• BMB Reports
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• v.51 no.8
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• pp.388-393
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• 2018

The activating transcription factor (ATF) 4 belongs to the ATF/CREB (cAMP Response Element Binding bZIP [Basic Leucine Zipper]) transcription factor family, and plays a central role in the UPR (Unfolded Protein Response) process in cells. The induction of ATF4 expression has previously been shown to increase the replication of HIV-1. However, the detailed mechanism underlying this effect and the factors involved in the regulation of ATF4 function are still unknown. Here, we demonstrate first that knocking out ATF4 using siRNA shows a strong negative effect on HIV-1 production, indicating that ATF4 is a functional positive cellular factor in HIV-1 production. To determine the mechanism by which ATF4 regulates the HIV-1 life cycle, we assessed the effect of the overexpression of wild type ATF4 and its various derivatives on HIV-1 LTR-mediated transcriptional activation and the production of HIV-1 particles. This effect was studied through co-transfection experiments with either reporter vectors or proviral DNA. We found that the N-terminal domains of ATF4 are involved in HIV-1 LTR-mediated transcriptional activation, and thus in HIV-1 production.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.105-113
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• 2006

Reactive oxygen species(ROS) generated in cellular metabolism have an effect on cell maturation and development. In human reproductive tract, oxidative injury by ROS may induce female infertility. Also, oxidative injury may be responsible for developmental retardation and arrest of mammalian preimplantation embryos. Activating transcription factor 4(ATF4) is a member of the cyclic-AMP response element-binding(CREB) familiy of basic region- leucine zipper(bZip). ATF4 is known to regulate stress response to protect cell from various stress factors and inducer of apoptisis. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether ATF4 is involved in the defensive mechanism in oxidative stress condition during the development of mouse preimplantation embryos. To verify the expression of ATF4 in oxidative stress condition, 2-cell stage embryos were cultured in HTF media containing 0.1mM, 0.5mM or 1mM hydrogen peroxide($H_2O_2$) for 1hr(2-cell), 8hr(4-cell), 17hr(8-cell), 24hr(morula), 48hr(early blastocyst) or 64hr(late blastocyst). The developmental rate decreased in the 0.1mM $H_2O_2$ treated group compared with control group. In embryos treated with 0.5mM and 1mM $H_2O_2$ showed 2-cell block. As a results of the semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis of SOD1, ATF4 and Bax gene expression, SOD1, ATF4 and Bax genes were increased in 0.1mM, 0.5mM, 1mM $H_2O_2$ treated groups compared with control group. In 2-cell embryos, expression of SOD1, ATF4 and Bax genes were notably increased in 0.1mM, 0.5mM, 1mM $H_2O_2$ treated groups compared with control group. Immunofluorescence analysis showed that ATF4 protein was localized at the cytoplasm of preimplantation embryos. The increase in ATF4 immunoreactivety was observed in the 0.1mM, 0.5mM, 1mM $H_2O_2$ treated groups compared with control group. It suggests that oxidative stress by $H_2O_2$ induces expression of ATF4 and may be involved in protection mechanism in preimplantation embryos from oxidative injury.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.12
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• pp.1785-1790
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• 2013

The synthetic machinery of ATF4 (activating transcription factor 4) is activated in response to various stress conditions involved in nutrient restriction, endoplasmic reticulum homeostasis, and oxidation. Stress-induced inhibition of proteasome activity triggers the unfolded protein response and endoplasmic reticulum stress, where ATF4 is crucial for consequent biological events. In the current study, we showed that the $NAD^+$-dependent deacetylase, SIRT1, suppresses ATF4 synthesis during proteasome inhibition. SIRT1 depletion via transfection of specific siRNA into HeLa cells resulted in a significant increase in ATF4 protein, which was observed specifically in the presence of the proteasome inhibitor MG132. Consistent with SIRT1 depletion data, transient transfection of cells with SIRT1-overexpressing plasmid induced a decrease in the ATF4 protein level in the presence of MG132. Interestingly, however, ATF4 mRNA was not affected by SIRT1, even in the presence of MG132, indicating that SIRT1-induced suppression of ATF4 synthesis occurs under post-transcriptional control. Accordingly, we propose that SIRT1 serves as a negative regulator of ATF4 protein synthesis at the post-transcriptional level, which is observed during stress conditions, such as proteasome inhibition.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.42 no.11
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• pp.783-793
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• 2019

