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J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 281, Issue 18, 12227-12232, May 5, 2006
Manganese Is the Link between Frataxin and Iron-Sulfur Deficiency in the Yeast Model of Friedreich Ataxia*From the Grup de Bioquímica de l'Estrés Oxidatiu, Departament de Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Facultat de Medicina, Universitat de Lleida, 25008 Lleida, Spain
Received for publication, October 27, 2005 , and in revised form, February 17, 2006.
Friedreich ataxia is a human neurodegenerative and myocardial disease caused by decreased expression of the mitochondrial protein frataxin. Proteomic analysis of the mutant yeast model of Friedreich ataxia presented in this paper reveals that these cells display increased amounts of proteins involved in antioxidant defenses, including manganese-superoxide dismutase. This enzyme shows, however, lower activity than that found in wild type cells. Our results indicate that this lack of activity is a consequence of cellular manganese deficiency, because in manganese-supplemented cultures, cell manganese content, and manganese-superoxide dismutase activity were restored. One of the hallmarks of Friedreich ataxia is the decreased activity of iron/sulfur-containing enzymes. The activities of four enzymes of this group (aconitase, glutamate synthase, succinate dehydrogenase, and isopropylmalate dehydratase) have been analyzed for the effects of manganese supplementation. Enzyme activities were recovered by manganese treatment, except for aconitase, for which, a specific interaction with frataxin has been demonstrated previously. Similar results were obtained when cells were grown in iron-limited media suggesting that manganese-superoxide dismutase deficiency is a consequence of iron overload. In conclusion, these data indicate that generalized deficiency of iron-sulfur protein activity could be a consequence of manganese-superoxide dismutase deficiency, and consequently, it opens new strategies for Friedreich ataxia treatment.
Friedreich ataxia (FRDA)3 is a human disease caused by decreased expression of the mitochondrial protein frataxin due to the presence of large expansions of a GAA triplet repeats in the first intron of the nuclear gene coding for the protein (1). FRDA patients suffer from multiple symptoms, including progressive gait and limb ataxia, hypertrophic cardiomyophathy, and diabetes mellitus (2). These alterations are thought to be the consequence of a mitochondrial defect related to iron metabolism. However, although a large number of studies link frataxin to iron metabolism, its precise function remains a matter of debate. Frataxin has been suggested to play a role in iron-sulfur cluster biosynthesis (3, 4), heme biosynthesis (5, 6), iron storage (7, 8), electron transfer to ubiquinone (9), or holo-aconitase reconstitution (10, 11). In hearts from FRDA patients, decreased activities of iron-sulfur-containing proteins and increased mitochondrial iron accumulation have been reported (12). Furthermore, conditional knock-out mice in neuronal and cardiac tissues have been developed as an animal model for FRDA. Accordingly, this model displays iron accumulation and decreased activity of iron-sulfur proteins (13). Consequently, some therapeutic approaches under study suggest reducing the degree of iron accumulation by chelators or prevent its prooxidant effects by the use of antioxidants such as idebenone, a coenzyme Q analogue (2). Many studies on frataxin function arise from experiments performed with the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae (3, 6, 8, 9) as frataxin and the yeast homologue Yfh1 are orthologues. Frataxin and Yfh1 are mitochondrial proteins; the S. cerevisiae mutant in the YFH1 gene ( yfh1) accumulates iron and shows decreased activities of iron-sulfur-containing enzymes (14); and finally, human frataxin complements yfh1 mutant strains (15).
Despite the great amount of data obtained with these different model systems, the analysis of the proteome of frataxin-deficient cells has not been addressed. Thus, we have focused on the effects of the absence of frataxin on the cellular proteome of yeast. One of the major findings is that, although the amount of the antioxidant enzyme manganese-superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD) is increased, its activity is decreased in
Organisms and Culture ConditionsS. cerevisiae W303 and its isogenic null yfh1 derivative (MML298) were kindly provided by Dr. Enrique Herrero from the Universitat de Lleida (16). Strains BY4741 and Y02769 ( grx5 in BY4741 backgound) were provided by EURO-SCARF (Frankfurt, Germany). The YFH1 gene used in complementation studies was also obtained from the EUROSCARF collection. It carries upstream and downstream regulatory sequences and is cloned in pRS416, an ARS-CEN-URA vector. Yeast cells were grown in rich medium (1% yeast extract, 2% peptone) with either 2% glucose (YPD) or 3% glycerol (YPG) by incubation in a rotary shaker at 30 °C. Raffinose synthetic medium contained 2% raffinose, 0.67% yeast nitrogen base (Difco), 0.25% ammonium sulfate, a mixture of amino acids, and the required auxotrophic supplements (17). The yfh1 mutant transformed with pRS416-YFH1 plasmid was maintained in synthetic medium without uracil. Before each experiment the strain was transferred to rich medium for 45 generations. Two-dimensional Gel ElectrophoresisCells were resuspended in 25 mM Tris-HCl buffer, pH 8, plus 8 M urea and disrupted using glass beads. An equal volume of 8 M urea, 8% CHAPS, and 50 mM dithiothreitol was added to the lysed cells, and after centrifugation (12,000 rpm for 5 min) 10 µl of the supernatant were diluted in 350 µl of rehydration buffer (18). Isoelectric focusing was performed in immobilized pH gradient strips (310 NL; Bio-Rad). Second dimension SDS-PAGE was performed on 12.5% polyacrylamide gels. Gels were scanned in a GS800 densitometer (Bio-Rad) and analyzed with PDQuest software (Bio-Rad).
