Publications by authors named "Basrur V"

Activation of innate immune signaling occurs during the progression of immunometabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetes (T2D), yet the impact of innate immune signaling on glucose homeostasis is controversial. Here, we report that the E3 ubiquitin ligase TRAF6 integrates innate immune signals following diet-induced obesity to promote glucose homeostasis through the induction of mitophagy. Whereas TRAF6 was dispensable for glucose homeostasis and pancreatic β-cell function under basal conditions, TRAF6 was pivotal for insulin secretion, mitochondrial respiration, and increases in mitophagy following metabolic stress in both mouse and human islets.

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Background: Damaging STAB2 gene variants are associated with increased venous thromboembolic risk. STAB2 encodes stabilin-2, a clearance receptor, expressed by the liver and spleen. Given its function, it is likely that the prothrombotic state associated with stabilin-2 deficiency is due to reduced procoagulant protein clearance, but the identity of these ligands is unknown.

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The biological process of RNA translation is fundamental to cellular life and has wide-ranging implications for human disease. Accurate delineation of RNA translation variation represents a significant challenge due to the complexity of the process and technical limitations. Here, we introduce RiboTIE, a transformer model-based approach designed to enhance the analysis of ribosome profiling data.

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The role of ubiquitin-mediated degradation mechanisms in the pathogenesis of diffuse large B cell (DLBCL) and follicular lymphoma (FL) is not completely understood. We show that conditional deletion of the E3 ubiquitin ligase Fbxo45 in germinal center B-cells results in B-cell lymphomagenesis in homozygous (100%) and heterozygous (48%) mice. Mechanistically, FBXO45 targets the RHO guanine exchange factor ARHGEF2/GEF-H1 for ubiquitin-mediated degradation.

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Starvation, intermittent fasting and exercise, all of which are recommended lifestyle modifiers share a common metabolic signature, ketogenesis to generate the ketone bodies, predominantly β-hydroxybutyrate. β-hydroxybutyrate exerts beneficial effects across various contexts, preventing or mitigating disease. We hypothesized that these dynamic health benefits of β-hydroxybutyrate might stem from its ability to regulate genome architecture through chromatin remodeling via histone β-hydroxybutyrylation, thereby influencing the transcriptome.

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Article Synopsis
  • The human genome contains sequences from foreign elements, including retrovirus-like proteins, and the study explores how these proteins influence the behavior of UBQLN2, a factor involved in neurodegenerative diseases.
  • Two specific retrovirus-like proteins, RTL8 and PEG10, work together to modulate the function of UBQLN2, enabling it to interact with PEG10 and play a role in stress granules during stress conditions.
  • The research highlights how PEG10 affects the assembly and disassembly of stress granules and the presence of virus-like particles within them, revealing a novel connection between cellular protein management and retroviral elements.
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Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) has been previously shown to promote lung fibrosis via a mechanism that requires an intact vitronectin (VTN) binding site. In the present study, employing two distinct murine fibrosis models, we find that VTN is not required for PAI-1 to drive lung scarring. This result suggested the existence of a previously unrecognized profibrotic PAI-1-protein interaction involving the VTN-binding site for PAI-1.

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Article Synopsis
  • Proteotoxicity contributes to type 2 diabetes (T2D), with a study revealing significant accumulation of misfolded proteins in the mitochondria of human pancreatic islets in T2D patients.
  • Quantitative proteomics indicate that T2D islet protein misfolding resembles mitochondrial issues rather than those from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), highlighting the role of the protease LonP1 and its chaperone mtHSP70 in this process.
  • Deleting LONP1 in mice leads to mitochondrial dysfunction and β cell death, while enhancing LONP1 function improves mitochondrial protein folding and β cell survival, suggesting potential new therapeutic avenues for treating T2D.
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Conventional kinesin-1 is the primary anterograde motor in cells for transporting cellular cargo. While there is a consensus that the C-terminal tail of kinesin-1 inhibits motility, the molecular architecture of a full-length autoinhibited kinesin-1 remains unknown. Here, we combine crosslinking mass spectrometry (XL-MS), electron microscopy (EM), and AlphaFold structure prediction to determine the architecture of the full-length autoinhibited kinesin-1 homodimer (kinesin-1 heavy chain [KHC]) and kinesin-1 heterotetramer (KHC bound to kinesin light chain 1 [KLC1]).

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Most proteins secreted into the extracellular space are first recruited from the endoplasmic reticulum into coat protein complex II (COPII)-coated vesicles or tubules that facilitate their transport to the Golgi apparatus. Although several secreted proteins have been shown to be actively recruited into COPII vesicles and tubules by the cargo receptors LMAN1 and SURF4, the full cargo repertoire of these receptors is unknown. We now report mass spectrometry analysis of conditioned media and cell lysates from HuH7 cells CRISPR targeted to inactivate the or gene.

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The extreme polymorphisms of HLA class I proteins result in structural variations in their peptide binding sites to achieve diversity in Ag presentation. External factors could independently constrict or alter HLA class I peptide repertoires. Such effects of the assembly factor tapasin were assessed for HLA-B*44:05 (Y116) and a close variant, HLA-B*44:02 (D116), which have low and high tapasin dependence, respectively, for their cell surface expression.

