Eunae Kim

ID3 regulates the MDC1-mediated DNA damage response in order to maintain genome stability

MDC1 plays a critical role in the DNA damage response (DDR) by interacting directly with several factors including γ-H2AX. However, the mechanism by which MDC1 is recruited to damaged sites remains elusive. Here, we show that MDC1 interacts with a helix–loop–helix (HLH)-containing protein called inhibitor of DNA-binding 3 (ID3). In response to double-strand breaks (DSBs) in the genome, ATM phosphorylates ID3 at serine 65 within the HLH motif, and this modification allows a direct interaction with MDC1. Moreover, depletion of ID3 results in impaired formation of ionizing radiation (IR)-induced MDC1 foci, suppression of γ-H2AX-bound MDC1, impaired DSB repair, cellular hypersensitivity to IR, and genomic instability. Disruption of the MDC1–ID3 interaction prevents accumulation of MDC1 at sites of DSBs and suppresses DSB repair. Thus, our study uncovers an ID3-dependent mechanism of recruitment of MDC1 to DNA damage sites and suggests that the ID3–MDC1 interaction is crucial for DDR.MDC1 is a key component of the DNA damage response and interacts with several factors such as γ-H2AX. Here the authors show that MDC1 interacts with ID3, facilitating MDC1 recruitment to sites of damage and repair of breaks.

JAK2 regulation by Licochalcone H inhibits the cell growth and induces apoptosis in oral squamous cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND Licochalconce (LC) H is an artificial compound in the course of synthesizing LCC in 2013. So far, few studies on the effects of LCH have been found in the literature. Despite progress in treatment modalities for oral cancer, the cure from cancer has still limitations. PURPOSE The effects of LCH were investigated on human oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells to elucidate its mechanisms. STUDY DESIGN We explored the mechanism of action of LCH by which it could have effects on JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway. METHODS To confirm LCH anti-cancer effect, analyzed were MTT assay, DAPI staining, soft agar, kinase assay, molecular docking simulation, flow cytometry and Western blotting analysis. RESULTS According to docking and molecular dynamics simulations, the predicted pose of the complex LCH and JAK2 seems reasonable and LCH is strongly bound to active JAK2 with opened activation loop. The LCH inhibitor is surrounded by specific ATP-binding pocket in which it is stabilized by forming hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions. It is shown that LCH plays as a competitive inhibitor in an active state of JAK2. LCH caused a dose-dependent decrease in phosphorylation of JAK2 and STAT3. More interestingly, LCH suppressed JAK2 kinase activity in vitro by its direct binding to the JAK2. LCH significantly inhibited the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway, causing the down-regulation of target genes such as Bcl-2, survivin, cyclin D1, p21 and p27. In addition, LCH inhibited cell proliferation and colony formation of OSCC cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner, as well as induction of cell apoptosis through extrinsic and intrinsic pathway. The induction of apoptosis in OSCC cells by LCH was evident in the increased production of ROS, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, release of cyto c, variation of apoptotic proteins and activation of caspase cascade. CONCLUSION LCH not only induces apoptosis in OSCC cells through the JAK/STAT3 signaling pathway but also inhibits cell growth. It is proposed that LCH has a promising use for the chemotherapeutic agent of oral cancer.

Author Correction: ID3 regulates the MDC1-mediated DNA damage response in order to maintain genome stability

This Article contains errors in Fig. 3, Fig. 4 and Fig. 7, for which we apologize. In Fig. 3, panel ‘b’, the 0.5 hour time point after Ku55933 treatment images were inadvertently replaced with duplicates of the 3 hour time point after Ku55933 treatment images in Fig. 3b. Additionally, in panel ‘b’, the 0.5 hour time point after Nu7026 treatment images were inadvertently replaced with duplicates of the 180 min time point after siMDC1 treatment images in Fig. 3d. In Fig. 4, panel ‘g’, RNF168 foci in U2OS cell images were inadvertently replaced with duplicates of RNF168 foci in HeLa cell images in Fig. 4f. In Fig. 7, panel ‘b’, the DAPI images 0.5 hours after IR under siID3 treatment were inadvertently replaced with DAPI images of a different field of view from the same experiment. Additionally, in panel ‘i’, the shID3 mock-treated GFP-ID3 cells image was inadvertently replace with duplications of the shID3 mock-treated GFP-ID3 cells image in Fig. 7g.

