Fluoxetine regulates eEF2 activity (phosphorylation) via HDAC1 inhibitory mechanism in an LPS-induced mouse model of depression.

BACKGROUND: Selective serotonin reuptaker inhibitors, including fluoxetine, are widely studied and prescribed antidepressants, while their exact molecular and cellular mechanism are yet to be defined. We investigated the involvement of HDAC1 and eEF2 in the antidepressant mechanisms of fluoxetine using a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced depression-like behavior model. METHODS: For in vivo analysis, mice were treated with LPS (2 mg/kg BW), fluoxetine (20 mg/kg BW), HDAC1 activator (Exifone: 54 mg/kg BW) and NH125 (1 mg/kg BW). Depressive-like behaviors were confirmed via behavior tests including OFT, FST, SPT, and TST. Cytokines were measured by ELISA while Iba-1 and GFAP expression were determined by immunofluorescence. Further, the desired gene expression was measured by immunoblotting. For in vitro analysis, BV2 cell lines were cultured; treated with LPS, exifone, and fluoxetine; collected; and analyzed. RESULTS: Mice treated with LPS displayed depression-like behaviors, pronounced neuroinflammation, increased HDAC1 expression, and reduced eEF2 activity, as accompanied by altered synaptogenic factors including BDNF, SNAP25, and PSD95. Fluoxetine treatment exhibited antidepressant effects and ameliorated the molecular changes induced by LPS. Exifone, a selective HDAC1 activator, reversed the antidepressant and anti-inflammatory effects of fluoxetine both in vivo and in vitro, supporting a causing role of HDAC1 in neuroinflammation allied depression. Further molecular mechanisms underlying HDAC1 were explored with NH125, an eEF2K inhibitor, whose treatment reduced immobility time, altered pro-inflammatory cytokines, and NLRP3 expression. Moreover, NH125 treatment enhanced eEF2 and GSK3ß activities, BDNF, SNAP25, and PSD95 expression, but had no effects on HDAC1. CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed that the antidepressant effects of fluoxetine may involve HDAC1-eEF2 related neuroinflammation and synaptogenesis.

MicroRNA-143-5p targeting eEF2 gene mediates intervertebral disc degeneration through the AMPK signaling pathway.

BACKGROUND: Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is a major contributor to back, neck, and radicular pain, and the treatment of IDD is costly and relatively ineffective. Dysregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) has been reported to be involved in IDD. The purpose of our study is to illustrate the potential that miR-143-5p targeting eEF2 gene mediates IDD. METHODS: Following the establishment of the IDD rat models, expression of miR-143-5p, eEF2, Bcl-2, Bax, AMPK, mTOR, cyclinD, COL2, ACAN, and DCN was detected. The NP cells isolated from degenerative intervertebral disc (IVD) were introduced with a series of mimic, inhibitor, or AICAR to explore the functional role of miR-143-5p in IDD and to characterize the relationship between miR-143-5p and eEF2. Cell viability, cell cycle, apoptosis, and senescence were also evaluated. RESULTS: A reduction in eEF2, an increase in miR-143-5p, and activation of the AMPK signaling pathway were observed in degenerative IVD. Moreover, increased senescent NP cells were observed in degenerative IVD. eEF2 was confirmed as a target gene of miR-143-5p. miR-143-5p was found to activate the AMPK signaling pathway. The restoration of miR-143-5p or the activation of AMPK signaling pathway decreased COL2, ACAN, and DCN expression, coupled with the inhibition of NP cell proliferation and differentiation, and promotion of NP apoptosis and senescence. On the contrary, the inhibition of miR-143-5p led to the reversed results. CONCLUSION: The results demonstrated that the inhibition of miR-143-5p may act as a suppressor for the progression of IDD.

Eukaryotic elongation factor 2 kinase upregulates the expression of proteins implicated in cell migration and cancer cell metastasis.

Eukaryotic elongation factor 2 kinase (eEF2K) negatively regulates the elongation phase of mRNA translation and hence protein synthesis. Increasing evidence indicates that eEF2K plays an important role in the survival and migration of cancer cells and in tumor progression. As demonstrated by two-dimensional wound-healing and three-dimensional transwell invasion assays, knocking down or inhibiting eEF2K in cancer cells impairs migration and invasion of cancer cells. Conversely, exogenous expression of eEF2K or knocking down eEF2 (the substrate of eEF2K) accelerates wound healing and invasion. Importantly, using LC-HDMSE analysis, we identify 150 proteins whose expression is decreased and 73 proteins which are increased upon knocking down eEF2K in human lung carcinoma cells. Of interest, 34 downregulated proteins are integrins and other proteins implicated in cell migration, suggesting that inhibiting eEF2K may help prevent cancer cell mobility and metastasis. Interestingly, eEF2K promotes the association of integrin mRNAs with polysomes, providing a mechanism by which eEF2K may enhance their cellular levels. Consistent with this, genetic knock down or pharmacological inhibition of eEF2K reduces the protein expression levels of integrins. Notably, pharmacological or genetic inhibition of eEF2K almost completely blocked tumor growth and effectively prevented the spread of tumor cells in vivo. High levels of eEF2K expression were associated with invasive carcinoma and metastatic tumors. These data provide the evidence that eEF2K is a new potential therapeutic target for preventing tumor metastasis.

Mmu-miR-125b overexpression suppresses NO production in activated macrophages by targeting eEF2K and CCNA2.

