Spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1) is one of several neurodegenerative diseases caused by expansion of a polyglutamine tract in the disease protein, in this case, ATAXIN-1 (ATXN1). A key question in the field is whether neurotoxicity is mediated by aberrant, novel interactions with the expanded protein or whether its wild-type functions are augmented to a deleterious degree. We examined soluble protein complexes from mouse cerebellum and found that the majority of wild-type and expanded ATXN1 assembles into large stable complexes containing the transcriptional repressor Capicua. ATXN1 directly binds Capicua and modulates Capicua repressor activity in Drosophila and mammalian cells, and its loss decreases the steady-state level of Capicua. Interestingly, the S776A mutation, which abrogates the neurotoxicity of expanded ATXN1, substantially reduces the association of mutant ATXN1 with Capicua in vivo. These data provide insight into the function of ATXN1 and suggest that SCA1 neuropathology depends on native, not novel, protein interactions.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are generated by two-step processing to yield small RNAs that negatively regulate target gene expression at the post-transcriptional level1. Deregulation of miRNAs has been linked to diverse pathological processes, including cancer2,3. Recent studies have also implicated miRNAs in the regulation of cellular response to a spectrum of stresses4, such as hypoxia, which is frequently encountered in the poorly angiogenic core of a solid tumour5. However, the upstream regulators of miRNA biogenesis machineries remain obscure, raising the question of how tumour cells efficiently coordinate and impose specificity on miRNA expression and function in response to stresses. Here we show that epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which is the product of a well-characterized oncogene in human cancers, suppresses the maturation of specific tumour-suppressor-like miRNAs in response to hypoxic stress through phosphorylation of argonaute 2 (AGO2) at Tyr 393. The association between EGFR and AGO2 is enhanced by hypoxia, leading to elevated AGO2-Y393 phosphorylation, which in turn reduces the binding of Dicer to AGO2 and inhibits miRNA processing from precursor miRNAs to mature miRNAs. We also identify a long-loop structure in precursor miRNAs as a critical regulatory element in phospho-Y393-AGO2-mediated miRNA maturation. Furthermore, AGO2-Y393 phosphorylation mediates EGFR-enhanced cell survival and invasiveness under hypoxia, and correlates with poorer overall survival in breast cancer patients. Our study reveals a previously unrecognized function of EGFR in miRNA maturation and demonstrates how EGFR is likely to function as a regulator of AGO2 through novel post-translational modification. These findings suggest that modulation of miRNA biogenesis is important for stress response in tumour cells and has potential clinical implications.

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1) is one of several neurological disorders caused by a CAG repeat expansion. In SCA1, this expansion produces an abnormally long polyglutamine tract in the protein ataxin-1. Mutant polyglutamine proteins accumulate in neurons, inducing neurodegeneration, but the mechanism underlying this accumulation has been unclear. We have discovered that the 14-3-3 protein, a multifunctional regulatory molecule, mediates the neurotoxicity of ataxin-1 by binding to and stabilizing ataxin-1, thereby slowing its normal degradation. The association of ataxin-1 with 14-3-3 is regulated by Akt phosphorylation, and in a Drosophila model of SCA1, both 14-3-3 and Akt modulate neurodegeneration. Our finding that phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt signaling and 14-3-3 cooperate to modulate the neurotoxicity of ataxin-1 provides insight into SCA1 pathogenesis and identifies potential targets for therapeutic intervention.

