Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Special Feature Articles - Most Recent
    • Special Features
    • Colloquia
    • Collected Articles
    • PNAS Classics
    • List of Issues
  • Front Matter
    • Front Matter Portal
    • Journal Club
  • News
    • For the Press
    • This Week In PNAS
    • PNAS in the News
  • Podcasts
  • Authors
    • Information for Authors
    • Editorial and Journal Policies
    • Submission Procedures
    • Fees and Licenses
  • Submit
  • Submit
  • About
    • Editorial Board
    • PNAS Staff
    • FAQ
    • Accessibility Statement
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Site Map
  • Contact
  • Journal Club
  • Subscribe
    • Subscription Rates
    • Subscriptions FAQ
    • Open Access
    • Recommend PNAS to Your Librarian

User menu

  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Home
Home
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Special Feature Articles - Most Recent
    • Special Features
    • Colloquia
    • Collected Articles
    • PNAS Classics
    • List of Issues
  • Front Matter
    • Front Matter Portal
    • Journal Club
  • News
    • For the Press
    • This Week In PNAS
    • PNAS in the News
  • Podcasts
  • Authors
    • Information for Authors
    • Editorial and Journal Policies
    • Submission Procedures
    • Fees and Licenses
  • Submit
Research Article

Delayed Ras/PKA signaling augments the unfolded protein response

David Pincus, Andrés Aranda-Díaz, View ORCID ProfileIgnacio A. Zuleta, Peter Walter, and Hana El-Samad
  1. aDepartment of Biochemistry and Biophysics,
  2. bCalifornia Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, and
  3. cHoward Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158

See allHide authors and affiliations

PNAS October 14, 2014 111 (41) 14800-14805; first published October 1, 2014; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1409588111
David Pincus
aDepartment of Biochemistry and Biophysics,
bCalifornia Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, and
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Andrés Aranda-Díaz
aDepartment of Biochemistry and Biophysics,
bCalifornia Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, and
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Ignacio A. Zuleta
aDepartment of Biochemistry and Biophysics,
bCalifornia Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, and
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Ignacio A. Zuleta
Peter Walter
aDepartment of Biochemistry and Biophysics,
bCalifornia Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, and
cHoward Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: peter@walterlab.ucsf.edu hana.el-samad@ucsf.edu
Hana El-Samad
aDepartment of Biochemistry and Biophysics,
bCalifornia Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, and
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: peter@walterlab.ucsf.edu hana.el-samad@ucsf.edu
  1. Edited by David Ron, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, and accepted by the Editorial Board September 8, 2014 (received for review May 22, 2014)

  • Article
  • Figures & SI
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Significance

The unfolded protein response (UPR) maintains protein-folding homeostasis in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The UPR is involved in diseases such as triple-negative breast cancer, developmental processes such as B-cell activation, and the decision to commit to apoptosis. In principle, the UPR could restore homeostasis to the ER by increasing folding capacity or reducing the load of newly synthesized proteins. Here we report that budding yeast augments the UPR with PKA signaling and reduces the load of newly synthesized proteins, a role functionally analogous to the PKR-like ER kinase (PERK) and regulated inositol-requiring enzyme 1 (IRE1)-dependent mRNA decay (RIDD) pathways in other organisms. Accounting for all the pathways that contribute to stress resistance is necessary to understand how perturbations, including targeted therapies, propagate through the cell.

Abstract

During environmental, developmental, or genetic stress, the cell’s folding capacity can become overwhelmed, and misfolded proteins can accumulate in all cell compartments. Eukaryotes evolved the unfolded protein response (UPR) to counteract proteotoxic stress in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Although the UPR is vital to restoring homeostasis to protein folding in the ER, it has become evident that the response to ER stress is not limited to the UPR. Here, we used engineered orthogonal UPR induction, deep mRNA sequencing, and dynamic flow cytometry to dissect the cell’s response to ER stress comprehensively. We show that budding yeast augments the UPR with time-delayed Ras/PKA signaling. This second wave of transcriptional dynamics is independent of the UPR and is necessary for fitness in the presence of ER stress, partially due to a reduction in general protein synthesis. This Ras/PKA-mediated effect functionally mimics other mechanisms, such as translational control by PKR-like ER kinase (PERK) and regulated inositol-requiring enzyme 1 (IRE1)-dependent mRNA decay (RIDD), which reduce the load of proteins entering the ER in response to ER stress in metazoan cells.

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) protein-folding homeostasis requires sufficient protein-folding capacity to meet the secretory demands of the cell. The ER needs to contain enough volume, chaperone proteins, glycosylation enzymes, oxidation enzymes, and degradation machinery to keep up with the influx of newly synthesized proteins (1). Misfolded proteins accumulate in the ER when the protein-folding capacity is overwhelmed, a condition known as ER stress. Eukaryotic cells evolved a set of signaling pathways collectively known as the unfolded protein response (UPR) to counteract ER stress (2).

In budding yeast, the UPR consists of a single pathway, initiated by activation of the ER-resident transmembrane protein inositol-requiring enzyme 1 (Ire1) (3, 4). Under ER stress conditions, misfolded proteins directly bind to the ER-luminal stress-sensing domain of Ire1, triggering its oligomerization (5, 6). Oligomerization of the luminal domain activates Ire1’s cytoplasmic effector domains, including its RNase function (7), that upon recruitment of HAC1 mRNA excises the nonconventional intron, alleviating translational repression (8, 9). Translation of the ligated exons produces Hac1, a transcription factor that induces the UPR target genes that serve to increase the protein folding and degradation capacity of the ER (10). Once the response is sufficient to counteract the stress and ER homeostasis is restored, the UPR turns off as Ire1 deoligomerizes (6, 11⇓–13).

