A metazoan ortholog of SpoT hydrolyzes ppGpp and functions in starvation responses

Dawei Sun, Gina Lee, Jun Hee Lee, Hye Yeon Kim, Hyun Woo Rhee, Seung Yeol Park, Kyung Jin Kim, Yongsung Kim, Bo Yeon Kim, Jong In Hong, Chankyu Park, Hyon E. Choy, Jung Hoe Kim, Young Ho Jeon, Jongkyeong Chung

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

100 Scopus citations

Abstract

In nutrient-starved bacteria, RelA and SpoT proteins have key roles in reducing cell growth and overcoming stresses. Here we identify functional SpoT orthologs in metazoa (named Mesh1, encoded by HDDC3 in human and Q9VAM9 in Drosophila melanogaster) and reveal their structures and functions. Like the bacterial enzyme, Mesh1 proteins contain an active site for ppGpp hydrolysis and a conserved His-Asp-box motif for Mn 2+ binding. Consistent with these structural data, Mesh1 efficiently catalyzes hydrolysis of guanosine 3′,5′-diphosphate (ppGpp) both in vitro and in vivo. Mesh1 also suppresses SpoT-deficient lethality and RelA-induced delayed cell growth in bacteria. Notably, deletion of Mesh1 (Q9VAM9) in Drosophila induces retarded body growth and impaired starvation resistance. Microarray analyses reveal that the amino acid-starved Mesh1 null mutant has highly downregulated DNA and protein synthesis-related genes and upregulated stress-responsible genes. These data suggest that metazoan SpoT orthologs have an evolutionarily conserved function in starvation responses.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1188-1194
Number of pages7
JournalNature Structural and Molecular Biology
Volume17
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2010

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