The role of N-terminal phosphorylation of DGK-θ.

Diacylglycerol kinases (DGKs) are lipid kinases that mediate the phosphorylation of diacylglycerol (DAG) leading to the production of phosphatidic acid (PtdOH). To examine the role of phosphorylation on DGK-θ, we first identified the phosphorylated sites on endogenous DGK-θ from mouse brain and found four sites: S15, S17, which we refer to phosphomotif-1 sites, and S22 and S26 which we refer to as phosphomotif-2 sites. This study focused on the role of these phosphorylated sites on enzyme activity, membrane binding, thermal stability, and cellular half-life of DGK-θ. After generating a construct devoid of all non-catalytic phosphorylation sites (4A), we also generated other constructs to mimic phosphorylation of these residues by mutating them to glutamate (E). Our data demonstrate that an increase in membrane affinity requires the phosphorylation of all four endogenous sites as the phosphomimetic 4E but not other phosphomimietics. Furthermore, 4E also shows an increase in basal activity as well as an increase in the Syt1-induced activity compared to 4A. It is noteworthy that these phosphorylations had no effect on the thermal stability or cellular half-life of this enzyme. Interestingly, when only one phosphorylation domain (phosphomotif-1 or phosphomotif-2) contained phosphomimetics (S15E/S17E or S22E/S26E), the basal activity was also increased but membrane binding affinity was not increased. Furthermore, when only one residue in each domain mimicked an endogenous phosphorylated serine (S15E/S22E or S17E/S26E), the Syt1-induced activity as well as membrane binding affinity decreased relative to 4A. These results indicate that these endogenous phosphorylation sites contribute differentially to membrane binding and enzymatic activity.

A new method for quantifying the enzyme activity of DGKs.

Diacylglycerol kinases (DGKs) are a family of enzymes that catalyze the ATP-dependent conversion of diacylglycerol (DAG) to phosphatidic acid (PtdOH). A common approach to examine the activity of these enzymes relys on a radiometric assay (Epand and Topham, 2007; Tu-Sekine and Raben, 2017). This assay quantifies the DGK-catalyzed incorporation of 32P into DAG from AT32P to generate 32PtdOH and is perhaps been the most widely used assay. While sensitive, its drawbacks are the expense and the potential negative impacts on health and the environment. In this report, we describe a new assay which utilizes fluorescent labeled NBD-DAG (1-Oleoyl-2-[12-[(7-nitro-2-1,3-benzoxadiazol-4-yl) amino] dodecanoyl]-sn-Glycero-3-diacylglycerol) to quantify the DGK-θ-catalyzed conversion of NBD-DAG to NBD-PtdOH. Furthermore, we show the assay is sufficiently sensitive as the measured specific activity was similar to that previously determined with AT32P (Tu-Sekine and Raben, 2012) and was able to detect the activation of DGK-θ by synaptotagmin-1 (Barber et al., 2022). Overall, this assay is inexpensive, sensitive, and reproducible making it an attractive alternative to currently established assays.

Phosphorylation of DGK.

Diacylglycerol (DAG) and phosphatidic acid (PtdOH) play important roles in a variety of signaling cascades (Carrasco and Merida, 2007; Stace and Ktistakis, 2006). Therefore, the physiological roles and regulatory mechanisms controlling the levels of these lipids are important. One class of enzymes capable of coordinating the levels of these two lipids are the diacylglycerol kinases (DGKs). DGKs catalyze the transfer of the γ-phosphate of ATP to the hydroxyl group of DAG which generates PtdOH(Merida et al., 2008; Sakane et al., 2007). As DGKs reciprocally modulate the relative levels of these two signaling lipids, it is not surprising that there is increasing interest in understanding the mechanism underlying the catalysis and regulation of these kinases. While post-translational modifications (PTMs) are often involved in enzyme regulation, there is surprisingly little information regarding the PTMs on these enzymes and their roles in modulating their activity and function. In this review, we will summarize what is known about one PTM on DGKs, phosphorylation, and the possible functions of this modification.