Although the UPR in fission yeast also uses Ire1 to initiate the response to ER stress, Ire1 activation does not induce a transcriptional response (14). Rather, fission yeast relies on a process known as regulated Ire1-dependent mRNA decay (RIDD), in which Ire1 degrades ER-associated mRNAs and thereby decreases translation and protein influx (14). Thus, the UPR can restore homeostasis either by increasing the protein-folding capacity of the ER, as in budding yeast, or by decreasing the protein-folding demand by reducing the influx of newly synthesized proteins, as in fission yeast, or by using a combination of both mechanisms, as in metazoan cells.

Metazoan cells have elaborated the UPR into three branches: the IRE1, ATF6, and PKR-like ER kinase (PERK) branches (2). The IRE1 branch both increases protein-folding capacity by activating the transcription factor XBP1 and decreases protein influx via RIDD (15, 16). The ATF6 branch induces target genes that increase ER folding capacity (17). The PERK branch reduces protein influx by reducing global translation initiation through phosphorylation of eIF2α (18), but also induces a transcriptional response through the selective translation of transcription factors like ATF4 (19). The extent, duration, and mode of ER stress can result in complex dynamics and interplay between these three branches that ultimately determine whether homeostasis is restored or whether cells commit to apoptosis (2).

The dynamic response to ER stress in mammalian cells is multifaceted, yet it has become increasingly clear that, even in budding yeast, coping with ER stress involves more than just Ire1 regulation. In addition to the UPR, three mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways—the Slt2-mediated cell wall integrity pathway, the Hog1-mediated hyperosmotic stress response, and the Kss1-mediated invasive growth pathway—have been implicated in the response to ER stress (20⇓–22). Moreover, microarray studies revealed that the transcriptional response to ER stress includes target genes induced in many other stress conditions (23). A subset of this plethora of targets constitute the general stress response (GSR) controlled by the transcription factors Msn2 and Msn4 (Msn2/4), which are in turn regulated by protein kinase A (PKA) (24). In addition to controlling the GSR, PKA regulates translation and ribosome biogenesis (25). The small GTPase Ras2 regulates PKA via cAMP production. Ras2 is also upstream of Kss1 in the invasive growth pathway (26).

To integrate the various signaling pathways implicated in the response to ER stress into a unified model, we explored the transcriptional changes in yeast cells experiencing ER stress. Through engineered activation of the UPR transcription factor Hac1 in the absence of ER stress, we account for Hac1-dependent and -independent transcriptional changes without the pleiotropic effects of deletion strains. We show that budding yeast complements the Hac1-dependent response with a second, Hac1-independent transcriptional program mediated by PKA signaling. Hac1 activation and PKA deactivation together account for the majority of the response to ER stress.

Results

ER Stress Activates a Hac1-Independent Transcriptional Response.

To obtain a broad overview of the various programs elicited by ER stress and determine their Hac1-dependence, we used mRNA deep sequencing (RNA seq). In this experiment, we compared the transcriptional profile of cells experiencing ER stress to cells in which we induced the ectopic expression of the UPR transcription activator HAC1 (Fig. 1 A and B). To control production of Hac1 in the absence of ER stress, we fused an ORF encoding HAC1i to the GAL1 promoter. HAC1i encodes an intron-less mRNA that is translated into active Hac1 protein, bypassing the requirement for Ire1 activity (27). We integrated PGAL1–HAC1i into the genome of a yeast strain expressing a chimeric transcription factor comprising the DNA-binding domain of Gal4, the ligand-binding domain of the estrogen receptor, and a transcription-activation domain. This chimeric transcription factor induces expression of genes containing UASGAL motifs in their promoters in proportion to the concentration of estradiol in the medium (Fig. S1 and Tables S1 and S2). In two distinct ER stress conditions—addition of the reducing agent DTT (5 mM final concentration) or the N-linked glycosylation inhibitor tunicamycin (5 µg/mL final concentration)—we observed largely overlapping changes in the transcriptome (Fig. 1C and Dataset S1). By contrast, expression of Hac1 in the absence of ER stress led to a qualitatively different transcriptional response (Fig. 1C and Dataset S1).

Fig. 1.
  • Download figure
  • Open in new tab
  • Download powerpoint
Fig. 1.

ER stress activates a Hac1-independent transcriptional response. (A) Schematic of the RNA-seq samples from ER-stressed cells. (B) Schematic of RNA-seq samples from specific activation of the UPR in the absence of ER stress via ectopic expression of Hac1 by the addition of estradiol (Est). (C) Clustered heat map of the fold change of gene expression ectopic Hac1 expression (0–100 nM estradiol for 2 h), treatment with 5 mM DTT and 5 µg/mL tunicamycin (Tm) for 4 h. Yellow indicates up-regulated genes; blue indicates down-regulated genes. Cells were collected after 3 h of treatment, and the mRNA was purified and sequenced. (D) Coverage plots of mapped reads for ERO1, HSP12, RPL9A, and PGK1. (E) Venn diagram of the number of genes induced (Upper) or repressed (Lower) by estradiol, tunicamycin, and DTT.

Clustering analysis revealed five major categories of genes (Fig. 1C): (i) genes up-regulated in an estradiol (i.e., Hac1) dose-dependent manner that were also induced by DTT and tunicamycin (“Hac1-dependent”; for example, ERO1), a set that largely matched the UPR targets identified by previous studies; (ii) genes activated during ER stress that were not induced by estradiol (“Hac1-independent”; for example, HSP12); (iii) genes that were repressed by DTT and tunicamycin but were unchanged by estradiol (“ER stress repressed”; for example, RPL9A); (iv) genes induced by estradiol but not by ER stress (“GAL”—a consequence of the Gal4-based ectopic expression system); and (v) two groups of other genes that remained largely unchanged (for example, PGK1) (Fig. 1 C and D). Specifically, we identified 315 genes as transcriptional targets of Hac1 (induced greater than or equal to twofold in estradiol, DTT, and tunicamycin), 280 genes as up-regulated under ER stress independently of Hac1, and 568 genes as repressed by ER stress independently of Hac1 (greater than or equal to twofold repressed in both DTT and tunicamycin conditions, but not in estradiol-treated cells) (Fig. 1E).

