrograde response. The finding that this gene is PHO84 opens up a new set of questions about the mechanisms involved, as this gene is known to have pleiotropic effects.

Loss of mitochondrial membrane potential triggers the retrograde response extending yeast replicative lifespan.

In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, loss of mitochondrial DNA (rho(0)) can induce the retrograde response under appropriate conditions, resulting in increased replicative lifespan (RLS). Although the retrograde pathway has been extensively elaborated, the nature of the mitochondrial signal triggering this response has not been clear. Mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) was severely reduced in rho(0) compared to rho(+) cells, and RLS was concomitantly extended. To examine the role of MMP in the retrograde response, MMP was increased in the rho(0) strain by introducing a mutation in the ATP1 gene, and it was decreased in rho(+) cells by deletion of COX4. The ATP1-111 mutation in rho(0) cells partially restored the MMP and reduced mean RLS to that of rho(+) cells. COX4 deletion decreased MMP in rho(+) cells to a value intermediate between rho(+) and rho(0) cells and similarly increased RLS. The increase in expression of CIT2, the diagnostic gene for the retrograde response, seen in rho(0) cells, was substantially suppressed in the presence of the ATP1-111 mutation. In contrast, CIT2 expression increased in rho(+) cells on deletion of COX4. Activation of the retrograde response results in the translocation of the transcription factor Rtg3 from the cytoplasm to the nucleus. Rtg3-GFP translocation to the nucleus was directly observed in rho(0) and rho(+)cox4Δ cells, but it was blunted in rho(0) cells with the ATP1-111 mutation. We conclude that a decrease in MMP is the signal that initiates the retrograde response and leads to increased RLS.

Post-transcriptional regulation in the myo1Δ mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

BACKGROUND: Saccharomyces cerevisiae myosin type II-deficient (myo1Δ) strains remain viable and divide, despite the absence of a cytokinetic ring, by activation of the PKC1-dependent cell wall integrity pathway (CWIP). Since the myo1Δ transcriptional fingerprint is a subset of the CWIP fingerprint, the myo1Δ strain may provide a simplified paradigm for cell wall stress survival. RESULTS: To explore the post-transcriptional regulation of the myo1Δ stress response, 1,301 differentially regulated ribosome-bound mRNAs were identified by microarray analysis of which 204 were co-regulated by transcription and translation. Four categories of mRNA were significantly affected - protein biosynthesis, metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, and unknown functions. Nine genes of the 20 CWIP fingerprint genes were post-transcriptionally regulated. Down and up regulation of selected ribosomal protein and cell wall biosynthesis mRNAs was validated by their distribution in polysomes from wild type and myo1Δ strains. Western blot analysis revealed accumulation of the phosphorylated form of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 (eIF2α-P) and a reduction in the steady state levels of the translation initiation factor eIF4Gp in myo1Δ strains. Deletion of GCN2 in myo1Δ abolished eIF2αp phosphorylation, and showed a severe growth defect. The presence of P-bodies in myo1Δ strains suggests that the process of mRNA sequestration is active, however, the three representative down regulated RP mRNAs, RPS8A, RPL3 and RPL7B were present at equivalent levels in Dcp2p-mCh-positive immunoprecipitated fractions from myo1Δ and wild type cells. These same RP mRNAs were also selectively co-precipitated with eIF2α-P in myo1Δ strains. CONCLUSIONS: Quantitative analysis of ribosome-associated mRNAs and their polyribosome distributions suggests selective regulation of mRNA translation efficiency in myo1Δ strains. Inhibition of translation initiation factor eIF2α (eIF2α-P) in these strains was by Gcn2p-dependent phosphorylation. The increase in the levels of eIF2α-P; the genetic interaction between GCN2 and MYO1; and the reduced levels of eIF4Gp suggest that other signaling pathways, in addition to the CWIP, may be important for myo1Δ strain survival. Selective co-immunoprecipitation of RP mRNAs with eIF2α-P in myo1Δ strains suggests a novel mode of translational regulation. These results indicate that post-transcriptional control is important in the myo1Δ stress response and possibly other stresses in yeast.

Differential gene expression signatures for cell wall integrity found in chitin synthase II (chs2Delta) and myosin II (myo1Delta) deficient cytokinesis mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

BACKGROUND: Myosin II-dependent contraction of the cytokinetic ring and primary septum formation by chitin synthase II are interdependent processes during cytokinesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Hence, null mutants of myosin II (myo1Delta) and chitin synthase II (chs2Delta) share multiple morphological and molecular phenotypes. To understand the nature of their interdependent functions, we will seek to identify genes undergoing transcriptional regulation in chs2Delta strains and to establish a transcription signature profile for comparison with myo1Delta strains. RESULTS: A total of 467 genes were commonly regulated between myo1Delta and chs2Delta mutant strains (p

Global mRNA expression analysis in myosin II deficient strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae reveals an impairment of cell integrity functions.

BACKGROUND: The Saccharomyces cerevisiae MYO1 gene encodes the myosin II heavy chain (Myo1p), a protein required for normal cytokinesis in budding yeast. Myo1p deficiency in yeast (myo1Delta) causes a cell separation defect characterized by the formation of attached cells, yet it also causes abnormal budding patterns, formation of enlarged and elongated cells, increased osmotic sensitivity, delocalized chitin deposition, increased chitin synthesis, and hypersensitivity to the chitin synthase III inhibitor Nikkomycin Z. To determine how differential expression of genes is related to these diverse cell wall phenotypes, we analyzed the global mRNA expression profile of myo1Delta strains. RESULTS: Global mRNA expression profiles of myo1Delta strains and their corresponding wild type controls were obtained by hybridization to yeast oligonucleotide microarrays. Results for selected genes were confirmed by real time RT-PCR. A total of 547 differentially expressed genes (p < or = 0.01) were identified with 263 up regulated and 284 down regulated genes in the myo1Delta strains. Gene set enrichment analysis revealed the significant over-representation of genes in the protein biosynthesis and stress response categories. The SLT2/MPK1 gene was up regulated in the microarray, and a myo1Deltaslt2Delta double mutant was non-viable. Overexpression of ribosomal protein genes RPL30 and RPS31 suppressed the hypersensitivity to Nikkomycin Z and increased the levels of phosphorylated Slt2p in myo1Delta strains. Increased levels of phosphorylated Slt2p were also observed in wild type strains under these conditions. CONCLUSION: Following this analysis of global mRNA expression in yeast myo1Delta strains, we conclude that 547 genes were differentially regulated in myo1Delta strains and that the stress response and protein biosynthesis gene categories were coordinately regulated in this mutant. The SLT2/MPK1 gene was confirmed to be essential for myo1Delta strain viability, supporting that the up regulated stress response genes are regulated by the PKC1 cell integrity pathway. Suppression of Nikkomycin Z hypersensitivity together with Slt2p phosphorylation was caused by the overexpression of ribosomal protein genes RPL30 and RPS31. These ribosomal protein mRNAs were down regulated in the myo1Delta arrays, suggesting that down regulation of ribosomal biogenesis may affect cell integrity in myo1Delta strains.