Person:
Rodríguez Peña, José Manuel

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First Name
José Manuel
Last Name
Rodríguez Peña
Affiliation
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Faculty / Institute
Farmacia
Department
Microbiología y Parasitología
Area
Microbiología
Identifiers
UCM identifierORCIDScopus Author IDWeb of Science ResearcherIDDialnet IDGoogle Scholar ID

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 10
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    Cooperation between SAGA and SWI/SNF complexes is required for efficient transcriptional responses regulated by the yeast MAPK Slt2
    (Nucleic Acids Research, 2016) Sanz Santamaría, Ana Belén; García Sánchez, Raúl; Rodríguez Peña, José Manuel; Nombela Cano, César; Arroyo Nombela, Francisco Javier
    The transcriptional response of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to cell wall stress is mainly mediated by the cell wall integrity (CWI) pathway through the MAPK Slt2 and the transcription factor Rlm1. Once activated, Rlm1 interacts with the chromatin remodeling SWI/SNF complex which locally alters nucleosome positioning at the target promoters. Here we show that the SAGA complex plays along with the SWI/SNF complex an important role for eliciting both early induction and sustained gene expression upon stress. Gcn5 co-regulates together with Swi3 the majority of the CWI transcriptional program, except for a group of genes which are only dependent on the SWI/SNF complex. SAGA subunits are recruited to the promoter of CWI-responsive genes in a Slt2, Rlm1 and SWI/SNF-dependent manner. However, Gcn5 mediates acetylation and nucleosome eviction only at the promoters of the SAGA-dependent genes. This process is not essential for pre-initiation transcriptional complex assembly but rather increase the extent of the remodeling mediated by SWI/SNF. As a consequence, H3 eviction and Rlm1 recruitment is completely blocked in a swi3Δ gcn5Δ double mutant. Therefore, SAGA complex, through its histone acetylase activity, cooperates with the SWI/SNF complex for the mandatory nucleosome displacement required for full gene expression through the CWI pathway.
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    Structural and functional analysis of yeast Crh1 and Crh2 transglycosylases
    (FEBS Journal, 2015) Blanco, Noelia; Sanz Santamaría, Ana Belén; Rodríguez Peña, José Manuel; Nombela Cano, César; Vladimir, Farkas; Hurtado-Guerrero, Ramón; Arroyo Nombela, Francisco Javier
    Covalent cross-links between chitin and glucan at the yeast cell wall are created by the transglycosylase activity of redundant proteins Crh1 and Crh2, with cleavage of β-1,4 linkages of the chitin backbone and transfer of the generated molecule containing newly created reducing end onto the glucan acceptor. A three-dimensional structure of Crh1 was generated by homology modeling based on the crystal structure of bacterial 1,3-1,4-β-d-glucanase, followed by site-directed mutagenesis to obtain molecular insights into how these enzymes achieve catalysis. The residues of both proteins that are involved in their catalytic and binding activities have been characterized by measuring the ability of yeast cells expressing different versions of these proteins to transglycosylate oligosaccharides derived from β-1,3-glucan, β-1,6-glucan and chitin to the chitin at the cell wall. Within the catalytic site, residues E134 and E138 of Crh1, as well as E166 and E170 of Crh2, corresponding to the nucleophile and general acid/base, and also the auxiliary D136 and D168 of Crh1 and Crh2, respectively, are shown to be essential for catalysis. Mutations of aromatic residues F152, Y160 and W219, located within the carbohydrate-binding cleft of the Crh1 model, also affect the transglycosylase activity. Unlike Crh1, Crh2 contains a putative carbohydrate-binding module (CBM18) of unknown function. Modeling and functional analysis of site-directed mutant residues of this CBM identified essential amino acids for protein folding and stability, as well as residues that tune the catalytic activity of Crh2.
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    Slt2 MAPK association with chromatin is required for transcriptional activation of Rlm1 dependent genes upon cell wall stress.