The Hac1-Independent ER Stress Response Has the Hallmarks of PKA Deactivation.

To identify putative regulators of the genes whose transcript levels changed upon ER stress in a Hac1-independent fashion, we performed an unbiased search for enriched sequence motifs in the promoters of the Hac1-independent and ER stress-repressed genes using the SCOPE web interface (28). This analysis revealed that the promoter sequences of the Hac1-independent genes are enriched with the stress response element (STRE), which is known to be the binding site for the GSR transcription factors Msn2/4 (Fig. 2A) (24). By contrast, when directed to search for the heat shock element (HSE), the binding site for the heat shock factor Hsf1, no enrichment was observed (Fig. 2A). SCOPE analysis also revealed that the promoters of the ER stress-repressed genes are enriched for the ribosomal RNA processing element (RRPE; the binding site for the transcriptional repressor Stb3), and the polymerase A and C motif (PAC; the binding site for the repressors Dot6 and Tod6) (Fig. 2B and ref. 29). Quantitatively, many canonical targets of Msn2 were induced significantly more by DTT and tunicamycin than by estradiol, whereas ribosomal protein genes and assembly factors were significantly more repressed by DTT and tunicamycin than by estradiol (Fig. 2C). Msn2/4, Stb3, Dot6, and Tod6 are phosphorylated and inhibited by PKA, suggesting that PKA is deactivated during ER stress (24, 30).

Fig. 2.
  • Download figure
  • Open in new tab
  • Download powerpoint
Fig. 2.

The Hac1-independent ER stress response has the hallmarks of PKA deactivation. (A) Enrichment of the STRE (Msn2/4 binding site) motif in the group of 280 Hac1-independent genes targets. The HSE (Hsf1 binding site) was not enriched. (B) Enrichment of the RRPE (Stb3 binding site) and PAC (Dot6/Tod6 binding site) motifs. (C) Fold change of gene expression with 100 nM estradiol (Est) vs. 5 µg/mL tunicamycin (Tm). Msn2/4 targets are highlighted in red; genes annotated as ribosomal protein genes or genes involved in ribosome biogenesis are highlighted in blue. (D) Relative PKA activity in cell extracts from a tpk1/2/3-as strain treated with 1NM-PP1 or a wild-type strain treated with 5 µg/mL tunicamycin for 4h.

To test this notion directly, we measured PKA kinase activity in cell lysates using a biochemical assay monitoring loss of protease-dependent fluorescence upon phosphorylation of a peptide containing the PKA consensus sequence. We observed a decrease of PKA activity for a strain in which the wild-type alleles of the PKA catalytic unit (TPK1/2/3) have been replaced with analog-sensitized alleles whose protein products can be inhibited with the ATP competitive analog 1-naphthylmethyl-4-amino-1-tert-butyl-3-(p-methylphenyl) pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine (1NM-PP1; tpk1/2/3-as) (Fig. 2D and ref. 31), validating the approach. Using this assay, we determined that cells treated with tunicamycin indeed had diminished PKA activity (Fig. 2D).

The GSR Is Activated in a Second Wave of Transcription During ER Stress.

To dissect the relationship between the Hac1 and PKA components in the response to ER stress, we monitored the activation state of PKA using the transcriptional activity of the PKA-responsive regulators Msn2/4. Upon PKA deactivation, Msn2 and Msn4 are rapidly dephosphorylated and translocate to the nucleus to induce transcription of the GSR target genes (31). We measured the transcriptional activity of the Msn2/4 target HSP12 by flow cytometry in cells bearing a fluorescent reporter consisting of the HSP12 promoter fused to GFP and compared its dose–response after tunicamycin treatment to that of the UPR target gene ERO1 in wild-type, ire1∆, and hac1∆ cells. Both reporters were induced significantly by tunicamycin in wild-type cells (Fig. 3 A and B). Moreover, the activation of both reporters increased as a function of tunicamycin dose, indicating that PKA deactivation is a bona fide aspect of the homeostatic response to ER stress and not merely a consequence of lethal doses of ER stress (Fig. 3 A and B). As expected, ERO1 induction was nearly abolished in ire1∆ and hac1∆ cells (Fig. 3A). However, HSP12 was induced almost identically to wild type in ire1∆ and hac1∆ cells (Fig. 3B). Thus, Hac1 is dispensable for HSP12 induction in response to ER stress.

Fig. 3.
  • Download figure
  • Open in new tab
  • Download powerpoint
Fig. 3.

The GSR is activated in a second UPR-independent wave of transcription during ER stress. (A and B) Mean volume-corrected fluorescence from a transcriptional reporter of the UPR target ERO1 (A) or a reporter of the Msn2/4 target HSP12 (B) in wild-type cells (solid line) or ire1∆ cells (dashed line). Samples were measured by flow cytometry 4 h after treatment with tunicamycin (Tm). (C and D) Mean volume-corrected fluorescence per cell of a strain containing the reporter for ERO1 (C) or HSP12 (D) measured over time by automated sampling. (E) Calculated expression rates from the data shown in C and D (SI Materials and Methods).

