Elisa A. Spillare

Nutlin-3a Activates p53 to Both Down-regulate Inhibitor of Growth 2 and Up-regulate mir-34a, mir-34b, and mir-34c Expression, and Induce Senescence

Nutlin-3, an MDM2 inhibitor, activates p53, resulting in several types of cancer cells undergoing apoptosis. Although p53 is mutated or deleted in approximately 50% of all cancers, p53 is still functionally active in the other 50%. Consequently, nutlin-3 and similar drugs could be candidates for neoadjuvant therapy in cancers with a functional p53. Cellular senescence is also a phenotype induced by p53 activation and plays a critical role in protecting against tumor development. In this report, we found that nutlin-3a can induce senescence in normal human fibroblasts. Nutlin-3a activated and repressed a large number of p53-dependent genes, including those encoding microRNAs. mir-34a, mir-34b, and mir-34c, which have recently been shown to be downstream effectors of p53-mediated senescence, were up-regulated, and inhibitor of growth 2 (ING2) expression was suppressed by nutlin-3a treatment. Two candidates for a p53-DNA binding consensus sequence were found in the ING2 promoter regulatory region; thus, we performed chromatin immunoprecipitation and electrophoretic mobility shift assays and confirmed p53 binding directly to those sites. In addition, the luciferase activity of a construct containing the ING2 regulatory region was repressed after p53 activation. Antisense knockdown of ING2 induces p53-independent senescence, whereas overexpression of ING2 induces p53-dependent senescence. Taken together, we conclude that nutlin-3a induces senescence through p53 activation in normal human fibroblasts, and p53-mediated mir34a, mir34b, and mir34c up-regulation and ING2 down-regulation may be involved in the senescence pathway.

The Processing of Holliday Junctions by BLM and WRN Helicases Is Regulated by p53

BLM, WRN, and p53 are involved in the homologous DNA recombination pathway. The DNA structure-specific helicases, BLM and WRN, unwind Holliday junctions (HJ), an activity that could suppress inappropriate homologous recombination during DNA replication. Here, we show that purified, recombinant p53 binds to BLM and WRN helicases and attenuates their ability to unwind synthetic HJ in vitro. The p53 248W mutant reduces abilities of both to bind HJ and inhibit helicase activities, whereas the p53 273H mutant loses these abilities. Moreover, full-length p53 and a C-terminal polypeptide (residues 373–383) inhibit the BLM and WRN helicase activities, but phosphorylation at Ser376 or Ser378 completely abolishes this inhibition. Following blockage of DNA replication, Ser15 phospho-p53, BLM, and RAD51 colocalize in nuclear foci at sites likely to contain DNA replication intermediates in cells. Our results are consistent with a novel mechanism for p53-mediated regulation of DNA recombinational repair that involves p53 post-translational modifications and functional protein-protein interactions with BLM and WRN DNA helicases.

Hepatitis B virus X mutants derived from human hepatocellular carcinoma retain the ability to abrogate p53-induced apoptosis

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and the integration of its X gene (HBx) are closely associated with the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The integrated HBx frequently is truncated or contains point mutations. Previous studies indicated that these HBx mutants have a diminished co-transactivational activity. We have compared the effects of wild-type (wt) HBx and its naturally occurring mutants derived from human HCCs on transcriptional co-transactivation, apoptosis and interactive effects with p53. We demonstrated that overexpression of mutant, but not wt HBx, is defective in transcriptional co-transactivation of the NF-κB-driven luciferase reporter. By using a microinjection technique, the HBx mutants were shown to have an attenuated pro-apoptotic activity. This deficiency may be attributed to multiple mutations in the co-transactivation domain of HBx, that leads to decreased stability of the translated product. However, wt or mutant HBx bind to p53 in vitro and retain their ability to block p53-mediated apoptosis in vivo, which has been implicated as its major tumor suppressor function. The abrogation of p53-mediated apoptosis by integrated HBx mutants may provide a selective clonal advantage for preneoplastic or neoplastic hepatocytes and contribute to hepatocellular carcinogenesis.

Tumor suppressor p53 represses transcription of RECQ4 helicase

RECQ4 is a member of the RecQ helicase family, which has been implicated in the regulation of DNA replication, recombination and repair. p53 modulates the functions of RecQ helicases including BLM and WRN. In this study, we demonstrate that p53 can regulate the transcription of RECQ4. Using nontransformed, immortalized normal human fibroblasts, we show that p53-dependent downregulation of RECQ4 expression occurred in G1-arrested cells, both in the absence or presence of exogenous DNA damage. Wild-type p53 (but not the tumor-derived mutant forms) repressed RECQ4 promoter activity. The camptothecin or etoposide-dependent p53-mediated repression was attenuated by trichostatin A (TSA), an inhibitor of histone deacetylases (HDACs). Repression of the RECQ4 promoter was accompanied with an increased accumulation of HDAC1, and the loss of SP1 and p53 binding to the promoter. The simultaneous formation of a camptothecin-dependent p53-SP1 complex indicated its occurrence outside of the RECQ4 promoter. These data suggest that p53-mediated repression of RECQ4 transcription during DNA damage results from the modulation of the promoter occupancy of transcription activators and repressors.

