The Batten disease gene CLN3 confers resistance to endoplasmic reticulum stress induced by tunicamycin

• Published in: Biochemical and biophysical research communications Vol. 447; no. 1; pp. 115 - 120
• Main Authors: Wu, Dan, Liu, Jing, Wu, Baiyan, Tu, Bo, Zhu, Weiguo, Luo, Jianyuan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 25.04.2014
• Subjects: 60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES; APOPTOSIS; Apoptosis - drug effects; Cell Line, Tumor; CELL PROLIFERATION; Cell Proliferation - drug effects; CLN3; DISEASES; ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM; Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress; Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress - drug effects; GENES; GLUCOSE; Heat-Shock Proteins - biosynthesis; Humans; JNCL; JUVENILES; LYSOSOMES; Membrane Glycoproteins - genetics; Membrane Glycoproteins - physiology; Molecular Chaperones - genetics; Molecular Chaperones - physiology; MUTANTS; MUTATIONS; Neuronal Ceroid-Lipofuscinoses - genetics; PROTEINS; STRESSES; Transcription Factor CHOP - biosynthesis; Tunicamycin; Tunicamycin - pharmacology; CLN3; Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress; Tunicamycin; JNCL
• ISSN: 0006-291X; 1090-2104
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2014.03.120

•The work reveals a protective properties of CLN3 towards TM-induced apoptosis.•CLN3 regulates expression of the GRP78 and the CHOP in response to the ER stress.•CLN3 plays a specific role in the ERS response. Mutations in CLN3 gene cause juvenile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (JNCL or Batten disease), an early-onset neurodegenerative disorder that is characterized by the accumulation of ceroid lipofuscin within lysosomes. The function of the CLN3 protein remains unclear and is presumed to be related to Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. To investigate the function of CLN3 in the ER stress signaling pathway, we measured proliferation and apoptosis in cells transfected with normal and mutant CLN3 after treatment with the ER stress inducer tunicamycin (TM). We found that overexpression of CLN3 was sufficient in conferring increased resistance to ER stress. Wild-type CLN3 protected cells from TM-induced apoptosis and increased cell proliferation. Overexpression of wild-type CLN3 enhanced expression of the ER chaperone protein, glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78), and reduced expression of the proapoptotic protein CCAAT/-enhancer-binding protein homologous protein (CHOP). In contrast, overexpression of mutant CLN3 or siRNA knockdown of CLN3 produced the opposite effect. Together, our data suggest that the lack of CLN3 function in cells leads to a failure of management in the response to ER stress and this may be the key deficit in JNCL that causes neuronal degeneration.