    (Biochimica et biophysica acta. Gene regulatory mechanisms, 2018) Sanz Santamaría, Ana Belén; García, Raúl; Rodríguez Peña, José Manuel; Nombela, César; Arroyo, Francisco
    The regulation of gene expression through the cell wall integrity (CWI) pathway in yeast is mainly coordinated by the MAPK Slt2 and the transcription factor Rlm1. In this work, we elucidate a new role for Slt2 as a part of the transcriptional activation machinery that regulates CWI gene expression in response to cell wall stress. We show that Slt2 is recruited to promoters and coding regions of CWI Rlm1-dependent genes in response to stress. This phenomenon is dependent both on the activation of the MAPK and its kinase activity. Slt2 binding is also dependent on Rlm1 and SWI/SNF and SAGA complexes. During the initial steps of transcription, the catalytic activity of Slt2 on Rlm1 is critical for the binding of the activator to promoters in response to stress. In addition, Slt2 itself acts as a transactivator, as it is able to induce the transcription of CWI responsive genes when it is bound to promoters through the Rlm1 binding domain independently of its catalytic activity. Slt2 interacts with RNA Pol II in a Rlm1-dependent manner to provide further support to a role of this MAPK as an integral component of the transcriptional complexes under cell wall stress. Selective recruitment and progression of the complex Slt2-RNA Pol II from the promoters to the coding regions of Rlm1-dependent genes does not rely on Paf1, suggesting a different mechanism from that which is exerted by Slt2 on the Swi4/Swi6 (SBF)-regulated genes.
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    Chromatin remodeling by the SWI/SNF complex is essential for transcription mediated by the yeast cell wall integrity MAPK pathway.
    (Molecular biology of the cell, 2012) Sanz Santamaría, Ana Belén; García Sánchez, Raúl; Rodríguez Peña, José Manuel; Díez Muñiz, Sonia; Nombela Cano, César; Peterson, Craig L.; Arroyo Nombela, Francisco Javier
    In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the transcriptional program triggered by cell wall stress is coordinated by Slt2/Mpk1, the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) of the cell wall integrity (CWI) pathway, and is mostly mediated by the transcription factor Rlm1. Here we show that the SWI/SNF chromatin-remodeling complex plays a critical role in orchestrating the transcriptional response regulated by Rlm1. swi/snf mutants show drastically reduced expression of cell wall stress-responsive genes and hypersensitivity to cell wall-interfering compounds. On stress, binding of RNA Pol II to the promoters of these genes depends on Rlm1, Slt2, and SWI/SNF. Rlm1 physically interacts with SWI/SNF to direct its association to target promoters. Finally, we observe nucleosome displacement at the CWI-responsive gene MLP1/KDX1, which relies on the SWI/SNF complex. Taken together, our results identify the SWI/SNF complex as a key element of the CWI MAPK pathway that mediates the chromatin remodeling necessary for adequate transcriptional response to cell wall stress.
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    Rlm1 mediates positive autoregulatory transcriptional feedback that is essential for Slt2-dependent gene expression
    (Journal of Cell Science, 2016) García Sánchez, Raúl; Sanz Santamaría, Ana Belén; Nombela Cano, César; Rodríguez Peña, José Manuel; Arroyo Nombela, Francisco Javier
    Activation of the yeast cell wall integrity (CWI) pathway induces an adaptive transcriptional programme that is largely dependent on the transcription factor Rlm1 and the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) Slt2. Upon cell wall stress, the transcription factor Rlm1 is recruited to the promoters of RLM1 and SLT2, and exerts positive-feedback mechanisms on the expression of both genes. Activation of the MAPK Slt2 by cell wall stress is not impaired in strains with individual blockade of any of the two feedback pathways. Abrogation of the autoregulatory feedback mechanism on RLM1 severely affects the transcriptional response elicited by activation of the CWI pathway. In contrast, a positive trans-acting feedback mechanism exerted by Rlm1 on SLT2 also regulates CWI output responses but to a lesser extent. Therefore, a complete CWI transcriptional response requires not only phosphorylation of Rlm1 by Slt2 but also concurrent SLT2- and RLM1-mediated positive-feedback mechanisms; sustained patterns of gene expression are mainly achieved by positive autoregulatory circuits based on the transcriptional activation of Rlm1.