Licochalcone D directly targets JAK2 to induced apoptosis in human oral squamous cell carcinoma: SEO et al.

Licochalcone (LC) families have been reported to have a wide range of biological function such as antioxidant, antibacterial, antiviral, and anticancer effects. Although various beneficial effects of LCD were revealed, its anticancer effect in human oral squamous cancer has not been identified. To examine the signaling pathway of LCD’s anticancer effect, we determined whether LCD has physical interaction with Janus kinase (JAK2)/signal transducer and activator of transcription‐3 (STAT3) signaling, which is critical in promoting cancer cell survival and proliferation. Our results demonstrated that LCD inhibited the kinase activity of JAK2, soft agar colony formation, and the proliferation of HN22 and HSC4 cells. LCD also induced mitochondrial apoptotic events such as altered mitochondrial membrane potential and reactive oxygen species production. LCD increased the expression of apoptosis‐associated proteins in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells. Finally, the xenograft study showed that LCD significantly inhibited HN22 tumor growth. Immunohistochemical data supported that LCD suppressed p‐JAK2 and p‐STAT3 expression and induced cleaved‐caspase‐3 expression. These results indicate that the anticancer effect of LCD is due to the direct targeting of JAK2 kinase. Therefore, LCD can be used for therapeutic application against OSCC.

Licochalcone C induced apoptosis in human oral squamous cell carcinoma cells by regulation of the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway: OH et al.

Oral cancer is of an aggressive malignancy that arises on oral cavity and lip, 90% of cancers histologically originated in the squamous cells. Licochalcone (LC)C has been known as natural phenolic chalconoid substances, and its origin is the root of Glycyrrhiza glabra or Glycyrrhiza inflata. LCC inhibited oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cell viability, mitochondrial function, and anchorage‐independent growth in a dose‐dependent manner. To investigate the ability of LCC to target Janus kinase 2 (JAK2), we performed pull‐down binding assay, kinase assay, and docking simulation. The molecular docking studies were performed between JAK2 and the potent inhibitor LCC. It was shown that LCC tightly interacted with ATP‐binding site of JAK2. In addition, LCC inhibited the JAK2/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 pathway, upregulated p21, and downregulated Bcl‐2, Mcl‐1, and Survivin, while it disrupted mitochondrial membrane potential and subsequently caused cytochrome c release with activation of multi‐caspase, eventually leading to apoptosis in HN22 and HSC4 cells. LCC elevated the protein levels of Bax, cleaved Bid and PARP, and increased Apaf‐1, and this effect was reversed by LCC treatment. Our results demonstrated that treatment of OSCC cells with LCC induced the death receptor (DR)4 and DR5 expression level with the generation of reactive oxygen species and the upregulation of CHOP protein expression. Taken together, these results could provide the basis for clinical application as a new therapeutic strategy in the treatment of oral cancer.

Rational drug design approach of receptor tyrosine kinase type III inhibitors

Rational drug design is accomplished through the complementary use of structural biology and computational biology of biological macromolecules involved in disease pathology. Most of the known theoretical approaches for drug design are based on knowledge of the biological targets to which the drug binds. This approach can be used to design drug molecules that restore the balance of the signaling pathway by inhibiting or stimulating biological targets by molecular modeling procedures as well as by molecular dynamics simulations. Type III receptor tyrosine kinase affects most of the fundamental cellular processes including the cell cycle, cell migration, cell metabolism, and survival, as well as cell proliferation and differentiation. Many inhibitors of successful rational drug design show that some computational techniques can be combined to achieve synergistic effects.

Hydrogen bond dynamics in liquid water: Ab initio molecular dynamics simulation

The effect of intermolecular interaction on the distribution of the harmonic vibrational frequencies of water molecules was investigated through ab initio molecular dynamics simulations based on the Born-Oppenheimer approach. For single water, the effect of the dynamics of the oxygen atom in single water and the simulation time step on the frequency distribution were examined. The distributions of the OH stretching and HOH bending vibrational frequencies of liquid water were compared to those of single water. The probability distributions of the change in OH bond length and the lifetime of the dangling OH bond were also obtained. The distribution of the frequencies was strongly affected by the long lifetime of the dangling OH bond, resulting in the formation of hydrogen bonds between water molecules.