AnalysesTotal cellular iron was determined under reducing conditions with bathophenanthroline sulfonate as chelator (19). Manganese content was assayed in a graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Superoxide ion levels were measured in a spectrofluorophotometer (RF-5000, Shimadzu). Exponentially growing cells were washed in water and resuspended in phosphate-buffered saline plus 0.1% glycerol and 5 µg/ml the superoxide specific probe dihydroethidium (DHE) (Fluka) (20). The rate of oxidation of DHE was calculated from the rate of increase in fluorescence for 30 min (excitation 520 nm, emission 590 nm). Enzyme ActivitiesCell extracts were prepared using glass beads and assayed as described in the following references: aconitase and succinate dehydrogenase (16), glutamate synthase (21), isopropylmalate dehydratase (22), superoxide dismutase (23). Western Blot AnalysisCell extracts were separated in SDS-polyacrylamide gels and transferred to polyvinylidene difluoride membranes. Antibodies against superoxide dismutases were from Stress-Gene (SOD-111, Mn-SOD) and from Chemicon (AB1237, CuZn-SOD). Anti-Aco1 aconitase (from R. Lill, Marburg, Germany) and anti-succinate dehydrogenase (from B. Lemire, University of Alberta) antibodies were also used. A peroxidase-conjugated anti-rabbit antibody was used for detection. Image acquisition was performed in a ChemiDoc CCD camera (Bio-Rad).
Analysis of the Proteome of yfh1 Cells by Two-dimensional ElectrophoresisTissues affected in FRDA are those with elevated oxidative metabolism, like heart and nervous system (2). Thus, unless otherwise stated, our experiments were carried out on yeast cells grown in rich medium containing glycerol (YPG), because in this medium cells exhibit high respiration rates. It is worth mentioning that the ability of this strain to grow in a non-fermentable carbon source such as glycerol has been described previously (2426). Wild type and yfh1 cells were harvested during exponential phase and the crude extracts analyzed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (Fig. 1). Spots that repetitively showed at least 2-fold difference in protein amount between both strains were identified and are shown in Table 1. Similar results were found in cells grown on rich medium containing glucose (YPD) (Fig. 2). Cells deficient in YFH1 clearly exhibit increased amounts of enzymes involved in the oxidative stress response. Among these proteins, four thiol peroxidase isoenzymes have been identified. These enzymes eliminate H2O2 and alkyl hydroperoxides with the use of thioredoxin and thioredoxin reductase as thiol-reducing donor (27), two proteins that are also induced in yfh1 cells. Two additional enzymes involved in the oxidative stress response that have been identified are both mitochondrial and cytosolic SODs. These enzymes catalyze the dismutation of superoxide into O2 and H2O2 (28). The increased expression of these eight proteins indicates an endogenous situation of oxidative stress in yfh1 cells. It is interesting to mention that no changes in the expression of antioxidant enzymes were observed by gene expression analysis of yfh1 mutant cells using DNA microarrays (25), even though the strain used had the same genetic background in both studies. A partial explanation to this fact is that, in the reference cited, many of the induced genes code for membrane proteins that are poorly resolved in two-dimensional gels. Furthermore, lack of concordance between proteomic and transcriptomic analysis is not unusual (29), thus highlighting the importance of both approaches.
Manganese and Mn-SOD Deficiency in yfh1 CellsAmong the proteins induced in yfh1 cells, both SODs were found. This result was further confirmed by Western blotting using specific antibodies (Fig. 3A). Interestingly, when the enzymatic activity of Mn-SOD (coded by SOD2) was analyzed, we found that in yfh1 cells it was lower than in wild type cells (Fig. 3, A and B). The decreased Mn-SOD activity resulted in increased steady state levels of superoxide anion inside yeast cells. As shown in Fig. 3C, the rate of oxidation of DHE, a superoxide-specific probe, is increased by 2-fold in YFH1-deficient cells.
