Epigenetic “readers” that recognize defined posttranslational modifications on histones have become desirable therapeutic targets for cancer and inflammation. SP140 is one such bromodomain and plant homeodomain (PHD)–containing reader with immune-restricted expression, and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within SP140 associate with Crohn’s disease (CD). However, the function of SP140 and the consequences of disease-associated SP140 SNPs have remained unclear. We show that SP140 is critical for transcriptional programs that uphold the macrophage state. SP140 preferentially occupies promoters of silenced, lineage-inappropriate genes bearing the histone modification H3K27me3, such as the HOXA cluster in human macrophages, and ensures their repression. Depletion of SP140 in mouse or human macrophages resulted in severely compromised microbe-induced activation. We reveal that peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) or B cells from individuals carrying CD-associated SNPs within SP140 have defective SP140 messenger RNA splicing and diminished SP140 protein levels. Moreover, CD patients carrying SP140 SNPs displayed suppressed innate immune gene signatures in a mixed population of PBMCs that stratified them from other CD patients. Hematopoietic-specific knockdown of Sp140 in mice resulted in exacerbated dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)–induced colitis, and low SP140 levels in human CD intestinal biopsies correlated with relatively lower intestinal innate cytokine levels and improved response to anti–tumor necrosis factor (TNF) therapy. Thus, the epigenetic reader SP140 is a key regulator of macrophage transcriptional programs for cellular state, and a loss of SP140 due to genetic variation contributes to a molecularly defined subset of CD characterized by ineffective innate immunity, normally critical for intestinal homeostasis.
It is clear that solar UV irradiation is a crucial environmental factor resulting in skin diseases partially through activation of cell signaling toward altered gene expression and reprogrammed protein translation. Such a key translational control mechanism is executed by the eukaryotic initiation factor 2α subunit (eIF2α) and the downstream events provoked by phosphorylation of eIF2α at Ser(51) are clearly understood, but the upstream signaling mechanisms on the eIF2α-Ser(51) phosphorylation responses to different types of UV irradiations, namely UVA, UVB and UVC, are still not well elucidated. Herein, our evidence reveals that UVA, UVB and UVC all induce a dose- and time-dependent phosphorylation of eIF2α-Ser(51) through distinct signaling mechanisms. UVA-induced eIF2α phosphorylation occurs through MAPKs, including ERKs, JNKs and p38 kinase, and phosphatidylinositol (PI)-3 kinase. By contrast, UVB-induced eIF2α phosphorylation is through JNKs and p38 kinase, but not ERKs or PI-3 kinase, whereas UVC-stimulated response to eIF2α phosphorylation is via JNKs alone. Furthermore, we have revealed that ATM is involved in induction of the intracellular responses to UVA and UVB, rather than UVC. These findings demonstrate that wavelength-specific UV irradiations activate differential response signaling pathways converged on the eIF2α phosphorylation. Importantly, we also show evidence that a direct eIF2α kinase PKR is activated though phosphorylation by either RSK1 or MSK1, two downstream kinases of MAPKs/PI-3 kinase-mediated signaling pathways.
The α-subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF2α) is a key translation regulator that plays an important role in cellular stress responses. In the present study, we investigated how eIF2α phosphorylation can be regulated by a tumor suppressor PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10) and how such regulation is utilized by PTEN-deficient hepatocytes to adapt and cope with oxidative stress. We found that eIF2α was hyper-phosphorylated when Pten was deleted, and this process was AKT dependent. Consistent with this finding, we found that the Pten null cells developed resistance to oxidative glutamate and H2O2 induced cellular toxicity. We showed that the messenger level of CReP (constitutive repressor of eIF2 alpha phosphorylation), a constitutive phosphatase of eIF2α, was downregulated in Pten null hepatocytes, providing a possible mechanism through which PTEN/AKT pathway regulates eIF2α phosphorylation. Ectopic expression of CReP restored the sensitivity of the Pten mutant hepatocytes to oxidative stress, confirming the functional significance of the downregulated CReP and upregulated eIF2α in the resistance Pten mutant hepatocytes to cellular stress. In summary, our study suggested a novel role of PTEN in regulating stress response through modulating CReP/eIF2α pathway.
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