Differential expression patterns of phospholipase D isoforms 1 and 2 in the mammalian brain and retina.

Phosphatidic acid is a key signaling molecule heavily implicated in exocytosis due to its protein-binding partners and propensity to induce negative membrane curvature. One phosphatidic acid-producing enzyme, phospholipase D (PLD), has also been implicated in neurotransmission. Unfortunately, due to the unreliability of reagents, there has been confusion in the literature regarding the expression of PLD isoforms in the mammalian brain which has hampered our understanding of their functional roles in neurons. To address this, we generated epitope-tagged PLD1 and PLD2 knockin mice using CRISPR/Cas9. Using these mice, we show that PLD1 and PLD2 are both localized at synapses by adulthood, with PLD2 expression being considerably higher in glial cells and PLD1 expression predominating in neurons. Interestingly, we observed that only PLD1 is expressed in the mouse retina, where it is found in the synaptic plexiform layers. These data provide critical information regarding the localization and potential role of PLDs in the central nervous system.

Identification of Synaptic DGKθ Interactors That Stimulate DGKθ Activity.

Lipids and their metabolic enzymes are a critical point of regulation for the membrane curvature required to induce membrane fusion during synaptic vesicle recycling. One such enzyme is diacylglycerol kinase θ (DGKθ), which produces phosphatidic acid (PtdOH) that generates negative membrane curvature. Synapses lacking DGKθ have significantly slower rates of endocytosis, implicating DGKθ as an endocytic regulator. Importantly, DGKθ kinase activity is required for this function. However, protein regulators of DGKθ's kinase activity in neurons have never been identified. In this study, we employed APEX2 proximity labeling and mass spectrometry to identify endogenous interactors of DGKθ in neurons and assayed their ability to modulate its kinase activity. Seven endogenous DGKθ interactors were identified and notably, synaptotagmin-1 (Syt1) increased DGKθ kinase activity 10-fold. This study is the first to validate endogenous DGKθ interactors at the mammalian synapse and suggests a coordinated role between DGKθ-produced PtdOH and Syt1 in synaptic vesicle recycling.

Elusive structure of mammalian DGKs.

Mammalian diacylglycerol kinases (DGKs) are a group of enzymes that catalyze the ATP-dependent phosphorylation of diacylglycerol (DAG) to produce phosphatidic acid (PtdOH). In doing so, they modulate the levels of these two important signaling lipids. Currently, ten mammalian DGKs are organized into five classes that vary with respect to domain organization, regulation, and cellular/subcellular distribution. As lipids play critical roles in cells, it is not surprising that there is increasing interest in understanding the mechanism underlying the catalysis and regulation of lipid modulating enzymes such as DGKs. However, there are no solved 3D structures for any of the eukaryotic DGKs. In this review, we summarize what is known and the current challenges in determining the structures of these important enzymes. In addition to gain critical insights into their mechanisms of catalysis and regulation, DGK structures will provide a platform for the design of isoform specific inhibitors.

Roles of DGKs in neurons: Postsynaptic functions?

Diacylglycerol kinases (DGKs) contribute to an important part of intracellular signaling because, in addition to reducing diacylglycerol levels, they generate phosphatidic acid (PtdOH) Recent research has led to the discovery of ten mammalian DGK isoforms, all of which are found in the mammalian brain. Many of these isoforms have studied functions within the brain, while others lack such understanding in regards to neuronal roles, regulation, and structural dynamics. However, while previously a neuronal function for DGKθ was unknown, it was recently found that DGKθ is required for the regulation of synaptic vesicle endocytosis and work is currently being conducted to elucidate the mechanism behind this regulation. Here we will review some of the roles of all mammalian DGKs and hypothesize additional roles. We will address the topic of redundancy among the ten DGK isoforms and discuss the possibility that DGKθ, among other DGKs, may have unstudied postsynaptic functions. We also hypothesize that in addition to DGKθ's presynaptic endocytic role, DGKθ might also regulate the endocytosis of AMPA receptors and other postsynaptic membrane proteins.