Trying to unravel the cause of Mn-SOD deficiency in
Recovery of Mn-SOD Activity by Manganese TreatmentThe results described above suggested that intracellular manganese and Mn-SOD activity in
Recovery of Iron-Sulfur Enzymes by Manganese TreatmentFrataxin has been suggested to play an important role in iron-sulfur cluster biosynthesis. This hypothesis is based on the decreased activities of iron-sulfur enzymes found in frataxin-deficient cells (12) and a physical and genetic interaction with Isu1, a scaffold protein required for iron-sulfur clusters biogenesis (3, 4). However, decreased activities of iron-sulfur enzymes have been observed in yeast lacking SOD2 (30) and in Mn-SOD knock-out mice (31). In this context, our results suggest that a decline in iron-sulfur enzyme activities in yfh1 cells could be a consequence of oxidative stress in mitochondria due to decreased Mn-SOD activity. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed activities of three iron-sulfur mitochondrial enzymes (aconitase, glutamate synthase, and succinate dehydrogenase) and a cytosolic one (isopropylmalate dehydratase) in wild type and yfh1 cells grown in manganese-supplemented YPG (Fig. 5). Values of iron-sulfur enzyme activities in yfh1 cells are in agreement to those described by other authors (9, 17, 26, 32) With the exception of aconitase, all other enzyme activities analyzed showed a clear recovery by manganese treatment, indicating that lack of Mn-SOD activity contributes to inactivating these enzymes. Also, these results suggest that YFH1 is not essential for iron-sulfur biosynthesis, except for aconitase. Such an exception can be explained by recent observations reporting that frataxin interacts with aconitase and that such interaction is crucial for reconstitution of the aconitase [4Fe4S] cluster (10, 11).
Recovery of Iron-Sulfur Enzymes and Mn-SOD in Iron-limiting MediaIn a previous work published by Foury's group (17), it was found that succinate dehydrogenase, but not aconitase activity, could be rescued when yfh1 yeast cells were grown in iron-limited medium using bathophenanthroline sulfonate (BPS) as iron chelator. In such conditions, cellular iron accumulation is prevented. To test whether such treatment is also capable of restoring iron-sulfur enzymes other than succinate dehydrogenase, wild type and yfh1 cells were grown in raffinose synthetic medium supplemented with BPS (Fig. 6). The results obtained not only confirmed the findings reported by Foury but also showed that isoprpopylmalate dehydratase and Mn-SOD activities were recovered in such conditions. These are additional indications that decreased Mn-SOD activity leads to inactivation of iron-sulfur containing enzymes in yfh1 cells.
Manganese and Mn-SOD Deficiency Are the Consequence of Iron OverloadAs shown above,
The precise role of frataxin in iron metabolism is a hot field of discussion. The most accepted hypothesis is that it cooperates in iron delivery to Isu1, a scaffold protein required for iron-sulfur biogenesis. However, it has been suggested that the role of frataxin would be non-essential in such process (26). Moreover, recent data support this hypothesis: (i) frataxin interacts much more strongly with ferrochelatase than with Isu1 (5); (ii) in Escherichia coli, IscA (homologous to Isa1 and Isa2 in yeast) is the iron donor to IscU (homologous to Isu1 in yeast), and frataxin homologues are not required for the biogenesis of iron-sulfur clusters (33); and (iii) a direct interaction between frataxin and aconitase has been reported (10, 11). The results shown in this paper clearly indicate that frataxin is not essential for iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis (although required for full recovery of aconitase activity) and give a reasonable explanation of how the absence of frataxin leads to iron-sulfur deficiency in the yeast model of FRDA. Iron overload would lead to reduced manganese levels that would result in impaired manganese incorporation into Sod2. Lack of Mn-SOD activity would result in increased levels of superoxide (Fig. 3C) that would inactivate iron-sulfur-containing enzymes. The link between iron accumulation and Mn-SOD deficiency is clearly established with the experiments performed with BPS and grx5 cells. Also, a direct link between Mn-SOD activity and inactivation of iron-sulfur enzymes arises from experiments reported in Figs. 5 and 6. Results shown in Fig. 5 demonstrate the recovery of Mn-SOD and iron-sulfur containing enzymes by manganese treatment. In this context, it is worth mentioning that manganese itself has antioxidant properties that suppress growth defects in a sod1 sod2 mutant (34). However, this suppression required concentrations above 2 mM and was not observed at concentrations used in our work (50100 µM). Consistently, when we treated a sod2 mutant with 100 µM manganese, recovery of iron-sulfur enzymes was not observed (data not shown). Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 6, enzyme activities were recovered by reducing iron concentration (without manganese supplementation). Consequently, it is not likely that recovery of iron-sulfur enzymes could be a consequence of the antioxidant properties of manganese independently of Mn-SOD recovery.