We next asked whether the two programs occurred concurrently by monitoring PERO1–GFP and PHSP12–GFP as a function of time following ER stress. We used a robotic flow-cytometry setup that samples cultures every 20 min to measure time-dependent dose–responses for different tunicamycin concentrations in an automated fashion (32). The activation of HSP12 was delayed compared with ERO1 at all doses of tunicamycin (Fig. 3 C and D). To clearly represent the response dynamics, we calculated an expression rate for both reporters. The expression rate captures the underlying transcription dynamics in a reporter time course as measured by the rate of change of fluorescence over time, corrected for growth rate and differential fluorophore dilution. The expression rates confirm that ERO1 induction occurred before HSP12 (Fig. 3E). Furthermore, the rates revealed that both responses were transient. Once initiated, HSP12 induction ramped up much more slowly than ERO1 to reach its maximum rate (Fig. 3E). For both reporters, higher doses of tunicamycin led to earlier responses, but ERO1 always induced ahead of HSP12. In addition to HSP12, we measured a reporter of RPL17A to monitor a gene in the ER stress repressed cluster. Consistent with the HSP12 data, RPL17A levels decreased in response to tunicamycin subsequent to ERO1 induction (Fig. 3E). These observations suggest a model in which the homeostatic response to ER stress begins with Hac1 activation and is followed by PKA deactivation, leading to a second wave of transcriptional changes.

To establish that these trends are global, we quantified the transcriptome over time in response to tunicamycin using RNA seq and examined enrichment of genes induced greater than or equal to fourfold at the 30- and 240-min time points (Fig. 4 A and B and Dataset S2). We found that the UPR-associated Gene Ontology (GO) terms “response to unfolded protein” and “ER-associated ubiquitin-dependent catabolic process” were enriched at the 30-min time point, but not at the 240-min time point, consistent with the notion that the UPR is induced early in response to tunicamycin and then masked by other transcriptional dynamics later in the response (Fig. 4C). For example, in accordance with the reporter assays, we observed early induction of the endogenous ERO1 transcript, which reached its maximum within 30 min of treatment with tunicamycin (Fig. 4B). We also looked for enrichment of the STRE motif in the promoters of genes induced greater than or equal to fourfold at the 30- and 240-min time points and enrichment of the RRPE and PAC motifs in the genes repressed greater than or equal to fourfold at the 30- and 240-min time points. As predicted, we observed no enrichment of the STRE, PAC, or RRPE motifs at the 30-min time point and large enrichments of all three motifs at the 240-min time point (Fig. 4D). HSP12 and RPL9A, for example, reached their maximum and minimum levels, respectively, 120 min after treatment with tunicamycin. A control gene, PGK1, remained constant throughout the experiment (Fig. 4B).

Fig. 4.
  • Download figure
  • Open in new tab
  • Download powerpoint
Fig. 4.

Ectopic activation of UPR and deactivation of PKA are sufficient to explain the transcriptional program elicited by tunicamycin. (A) Clustered heat map of the fold change of gene expression upon ER stress (tunicamycin; Tm) or synthetic Hac1 activation/PKA deactivation. Samples were taken at different times after treatment with tunicamycin and at 240 min after estradiol (Est) + 1NM-PP1 addition. (B) Fold change in ERO1, HSP12, RPL9A, and PGK1 expression from cells treated with 5 µg/mL tunicamycin. (C) Enrichment of UPR-related GO terms in the group of genes induced at early times (greater than fourfold at 30 min after tunicamycin treatment) or genes induced only at later times (greater than fourfold at 240 min and less than fourfold at 30 min after tunicamycin treatment). (D) Enrichment of the STRE (Left) and RRPE or PAC (Right) motifs in the group of genes induced at early times or only at later times (as in C). (E) Fold change in gene expression for Hac1 activation/PKA deactivation vs. tunicamycin treatment 240 min after treatment. Msn2/4 targets are highlighted in red. Ribosomal protein and biogenesis genes are highlighted in blue.

Hac1 Expression Combined with PKA Inhibition Recapitulates the Majority of the Transcriptional Program Elicited by ER Stress.

To quantify the Hac1-mediated vs. PKA-mediated contributions in the response to ER stress, we compared the transcriptional response to tunicamycin with that of the combined ectopic Hac1 expression and PKA inhibition in the absence of ER stress. To do so, we introduced the system in which we could control expression of HAC1i into the tpk1/2/3-as strain. In this fashion, we could simultaneously induce expression of HAC1i with estradiol and inhibit PKA by adding 1NM-PP1. RNA-seq analysis following this experiment showed qualitatively similar expression patterns to those from cells treated with tunicamycin for 240 min (Fig. 4A). More quantitatively, genome-wide comparison of these samples indicated high similarity in fold change, yielding a correlation coefficient of 0.79 (Fig. 4E). These data indicate that the combined activation of the Hac1 and deactivation of PKA explain the majority of the transcriptional response to ER stress.

PKA Deactivation Contributes to Fitness During ER Stress.

To determine the role of PKA deactivation on cellular fitness in ER stress conditions, we introduced a genetic system to conditionally manipulate PKA activity. To prevent PKA from deactivating, we ectopically expressed a constitutively active allele of the upstream PKA regulator RAS2 via estradiol control. The allele encodes Ras2(G19V), a mutant locked in a GTP-bound state that decouples cAMP production from cell state and thereby keeps PKA active (Fig. 5A). Even at intermediate expression levels (e.g., 20 nM estradiol), Ras2(G19V) abrogated the expression of the HSP12 reporter at both intermediate and high levels of tunicamycin, indicating that Msn2/4 remained inactive in the presence of active PKA (Fig. 5 B, Left). By contrast, even at the highest expression levels, Ras2(G19V) did not impair the activation of the ERO1 reporter (Fig. 5B). To confirm that Ras2(G19V) acted upstream of PKA, we measured PKA kinase activity. Whereas tunicamycin decreased PKA activity in wild-type cells, expression of Ras2(G19V) prevented tunicamycin-mediated PKA deactivation (Fig. 5C). Thus, Ras2(G19V) provides a tool to decouple PKA regulation from ER stress, while leaving UPR regulation intact.

Fig. 5.
  • Download figure
  • Open in new tab
  • Download powerpoint
Fig. 5.

