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SMF-1, SMF-2 and SMF-3 DMT1 Orthologues Regulate and Are Regulated Differentially by Manganese Levels in C. elegans

Au, C; Benedetto, A; Anderson, J; Labrousse, A; Erikson, K; Ewbank, JJ; Aschner, M; (2009) SMF-1, SMF-2 and SMF-3 DMT1 Orthologues Regulate and Are Regulated Differentially by Manganese Levels in C. elegans. PLOS ONE , 4 (11) , Article e7792. 10.1371/journal.pone.0007792. Green open access

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Abstract

Manganese (Mn) is an essential metal that can exert toxic effects at high concentrations, eventually leading to Parkinsonism. A major transporter of Mn in mammals is the divalent-metal transporter (DMT1). We characterize here DMT1-like proteins in the nematode C. elegans, which regulate and are regulated by Mn and iron (Fe) content. We identified three new DMT1-like genes in C. elegans: smf-1, smf-2 and smf-3. All three can functionally substitute for loss of their yeast orthologues in S. cerevisiae. In the worm, deletion of smf-1 or smf-3 led to an increased Mn tolerance, while loss of smf-2 led to increased Mn sensitivity. smf mRNA levels measured by QRT-PCR were up-regulated upon low Mn and down-regulated upon high Mn exposures. Translational GFP-fusions revealed that SMF-1 and SMF-3 strongly localize to partially overlapping apical regions of the gut epithelium, suggesting a differential role for SMF-1 and SMF-3 in Mn nutritional intake. Conversely, SMF-2 was detected in the marginal pharyngeal epithelium, possibly involved in metal-sensing. Analysis of metal content upon Mn exposure in smf mutants revealed that SMF-3 is required for normal Mn uptake, while smf-1 was dispensable. Higher smf-2 mRNA levels correlated with higher Fe content, supporting a role for SMF-2 in Fe uptake. In smf-1 and smf-3 but not in smf-2 mutants, increased Mn exposure led to decreased Fe levels, suggesting that both metals compete for transport by SMF-2. Finally, SMF-3 was post-translationally and reversibly down-regulated following Mn-exposure. In sum, we unraveled a complex interplay of transcriptional and post-translational regulations of 3 DMT1-like transporters in two adjacent tissues, which regulate metal-content in C. elegans.

Type: Article
Title: SMF-1, SMF-2 and SMF-3 DMT1 Orthologues Regulate and Are Regulated Differentially by Manganese Levels in C. elegans
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0007792
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0007792
Language: English
Additional information: © 2009 Au et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The MA lab was supported by NIH R01 ES10563 (http://www.nih.gov/). The KE lab was supported by R15 NINDS (http://www.ninds.nih.gov/). The JE lab is funded by INSERM (http://www.inserm.fr/en/home.html) and CNRS (http://www.cnrs.fr/index.php). AL was supported by ARC (http://www.arc.asso.fr/). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Keywords: BLOOD-BRAIN-BARRIER, MULTIPLE SEQUENCE ALIGNMENT, IRON-RESPONSIVE ELEMENT, METAL-ION TRANSPORTERS, CAENORHABDITIS-ELEGANS, SACCHAROMYCES-CEREVISIAE, MICROCYTIC ANEMIA, TRANSFERRIN-RECEPTOR, INDUCED PARKINSONISM, APICAL SECRETION
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/143967
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