Project description:Branched‐chain amino acid (BCAA) metabolism is a central hub for energy production and regulation of numerous physiological processes. Controversially, both increased and decreased levels of BCAAs are associated with longevity. Using genetics and multi‐omics analyses in Caenorhabditis elegans, we identified adaptive regulation of the ubiquitin‐proteasome system (UPS) in response to defective BCAA catabolic reactions after the initial transamination step. Worms with impaired BCAA metabolism show a slower turnover of a GFP‐based proteasome substrate, which is suppressed by loss‐of‐function of the first BCAA catabolic enzyme, the branched‐chain aminotransferase BCAT‐1. The exogenous supply of BCAA‐derived carboxylic acids, which are known to accumulate in the body fluid of patients with BCAA metabolic disorders, is sufficient to regulate the UPS. The link between BCAA intermediates and UPS function presented here sheds light on the unexplained role of BCAAs in the aging process and opens future possibilities for therapeutic interventions.
Project description:The importance of boron (B) for living organisms is a puzzling matter. Despite the long established essential micronutrient role of B for vascular plants, only recent research gave insights on the mechanisms of its uptake, transport and direct participation in cell-wall formation. Despite that its precise role in plant metabolism remains elusive. In an attempt to clarify the role of B in plant metabolism the gene expression profile of a persistent response to B suppression was evaluated. For that purpose, the transcriptional profile of Arabidopsis thaliana subjected to 2 days of B deficiency was analyzed and the genes that kept responding 4 days after B deficiency were selected. The gene expression profile of Arabidopsis plants submitted to Ca deficiency was also evaluated and this data cross-compared with the 2 days transcriptional profile obtained under B deficiency.