Lipid Metabolism Crosstalk in the Brain: Glia and Neurons.

Until recently, glial cells have been considered mainly support cells for neurons in the mammalian brain. However, many studies have unveiled a variety of glial functions including electrolyte homeostasis, inflammation, synapse formation, metabolism, and the regulation of neurotransmission. The importance of these functions illuminates significant crosstalk between glial and neuronal cells. Importantly, it is known that astrocytes secrete signals that can modulate both presynaptic and postsynaptic function. It is also known that the lipid compositions of the pre- and post-synaptic membranes of neurons greatly impact functions such as vesicle fusion and receptor mobility. These data suggest an essential lipid-mediated communication between glial cells and neurons. Little is known, however, about how the lipid metabolism of both cell types may interact. In this review, we discuss neuronal and glial lipid metabolism and suggest how they might interact to impact neurotransmission.

Diacylglycerol kinases: Relationship to other lipid kinases.

Lipid kinases regulate a wide variety of cellular functions and have emerged as one the most promising targets for drug design. Diacylglycerol kinases (DGKs) are a family of enzymes that catalyze the ATP-dependent phosphorylation of diacylglycerol (DAG) to phosphatidic acid (PtdOH). Despite the critical role in lipid biosynthesis, both DAG and PtdOH have been shown as bioactive lipids mediating a number of signaling pathways. Although there is increasing recognition of their role in signaling systems, our understanding of the key enzyme which regulate the balance of these two lipid messages remain limited. Solved structures provide a wealth of information for understanding the function and regulation of these enzymes. Solving the structures of mammalian DGKs by traditional NMR and X-ray crystallography approaches have been challenging and so far, there are still no three-dimensional structures of these DGKs. Despite this, some insights may be gained by examining the similarities and differences between prokaryotic DGKs and other mammalian lipid kinases. This review focuses on summarizing and comparing the structure of prokaryotic and mammalian DGKs as well as two other lipid kinases: sphingosine kinase and phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase. How these known lipid kinases structures relate to mammalian DGKs will also be discussed.

Phosphatidic acid-producing enzymes regulating the synaptic vesicle cycle: Role for PLD?

In cortical and hippocampal neurons of the mammalian brain, the synaptic vesicle cycle is a series of steps that tightly regulate exo- and endocytosis of vesicles. Many proteins contribute to this regulation, but lipids have recently emerged as critical regulators as well. Of all the many lipid signaling molecules, phosphatidic acid is important to the physical processes of membrane fusion. Therefore, the lipid-metabolizing enzymes that produce phosphatidic acid are vital to the regulation of the cycle. Our lab is particularly interested in the potential regulatory mechanisms and neuronal roles of two phosphatidic acid-producing enzymes: diacylglycerol kinase theta (DGKθ) and phospholipase D (PLD). We recently discovered a regulatory role of DGKθ on evoked endocytosis (Goldschmidt et al., 2016). In addition to this enzyme, studies implicate PLD1 in neurotransmission, although its precise role is of some debate. Altogether, the production of phosphatidic acid by these enzymes offer an interesting and novel pathway for the regulation of the synaptic vesicle cycle.

Phosphatidic acid and neurotransmission.

Lipids play a vital role in the health and functioning of neurons and interest in the physiological role of neuronal lipids is certainly increasing. One neuronal function in which neuronal lipids appears to play key roles in neurotransmission. Our understanding of the role of lipids in the synaptic vesicle cycle and neurotransmitter release is becoming increasingly more important. Much of the initial research in this area has highlighted the major roles played by the phosphoinositides (PtdIns), diacylglycerol (DAG), and phosphatidic acid (PtdOH). Of these, PtdOH has not received as much attention as the other lipids although its role and metabolism appears to be extremely important. This lipid has been shown to play a role in modulating both exocytosis and endocytosis although its precise role in either process is not well defined. The currently evidence suggest this lipid likely participates in key processes by altering membrane architecture necessary for membrane fusion, mediating the penetration of membrane proteins, serving as a precursor for other important SV cycling lipids, or activating essential enzymes. In this review, we address the sources of PtdOH, the enzymes involved in its production, the regulation of these enzymes, and its potential roles in neurotransmission in the central nervous system.

