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Zoccoli-Rodriguez, V.

Publications and source records attributed to Zoccoli-Rodriguez, V..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

Coordinated regulation of the metaboproteome by Hsp90 chaperones controls metabolic plasticity

Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) chaperones participate in the stabilization and activation of hundreds of proteins, thereby acting as signaling hubs. A mitochondrial subpopulation of Hsp90 has been previously described; however, little is known about its role in metabolism. Here, we showed that loss of individual Hsp90 isoforms differentially affects oxygen consumption and metabolic flexibility. Proteomic and metabolomic evaluation demonstrated that Hsp90 regulates the mitochondrial metabolic network, including respiration, fatty acid oxidation, and redox homeostasis. Loss of the mitochondrial chaperone TRAP1 induced compensatory binding of Hsp90s to TRAP1-dependent proteins, indicating a mechanism for the role of Hsp90 chaperones in metabolic reprogramming. When considered with previous findings, a temporal pattern of regulation emerges whereby Hsp90s control the transcription, translation, import, and assembly of mitochondrial protein complexes. Our findings expand the scope of Hsp90-regulated processes and potentially inform the effects of isoform-specific Hsp90 inhibitors on metabolic reprogramming in cancer and other diseases.

biochemistry↗

Identification of regulatory genes through global gene expression analysis of a Helicobacter pylori co-culture system

Helicobacter pylori is a gram-negative bacterium that establishes life-long infections by inducing immunoregulatory responses. We have developed a novel ex vivo H. pylori co-culture system to identify new regulatory genes based on expression kinetics overlapping with that of genes with known regulatory functions. Using this novel experimental platform, in combination with global transcriptomic analysis, we have identified five lead candidates, validated them using mouse models of H. pylori infection and in vitro co-cultures under pro-inflammatory conditions. Plexin domain containing 2 (Plxdc2) was selected as the top lead immunoregulatory target. Gene silencing and ligand-induced activation studies confirmed its predicted regulatory function. Our integrated bioinformatics analyses and experimental validation platform has enabled the discovery of new immunoregulatory genes. This pipeline can be used for the identification of genes with therapeutic applications for treating infectious, inflammatory, and autoimmune diseases.

immunology↗