Porcine ubiquitin-like protein MNSFβ promotes cell apoptosis and covalently binds to BCL-G to enhance staurosporine-induced apoptosis

BACKGROUND: Monoclonal non-specific suppressor factor β (MNSFβ) is a ubiquitously expressed member of the ubiquitin-like family. It functions as a regulator of cell apoptosis and a potential tumor suppressor, playing a vital role in the processes of immune cell function and apoptosis. METHODS: The present study constructed GFP-pMNSFβ swine umbilical vein endothelial cell (SUVEC) lines and investigated the function of porcine MNSFβ (pMNSFβ) in apoptosis, as well as its interactions with pBCL-G. Results revealed that stably expressed pMNSFβ protein in SUVEC lines significantly enhanced staurosporine (STS)-induced apoptosis. pMNSFβ proteins interacted with pBCL-G proteins and the expression of these interacting proteins synergized to further enhance STS-induced apoptosis. RESULTS: GFP-pMNSFβ stably expressed SUVEC lines through transient transfection and neomycin screening methods. Over 90% of the SUVEC cultures expressed GFP signals, and 41.5 kDa GFP-pMNSFβ proteins were detected with western blotting methods. Annexin V-PE/PI staining and flow cytometry analyses showed that overexpression of pMNSFβ proteins significantly elevated STS-induced apoptosis rates. Co-immunoprecipitation methods revealed an interaction between pMNSFβ and pBCL-G proteins. BCL-G is a proapoptotic member of the BCL-2 family that has been shown to be misexpressed in human systemic lupus erythematosus, as well as mammary and prostate cancers. Here, we demonstrated that the co-expression and potential conjugation of pMNSFβ and pBCL-G proteins synergistically enhanced STS-induced apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: The present study was the first to characterize the function of MNSFβ in porcine cells, and to clarify the function of MNSFβ in apoptosis. These results reveal that pMNSFβ is a potential molecular model for future investigations of diseases related to human MNSFβ dysfunction.