PKA deactivation contributes to fitness during ER stress. (A) Experimental strategy to keep PKA active during ER stress. (B) Mean volume-corrected fluorescence of a transcriptional reporter of HSP12 (Left) or ERO1 (Right) measured by flow cytometry as function of Ras2(G19V) expression level (estradiol) and tunicamycin (Tm). Fluorescence was measured 4 h after treatment. (C) PKA activity in cell extracts from wild-type cells and cells expressing Ras2(G19V) treated with tunicamycin for 4 h. (D) Dilution series spot assay for wild type and an isogenic strain containing the Ras2(G19V) construct. (E) Relative growth rates for the strain expressing Ras2(G19V) at different levels in the presence of different concentrations of tunicamycin. (F) Culture density-normalized 35S incorporation in cells treated with 5 µg/mL tunicamycin and 20 nM estradiol driving the expression of Ras2(G19V).

We used Ras2(G19V) to assay cellular fitness in two ways. First, we performed a dilution series spot assay of cells grown in the presence and absence of tunicamycin with and without expression of Ras2(G19V). Expression of Ras2(G19V) had a detrimental effect on cell growth, specifically in ER stress conditions (Fig. 5D). Second, we performed a quantitative competitive growth assay at two different expression levels of Ras2(G19V) and two different concentrations of tunicamycin. Although higher levels of expression of Ras2(G19V) slowed growth in the absence of stress, the growth rate of cells expressing Ras2(G19V) was up to 40% lower than that of its matched control in the presence of tunicamycin (Fig. 5E and Fig. S2A).

Because PKA controls both induction of Hac1-independent target genes through Msn2/4 and the down-regulation of the ER stress-repressed genes through Dot6, Tod6, and Stb3, we sought to isolate the contribution of the two classes of regulation on cellular fitness in the presence of ER stress. To this end, we assayed msn2∆ msn4∆ cells and dot6∆ tod6∆ cells in the presence of tunicamycin. Deletion of STB3 significantly reduced cellular fitness, even in the absence of stress, and therefore could not be directly compared. Msn2∆ msn4∆ cells showed modest growth impairment in the presence of tunicamycin compared with wild type, as did dot6∆ tod6∆ cells (Fig. S2B). Neither double deletion was as impaired as cells expressing Ras2(G19V). Thus, it is likely that both aspects of PKA deactivation—induction of the GSR and reduction of ribosome biogenesis—contribute to fitness during ER stress.

PKA Deactivation After ER Stress Leads to Decreased Protein Synthesis.

In addition to activating the Msn2/4-mediated GSR, PKA deactivation is responsible for repressing transcription of the ribosomal protein genes and biosynthesis machinery (Fig. 5A). Thus, we reasoned that tunicamycin, by deactivating PKA and thereby decreasing ribosome biogenesis, would decrease global protein translation. To test this notion, we measured incorporation of 35S as a function of time in untreated cells and cells treated with tunicamycin. Cells treated with tunicamycin incorporated less 35S over time compared with untreated cells, but they also divided fewer times compared with the untreated cells. To account for the decrease in cell division in the stressed cells, we normalized the 35S counts by the density of the culture. After controlling for cell growth, tunicamycin-treated cells incorporated moderately less 35S per unit density than wild-type cells after several hours of treatment with tunicamycin (Fig. 5F), consistent with the notion that PKA deactivation resulted in decreased translation. To test the role of PKA, we measured 35S incorporation in tunicamycin-treated cells expressing Ras2(G19V). Although these cells also divided less than untreated cells, 35S incorporation per unit density more closely matched the untreated cells than the cells treated only with tunicamycin (Fig. 5F). Together, these data indicate that tunicamycin decreases protein synthesis through PKA deactivation, albeit moderately.

Discussion

ER stress directly triggers activation of Hac1 when misfolded proteins bind to Ire1. We have shown here that ER stress subsequently leads to the deactivation of PKA, which initiates a second wave of transcriptional dynamics (Figs. 2 and 3). By combining synthetic induction of Hac1 and inhibition of PKA in the absence of ER stress, we recapitulated the majority of the transcriptional response to ER stress (Fig. 4). These two distinct stress response programs, originating in separate cellular compartments, both contribute to cellular fitness in the presence of ER-specific stress (Fig. 5).

PKA deactivation in budding yeast induces expression of the GSR and reduces expression of ribosome biogenesis genes, thereby decreasing the cell’s protein translation capacity (25). Induction of the GSR buffers cytosolic protein-folding homeostasis, alters metabolism, and is known to be important in myriad stress conditions (23). The other aspect of PKA deactivation—decreasing protein synthesis by repressing ribosome biogenesis—provides an interesting parallel to the UPR in mammalian cells and fission yeast. In addition to increasing protein-folding capacity in the ER, the mammalian UPR, via RIDD and PERK, inhibits protein synthesis to reduce the load of unfolded proteins entering the ER (18, 33). Fission yeast exclusively uses RIDD to reduce the load of newly synthesized proteins to alleviate stress, foregoing a transcriptional response to increase ER capacity altogether (14). PKA-mediated repression of ribosome biogenesis in budding yeast could serve a functionally analogous role to metazoan PERK and RIDD in metazoans and fission yeast.

However, as opposed to PERK activation and RIDD, which occur as early steps in the response to ER stress, PKA deactivation in budding yeast occurs as a second wave of the response to ER stress after Hac1 is activated (Fig. 3). The kinetic delay in PKA deactivation during ER stress may be a valuable feature of the budding yeast ER stress response. By first activating Ire1 to induce the UPR before deactivating PKA to decrease global protein synthesis, the target genes that increase the folding capacity of the ER are expressed, and the proteins they encode are produced before translation is inhibited. Once the folding capacity is increased, a subsequently decreased influx of newly synthesized proteins would serve to further ameliorate the folding conditions in the ER to promptly restore homeostasis. Additionally, gene-specific translational regulation could ensure that UPR targets are translated and used to cope with ER stress, as has been shown in other conditions (34⇓–36).