DGK-θ: Structure, Enzymology, and Physiological Roles.

Diacylglycerol kinases (DGKs) are a family of enzymes that catalyze the ATP-dependent phosphorylation of diacylglycerol (DAG) to phosphatidic acid (PtdOH). The recognition of the importance of these enzymes has been increasing ever since it was determined that they played a role in the phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns) cycle and a number of excellent reviews have already been written [(see van Blitterswijk and Houssa, 2000; Kanoh et al., 2002; Mérida et al., 2008; Tu-Sekine and Raben, 2009, 2011; Shulga et al., 2011; Tu-Sekine et al., 2013) among others]. We now know there are ten mammalian DGKs that are organized into five classes. DGK-θ is the lone member of the Type V class of DGKs and remains as one of the least studied. This review focuses on our current understanding of the structure, enzymology, regulation, and physiological roles of this DGK and suggests some future areas of research to understand this DGK isoform.

Mutational Analysis of Prostate-Specific Antigen Defines the Intrinsic Proteolytic Activity of the proPSA Zymogen.

BACKGROUND: Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is an important prostate cancer biomarker. It is also a protease expressed at high concentrations by the normal and malignant prostate. PSA is secreted as a zymogen (proPSA) with an inhibitory prodomain that must be removed for full activity. ProPSA variants, assumed to be inactive, are found in the blood of prostate cancer patients, and are indicative of poor clinical outcome. Despite the abundance of clinical reports, our understanding of PSA's enzymology is limited, in part due to a lack of appropriate experimental systems. We sought to develop a series of PSA-derived mutants that would help to enhance our understanding of the gene. METHODS: Sixteen rPSA variants were generated and characterized by a variety of biochemical methods. RESULTS: The wildtype cDNA (WT) provided the template for generating a panel of recombinants. These included variants that abolished removal of the prodomain (R24A), disabled its enzymatic activity (S213A), and/or facilitated a cell-based conversion to the active conformation (FR). The purified variants' proteolytic activity was examined using a fluorogenic substrate, known PSA-cleavable proteins, and physiologically relevant inhibitors. Upon demonstrating our successful generation and purification of the PSA variants, we characterized proPSA activity, describing cleavage of synthetic and biologic substrates, but not serum protease inhibitors. This finding was exploited in the development of a self-activating mutant (PSA_QY) that exhibited the greatest enzymatic activity of all the variants. CONCLUSIONS: The system described herein will prove useful for varied applications. ProPSA is partially functional with relatively high activity compared to the mature enzyme. In demonstrating the zymogen's intrinsic activity, we suggest that the proPSA in prostate cancer patient serum is not inert. This may have implications for our understanding of the disease. Prostate 76:1203-1217, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

DGKθ Catalytic Activity Is Required for Efficient Recycling of Presynaptic Vesicles at Excitatory Synapses.

Synaptic transmission relies on coordinated coupling of synaptic vesicle (SV) exocytosis and endocytosis. While much attention has focused on characterizing proteins involved in SV recycling, the roles of membrane lipids and their metabolism remain poorly understood. Diacylglycerol, a major signaling lipid produced at synapses during synaptic transmission, is regulated by diacylglycerol kinase (DGK). Here, we report a role for DGKθ in the mammalian CNS in facilitating recycling of presynaptic vesicles at excitatory synapses. Using synaptophysin- and vGlut1-pHluorin optical reporters, we found that acute and chronic deletion of DGKθ attenuated the recovery of SVs following neuronal stimulation. Rescue of recycling kinetics required DGKθ kinase activity. Our data establish a role for DGK catalytic activity at the presynaptic nerve terminal in SV recycling. Altogether, these data suggest that DGKθ supports synaptic transmission during periods of elevated neuronal activity.