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Aberrant enhancer activation is a key mechanism driving oncogene expression in many cancers. While much is known about the regulation of larger chromosome domains in eukaryotes, the details of enhancer-promoter interactions remain poorly understood. Recent work suggests co-activators like BRD4 and Mediator have little impact on enhancer-promoter interactions.

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Th17 cells that produce Interleukin IL-17 are pathogenic in many human diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, but are, paradoxically, essential for maintaining the integrity of the intestinal barrier in a non-inflammatory state. However, the intracellular mechanisms that regulate distinct transcriptional profiles and functional diversity of Th17 cells remain unclear. Here we show Raftlin1, a lipid raft protein, specifically upregulates and forms a complex with RORγt in pathogenic Th17 cells.

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Most proteins secreted into the extracellular space are first recruited from the endoplasmic reticulum into coat protein complex II (COPII)-coated vesicles or tubules that facilitate their transport to the Golgi apparatus. Although several secreted proteins have been shown to be actively recruited into COPII vesicles/tubules by the cargo receptors LMAN1 and SURF4, the full cargo repertoire of these receptors is unknown. We now report mass spectrometry analysis of conditioned media and cell lysates from HuH7 cells CRISPR targeted to inactivate the or gene.

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Activation of CD8 T cells against pathogens and cancers involves the recognition of antigenic peptides bound to human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class-I proteins. Peptide binding to HLA class I proteins is coordinated by a multi-protein complex called the peptide loading complex (PLC). Tapasin, a key PLC component, facilitates the binding and optimization of HLA class I peptides.

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Conventional kinesin-1 is the primary anterograde motor in cells for transporting cellular cargo. While there is a consensus that the C-terminal tail of kinesin-1 inhibits motility, the molecular architecture of a full-length autoinhibited kinesin-1 remains unknown. Here, we combine cross-linking mass spectrometry (XL-MS), electron microscopy (EM), and AlphaFold structure prediction to determine the architecture of the full-length autoinhibited kinesin-1 homodimer [kinesin-1 heavy chain (KHC)] and kinesin-1 heterotetramer [KHC bound to kinesin light chain 1 (KLC1)].

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Dysregulated interleukin-17 (IL-17) expression and its downstream signaling is strongly linked to inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs). However, the molecular mechanisms by which the function of RORγt, the transcription factor of IL-17, is regulated remains elusive. By a mass spectrometry-based approach, we identify that Pak2, a serine (S)/threonine (T) kinase, directly associates with RORγt.

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Analysis of the full spectrum of secreted proteins in cell culture is complicated by leakage of intracellular proteins from damaged cells. To address this issue, we compared the abundance of individual proteins between the cell lysate and the conditioned medium, reasoning that secreted proteins should be relatively more abundant in the conditioned medium. Marked enrichment for signal-peptide-bearing proteins with increasing conditioned media to cell lysate ratio, as well loss of this signal following brefeldin A treatment, confirmed the sensitivity and specificity of this approach.

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The brain-expressed ubiquilins (UBQLNs) 1, 2 and 4 are a family of ubiquitin adaptor proteins that participate broadly in protein quality control (PQC) pathways, including the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS). One family member, UBQLN2, has been implicated in numerous neurodegenerative diseases including ALS/FTD. UBQLN2 typically resides in the cytoplasm but in disease can translocate to the nucleus, as in Huntington's disease where it promotes the clearance of mutant Huntingtin.

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The pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma microenvironment is composed of a variety of cell types and marked by extensive fibrosis and inflammation. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are abundant, and they are important mediators of disease progression and invasion. TAMs are polarized in situ to a tumor promoting and immunosuppressive phenotype via cytokine signaling and metabolic crosstalk from malignant epithelial cells and other components of the tumor microenvironment.

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Repeat associated non-AUG (RAN) translation of CGG repeats in the 5'UTR of FMR1 produces toxic proteins that contribute to fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS) pathogenesis. The most abundant RAN product, FMRpolyG, initiates predominantly at an ACG upstream of the repeat. Accurate FMRpolyG measurements in FXTAS patients are lacking.

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Background: Vitreous is an accessible, information-rich biofluid that has recently been studied as a source of retinal disease-related proteins and pathways. However, the number of samples required to confidently identify perturbed pathways remains unknown. In order to confidently identify these pathways, power analysis must be performed to determine the number of samples required, and sample preparation and analysis must be rigorously defined.

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To identify potential extracellular vesicle (EV) biomarkers in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), we evaluated EV protein cargo and whole cell lysates (WCL) from HPV-positive and -negative HNSCC cell lines, as well as normal oral keratinocytes and HPV16-transformed cells. EVs were isolated from serum-depleted, conditioned cell culture media by polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation/ultracentrifugation. EV and WCL preparations were analyzed by LC-MS/MS.

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Vitreous fluid is becoming an increasingly popular medium for the study of retinal disease. Numerous studies have demonstrated that proteomic analysis of the vitreous from patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy yields valuable molecular information regarding known and novel proteins and pathways involved in this disease. However, there is no standardized methodology for vitreous proteomic studies.

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Many enveloped viruses bud from cholesterol-rich lipid rafts on the cell membrane. Depleting cellular cholesterol impedes this process and results in viral particles with reduced viability. Viperin (Virus Inhibitory Protein, Endoplasmic Reticulum-associated, Interferon iNducible) is an endoplasmic reticulum membrane-associated enzyme that exerts broad-ranging antiviral effects, including inhibiting the budding of some enveloped viruses.

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