Drying Without Dying: Small Metabolites Counteract Proteotoxicity During Desiccation

Abstract

Most biological processes require water to function. Therefore desiccation, or the act of removing water resulting in a dry state, may be distressing for many living organisms. Desiccation tolerant organisms, commonly termed anhydrobiotes, can lose significant amounts of water and still function normally once rehydrated. The exact stress(es) that cause lethality in desiccation sensitive organisms and how the lethal stresses are mitigated in desiccation tolerant organisms are poorly understood. We establish that trehalose cooperates with stress-induced glycerol and glycogen in the establishment of desiccation tolerance, its prolonged maintenance, and susceptibility to secondary stresses of heat and cold. We provide evidence that desiccation induces protein misfolding of a luciferase reporter and protein aggregation as evidenced by its ability to cure prions through the hyper-aggregation of prion seeds. Trehalose mitigates excessive protein aggregation but not protein misfolding during desiccation. We suggest that protein aggregation is a persistent stress during desiccation that is mitigated by trehalose.

Details

Session 1

9:30am – 11:00am

Grand Salon