PRL3-DDX21 Transcriptional Control of Endolysosomal Genes Restricts Melanocyte Stem Cell Differentiation.

Melanocytes, replenished throughout life by melanocyte stem cells (MSCs), play a critical role in pigmentation and melanoma. Here, we reveal a function for the metastasis-associated phosphatase of regenerating liver 3 (PRL3) in MSC regeneration. We show that PRL3 binds to the RNA helicase DDX21, thereby restricting productive transcription by RNAPII at master transcription factor (MITF)-regulated endolysosomal vesicle genes. In zebrafish, this mechanism controls premature melanoblast expansion and differentiation from MSCs. In melanoma patients, restricted transcription of this endolysosomal vesicle pathway is a hallmark of PRL3-high melanomas. Our work presents the conceptual advance that PRL3-mediated control of transcriptional elongation is a differentiation checkpoint mechanism for activated MSCs and has clinical relevance for the activity of PRL3 in regenerating tissue and cancer.

Mps1Mph1 Kinase Phosphorylates Mad3 to Inhibit Cdc20Slp1-APC/C and Maintain Spindle Checkpoint Arrests.

The spindle checkpoint is a mitotic surveillance system which ensures equal segregation of sister chromatids. It delays anaphase onset by inhibiting the action of the E3 ubiquitin ligase known as the anaphase promoting complex or cyclosome (APC/C). Mad3/BubR1 is a key component of the mitotic checkpoint complex (MCC) which binds and inhibits the APC/C early in mitosis. Mps1(Mph1) kinase is critical for checkpoint signalling and MCC-APC/C inhibition, yet few substrates have been identified. Here we identify Mad3 as a substrate of fission yeast Mps1(Mph1) kinase. We map and mutate phosphorylation sites in Mad3, producing mutants that are targeted to kinetochores and assembled into MCC, yet display reduced APC/C binding and are unable to maintain checkpoint arrests. We show biochemically that Mad3 phospho-mimics are potent APC/C inhibitors in vitro, demonstrating that Mad3p modification can directly influence Cdc20(Slp1)-APC/C activity. This genetic dissection of APC/C inhibition demonstrates that Mps1(Mph1) kinase-dependent modifications of Mad3 and Mad2 act in a concerted manner to maintain spindle checkpoint arrests.

MEK Inhibitors Reverse cAMP-Mediated Anxiety in Zebrafish.

Altered phosphodiesterase (PDE)-cyclic AMP (cAMP) activity is frequently associated with anxiety disorders, but current therapies act by reducing neuronal excitability rather than targeting PDE-cAMP-mediated signaling pathways. Here, we report the novel repositioning of anti-cancer MEK inhibitors as anxiolytics in a zebrafish model of anxiety-like behaviors. PDE inhibitors or activators of adenylate cyclase cause behaviors consistent with anxiety in larvae and adult zebrafish. Small-molecule screening identifies MEK inhibitors as potent suppressors of cAMP anxiety behaviors in both larvae and adult zebrafish, while causing no anxiolytic behavioral effects on their own. The mechanism underlying cAMP-induced anxiety is via crosstalk to activation of the RAS-MAPK signaling pathway. We propose that targeting crosstalk signaling pathways can be an effective strategy for mental health disorders, and advance the repositioning of MEK inhibitors as behavior stabilizers in the context of increased cAMP.

Kindlin-1 regulates mitotic spindle formation by interacting with integrins and Plk-1.

Kindlin-1 binds to integrins and regulates integrin activation at cell adhesions. Here we report a new function of Kindlin-1 in regulating spindle assembly. We show that Kindlin-1 localizes to centrosomes, its concentration peaking during G2/M, where it associates with various pericentriolar material proteins, including Polo-like kinase 1. Short interfering RNA-mediated depletion of Kindlin-1 increases formation of abnormal mitotic spindles and decreases cellular survival. This effect is dependent not only on the ability of Kindlin-1 to bind integrins but also on Polo-like kinase 1-mediated Kindlin-1 phosphorylation. We demonstrate that a subcellular pool of phosphorylated Kindlin-1 is located exclusively at centrosomes. Our work identifies a novel cellular role for Kindlin-1 in ensuring mitotic spindle assembly and cellular survival that is controlled by phosphorylation via Polo-like kinase 1.

Kinase activity of fission yeast Mph1 is required for Mad2 and Mad3 to stably bind the anaphase promoting complex.

Defects in chromosome segregation result in aneuploidy, which can lead to disease or cell death [1, 2]. The spindle checkpoint delays anaphase onset until all chromosomes are attached to spindle microtubules in a bipolar fashion [3, 4]. Mad2 is a key checkpoint component that undergoes conformational activation, catalyzed by a Mad1-Mad2 template enriched at unattached kinetochores [5]. Mad2 and Mad3 (BubR1) then bind and inhibit Cdc20 to form the mitotic checkpoint complex (MCC), which binds and inhibits the anaphase promoting complex (APC/C). Checkpoint kinases (Aurora, Bub1, and Mps1) are critical for checkpoint signaling, yet they have poorly defined roles and few substrates have been identified [6-8]. Here we demonstrate that a kinase-dead allele of the fission yeast MPS1 homolog (Mph1) is checkpoint defective and that levels of APC/C-associated Mad2 and Mad3 are dramatically reduced in this mutant. Thus, MCC binding to fission yeast APC/C is dependent on Mph1 kinase activity. We map and mutate several phosphorylation sites in Mad2, producing mutants that display reduced Cdc20-APC/C binding and an inability to maintain checkpoint arrest. We conclude that Mph1 kinase regulates the association of Mad2 with its binding partners and thereby mitotic arrest.

Getting down to the phosphorylated 'nuts and bolts' of spindle checkpoint signalling.

Due to the highly orchestrated stages of mitosis, cells segregate their chromosomes with incredibly high fidelity. One of the principal 'conductors' is the spindle checkpoint, which regulates mitotic progression. Specifically, it delays anaphase onset until all chromosomes are attached in a bi-oriented fashion to spindle microtubules. This delay stems from inhibition of Cdc20, an activator of an E3 ubiquitin ligase known as the anaphase-promoting complex or cyclosome (APC/C). Several recent advances in our mechanistic understanding of this important cell cycle control have been made. Although still poorly understood, signalling roles for checkpoint kinases and their opposing phosphatases continue to be uncovered, and the key substrates gradually identified.

Glycine-alanine repeats impair proper substrate unfolding by the proteasome.

Proteasome ATPases unravel folded proteins. Introducing a sequence containing only glycine and alanine residues (GAr) into substrates can impair their digestion. We previously proposed that a GAr interferes with the unfolding capacity of the proteasome, leading to partial degradation of products. Here we tested that idea in several ways. Stabilizing or destabilizing a folded domain within substrate proteins changed GAr-mediated intermediate production in the way predicted by the model. A downstream folded domain determined the sites of terminal proteolysis. The spacing between a GAr and a folded domain was critical for intermediate production. Intermediates containing a GAr did not remain associated with proteasomes, excluding models whereby retained GAr-containing proteins halt further processing. The following model is supported: a GAr positioned within the ATPase ring reduces the efficiency of coupling between nucleotide hydrolysis and work performed on the substrate. If this impairment takes place when unfolding must be initiated, insertion pauses and proteolysis is limited to the portion of the substrate that has already entered the catalytic chamber of the proteasome.