Overlapping Role of SCYL1 and SCYL3 in Maintaining Motor Neuron Viability
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This Accepted Manuscript has not been copyedited and formatted. The final version may differ from this version. A link to any extended data will be provided when the final version is posted online. Research Articles: Neurobiology of Disease Overlapping Role of SCYL1 and SCYL3 in Maintaining Motor Neuron Viability Emin Kuliyev1, Sebastien Gingras2, Clifford S. Guy1, Sherie Howell3, Peter Vogel4 and Stephane Pelletier1 1Department of Immunology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105 2Department of Immunology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 3Department of Pathology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105; 4Veterinary Pathology Core, Advanced Histology Core, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2282-17.2018 Received: 11 August 2017 Revised: 23 December 2017 Accepted: 31 January 2018 Published: 7 February 2018 Author contributions: E.K., S.G., C.S.G., S.H., P.V., and S.P. performed research; E.K., S.G., C.S.G., S.H., P.V., and S.P. analyzed data; E.K., S.G., and S.P. wrote the paper; S.G. and S.P. designed research; S.P. contributed unpublished reagents/analytic tools. Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no competing financial interests. This work was supported by ALSAC. We thank Dr. Vani Shanker for editing the manuscript. We also thank members of the Veterinary Pathology Core Laboratory, the Histology Laboratory, the Hartwell Center for Bioinformatics and Biotechnology, and the Transgenic/Gene Knockout Shared Resource, particularly Jack Sublett, Ling Li, and Taylor Walker, for their help in generating and characterizing mouse lines. Corresponding author: Stephane Pelletier, PhD, Department of Immunology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA, E-mail: [email protected], Phone: (901) 595-6705, Fax: (901) 595-5766 Cite as: J. Neurosci ; 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2282-17.2018 Alerts: Sign up at www.jneurosci.org/cgi/alerts to receive customized email alerts when the fully formatted version of this article is published. Accepted manuscripts are peer-reviewed but have not been through the copyediting, formatting, or proofreading process. Copyright © 2018 the authors 1 2 Overlapping Role of SCYL1 and SCYL3 in Maintaining Motor Neuron Viability 3 4 Abbreviated title: SCYL1 and SCYL3 Maintain Motor Neuron Viability 5 6 Emin Kuliyev1, Sebastien Gingras2, Clifford S. Guy1, Sherie Howell3, Peter Vogel4 and Stephane 7 Pelletier1,* 8 9 1Department of Immunology, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105; 10 2Department of Immunology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 11 15213; 3Department of Pathology, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105; 12 and 4Veterinary Pathology Core, Advanced Histology Core, St. Jude Children’s Research 13 Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA. 14 15 *Corresponding author: 16 Stephane Pelletier, PhD 17 Department of Immunology 18 St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA 19 E-mail: [email protected] 20 Phone: (901) 595-6705 21 Fax: (901) 595-5766 22 23 Number of pages: 58 1 24 Number of figures: 9 25 Number of Tables: 3 26 Number of movies: 4 27 Number of words (Abstract): 220 28 Number of words (Significance statement): 119 29 Number of words (Introduction) (max 500): 472 30 Number of words (Discussion) (max1500): 1281 31 32 FINANCIAL INTERESTS OR CONFLICTS OF INTEREST 33 The authors declare no competing financial interest. 34 35 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 36 37 This work was supported by ALSAC. We thank Dr. Vani Shanker for editing the manuscript. We 38 also thank members of the Veterinary Pathology Core Laboratory, the Histology Laboratory, the 39 Hartwell Center for Bioinformatics and Biotechnology, and the Transgenic/Gene Knockout 40 Shared Resource, particularly Jack Sublett, Ling Li, and Taylor Walker, for their help in 41 generating and characterizing mouse lines. 42 43 2 44 ABSTRACT 45 46 Members of the SCY1-like (SCYL) family of protein kinases are evolutionarily conserved and 47 ubiquitously expressed proteins characterized by an N-terminal pseudokinase domain, centrally 48 located HEAT repeats, and an overall disorganized C-terminal segment. In mammals, 3 family 49 members encoded by genes Scyl1, Scyl2, and Scyl3 have been described. Studies have pointed to 50 a role for SCYL1 and SCYL2 in regulating neuronal function and viability in mice and humans, 51 but little is known about the biological function of SCYL3. Here, we show that the biochemical 52 and cell biological properties of SCYL3 are similar to those of SCYL1 and both proteins work in 53 conjunction to maintain motor neuron viability. Specifically, although lack of Scyl3 in mice has 54 no apparent effect on embryogenesis and postnatal life, it accelerates the onset of the motor 55 neuron disorder caused by Scyl1 deficiency. Growth abnormalities, motor dysfunction, hindlimb 56 paralysis, muscle wasting, neurogenic atrophy, motor neuron degeneration, and loss of large- 57 caliber axons in peripheral nerves occurred at an earlier age in Scyl1/Scyl3 double-deficient mice 58 than in Scyl1-deficient mice. Disease onset also correlated with the mislocalization of TDP-43 in 59 spinal motor neurons, suggesting that SCYL1 and SCYL3 regulate TDP-43 proteostasis. 