Progressive telomere attrition or deficiency of the protective shelterin complex elicits a DNA damage response as a result of a cell's inability to distinguish dysfunctional telomeric ends from DNA double-strand breaks. SNMIB/Apollo is a shelterin-associated protein and a member of the SMN1/ PSO2 nuclease family that localizes to telomeres through its interaction with TRF2. Here, we generated SNMIB/Apollo knockout mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEFs) to probe the function of SNMIB/Apollo at mammalian telomeres. SNMIB/ Apollo null MEFs exhibit an increased incidence of G2 chromatid-type fusions involving telomeres created by leading-strand DNA synthesis, reflective of a failure to protect these telomeres after DNA replication. Mutations within SNMIB/Apollo's conserved nuclease domain failed to suppress this phenotype, suggesting that its nuclease activity is required to protect leading-strand telomeres. SNMIB/ Apollo À/À ATM À/À MEFs display robust telomere fusions when Trf2 is depleted, indicating that ATM is dispensable for repair of uncapped telomeres in this setting. Our data implicate the 5 0 -3 0 exonuclease function of SNM1B/Apollo in the generation of 3 0 single-stranded overhangs at newly replicated leading-strand telomeres to protect them from engaging the non-homologous end-joining pathway. The EMBO Journal (2010) IntroductionMammalian telomeres consist of TTAGGG repetitive sequences that terminate in a 3 0 single-stranded (ss) G-rich overhang. Telomeres are bound and stabilized by a number of telomere-specific-binding proteins that form a core complex termed shelterin that protects telomeres from inappropriately activating the DNA damage response (DDR) (Palm and de Lange, 2008). Three sequence-specific DNA-binding proteins are recruited to chromosomal ends: the duplex telomerebinding proteins TRF1 and TRF2/RAP1, and the ss TTAGGG repeat-binding protein POT1. These proteins are interconnected by the adapter proteins TIN2 and TPP1. Telomeres rendered dysfunctional by the removal of TRF2/RAP1 activate ATM and are repaired by the non-homologous endjoining (NHEJ) pathway, whereas removal of the POT1-TPP1 complex activates NHEJ-mediated repair that requires ATR (Wu et al, 2006;Denchi and de Lange, 2007;Guo et al, 2007;Deng et al, 2009).Emerging evidence suggests that the core shelterin complex is insufficient for complete chromosomal end protection. Rather, accessory proteins that interact with the shelterin complex are also essential for telomere stability. One such protein is SNM1B/Apollo, a member of a small gene family that also includes SNM1A and SNMIC/Artemis. All three proteins share sequence similarity to the yeast interstrand crosslink (ICL) repair protein PSO2/SNM1 (Dronkert et al, 2000). These proteins are characterized by a conserved metallo-b-lactamase-fold and an appended b-CPSF-ArtemisSnm1-Pso2 (CASP) domain that together imparts 5 0 exonuclease function (Callebaut et al, 2002;Poinsignon et al, 2004;Lenain et al, 2006). SNM1A localizes to ionizing radiation (IR)-induced DNA breaks (Richie et al...

CHIP (C terminus of Hsc-70 interacting protein) is an E3 ligase that links the protein folding machinery with the ubiquitin-proteasome system and has been implicated in disorders characterized by protein misfolding and aggregation. Here we investigate the role of CHIP in protecting from ataxin-1-induced neurodegeneration. Ataxin-1 is a polyglutamine protein whose expansion causes spinocerebellar ataxia type-1 (SCA1) and triggers the formation of nuclear inclusions (NIs). We find that CHIP and ataxin-1 proteins directly interact and co-localize in NIs both in cell culture and SCA1 postmortem neurons. CHIP promotes ubiquitination of expanded ataxin-1 both in vitro and in cell culture. The Hsp70 chaperone increases CHIP-mediated ubiquitination of ataxin-1 in vitro, and the tetratricopeptide repeat domain, which mediates CHIP interactions with chaperones, is required for ataxin-1 ubitiquination in cell culture. Interestingly, CHIP also interacts with and ubiquitinates unexpanded ataxin-1. Overexpression of CHIP in a Drosophila model of SCA1 decreases the protein steady-state levels of both expanded and unexpanded ataxin-1 and suppresses their toxicity. Finally we investigate the ability of CHIP to protect against toxicity caused by expanded polyglutamine tracts in different protein contexts. We find that CHIP is not effective in suppressing the toxicity caused by a bare 127Q tract with only a short hemaglutinin tag, but it is very efficient in suppressing toxicity caused by a 128Q tract in the context of an N-terminal huntingtin backbone. These data underscore the importance of the protein framework for modulating the effects of polyglutamine-induced neurodegeneration. Polyglutamine (poly-Q)4 diseases are a group of neurodegenerative disorders caused by expansion of glutamine-encoding (CAG) n repeats in genes whose sequence is otherwise unrelated (1, 2). One such protein is ataxin-1, where expansion of its N terminus glutamine repeat triggers spinocerebellar ataxia type 1. SCA1 is an adult-onset disorder characterized by loss of motor coordination and balance, which progresses to affect vital brain functions such as breathing and swallowing. Brain dysfunction is in part due to degeneration of cerebellar Purkinje cells, brainstem neurons, and the spinocerebellar tracts. Strong evidence supports the idea of a gain of function mechanism triggered by the poly-Q expansion in ataxin-1 (1, 3-5).One pathological hallmark of poly-Q disorders is the presence of neuronal aggregates (nuclear or cytoplasmic) that contain the poly-Q-expanded protein. These aggregates are found as nuclear inclusions (NIs) in SCA1 neurons, and in addition to aggregated mutant ataxin-1, they also contain components of the protein quality control machinery, e.g. ubiquitin, proteasome subunits, and chaperones. Such quality control proteins are key players in the toxicity of ataxin-1 and other proteins involved in poly-Q diseases (6 -9).Interestingly, high levels of unexpanded ataxin-1 form NIs and cause degenerative phenotypes similar to, but milder t...