Anne McNamara

Inhibition of Hsp90 acts synergistically with topoisomerase II poisons to increase the apoptotic killing of cells due to an increase in topoisomerase II mediated DNA damage

Topoisomerase II plays a crucial role during chromosome condensation and segregation in mitosis and meiosis and is a highly attractive target for chemotherapeutic agents. We have identified previously topoisomerase II and heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) as part of a complex. In this paper we demonstrate that drug combinations targeting these two enzymes cause a synergistic increase in apoptosis. The objective of our study was to identify the mode of cell killing and the mechanism behind the increase in topoisomerase II mediated DNA damage. Importantly we demonstrate that Hsp90 inhibition results in an increased topoiosmerase II activity but not degradation of topoisomerase II and it is this, in the presence of a topoisomerase II poison that causes the increase in cell death. Our results suggest a novel mechanism of action where the inhibition of Hsp90 disrupts the Hsp90–topoisomerase II interaction leading to an increase in and activation of unbound topoisomerase II, which, in the presence of a topoisomerase II poison leads to the formation of an increased number of cleavable complexes ultimately resulting in rise in DNA damage and a subsequent increase cell death.

Spatially coordinated dynamic gene transcription in living pituitary tissue

Transcription at individual genes in single cells is often pulsatile and stochastic. A key question emerges regarding how this behaviour contributes to tissue phenotype, but it has been a challenge to quantitatively analyse this in living cells over time, as opposed to studying snap-shots of gene expression state. We have used imaging of reporter gene expression to track transcription in living pituitary tissue. We integrated live-cell imaging data with statistical modelling for quantitative real-time estimation of the timing of switching between transcriptional states across a whole tissue. Multiple levels of transcription rate were identified, indicating that gene expression is not a simple binary ‘on-off’ process. Immature tissue displayed shorter durations of high-expressing states than the adult. In adult pituitary tissue, direct cell contacts involving gap junctions allowed local spatial coordination of prolactin gene expression. Our findings identify how heterogeneous transcriptional dynamics of single cells may contribute to overall tissue behaviour. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.08494.001

Peritonitis Activates Transcription of the Human Prolactin Locus in Myeloid Cells in a Humanized Transgenic Rat Model

Prolactin (PRL) is mainly expressed in the pituitary in rodents, whereas in humans, expression is observed in many extrapituitary sites, including lymphocytes. Due to the lack of adequate experimental models, the function of locally produced PRL in the immune system is largely unknown. Using transgenic rats that express luciferase under the control of extensive human PRL regulatory regions, we characterized immune cell responses to thioglycollate (TG)-induced peritonitis. Resident populations of myeloid cells in the peritoneal cavity of untreated rats expressed barely detectable levels of luciferase. In contrast, during TG-induced peritonitis, cell-specific expression in both neutrophils and monocytes/macrophages in peritoneal exudates increased dramatically. Elevated luciferase expression was also detectable in peripheral blood and bone marrow CD11b(+) cells. Ex vivo stimulation of primary myeloid cells showed activation of the human extrapituitary promoter by TNF-α, lipopolysaccharide, or TG. These findings were confirmed in human peripheral blood monocytes, showing that the transgenic rat provided a faithful model for the human gene. Thus, the resolution of an inflammatory response is associated with dramatic activation of the PRL gene promoter in the myeloid lineage.

Hsp90 inhibitors sensitise human colon cancer cells to topoisomerase I poisons by depletion of key anti-apoptotic and cell cycle checkpoint proteins