An important problem to solve in the future is how iron overload results in manganese deficiency. As a hypothesis, it should be mentioned that Smf2p, a high affinity manganese transporter, could be the link. Cells lacking SMF2, as those lacking YFH1, show decreased manganese content and limited Mn-SOD activity. These defects are corrected after manganese supplementation of growth media (23). Interestingly, Smf2 activity is decreased at the post-translational level by elevated iron levels and its expression is not regulated by the iron sensor Aft1 (35). Thus, in contrast to Aft1, Smf2 could be able to sense increased iron levels in yfh1 cells and lead to decreased high affinity manganese transport. It is worth mentioning that manganese deficiency linked to increased iron levels could be a general situation not only applying to FRDA. The results obtained with grx5 mutant cells indicate that these could be a more general phenomena occurring in iron overloading diseases. An important consequence is that oxidative stress triggered by an excess of iron would be potentiated by diminished SOD activities.
As mentioned earlier, our work supports that Yfh1 should be dispensable for iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis. However, how lack of Yfh1 induces iron accumulation in yeast is still an intriguing question. Iron accumulation in yfh1 mutants depends on constitutive activation of the iron sensor Aft1 (25), and it has been reported that this sensor responds to a signal connected to mitochondrial iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis (36). As shown in Fig. 5, manganese treatment restores the activity of some iron-sulfur enzymes, but iron overload persists. This indicates that the signal acting on Aft1 is not restored in these particular circumstances. Could this signal be related to aconitase? It should be kept in mind that in manganese-treated
Another important conclusion from this work arises from the analysis of the proteome of Finally, the results shown here open the question on whether manganese and deficient SOD activity are both related to FRDA. Alterations in SOD activity and expression have been reported in other FRDA models. Embryonic mouse cells treated with retinoic acid and frataxin antisense RNA show increased expression of Mn-SOD compared with control cells. Retinoic acid induces differentiation of embryonic cells into neurons, astroglia, and microglia (45). According to a recent report (46), fibroblasts and lymphoblasts from FRDA patients could have decreased antioxidant capacity. Decreased total SOD activity is observed in hearts from the mouse model of FRDA ataxia (47). In this model, Mn-SOD expression increases after birth and suddenly drops after 10 weeks (41). Could this drop in Mn-SOD expression be the consequence of manganese deficiency? Interestingly, Smf2p is homologous to DMT1, which transports iron as well as manganese in mammals (48). The existence of a manganese deficiency in FRDA patients could lead to a sudden change in FRDA therapies. Manganese is known to be essential for the development and function of the brain. Manganese-deprived rats are often ataxic (49). The reason is not known, but it is remarkable that several brain manganese-containing enzymes, such as glutamine synthetase, pyruvate carboxylase, or Mn-SOD, play a significant role in brain function and could be affected by manganese deficiency. Should manganese supplementation be considered in FRDA patients? Even if such deficiency is confirmed in mammals, this is a delicate point, since high environmental exposure to manganese has toxic effects. However, oral manganese intake is considered to be safe even at concentrations 5-fold above the recommended daily doses (50). Consequently, the results presented here open new strategies in FRDA therapies.
* This work was supported in part by Friedreich Ataxia Research Alliance (Arlington, VA) and Grants BFU2004-00593/BMC and GEN2001-4707C08-06 from the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (Spain). The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
1 Recipient of a Ph.D. fellowship from the Generalitat de Catalunya. 2 To whom correspondence should be addressed: Dept. Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Universitat de Lleida, Montserrat Roig, 2, 25008 Lleida, Spain. Tel.: 34-973-702-275; Fax: 34-973-702-426; E-mail: joaquim.ros{at}cmb.udl.es.
3 The abbreviations used are: FRDA, Friedreich ataxia; SOD, superoxide dismutase; DHE, dihydroethidium; CHAPS, 3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)dimethylammonio]-1-propanesulfonic acid; BPS, bathophenanthroline sulfonate.
We thank Vanessa Guijarro for technical assistance. We also are indebted to Jerry Kaplan (University of Utah) and Enrique Herrero (Universitat de Lleida) for critical review of the manuscript.
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