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs have been shown to be important regulators of the immune response and the development of the immune system. It was reported that microRNA-125b (miR-125b) was down-regulated in macrophages challenged with endotoxin. However, little is known about the function and mechanism of action of miR-125b in macrophage activation. Macrophages use L-arginine to synthesize nitric oxide (NO) through inducible NO synthase (iNOS), and the released NO contributes to the tumoricidal activity of macrophages. METHODS: Luciferase reporter assays were employed to validate regulation of a putative target of miR-125b. The effect of miR-125b on endogenous levels of this target were subsequently confirmed via Western blot. Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was performed to determine the expression level of miR-125b in macrophage. MTS assays were conducted to explore the impact of miR-125b overexpression on the cell viability of 4T1 cells. RESULTS: Here, we demonstrate that mmu-miR-125b overexpression suppresses NO production in activated macrophages and that LPS-activated macrophages with overexpressed mmu-miR-125b promote 4T1 tumor cell proliferation in vitro and 4T1 tumor growth in vivo. CCNA2 and eEF2K are the direct and functional targets of mmu-miR-125b in macrophages; CCNA2 and eEF2K expression was knocked down, which mimicked the mmu-miR-125b overexpression phenotype. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that mmu-miR-125b decreases NO production in activated macrophages at least partially by suppressing eEF2K and CCNA2 expression.

Application of Eukaryotic Elongation Factor-2 Kinase (eEF-2K) for Cancer Therapy: Expression, Purification, and High-Throughput Inhibitor Screening.

Protein kinases have emerged as an important class of therapeutic targets, as they are known to be involved in pathological pathways linked to numerous human disorders. Major efforts to discover kinase inhibitors in both academia and pharmaceutical companies have centered on the development of robust assays and cost-effective approaches to isolate them. Drug discovery procedures often start with hit identification for lead development, by screening a library of chemicals using an appropriate assay in a high-throughput manner. Considering limitations unique to each assay technique and screening capability, intelligent integration of various assay schemes and level of throughput, in addition to the choice of chemical libraries, is the key to success of this initial step. Here, we describe the purification of the protein kinase, eEF-2K, and the utilization of three biochemical assays in the course of identifying small molecules that block its enzymatic reaction.

Impairing eukaryotic elongation factor 2 kinase activity decreases atherosclerotic plaque formation.

We tested whether loss of eukaryotic elongation factor 2 kinase (eEF2K) activity in macrophages suppresses development of atherosclerosis by transplanting bone marrow from mice with mutant eEF2K into ldlr(-/-) mice. Sixteen weeks after high-fat diet feeding, mutant eEF2K hematopoietic chimeras had a dramatically reduced level of atherosclerotic plaque formation. M1-skewed macrophages from eEF2K knock-in mice have less tumour necrosis factor-α release and a lesser ability to induce expression of endothelial cell markers, providing a potential explanation for the role of eEF2K. Because eEF2K activity in cells of the hematopoietic compartment contributes to atherosclerosis development, drugs inhibiting eEF2K might have a beneficial effect in treatment of atherosclerosis.

Cyclic mechanical load causes global translational arrest in articular chondrocytes: a process which is partially dependent upon PKR phosphorylation.

The cellular mechanisms by which articular cartilage responds to load are poorly understood, but such responses may involve regulation at the level of protein translation rather than synthesis of mRNA. We investigated the role of translational control in cyclically (0.5 Hz, 0.1 Hz and 0.05 Hz) and statically loaded porcine articular cartilage explants. Messenger RNA was extracted for real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and newly synthesised proteins were measured by their incorporation of radiolabelled 35S[methionine/cysteine] or 35SO4. Some medium from loaded and unloaded explants was immunoblotted for type II collagen, CTGF and TIMP3. The pathways that control protein translation were investigated by immunoblotting explant lysates for PKR, PERK (PKR like endoplasmic reticulum kinase), eIF2a (eukaryotic initiation factor 2a), eEFs (eukaryotic elongation factors), and AMP-dependent kinase. Explants were also loaded in the presence of inhibitors of PKR, the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptor and PI3 kinase. Cyclic loading caused complete global translational arrest as evidenced by a total suppression of new protein synthesis whilst maintaining mRNA levels. Translational arrest did not occur following static loading and was partly dependent upon the load frequency. There was a rebound increase in protein synthesis when labelling was performed after load had been withdrawn. Phosphorylation of PKR occurred in explants following cyclic load and inhibition of PKR modestly reversed suppression of newly synthesised proteins suggesting that PKR, at least in part, was responsible for loading induced translational arrest. These results show that translational control provides a rapid and potentially important mechanism for controlling the synthetic responses of articular chondrocytes in response to different types of mechanical load.

Compartment-specific, differential regulation of eukaryotic elongation factor 2 and its kinase within Aplysia sensory neurons.

Long-term facilitation (LTF) in Aplysia is a leading model for elucidating the biochemical mechanisms of synaptic plasticity underlying learning. LTF requires translational control downstream of target of rapamycin complex 1. Our lab has previously shown that treatment with the facilitating neurotransmitter, 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), causes a target of rapamycin complex 1-mediated decrease in phosphorylation of eukaryotic elongation factor 2 (eEF2) within the neurites of sensory neurons involved in LTF. Here, we characterize the Aplysia orthologue of eEF2 kinase (eEF2K). We show that the Aplysia eEF2K orthologue contains an S6 kinase phosphorylation site and that a serine-to-alanine mutation at this site blocks the ability of 5-HT to decrease eEF2 phosphorylation in neurites. We also show that within the soma, 5-HT has the opposite effect, decreasing eEF2K phosphorylation at the S6 kinase site and, concomitantly, increasing eEF2 phosphorylation. Surprisingly, while eEF2K over-expression inhibits translation of a marker for internal ribosome entry site-dependent translation, it stimulates the translation of a marker for cap-dependent translation. This study demonstrates that eEF2 is differentially regulated in separate compartments and contributes to a growing body of evidence that inhibition of elongation can stimulate the translation of certain transcripts.