Diacylglycerol, phosphatidic acid, and their metabolic enzymes in synaptic vesicle recycling.

The synaptic vesicle (SV) cycle includes exocytosis of vesicles loaded with a neurotransmitter such as glutamate, coordinated recovery of SVs by endocytosis, refilling of vesicles, and subsequent release of the refilled vesicles from the presynaptic bouton. SV exocytosis is tightly linked with endocytosis, and variations in the number of vesicles, and/or defects in the refilling of SVs, will affect the amount of neurotransmitter available for release (Sudhof, 2004). There is increasing interest in the roles synaptic vesicle lipids and lipid metabolizing enzymes play in this recycling. Initial emphasis was placed on the role of polyphosphoinositides in SV cycling as outlined in a number of reviews (Lim and Wenk, 2009; Martin, 2012; Puchkov and Haucke, 2013; Rohrbough and Broadie, 2005). Other lipids are now recognized to also play critical roles. For example, PLD1 (Humeau et al., 2001; Rohrbough and Broadie, 2005) and some DGKs (Miller et al., 1999; Nurrish et al., 1999) play roles in neurotransmission which is consistent with the critical roles for phosphatidic acid (PtdOH) and diacylglycerol (DAG) in the regulation of SV exo/endocytosis (Cremona et al., 1999; Exton, 1994; Huttner and Schmidt, 2000; Lim and Wenk, 2009; Puchkov and Haucke, 2013; Rohrbough and Broadie, 2005). PLD generates phosphatidic acid by catalyzing the hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho) and in some systems this PtdOH is de-phosphorylated to generate DAG. In contrast, DGK catalyzes the phosphorylation of DAG thereby converting it into PtdOH. While both enzymes are poised to regulate the levels of DAG and PtdOH, therefore, they both lead to the generation of PtdOH and could have opposite effects on DAG levels. This is particularly important for SV cycling as PtdOH and DAG are both needed for evoked exocytosis (Lim and Wenk, 2009; Puchkov and Haucke, 2013; Rohrbough and Broadie, 2005). Two lipids and their involved metabolic enzymes, two sphingolipids have also been implicated in exocytosis: sphingosine (Camoletto et al., 2009; Chan et al., 2012; Chan and Sieburth, 2012; Darios et al., 2009; Kanno et al., 2010; Rohrbough et al., 2004) and sphingosine-1-phosphate (Chan, Hu, 2012; Chan and Sieburth, 2012; Kanno et al., 2010). Finally a number of reports have focused on the somewhat less well studies roles of sphingolipids and cholesterol in SV cycling. In this report, we review the recent understanding of the roles PLDs, DGKs, and DAG lipases, as well as sphingolipids and cholesterol play in synaptic vesicle cycling.

The expression of diacylglycerol kinase theta during the organogenesis of mouse embryos.

BACKGROUND: Diacylglycerol kinase (DGK) is a key enzyme that regulates diacylglycerol (DG) turnover and is involved in a variety of physiological functions. The isoform DGKθ has a unique domain structure and is the sole member of type V DGK. To reveal the spatial and temporal expression of DGKθ we performed immunohistochemical staining on paraffin sections of mouse embryos. RESULTS: At an early stage of development (E10.5 and 11.5), the expression of DGKθ was prominently detected in the brain, spinal cord, dorsal root ganglion, and limb bud, and was also moderately detected in the bulbus cordis and the primordium of the liver and gut. At later stages (E12.5 and 14.5), DGKθ expression persisted or increased in the neocortex, epithalamus, hypothalamus, medulla oblongata, and pons. DGKθ was also evident in the epidermis, and nearly all epithelia of the oropharyngeal membrane, digestive tract, and bronchea. At prenatal developmental stages (E16.5 and E18.5), the expression pattern of DGKθ was maintained in the central nervous system, intestine, and kidney, but was attenuated in the differentiated epidermis. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that DGKθ may play important physiological roles not only in the brain, but also in diverse organs and tissues during the embryonic stages.