Suppression of growth in vitro and tumorigenicity in vivo of human carcinoma cell lines by transfected p16INK4

The function of p16INK4 as a putative tumor suppressor gene was examined by investigating its ability to inhibit the growth of cancer cell lines in vitro and tumor formation in vivo. A p16INK4 cDNA expression vector was transfected into five human cancer cell lines that varied in their p16INK4 and retinoblastoma (Rb) status. Suppression of colony‐forming efficiency was seen in four cell lines. Of two cell lines wild type for p16INK4 but null for Rb protein expression, one (Hep 3B) showed inhibition of colony formation, whereas the other (Saos‐2) did not. This observation may demonstrate involvement of p16INK4 independent of Rb. The transfected p16INK4 gene was frequently selected against and lost during continued growth in vitro. When compared to the colon carcinoma cell line (DLD‐1), p16INK4‐transfected DLD‐1 clone 1 cells were less tumorigenic in athymic nude mice. Tumors arising from p16INK4‐transfected DLD‐1 clones, which were growth suppressed in vitro, either lost the integrated exogenous p16INK4 or expressed reduced amounts of p16INK4 protein. Therefore, p16INK4 was also selected against during tumor formation in vivo. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that p16INK4 is a tumor suppressor gene. (This article is a US Government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.)

Molecular analysis of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor genesp15INK4b/MTS21,p16INK4/MTS1,p18 andpl9 in human cancer cell lines

Cyclin‐dependent kinase‐4 inhibitor genes (INK4) regulate the cell cycle and are candidate tumor‐suppressor genes. To determine if alterations in the coding regions of the pl8 and pl9 genes, which are novel members of the INK4 family and if they correlate with the development of human cancer, 100 human cancer cell lines were analyzed. Two other INK4 gene family members, p15INK4b/MTS2 and pl6INK4/MTS1 genes were also analyzed. Homozygous deletions of the p15INK4b/MTS2 gene were detected in 29 cancer cell lines. Thirty‐five homozygous deletions and 7 intragenic mutations of the pl6INK4/MTS1 gene were also detected in these cell lines. Neither homozygous deletions nor intragenic mutations of the p18 and p19 genes were found except in an ovarian cancer cell line, SKOV3, harboring a single base pair deletion in exon 1 of p19. In p16INK4/MTS1 expression analysis, 5 cell lines with both authentic and alternative spliced pl6INK4/MTS1 mRNA had no detectable pl6INK4/MTS1 protein. These results suggest the hypotheses that either post‐translational modification or enhanced degradation may be responsible for the lack of detection of the pl6INK4/MTS1 protein. Using Western blot analysis, subsets of 26 human cancer cell lines were examined for pl8 expression and 39 cell lines for p19 expression. All of these cell lines expressed the pl8 or pl9 protein, with the exception of SKOV3, which did not express pl9. Therefore, the INK4 gene family may be divided into 2 groups. One group includes p15INK4b/MTS2 and pl6INK4/MTS1 in which genetic and epigenetic alterations might contribute to the development of human cancers. The other group includes p18 and p19, in which somatic mutations are uncommon in many types of human cancer, and their role in human carcinogenesis and cancer progression is uncertain. (This article is a US Government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.)

Cooperation of tumor-derived HBx mutants and p53-249ser mutant in regulating cell proliferation, anchorage-independent growth and aneuploidy in a telomerase-immortalized normal human hepatocyte-derived cell line

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common cancer, and hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major etiological agent. Convincing epidemiological and experimental evidence also links HCC to aflatoxin, a naturally occurring mycotoxin that produces a signature p53‐249ser mutation. Recently, we have reported that tumor‐derived HBx variants encoded by HBV exhibited attenuated transactivation and proapoptotic functions but retained their ability to block p53‐mediated apoptosis. These results indicate that mutations in HBx may contribute to the development of HCC. In this study, we determined whether tumor‐derived HBx mutants along, or in cooperation with p53‐249ser, could alter cell proliferation and chromosome stability of normal human hepatocytes. To test this hypothesis, we established a telomerase immortalized normal human hepatocycte line HHT4 that exhibited a near diploid karyotype and expressed many hepatocyte‐specific genes. We found that overexpression one of the tumor‐derived HBx mutants, CT, significantly increased colony forming efficiency (CFE) while its corresponding wild‐type allele CNT significantly decreased CFE in HHT4 cells. p53‐249ser rescued CNT‐mediated inhibition of colony formation. Although HHT4 cells lacked an anchorage independent growth capability as they did not form any colonies in soft agar, the CT‐expressing HHT4 cells could form colonies, which could be significantly enhanced by p53‐249ser. Induction of aneuploidy could be observed in HHT4 cells expressing CT, but additionally recurring chromosome abnormalities could only be detected in cells coexpressing CT and p53‐249ser. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that certain mutations in HBx and p53 at codon 249 may cooperate in contributing to liver carcinogenesis.

Redundancy of DNA helicases in p53-mediated apoptosis

A subset of DNA helicases, the RecQ family, has been found to be associated with the p53-mediated apoptotic pathway and is involved in maintaining genomic integrity. This family contains the BLM and WRN helicases, in which germline mutations are responsible for Bloom and Werner syndromes, respectively. TFIIH DNA helicases, XPB and XPD, are also components in this apoptotic pathway. We hypothesized that there may be some redundancy between helicases in their ability to complement the attenuated p53-mediated apoptotic levels seen in cells from individuals with diseases associated with these defective helicase genes. The attenuated apoptotic phenotype in Bloom syndrome cells was rescued not only by ectopic expression of BLM, but also by WRN or XPB, both 3′ → 5′ helicases, but not expression of the 5′ → 3′ helicase XPD. Overexpression of Sgs1, a WRN/BLM yeast homolog, corrected the reduction in BS cells only, which is consistent with Sgs1 being evolutionarily most homologous to BLM. A restoration of apoptotic levels in cells from WS, XPB or XPD patients was attained only by overexpression of the specific helicase. Our data suggest a limited redundancy in the pathways of these RecQ helicases in p53-induced apoptosis.