60 Together, our results demonstrate an overlapping role for SCYL1 and SCYL3 in vivo and 61 highlight the importance the SCYL family of proteins in regulating neuronal function and 62 survival. Only male mice were used in this study. 63 64 65 3 66 SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT 67 68 SCYL1 and SCYL2, members of the SCY1-like family of pseudokinases, have well-established 69 roles in neuronal function. Herein, we uncover the role of SCYL3 in maintaining motor neuron 70 viability. Although targeted disruption of Scyl3 in mice had little or no effect on embryonic 71 development and postnatal life, it accelerated disease onset associated with the loss of Scyl1, a 72 novel motor neuron disease gene in humans. Scyl1 and Scyl3 double-deficient mice had neuronal 73 defects characteristic of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, including TDP-43 pathology, at an earlier 74 age than did Scyl1-deficient mice. Thus, we show that SCYL1 and SCYL3 play overlapping 75 roles in maintaining motor neuronal viability in vivo and confirm that SCYL family members are 76 critical regulators of neuronal function and survival. 77 4 78 INTRODUCTION 79 80 Members of the SCY1-like family of protein kinases, which comprises SCYL1, SCYL2, and 81 SCYL3, are evolutionarily conserved and ubiquitously expressed proteins characterized by an N- 82 terminal kinase domain; centrally located Huntingtin, elongation factor 3, protein phosphatase 83 2A, yeast kinase TOR1 (HEAT) repeats; and an overall disorganized C-terminal segment. Unlike 84 functional protein kinases that catalyze the transfer of phosphate groups to protein substrates, 85 kinase domains of SCYL proteins are likely inactive and possibly serve other functions, such as 86 modulation of active kinases or assembly of signaling pathways (Boudeau et al., 2006; Pelletier, 87 2016). 88 89 Genetic studies in humans and mice have begun to elucidate the biological function of SCYL 90 proteins. Disruptive mutations in SCYL1 are associated with a rare syndrome characterized by 91 liver failure, cerebellar atrophy, ataxia and, most importantly peripheral neuropathy (Schmidt et 92 al., 2015). In mice, spontaneous or targeted deletion of Scyl1 causes an early onset motor neuron 93 disorder characterized by progressive loss of motor function, muscle wasting, loss of large- 94 caliber axons in the periphery, and loss of lower motor neurons in the ventral horn of the spinal 95 cord (Blot et al., 1995; Schmidt et al., 2007; Pelletier et al., 2012). The disease is neural cell- 96 autonomous and involves molecular pathways associated with other motor neuron disorders such 97 as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) (Pelletier et al., 2012). Mislocalization of the RNA- 98 binding protein (RBP) TDP-43 from the nucleus to cytoplasmic inclusions, a hallmark of ALS 99 and fronto-temporal lobar degeneration, occurs in lower motor neurons of Scyl1-deficient mice 100 and correlates with disease onset (Pelletier et al., 2012). Similarly, targeted disruption of Scyl2 in 5 101 mice causes severe neurological disorders, including impaired suckling behavior, which result in 102 premature death of most newborn mice (Gingras et al., 2015). In surviving mice, the absence of 103 Scyl2 results in the degeneration of several neuronal populations, most notably CA3 pyramidal 104 neurons of the hippocampus (Gingras et al., 2015). The degenerative process associated with the 105 loss of SCYL2 is also neural cell-autonomous and caused by excessive excitatory signaling 106 (Gingras et al., 2015). 107 108 Although these studies clearly established SCYL1 and SCYL2 as critical regulators of neuronal 109 function and survival, the biological function of SCYL3 has remained elusive. In this study, we 110 use a combination of biochemical, cell biological and genetic approaches to elucidate the 111 function of SCYL3 in mammalian development and physiology. We show that SCYL3 is a 112 widely expressed Golgi membrane–associated protein with biochemical and cell biological 113 properties similar to those of SCYL1 and both proteins play an overlapping role in maintaining 114 motor neuron viability in mice. Although targeted disruption of Scyl3 in mice did not produce 115 overt abnormalities, absence of Scyl3 accelerated the onset of the motor phenotype associated 116 with loss of Scyl1. Disease onset in Scyl1 and Scyl3 double-deficient mice also correlated with 117 TDP-43 pathology in spinal motor neurons suggesting a link between SCYL1, SCYL3 and TDP- 118 43 proteostasis. 119 120 121 6 122 MATERIALS AND METHODS 123 124 SCYL3 antibody 125 A peptide corresponding to amino acids 7–27 (ALKSYTLRESPFTLPSGLAVY [serum 7688]) 126 of SCYL3 was synthesized by the Hartwell Center for Bioinformatics and Biotechnology at St. 127 Jude Children’s Research Hospital (St. Jude) and conjugated to glutaraldehyde-activated keyhole 128 limpet hemocyanin (KLH).