SUMOs Mediate the Nuclear Transfer of p38 and p-p38 during Helicobacter Pylori Infection

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences 2018-08, Vol.19 (9), p.2482
• Main Authors: Wang, Pin Yao, Hsu, Ping I, Wu, Deng Chyang, Chen, Te Chung, Jarman, Andrew Paul, Powell, Lynn Marie, Chen, Angela
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Active Transport, Cell Nucleus; Apoptosis; Cell Line; Chronic infection; Gastroenterology; Helicobacter Infections - metabolism; Helicobacter Infections - microbiology; Helicobacter pylori; Humans; Infections; Inflammation; Inflammatory response; Internal medicine; Kinases; Localization; MAP kinase; Mucosa; Nuclear transfer; Nuclear transport; Oxidative stress; p38; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases - chemistry; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases - metabolism; Phosphorylation; Protein Binding; Protein Interaction Domains and Motifs; Protein kinase; Proteins; signal pathway; Signal Transduction; SIM; Small Ubiquitin-Related Modifier Proteins - chemistry; Small Ubiquitin-Related Modifier Proteins - metabolism; Studies; SUMO-2; Ubiquitin; Viral infections
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms19092482

The p38 mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway has been suggested to play a significant role in the gastric mucosal inflammatory response to chronic ( ) infection. Nuclear translocation is thought to be important for p38 function, but no nuclear translocation signals have been found in the protein and no nuclear carrier proteins have been identified for p38. We have investigated the role of small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO) in the nuclear transfer of p38 in response to infection. Exposure of human AGS cells to induced the activation of p38 and the expression of SUMOs, especially SUMO-2. SUMO knockdown counteracted the effect of infection by decreasing the resulting p38 mediated cellular apoptosis through a reduction in the nuclear fraction of phosphorylated p38. We identified a non-covalent interaction between SUMOs and p38 via SUMO interaction motifs (SIMs), and showed that SUMO-dependent nuclear transfer of p38 was decreased upon mutation of its SIMs. This study has identified a new pathway of p38 nuclear translocation, in response to infection. We conclude that in the presence of SUMO-2 has a major role in regulating nuclear levels of p38, through non-covalent SUMO-p38 interactions, independent of the p38 phosphorylation state.