The mechanistic details of how ER stress could affect PKA activity remain to be elucidated. It is possible that PKA is sensing the accumulation of misfolded proteins in the cytoplasm, oxidative stress, or plasma membrane stress. Because of the high demand for ER-associated degradation during ER stress, the pool of proteasomes in the cell may be monopolized by ER clients, leading to a backlog in the normal turnover of cytoplasmic proteins and the accumulation of misfolded proteins in the cytoplasm. Likewise, ER stress impairs redox homeostasis in the ER, which could propagate beyond the ER lumen, leading to oxidative cytosolic stress (37). Furthermore, the cell wall composition and properties can be impaired by ER stress, activating the Pkc1–Slt2 pathway (38, 39), which in turn could deactivate PKA (40⇓⇓⇓⇓–45). Another possibility is that ER stress interferes with the maturation of integral membrane proteins, thereby imposing plasma membrane stress, which could disrupt Ras2 activation. The full scope and distribution of the effects of ER stress on the cell, as well as the signals that regulate PKA, remain to be defined.

Although the combination of Hac1 activation and PKA inhibition is sufficient to explain most of the transcriptional response to ER stress, some aspects of the response remain unexplained. Although we were unable to define the remaining subset of induced target genes with GO terms or promoter motif enrichment, it is possible that the Slt2 and Hog1 MAPK pathways contribute to regulating some of these genes, as might the oxidative stress transcription factors Yap1–7 (20, 21, 23). In addition, 109 genes were repressed when Hac1i was expressed. Although it is possible that Hac1 directly represses these genes, it is likely that they are repressed by an alternative mechanism such as the action of Hac1 targets.

More broadly, the dynamic interplay between ER stress and PKA signaling contributes to an emerging paradigm in which communication networks connect all of the compartments within the cell. Fitness in the midst of fluctuating extracellular and intracellular demands requires integration of information about the status of all cellular subsystems. A quantitative and mechanistic description of how the major growth control regulators—such as PKA, PKC, AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), and mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR)—interface with the major stress response pathways, such as the UPR and the heat shock response, is necessary to understand how perturbations, including targeted therapies, propagate through the cell.

Materials and Methods

Plasmid and yeast strain construction was performed by using standard techniques as described in SI Materials and Methods. Quantitative transcription and growth assays are described in detail in SI Materials and Methods. Details of PKA activity assay, 35S incorporation, RNA sequencing, and bioinformatics analysis are also in SI Materials and Methods.

Acknowledgments

We thank Joanna Krakowiak for technical assistance; Marcy Diaz for advice and protocols for making the initial RNA sequencing libraries; Sebastian “Schucky” Schuck for lengthy discussion at critical early phases of the project; Carmela Sidrauski for commenting on the manuscript; and members of the H.E.-S. and P.W. laboratories for feedback throughout. D.P. was supported by a National Science Foundation (NSF) graduate fellowship. H.E.-S. was supported by the NSF, the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, the Packard foundation, the Sandler family foundation, and the Allen Foundation. P.W. is an Investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Footnotes

  • ↵1D.P. and A.A.-D. contributed equally to this work.

  • ↵2To whom correspondence may be addressed at the present address: Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, MA 02142. Email: pincus{at}wi.mit.edu.

  • ↵3To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: peter{at}walterlab.ucsf.edu or hana.el-samad{at}ucsf.edu.
  • Author contributions: D.P., P.W., and H.E.-S. designed research; D.P., A.A.-D., and I.A.Z. performed research; I.A.Z. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; D.P., A.A.-D., I.A.Z., P.W., and H.E.-S. analyzed data; and D.P., A.A.-D., P.W., and H.E.-S. wrote the paper.

  • This article is a PNAS Direct Submission. D.R. is a guest editor invited by the Editorial Board.

  • The authors declare no conflict of interest.

  • This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1409588111/-/DCSupplemental.

Freely available online through the PNAS open access option.