When endoplasmic reticulum (ER) functions are perturbed, the ER induces several signaling pathways called unfolded protein response to reestablish ER homeostasis through three ER transmembrane proteins: inositol-requiring enzyme 1 (IRE1), PKR-like ER kinase (PERK), and activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6). Although it is important to measure the activity of ATF6 that can indicate the status of the ER, no specific cell-based reporter assay is currently available. Here, we report a new cell-based method for monitoring ER stress based on the cleavage of $ATF6{\alpha}$ by sequential actions of proteases at the Golgi apparatus during ER stress. A new expressing vector was constructed by using fusion gene of GAL4 DNA binding domain (GAL4DBD) and activation domain derived from herpes simplex virus VP16 protein (VP16AD) followed by a human $ATF6{\alpha}$ N-terminal deletion variant. During ER stress, the GAL4DBD-VP16AD(GV)-$hATF6{\alpha}$ deletion variant was cleaved to liberate active transcription activator encompassing GV-$hATF6{\alpha}$ fragment which could translocate into the nucleus. The translocated GV-$hATF6{\alpha}$ fragment strongly induced the expression of firefly luciferase in HeLa Luciferase Reporter cell line containing a stably integrated 5X GAL4 site-luciferase gene. The established double stable reporter cell line HLR-GV-$hATF6{\alpha}$(333) represents an innovative tool to investigate regulated intramembrane proteolysis of $ATF6{\alpha}$. It can substitute active pATF6(N) binding motif-based reporter cell lines.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.58-64
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• 2015

Activating transcription factor-3 (ATF3) acts as a negative regulator of cytokine production during Gram-negative bacterial infection. A recent study reported that ATF3 provides protection from Streptococcus pneumoniae infection by activating cytokines. However, the mechanism by which S. pneumoniae induces ATF3 after infection is still unknown. In this study, we show that ATF3 was upregulated via Toll-like receptor (TLR) pathways in response to S. pneumoniae infection in vitro. Induction was mediated by TLR4 and TLR2, which are in the TLR family. The expression of ATF3 was induced by pneumolysin (PLY), a potent pneumococcal virulence factor, via the TLR4 pathway. Furthermore, ATF3 induction is mediated by p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK). Thus, this study reveals a potential role of PLY in modulating ATF3 expression, which is required for the regulation of immune responses against pneumococcal infection in macrophages.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.25-32
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• 2012

Cold start driving cycles exhibit an increases in friction losses due to the low temperatures of metal components and media compared to the normal operating engine conditions. These friction losses are adversely affected to fuel economy. Therefore, in recent years, various techniques for the improvement of fuel economy at cold start driving cycles have been introduced. The main techniques are the upward control of coolant temperature and the fast warm-up techniques. In particular, the fast warm-up techniques are implemented with the coolant flow-controlled water pump and the WHRS (waste heat recovery system). This paper deals with an effect of fast ATF (automatic transmission fluid) warm-up on fuel economy using a recovery system of EGR gas waste heat in a diesel engine. On a conventional diesel engine, two ATF coolers have been connected in series, i.e., an air-cooled ATF cooler is placed in front of the condenser of air conditioning system and a water-cooled one is embedded into the radiator header. However, the new system consists of only a water-cooled heat exchanger that has been changed into the integrated structure with an EGR cooler to have the engine coolant directly from the EGR cooler. The ATF cooler becomes the ATF warmer and cooler, i.e., it plays a role of an ATF warmer if the temperature of ATF is lower than that of coolant, and plays a role of an ATF cooler otherwise. Chassis dynamometer experiments demonstrated the fuel economy improvement of over 2.5% with rapid increase in the ATF temperature.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.492-498
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• 2012

To investigate whether phytochemicals affect cancer cell viability, human colorectal HCT116 cells were treated with four different phytochemicals. Among these phytochemicals, curcumin is the strongest inhibitor of cell proliferation. In addition, it decreased cell viability in a dose-dependent manner. To unveil the molecular mechanisms involved in the inhibition of cell proliferation by curcumin, we carried out oligo DNA microarray analysis. We found that 137 genes were up-regulated more than 2-fold, and 141 genes were down-regulated more than 2-fold by 25 ${\mu}M$ curcumin treatment. Among the up-regulated genes, we selected 3 genes (ATF-3, GADD45A, and NR4A1) to confirm microarray data. The results of RT-PCR strongly agreed with those of the microarray data. Among the phytochemicals used in this study, curcumin is the strongest inducer of ATF3 expression, and increased ATF3 expression in a dose-dependent manner. Interestingly, FACS analysis showed that the inhibition of cell growth by curcumin was recovered by ATF3-siRNA transfection. Finally, we detected the changes of gene expression by ectopic expression of ATF3. The results indicated that many up-regulated genes were related to apoptosis. Overall, these results suggest that ATF3 may play an important role in the anti-proliferative activity of curcumin in human colorectal cancer cells.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.415-424
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• 2016