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    The CWI Pathway: Regulation of the Transcriptional Adaptive Response to Cell Wall Stress in Yeast
    (Journal of Fungi, 2017) Sanz Santamaría, Ana Belén; García Sánchez, Raúl; Rodríguez Peña, José Manuel; Arroyo, Javier
    Fungi are surrounded by an essential structure, the cell wall, which not only confers cell shape but also protects cells from environmental stress. As a consequence, yeast cells growing under cell wall damage conditions elicit rescue mechanisms to provide maintenance of cellular integrity and fungal survival. Through transcriptional reprogramming, yeast modulate the expression of genes important for cell wall biogenesis and remodeling, metabolism and energy generation, morphogenesis, signal transduction and stress. The yeast cell wall integrity (CWI) pathway, which is very well conserved in other fungi, is the key pathway for the regulation of this adaptive response. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of the yeast transcriptional program elicited to counterbalance cell wall stress situations, the role of the CWI pathway in the regulation of this program and the importance of the transcriptional input received by other pathways. Modulation of this adaptive response through the CWI pathway by positive and negative transcriptional feedbacks is also discussed. Since all these regulatory mechanisms are well conserved in pathogenic fungi, improving our knowledge about them will have an impact in the developing of new antifungal therapies.
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    Systematic Identification of Essential Genes Required for Yeast Cell Wall Integrity: Involvement of the RSC Remodelling Complex
    (Journal of Fungi, 2022) Sanz Santamaría, Ana Belén; Arroyo Nombela, Francisco Javier; Díez Muñiz, Sonia; Moya, Jennifer; Petryk, Yuliya; Nombela Cano, César; Rodríguez Peña, José Manuel
    Conditions altering the yeast cell wall lead to the activation of an adaptive transcriptional response mainly governed by the cell wall integrity (CWI) mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. Two high-throughput screenings were developed using the yTHC collection of yeast conditional mutant strains to systematically identify essential genes related to cell wall integrity, and those required for the transcriptional program elicited by cell wall stress. Depleted expression of 52 essential genes resulted in hypersensitivity to the dye Calcofluor white, with chromatin organization, Golgi vesicle transport, rRNA processing, and protein glycosylation processes, as the most highly representative functional groups. Via a flow cytometry-based quantitative assay using a CWI reporter plasmid, 97 strains exhibiting reduced gene-reporter expression levels upon stress were uncovered, highlighting genes associated with RNA metabolism, transcription/translation, protein degradation, and chromatin organization. This screening also led to the discovery of 41 strains displaying a basal increase in CWI-associated gene expression, including mainly putative cell wall-related genes. Interestingly, several members of the RSC chromatin remodelling complex were uncovered in both screenings. Notably, Rsc9 was necessary to regulate the gene expression of CWI-related genes both under stress and non-stress conditions, suggesting distinct requirements of the RSC complex for remodelling particular genes.
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    Control of Gene Expression via the Yeast CWI Pathway
    (International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2022) Sanz Santamaría, Ana Belén; García Sánchez, Raúl; Pavón Vergés, Mónica; Rodríguez Peña, José Manuel; Arroyo, Javier
    Living cells exposed to stressful environmental situations can elicit cellular responses that guarantee maximal cell survival. Most of these responses are mediated by mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades, which are highly conserved from yeast to humans. Cell wall damage conditions in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae elicit rescue mechanisms mainly associated with reprogramming specific transcriptional responses via the cell wall integrity (CWI) pathway. Regulation of gene expression by this pathway is coordinated by the MAPK Slt2/Mpk1, mainly via Rlm1 and, to a lesser extent, through SBF (Swi4/Swi6) transcription factors. In this review, we summarize the molecular mechanisms controlling gene expression upon cell wall stress and the role of chromatin structure in these processes. Some of these mechanisms are also discussed in the context of other stresses governed by different yeast MAPK pathways. Slt2 regulates both transcriptional initiation and elongation by interacting with chromatin at the promoter and coding regions of CWI-responsive genes but using different mechanisms for Rlm1- and SBF-dependent genes. Since MAPK pathways are very well conserved in eukaryotic cells and are essential for controlling cellular physiology, improving our knowledge regarding how they regulate gene expression could impact the future identification of novel targets for therapeutic intervention.