References

  1. ↵
    1. Braakman I,
    2. Hebert DN
    (2013) Protein folding in the endoplasmic reticulum. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 5(5):a013201
    .
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  2. ↵
    1. Gardner BM,
    2. Pincus D,
    3. Gotthardt K,
    4. Gallagher CM,
    5. Walter P
    (2013) Endoplasmic reticulum stress sensing in the unfolded protein response. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 5(3):a013169
    .
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  3. ↵
    1. Cox JS,
    2. Shamu CE,
    3. Walter P
    (1993) Transcriptional induction of genes encoding endoplasmic reticulum resident proteins requires a transmembrane protein kinase. Cell 73(6):1197–1206
    .
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  4. ↵
    1. Mori K,
    2. Ma W,
    3. Gething MJ,
    4. Sambrook J
    (1993) A transmembrane protein with a cdc2+/CDC28-related kinase activity is required for signaling from the ER to the nucleus. Cell 74(4):743–756
    .
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  5. ↵
    1. Gardner BM,
    2. Walter P
    (2011) Unfolded proteins are Ire1-activating ligands that directly induce the unfolded protein response. Science 333(6051):1891–1894
    .
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  6. ↵
    1. Pincus D, et al.
    (2010) BiP binding to the ER-stress sensor Ire1 tunes the homeostatic behavior of the unfolded protein response. PLoS Biol 8(7):e1000415
    .
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  7. ↵
    1. Korennykh AV, et al.
    (2009) The unfolded protein response signals through high-order assembly of Ire1. Nature 457(7230):687–693
    .
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  8. ↵
    1. Aragón T, et al.
    (2009) Messenger RNA targeting to endoplasmic reticulum stress signalling sites. Nature 457(7230):736–740
    .
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  9. ↵
    1. Rüegsegger U,
    2. Leber JH,
    3. Walter P
    (2001) Block of HAC1 mRNA translation by long-range base pairing is released by cytoplasmic splicing upon induction of the unfolded protein response. Cell 107(1):103–114
    .
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  10. ↵
    1. Travers KJ, et al.
    (2000) Functional and genomic analyses reveal an essential coordination between the unfolded protein response and ER-associated degradation. Cell 101(3):249–258
    .
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  11. ↵
    1. Chawla A,
    2. Chakrabarti S,
    3. Ghosh G,
    4. Niwa M
    (2011) Attenuation of yeast UPR is essential for survival and is mediated by IRE1 kinase. J Cell Biol 193(1):41–50
    .
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  12. ↵
    1. Kimata Y, et al.
    (2007) Two regulatory steps of ER-stress sensor Ire1 involving its cluster formation and interaction with unfolded proteins. J Cell Biol 179(1):75–86
    .
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  13. ↵
    1. Rubio C, et al.
    (2011) Homeostatic adaptation to endoplasmic reticulum stress depends on Ire1 kinase activity. J Cell Biol 193(1):171–184
    .
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  14. ↵
    1. Kimmig P, et al.
    (2012) The unfolded protein response in fission yeast modulates stability of select mRNAs to maintain protein homeostasis. eLife 1:e00048
    .
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  15. ↵
    1. Hollien J, et al.
    (2009) Regulated Ire1-dependent decay of messenger RNAs in mammalian cells. J Cell Biol 186(3):323–331
    .
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  16. ↵
    1. Yoshida H,
    2. Matsui T,
    3. Yamamoto A,
    4. Okada T,
    5. Mori K
    (2001) XBP1 mRNA is induced by ATF6 and spliced by IRE1 in response to ER stress to produce a highly active transcription factor. Cell 107(7):881–891
    .
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  17. ↵
    1. Adachi Y, et al.
    (2008) ATF6 is a transcription factor specializing in the regulation of quality control proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum. Cell Struct Funct 33(1):75–89
    .
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  18. ↵
    1. Harding HP,
    2. Zhang Y,
    3. Ron D
    (1999) Protein translation and folding are coupled by an endoplasmic-reticulum-resident kinase. Nature 397(6716):271–274
    .
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  19. ↵
    1. Harding HP, et al.
    (2000) Regulated translation initiation controls stress-induced gene expression in mammalian cells. Mol Cell 6(5):1099–1108
    .
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  20. ↵
    1. Babour A,
    2. Bicknell AA,
    3. Tourtellotte J,
    4. Niwa M
    (2010) A surveillance pathway monitors the fitness of the endoplasmic reticulum to control its inheritance. Cell 142(2):256–269
    .
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  21. ↵
    1. Bicknell AA,
    2. Tourtellotte J,
    3. Niwa M
    (2010) Late phase of the endoplasmic reticulum stress response pathway is regulated by Hog1 MAP kinase. J Biol Chem 285(23):17545–17555
    .
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  22. ↵
    1. Yang HY,
    2. Tatebayashi K,
    3. Yamamoto K,
    4. Saito H
    (2009) Glycosylation defects activate filamentous growth Kss1 MAPK and inhibit osmoregulatory Hog1 MAPK. EMBO J 28(10):1380–1391
    .
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  23. ↵
    1. Gasch AP, et al.
    (2000) Genomic expression programs in the response of yeast cells to environmental changes. Mol Biol Cell 11(12):4241–4257
    .
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  24. ↵
    1. Görner W, et al.
    (1998) Nuclear localization of the C2H2 zinc finger protein Msn2p is regulated by stress and protein kinase A activity. Genes Dev 12(4):586–597
    .
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  25. ↵
    1. Klein C,
    2. Struhl K
    (1994) Protein kinase A mediates growth-regulated expression of yeast ribosomal protein genes by modulating RAP1 transcriptional activity. Mol Cell Biol 14(3):1920–1928
    .
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  26. ↵
    1. Mösch HU,
    2. Roberts RL,
    3. Fink GR
    (1996) Ras2 signals via the Cdc42/Ste20/mitogen-activated protein kinase module to induce filamentous growth in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 93(11):5352–5356
    .
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  27. ↵
    1. Kimata Y,
    2. Ishiwata-Kimata Y,
    3. Yamada S,
    4. Kohno K
    (2006) Yeast unfolded protein response pathway regulates expression of genes for anti-oxidative stress and for cell surface proteins. Genes Cells 11(1):59–69
    .
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  28. ↵
    1. Carlson JM,
    2. Chakravarty A,
    3. DeZiel CE,
    4. Gross RH
    (2007) SCOPE: A web server for practical de novo motif discovery. Nucleic Acids Res 35(Web Server issue):W259–264
    .
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  29. ↵
    1. Liko D,
    2. Slattery MG,
    3. Heideman W
    (2007) Stb3 binds to ribosomal RNA processing element motifs that control transcriptional responses to growth in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J Biol Chem 282(36):26623–26628
    .
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  30. ↵
    1. Lippman SI,
    2. Broach JR
    (2009) Protein kinase A and TORC1 activate genes for ribosomal biogenesis by inactivating repressors encoded by Dot6 and its homolog Tod6. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 106(47):19928–19933
    .
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  31. ↵
    1. Hao N,
    2. O’Shea EK
    (2012) Signal-dependent dynamics of transcription factor translocation controls gene expression. Nat Struct Mol Biol 19(1):31–39
    .
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  32. ↵
    1. Zuleta IA,
    2. Aranda-Díaz A,
    3. Li H,
    4. El-Samad H
    (2014) Dynamic characterization of growth and gene expression using high-throughput automated flow cytometry. Nat Methods 11(4):443–448
    .
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  33. ↵
    1. Walter P,
    2. Ron D
    (2011) The unfolded protein response: From stress pathway to homeostatic regulation. Science 334(6059):1081–1086
    .
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  34. ↵
    1. Kuhn KM,
    2. DeRisi JL,
    3. Brown PO,
    4. Sarnow P
    (2001) Global and specific translational regulation in the genomic response of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to a rapid transfer from a fermentable to a nonfermentable carbon source. Mol Cell Biol 21(3):916–927
    .
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  35. ↵
    1. Smirnova JB, et al.
    (2005) Global gene expression profiling reveals widespread yet distinctive translational responses to different eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2B-targeting stress pathways. Mol Cell Biol 25(21):9340–9349
    .
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  36. ↵
    1. Warringer J,
    2. Hult M,
    3. Regot S,
    4. Posas F,
    5. Sunnerhagen P
    (2010) The HOG pathway dictates the short-term translational response after hyperosmotic shock. Mol Biol Cell 21(17):3080–3092
    .
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  37. ↵
    1. Merksamer PI,
    2. Trusina A,
    3. Papa FR
    (2008) Real-time redox measurements during endoplasmic reticulum stress reveal interlinked protein folding functions. Cell 135(5):933–947
    .
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  38. ↵
    1. Bonilla M,
    2. Cunningham KW
    (2003) Mitogen-activated protein kinase stimulation of Ca(2+) signaling is required for survival of endoplasmic reticulum stress in yeast. Mol Biol Cell 14(10):4296–4305
    .
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  39. ↵
    1. Scrimale T,
    2. Didone L,
    3. de Mesy Bentley KL,
    4. Krysan DJ
    (2009) The unfolded protein response is induced by the cell wall integrity mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling cascade and is required for cell wall integrity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol Biol Cell 20(1):164–175
    .
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  40. ↵
    1. Boorsma A, et al.
    (2004) Characterization of the transcriptional response to cell wall stress in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Yeast 21(5):413–427
    .
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  41. ↵
    1. García R, et al.
    (2004) The global transcriptional response to transient cell wall damage in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and its regulation by the cell integrity signaling pathway. J Biol Chem 279(15):15183–15195
    .
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  42. ↵
    1. Lagorce A, et al.
    (2003) Genome-wide analysis of the response to cell wall mutations in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J Biol Chem 278(22):20345–20357
    .
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  43. ↵
    1. Li Y,
    2. Moir RD,
    3. Sethy-Coraci IK,
    4. Warner JR,
    5. Willis IM
    (2000) Repression of ribosome and tRNA synthesis in secretion-defective cells is signaled by a novel branch of the cell integrity pathway. Mol Cell Biol 20(11):3843–3851
    .
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  44. ↵
    1. Nierras CR,
    2. Warner JR
    (1999) Protein kinase C enables the regulatory circuit that connects membrane synthesis to ribosome synthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J Biol Chem 274(19):13235–13241
    .
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  45. ↵
    1. Park JI,
    2. Collinson EJ,
    3. Grant CM,
    4. Dawes IW
    (2005) Rom2p, the Rho1 GTP/GDP exchange factor of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, can mediate stress responses via the Ras-cAMP pathway. J Biol Chem 280(4):2529–2535
    .
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
PreviousNext
Back to top
Article Alerts
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on PNAS.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Delayed Ras/PKA signaling augments the unfolded protein response
(Your Name) has sent you a message from PNAS
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the PNAS web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
PKA signaling augments the UPR
David Pincus, Andrés Aranda-Díaz, Ignacio A. Zuleta, Peter Walter, Hana El-Samad
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Oct 2014, 111 (41) 14800-14805; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1409588111

