Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0038187 (starvation)
 24,951 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Machado-Joseph disease (MJD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disorder caused by the expansion of the polyglutamine stretch in the MJD gene-encoded protein, ataxin-3. Using a series of deletion constructs expressing ataxin-3 fragments with expanded polyglutamine stretches, we observed aggregate formation and cell death in cultured BHK-21 cells. The cytotoxic effect of N-terminal-truncated ataxin-3 with the expanded polyglutamine tract was enhanced under serum starvation culture, in which cells were arrested in the G(0)/G(1)phase. Coexpression of p21 (waf1/cip1/sdi1), a cyclin-Cdk inhibitor that induced cell cycle arrest in the G(1)phase, also increased the cell death susceptibility produced by the mutant ataxin-3 fragment in BHK-21 cells. The elevated susceptibility to cell death in the G(0)/G(1)phase was confirmed in nerve growth factor-treated, postmitotic neuronal PC12 cells compared with undifferentiated proliferating PC12 cells. These results strongly suggest that the cellular toxicity of truncated ataxin-3 with an expanded polyglutamine stretch is enhanced by cell cycle arrest in the G(0)/G(1)phase. Mutant ataxin-3 may confer a higher susceptibility to cell death on cells in the G(0)/G(1)phase.
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PMID:Cell cycle arrest enhances the in vitro cellular toxicity of the truncated Machado-Joseph disease gene product with an expanded polyglutamine stretch. 1058 80

The pathology of spinocerebellar ataxia type 3, also known as Machado-Joseph disease, is triggered by aggregation of toxic ataxin-3 (ATXN3) variants containing expanded polyglutamine repeats. The physiological role of this deubiquitylase, however, remains largely unclear. Our recent work showed that ATX-3, the nematode orthologue of ATXN3, together with the ubiquitin-directed segregase CDC-48, regulates longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans. Here, we demonstrate that the long-lived cdc-48.1; atx-3 double mutant displays reduced viability under prolonged starvation conditions that can be attributed to the loss of catalytically active ATX-3. Reducing the levels of the autophagy protein BEC-1 sensitized worms to the effect of ATX-3 deficiency, suggesting a role of ATX-3 in autophagy. In support of this conclusion, the depletion of ATXN3 in human cells caused a reduction in autophagosomal degradation of proteins. Surprisingly, reduced degradation in ATXN3-depleted cells coincided with an increase in the number of autophagosomes while levels of lipidated LC3 remained unaffected. We identified two conserved LIR domains in the catalytic Josephin domain of ATXN3 that directly interacted with the autophagy adaptors LC3C and GABARAP in vitro. While ATXN3 localized to early autophagosomes, it was not subject to lysosomal degradation, suggesting a transient regulatory interaction early in the autophagic pathway. We propose that the deubiquitylase ATX-3/ATXN3 stimulates autophagic degradation by preventing superfluous initiation of autophagosomes, thereby promoting an efficient autophagic flux important to survive starvation.
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PMID:The Machado-Joseph disease deubiquitylase ataxin-3 interacts with LC3C/GABARAP and promotes autophagy. 3162 69