Berberine is an isoquinoline alkaloid found in Rhizoma coptidis, and elicits anti-inflammatory effects through diverse mechanisms. Based on previous reports that activating transcription factor-3 (ATF-3) acts as a negative regulator of LPS signaling, the authors investigated the possible involvement of ATF-3 in the anti-inflammatory effects of berberine. It was found berberine concentration-dependently induced the expressions of ATF-3 at the mRNA and protein levels and concomitantly suppressed the LPS-induced productions of proinflammatory cytokines ($TNF-{\alpha}$, IL-6, and $IL-1{\beta}$). In addition, ATF-3 knockdown abolished the inhibitory effects of berberine on LPS-induced proinflammatory cytokine production, and prevented the berberine-induced suppression of MAPK phosphorylation, but had little effect on AMPK phosphorylation. On the other hand, the effects of berberine, that is, ATF-3 induction, proinflammatory cytokine inhibition, and MAPK inactivation, were prevented by AMPK knockdown, suggesting ATF-3 induction occurs downstream of AMPK activation. The in vivo administration of berberine to mice with LPS-induced endotoxemia increased ATF-3 expression and AMPK phosphorylation in spleen and lung tissues, and concomitantly reduced the plasma and tissue levels of proinflammatory cytokines. These results suggest berberine has an anti-inflammatory effect on macrophages and that this effect is attributable, at least in part, to pathways involving AMPK activation and ATF-3 induction.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.35 no.9
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• pp.947-954
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• 2011

Drive-train friction loss in a vehicle may account for 4% of its total fuel consumption loss. An ATF W/C (auto-transmission fluid warmer/cooler) plate-fin heat exchanger is a type of heat exchanger that uses metal plates to transfer heat between the auto-transmission fluid and coolant. The use of an ATF W/C heat exchanger can result in a fuel economy improvement of about 1% in vehicles. An experimental setup for testing the thermal performance of an ATF W/C plate-fin heat exchanger is developed. In this study, the influence of the ATF and coolant, flow rates, and temperature on the efficiency of an ATF W/C heat exchanger are investigated experimentally. From the experimental data, a simple correlation for predicting the efficiency of an ATF W/C heat exchanger is proposed. On the basis of this correlation, the fuel economy of a vehicle with and without an ATF W/C heat exchanger is compared by using Simulink. Finally, it is shown that the fuel economy is improved by 0.992% when an ATF W/C heat exchanger is installed in the vehicle.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.305-313
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• 1998

Steroid hormone is known to cause the dynamic changes of mammalian uterus during reproductive cycle. However there is little information about the effect of estrogen (E) and progesterone (P) on the expression of various transcription factors involved in gene expression. Thus the present study was designed to demonstrate E and/or P-induced expression of c-Fos, CREB, ATF and HSP70 in rat uterus. Rats, ovariectomized (OVX) for two weeks, were divided into 6 experimental groups, 1) OVX, 2) OVX+V, 3) OVX+E, 4) OVX+P, 5) OVX+E+V, 6) OVX+E+P, and western blotting assay for nuclear extract and immunohistochemical staining were carried out for each experimental group. Treatment of E $(10{\mu}g)$ showed to increase the expression of c-Fos, CREB, ATF, and HSP70, and maximal expression was occured at $3\sim6$ hr after E administration. P (1mg) also increased, but much less than E, the expression of c-Fos, ATF, and HSP70. However, P did not reveal any effect on the expression CREE. P treatment 4 hr after E injection decreased c-Fos, CREB, and ATF expression, but did not show any change in the E-induced HSP70 expression. In immunohistochemical study c-Fos-, CREB-, and ATF-immunoreactivities were confined to the cells of luminal epithelium of uterine endometrium. These results suggest that proliferation and differentiation of rat uterus during reproductive cycle may mediated via expression of transcription factors, such as c-Fos, CREB, ATF, and HSP70.