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Request Permissions
Share
PKA signaling augments the UPR
David Pincus, Andrés Aranda-Díaz, Ignacio A. Zuleta, Peter Walter, Hana El-Samad
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Oct 2014, 111 (41) 14800-14805; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1409588111
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Mendeley logo Mendeley

Article Classifications

  • Biological Sciences
  • Cell Biology
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: 111 (41)
Table of Contents

Submit

Sign up for Article Alerts

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • Results
    • Discussion
    • Materials and Methods
    • Acknowledgments
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Figures & SI
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

You May Also be Interested in

Water from a faucet fills a glass.
News Feature: How “forever chemicals” might impair the immune system
Researchers are exploring whether these ubiquitous fluorinated molecules might worsen infections or hamper vaccine effectiveness.
Image credit: Shutterstock/Dmitry Naumov.
Reflection of clouds in the still waters of Mono Lake in California.
Inner Workings: Making headway with the mysteries of life’s origins
Recent experiments and simulations are starting to answer some fundamental questions about how life came to be.
Image credit: Shutterstock/Radoslaw Lecyk.
Cave in coastal Kenya with tree growing in the middle.
Journal Club: Small, sharp blades mark shift from Middle to Later Stone Age in coastal Kenya
Archaeologists have long tried to define the transition between the two time periods.
Image credit: Ceri Shipton.
Illustration of groups of people chatting
Exploring the length of human conversations
Adam Mastroianni and Daniel Gilbert explore why conversations almost never end when people want them to.
Listen
Past PodcastsSubscribe
Panda bear hanging in a tree
How horse manure helps giant pandas tolerate cold
A study finds that giant pandas roll in horse manure to increase their cold tolerance.
Image credit: Fuwen Wei.

Similar Articles

Site Logo
Powered by HighWire
  • Submit Manuscript
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • RSS Feeds
  • Email Alerts

Articles

  • Current Issue
  • Special Feature Articles – Most Recent
  • List of Issues

PNAS Portals

  • Anthropology
  • Chemistry
  • Classics
  • Front Matter
  • Physics
  • Sustainability Science
  • Teaching Resources

Information

  • Authors
  • Editorial Board
  • Reviewers
  • Subscribers
  • Librarians
  • Press
  • Cozzarelli Prize
  • Site Map
  • PNAS Updates
  • FAQs
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Rights & Permissions
  • About
  • Contact

Feedback    Privacy/Legal

Copyright © 2021 National Academy of Sciences. Online ISSN 1091-6490