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    Poacic acid, a β‐1,3‐glucan–binding antifungal agent, inhibits cell‐wall remodeling and activates transcriptional responses regulated by the cell‐wall integrity and high‐osmolarity glycerol pathways in yeast
    (The FASEB Journal, 2021) García Sánchez, Raúl; Itto‐Nakama, Kaori; Rodríguez Peña, José Manuel; Chen, Xiaolin; Sanz Santamaría, Ana Belén; Lorenzo, Alba de; Pavón Vergés, Mónica; Kubo, Karen; Ohnuki, Shinsuke; Nombela Cano, César; Popolo, Laura; Ohya, Yoshikazu; Arroyo, Javier
    As a result of the relatively few available antifungals and the increasing frequency of resistance to them, the development of novel antifungals is increasingly important. The plant natural product poacic acid (PA) inhibits β-1,3-glucan synthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and has antifungal activity against a wide range of plant pathogens. However, the mode of action of PA is unclear. Here, we reveal that PA specifically binds to β-1,3-glucan, its affinity for which is ~30-fold that for chitin. Besides its effect on β-1,3-glucan synthase activity, PA inhibited the yeast glucan-elongating activity of Gas1 and Gas2 and the chitin–glucan transglycosylase activity of Crh1. Regarding the cellular response to PA, transcriptional co-regulation was mediated by parallel activation of the cell-wall integrity (CWI) and high-osmolarity glycerol signaling pathways. Despite targeting β-1,3-glucan remodeling, the transcriptional profiles and regulatory circuits activated by caspofungin, zymolyase, and PA differed, indicating that their effects on CWI have different mechanisms. The effects of PA on the growth of yeast strains indicated that it has a mode of action distinct from that of echinocandins, suggesting it is a unique antifungal agent.
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    mRNA decapping activator Pat1 Is required for efficient yeast adaptive transcriptional responses via the cell wall integrity MAPK pathway
    (Journal of Molecular Biology, 2024) Pulido Sanz, Verónica; Rodríguez Peña, José Manuel; Alonso, Graciela; Sanz Santamaría, Ana Belén; Arroyo Nombela, Francisco Javier; García Sánchez, Raúl; Igor Stagljar
    Cellular mRNA levels, particularly under stress conditions, can be finely regulated by the coordinated action of transcription and degradation processes. Elements of the 5′-3′ mRNA degradation pathway, functionally associated with the exonuclease Xrn1, can bind to nuclear chromatin and modulate gene transcription. Within this group are the so-called decapping activators, including Pat1, Dhh1, and Lsm1. In this work, we have investigated the role of Pat1 in the yeast adaptive transcriptional response to cell wall stress. Thus, we demonstrated that in the absence of Pat1, the transcriptional induction of genes regulated by the Cell Wall Integrity MAPK pathway was significantly affected, with no effect on the stability of these transcripts. Furthermore, under cell wall stress conditions, Pat1 is recruited to Cell Wall Integrity-responsive genes in parallel with the RNA Pol II complex, participating both in pre-initiation complex assembly and transcriptional elongation. Indeed, strains lacking Pat1 showed lower recruitment of the transcription factor Rlm1, less histone H3 displacement at Cell Wall Integrity gene promoters, and impaired recruitment and progression of RNA Pol II. Moreover, Pat1 and the MAPK Slt2 occupied the coding regions interdependently. Our results support the idea that Pat1 and presumably other decay factors behave as transcriptional regulators of Cell Wall Integrity-responsive genes under cell wall stress conditions.