Bacterial expression strategies for several Sus scrofa diacylglycerol kinase alpha constructs: solubility challenges.

We pursued several strategies for expressing either full-length Sus scrofa diacylglycerol kinase (DGK) alpha or the catalytic domain (alphacat) in Escherichia coli. Alphacat could be extracted, refolded, and purified from inclusion bodies, but when subjected to analytical gel filtration chromatography, it elutes in the void volume, in what we conclude are microscopic aggregates unsuitable for x-ray crystallography. Adding glutathione S-transferase, thioredoxin, or maltose binding protein as N-terminal fusion tags did not improve alphacat's solubility. Coexpressing with bacterial chaperones increased the yield of alphacat in the supernatant after high-speed centrifugation, but the protein still elutes in the void upon analytical gel filtration chromatography. We believe our work will be of interest to those interested in the structure of eukaryotic DGKs, so that they know which expression strategies have already been tried, as well as to those interested in protein folding and those interested in chaperone/target-protein interactions.

Diacylglycerol kinase θ: regulation and stability.

Given the well-established roles of diacylglycerol (DAG) and phosphatidic acid (PtdOH) in a variety of signaling cascades, it is not surprising that there is an increasing interest in understanding their physiological roles and mechanisms that regulate their cellular levels. One class of enzymes capable of coordinately regulating the levels of these two lipids is the diacylglycerol kinases (DGKs). These enzymes catalyze the transfer of the γ-phosphate of ATP to the hydroxyl group of DAG, which generates PtdOH while reducing DAG. As these enzymes reciprocally modulate the relative levels of these two signaling lipids, it is essential to understand the regulation and roles of these enzymes in various tissues. One system where these enzymes play important roles is the nervous system. Of the ten mammalian DGKs, eight of them are readily detected in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS): DGK-α, DGK-ß, DGK-γ, DGK-η, DGK-ζ, DGK-ι, DGK-ε, and DGK-θ. Despite the increasing interest in DGKs, little is known about their regulation. We have focused some attention on understanding the enzymology and regulation of one of these DGK isoforms, DGK-θ. We recently showed that DGK-θ is regulated by an accessory protein containing polybasic regions. We now report that this accessory protein is required for the previously reported broadening of the pH profile observed in cell lysates in response to phosphatidylserine (PtdSer). Our data further reveal DGK-θ is regulated by magnesium and zinc, and sensitive to the known DGK inhibitor R599022. These data outline new parameters involved in regulating DGK-θ.

Dual regulation of diacylglycerol kinase (DGK)-θ: polybasic proteins promote activation by phospholipids and increase substrate affinity.

Diacylglycerol kinases are important mediators of lipid signaling cascades, and insight into their regulation is of increasing interest. Using purified DGK-θ, we show that this isoform is subject to dual regulation and that the previously characterized stimulation by acidic phospholipids is dependent on the presence of a positively charged protein or peptide. Polybasic cofactors lowered the K(m) for diacylglycerol at the membrane surface (K(m)((surf))), and worked synergistically with acidic phospholipids to increase activity 10- to 30-fold, suggesting that the purified enzyme is autoinhibited. Vesicle pulldown studies showed that acidic phospholipids recruit polybasic cofactors to the vesicle surface but have little effect on the membrane association of DGK-θ, suggesting that a triad of enzyme, acidic lipid and basic protein are necessary for interfacial activity. Importantly, these data demonstrate that the interfacial association and catalytic activity of DGK-θ are independently regulated. Finally, we show that DGK-θ directly interacts with, and is activated by, basic proteins such as histone H1 and Tau with nm affinity, consistent with a potential role for a polybasic protein or protein domain in the activation of this enzyme.