Tardigrades are microscopic animals that survive a remarkable array of stresses, including desiccation. How tardigrades survive desiccation has remained a mystery for more than 250 years. Trehalose, a disaccharide essential for several organisms to survive drying, is detected at low levels or not at all in some tardigrade species, indicating that tardigrades possess potentially novel mechanisms for surviving desiccation. Here we show that tardigrade-specific intrinsically disordered proteins (TDPs) are essential for desiccation tolerance. TDP genes are constitutively expressed at high levels or induced during desiccation in multiple tardigrade species. TDPs are required for tardigrade desiccation tolerance, and these genes are sufficient to increase desiccation tolerance when expressed in heterologous systems. TDPs form non-crystalline amorphous solids (vitrify) upon desiccation, and this vitrified state mirrors their protective capabilities. Our study identifies TDPs as functional mediators of tardigrade desiccation tolerance, expanding our knowledge of the roles and diversity of disordered proteins involved in stress tolerance.

Tardigrades Use Intrinsically Disordered Proteins to Survive Desiccation / Boothby, Thomas C.; Tapia, Hugo; Brozena, Alexandra H.; Piszkiewicz, Samantha; Smith, Austin E; Giovannini, Ilaria; Rebecchi, Lorena; Pielak, Gary J.; Koshland, Dough; Goldstein, Bob. - In: MOLECULAR CELL. - ISSN 1097-2765. - STAMPA. - 65:(2017), pp. 975-984. [10.1016/j.molcel.2017.02.018]

Tardigrades Use Intrinsically Disordered Proteins to Survive Desiccation

GIOVANNINI, ILARIA;REBECCHI, Lorena;
2017

Abstract

Tardigrades are microscopic animals that survive a remarkable array of stresses, including desiccation. How tardigrades survive desiccation has remained a mystery for more than 250 years. Trehalose, a disaccharide essential for several organisms to survive drying, is detected at low levels or not at all in some tardigrade species, indicating that tardigrades possess potentially novel mechanisms for surviving desiccation. Here we show that tardigrade-specific intrinsically disordered proteins (TDPs) are essential for desiccation tolerance. TDP genes are constitutively expressed at high levels or induced during desiccation in multiple tardigrade species. TDPs are required for tardigrade desiccation tolerance, and these genes are sufficient to increase desiccation tolerance when expressed in heterologous systems. TDPs form non-crystalline amorphous solids (vitrify) upon desiccation, and this vitrified state mirrors their protective capabilities. Our study identifies TDPs as functional mediators of tardigrade desiccation tolerance, expanding our knowledge of the roles and diversity of disordered proteins involved in stress tolerance.
2017
16-mar-2017
65
975
984
Tardigrades Use Intrinsically Disordered Proteins to Survive Desiccation / Boothby, Thomas C.; Tapia, Hugo; Brozena, Alexandra H.; Piszkiewicz, Samantha; Smith, Austin E; Giovannini, Ilaria; Rebecchi, Lorena; Pielak, Gary J.; Koshland, Dough; Goldstein, Bob. - In: MOLECULAR CELL. - ISSN 1097-2765. - STAMPA. - 65:(2017), pp. 975-984. [10.1016/j.molcel.2017.02.018]
Boothby, Thomas C.; Tapia, Hugo; Brozena, Alexandra H.; Piszkiewicz, Samantha; Smith, Austin E; Giovannini, Ilaria; Rebecchi, Lorena; Pielak, Gary J.; Koshland, Dough; Goldstein, Bob
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11380/1129511
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