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The disruption of COPII vesicles activates HSF-1 through SEC-23
Zhidong He1,2 , Na Tang1,2 , Hao Liu3 , Xueqing Wang1,2 , Yue Yin4 , Chao Peng4 , Yidong Shen1,2,*
1State Key Laboratory of Cell Biology, Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
2University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
3Shanghai Institute of Immunity and Infection, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
4National Facility for Protein Science in Shanghai, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201210, China
*Correspondence to:Yidong Shen , Email:yidong.shen@sibcb.ac.cn
J Mol Cell Biol, Volume 17, Issue 4, April 2025, mjaf017,  https://doi.org/10.1093/jmcb/mjaf017
Keyword: HSF-1/HSF1, COPII, proteostasis

HSF-1 is a highly conserved transcription factor that plays a central role in protecting organisms from diverse cellular stresses. However, the mechanisms by which HSF-1 senses and responds to different types of stress remain incompletely understood. COPII-coated vesicles, responsible for transporting cargo from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi apparatus, are essential for protein secretion and cellular homeostasis. Disruption of these vesicles impairs protein secretion and triggers severe proteotoxic stress. Here, we show that HSF-1 directly monitors COPII vesicle dysfunction through interactions with the core COPII component SEC-23, in both Caenorhabditis elegans and NIH3T3 cells. Inhibition of SEC-23 or SAR-1 disrupts COPII vesicle formation, leading to the release of HSF-1 from the COPII complex. This release induces a specific transcriptomic change to restore protein homeostasis. Our findings reveal a conserved mechanism by which HSF-1 responds to COPII vesicle dysregulation, providing new insights into the HSF-1-centered proteostasis network.