Hsp90 and topoisomerase I are both targets for chemotherapeutic agents. Topoisomerase I poisons are standard clinical treatments, whilst Hsp90 inhibitors are progressing through clinical trials. We have demonstrated that when an Hsp90 inhibitor and topoisomerase I poison are combined they produce a synergistic increase in apoptosis in both p53⁺/⁺ and p53⁻/⁻ HCT116 human colon cancer cells. Lack of p53 is associated with an increase in sensitivity to the combination treatment; p53⁺/⁺ cells treated with the topoisomerase I poison topotecan (TPT) arrest at G2, whereas in p53⁻/⁻ cells the additional presence of the Hsp90 inhibitor geldanamycin (GA) selectively abrogates the G2M checkpoint. More importantly we report that there is a common underlying p53-independent mechanism behind the observed synergistic combined drug effect. We show that concurrent treatment with GA and TPT is able to reverse TPT induced up-regulation of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl2 in both p53⁺/⁺ and p53⁻/⁻ HCT116 cells. The data suggests that inhibition of Hsp90 mediates down-regulation of Bcl2 following the combination treatment and cause a synergistic increase in apoptosis in both p53⁺/⁺ and p53⁻/⁻ HCT116 cells; p53⁻/⁻ HCT116 cells are more sensitive to the treatment because they also fail to arrest at G2 in the cell cycle.

Asymmetry between activation and deactivation during a transcriptional pulse

Summary Transcription in eukaryotic cells occurs in gene-specific bursts or pulses of activity. Recent studies identified a spectrum of transcriptionally active “on-states,” interspersed with periods of inactivity, but these “off-states” and the process of transcriptional deactivation are poorly understood. To examine what occurs during deactivation, we investigate the dynamics of switching between variable rates. We measured live single-cell expression of luciferase reporters from human growth hormone or human prolactin promoters in a pituitary cell line. Subsequently, we applied a statistical variable-rate model of transcription, validated by single-molecule FISH, to estimate switching between transcriptional rates. Under the assumption that transcription can switch to any rate at any time, we found that transcriptional activation occurs predominantly as a single switch, whereas deactivation occurs with graded, stepwise decreases in transcription rate. Experimentally altering cAMP signalling with forskolin or chromatin remodelling with histone deacetylase inhibitor modifies the duration of defined transcriptional states. Our findings reveal transcriptional activation and deactivation as mechanistically independent, asymmetrical processes.

Role of Estrogen Response Element in the Human Prolactin Gene: Transcriptional Response and Timing.

The use of bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) reporter constructs in molecular physiology enables the inclusion of large sections of flanking DNA, likely to contain regulatory elements and enhancers regions that contribute to the transcriptional output of a gene. Using BAC recombineering, we have manipulated a 160-kb human prolactin luciferase (hPRL-Luc) BAC construct and mutated the previously defined proximal estrogen response element (ERE) located −1189 bp relative to the transcription start site, to assess its involvement in the estrogen responsiveness of the entire hPRL locus. We found that GH3 cell lines stably expressing Luc under control of the ERE-mutated hPRL promoter (ERE-Mut) displayed a dramatically reduced transcriptional response to 17β-estradiol (E2) treatment compared with cells expressing Luc from the wild-type (WT) ERE hPRL-Luc promoter (ERE-WT). The −1189 ERE controls not only the response to E2 treatment but also the acute transcriptional response to TNFα, which was abolished in ERE-Mut cells. ERE-WT cells displayed a biphasic transcriptional response after TNFα treatment, the acute phase of which was blocked after treatment with the estrogen receptor antagonist 4-hydroxy-tamoxifen. Unexpectedly, we show the oscillatory characteristics of hPRL promoter activity in individual living cells were unaffected by disruption of this crucial response element, real-time bioluminescence imaging showed that transcription cycles were maintained, with similar cycle lengths, in ERE-WT and ERE-Mut cells. These data suggest the −1189 ERE is the dominant response element involved in the hPRL transcriptional response to both E2 and TNFα and, crucially, that cycles of hPRL promoter activity are independent of estrogen receptor binding.

E18_5 Pituitary Data1

GFP fluorescence measured from single cells in embryonic day18.5 pituitary tissue and subsequent modelling of transcription activity using a stochastic switch model.

Adult Pituitary Trypsin Treated Data2

GFP fluorescence measured from single cells in adult pituitary tissue treated with trypsin for 2hrs prior to confocal imaging. Compare to Adult Pituitary Trypsin Untreated Data2.