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Aging is associated with accumulation of toxic intracellular and extracellular protein aggregates. Cells manage "aged" proteins by mobilizing their molecular chaperones or heat shock proteins that are also considered as determinants of lifespan in diverse species. In this study, we tested whether an exogenous addition of the non-toxic chemical chaperone 'glycerol' could elicit stress and geronto-protective activities. We found that glycerol enhanced chaperoning of heat-denatured proteins. In addition to stimulating proteasome activity, glycerol led to an increased expression of the stress chaperone 'mortalin' and decreased p53 function in human cells. Glycerol-fed worms exhibited thermo-tolerance and lower level of age-associated auto-fluorescence. Through the combined stimulation of the proteasome and chaperoning activities of mortalin, in particular, glycerol treatment resulted in increased survival and fitness against oxidative- and heat-stress. These results may have significant implications in the use of glycerol as a candidate geronto-modulator in development of practical interventions for "healthy aging".

DNA demethylating agents are used to reverse epigenetic silencing of tumor suppressors in cancer therapeutics. Understanding of the molecular and cellular factors involved in DNA demethylation-induced gene desilencing and senescence is still limited. We have tested the involvement of two stress chaperones, Pex19p and mortalin, in 5-Aza-2' deoxycytidine (5AZA-dC; DNA demethylating agent)-induced senescence. We found that the cells overexpressing these chaperones were highly sensitive to 5AZA-dC, and their partial silencing eliminated 5AZA-dC-induced senescence in human osteosarcoma cells. We demonstrate that these chaperones modulate the demethylation and chromatin remodeling-dependent (as accessed by p16(INK4A) expression) and remodeling-independent (such as activation of tumor suppressor p53 pathway) senescence response of cells. Furthermore, we found the direct interactions of 5AZA-dC with these chaperones that may alter their functions. We conclude that both mortalin and Pex19p are important mediators, prognostic indicators, and tailoring tools for 5AZA-dC-induced senescence in cancer cells.

The heat shock chaperones mortalin/mitochondrial heat shock protein 70 (mtHsp70) and Hsp60 are found in multiple subcellular sites and function in the folding and intracellular trafficking of many proteins. The chaperoning activity of these 2 proteins involves different structural and functional mechanisms. In spite of providing an excellent model for an evolutionarily conserved molecular "brotherhood", their individual functions, although overlapping, are nonredundant. As they travel to various locations, both chaperones acquire different binding partners and exert a more divergent involvement in tumorigenesis, cellular senescence, and immunology. An understanding of their functional biology may lead to novel designing and development of therapeutic strategies for cancer and aging.

Chaperones, particularly the heat-shock proteins, are considered as key players in the maintenance of protein homeostasis and are associated with longevity and cellular immortalization. In this study, we investigated the geroprotective activity of the chemical chaperone glycerol. Glycerol showed significant chaperoning activity in refolding heat-denatured luciferase in vivo and in protecting cells from heat stress-induced cytotoxicity. This was accompanied by decrease in p53, an upregulation of a stress chaperone mortalin/mtHsp70, and an increase in proteasome activity in the presence of oxidative stress.

Abstract: Mortalin is a chaperone protein that functions in many cellular processes such as mitochondrial biogenesis, intracellular trafficking, cell proliferation and signaling. Its upregulation in many human cancers makes it a candidate target for therapeutic intervention by small molecule drugs. In continuation to our earlier studies showing mortalin as a cellular target of MKT-077, a mitochondrion-seeking delocalized cationic dye that causes selective death of cancer cells, in this work, we report that MKT-077 binds to the nucleotide-binding domain of mortalin, causes tertiary structural changes in the protein, inactivates its chaperone function, and induces senescence in human tumor cell lines. Interestingly, in tumor cells with elevated level of mortalin expression, fairly low drug doses were sufficient to induce senescence. Guided by molecular screening for mortalin in tumor cells, our results led to the idea that working at low doses of the drug could be an alternative senescence-inducing cancer therapeutic strategy that could, in theory, avoid renal toxicities responsible for the abortion of MKT-077 clinical trials. Our work may likely translate to a re-appraisal of the therapeutic benefits of low doses of several classes of anti-tumor drugs, even of those that had been discontinued due to adverse effects. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Chaperone functions mediated by the heat-shock protein (HSP) family constitute a fundamental mechanism that governs the life span of organisms. Here we investigated the chaperone activities of the mitochondrial HSP70 protein, mortalin, which is a heat-uninducible stress protein involved in immortalization and tumorigenesis. There are two mortalin alleles, mot-1 and mot-2, in mouse, encoding two distinct proteins. Whereas an overexpression of mot-1-induced senescence in NIH 3T3 cells, overexpression of mot-2 promoted their malignant properties. Here, we provide evidence that mot-1 possesses very low chaperone activity as compared to mot-2. A “lazy lid” hypothesis is proposed for their differential aging phenotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chaperones, particularly the heat-shock proteins, are considered as key players in the maintenance of protein homeostasis and are associated with longevity and cellular immortalization. In this study, we investigated the geroprotective activity of the chemical chaperone glycerol. Glycerol showed significant chaperoning activity in refolding heat-denatured luciferase in vivo and in protecting cells from heat stress-induced cytotoxicity. This was accompanied by decrease in p53, an upregulation of a stress chaperone mortalin/mtHsp70, and an increase in proteasome activity in the presence of oxidative stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]