Hye Jin Nam

Hypoxia-induced methylation of a pontin chromatin remodeling factor

Pontin is a chromatin remodeling factor that possesses both ATPase and DNA helicase activities. Although Pontin is frequently overexpressed in human cancers of various types and implicated in oncogenic functions, the upstream signaling network leading to the regulation of Pontin that in turn affects transcription of downstream target genes has not been extensively studied. Here, we identify Pontin is methylated by G9a/GLP methyltransferases in hypoxic condition and potentiates HIF-1α-mediated activation by increasing the recruitment of p300 coactivator to a subset of HIF-1α target promoters. Intriguingly, Pontin methylation results in the increased invasive and migratory properties by activating downstream target gene, Ets1. In contrast, inhibition of Pontin methylation results in the suppression of tumorigenic and metastatic properties. Together, our data provide new approaches by targeting Pontin methylation and its downstream targets for the development of therapeutic agents for human cancers.

SUMOylation of pontin chromatin-remodeling complex reveals a signal integration code in prostate cancer cells

Posttranslational modification by small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) controls diverse cellular functions of transcription factors and coregulators and participates in various cellular processes including signal transduction and transcriptional regulation. Here, we report that pontin, a component of chromatin-remodeling complexes, is SUMO-modified, and that SUMOylation of pontin is an active control mechanism for the transcriptional regulation of pontin on androgen-receptor target genes in prostate cancer cells. Biochemical purification of pontin-containing complexes revealed the presence of the Ubc9 SUMO-conjugating enzyme that underlies its function as an activator. Intriguingly, 5α-dihydroxytestosterone treatments significantly increased the SUMOylation of pontin, and SUMOylated pontin showed further activation of a subset of nuclear receptor-dependent transcription and led to an increase in proliferation and growth of prostate cancer cells. These data clearly define a functional model and provide a link between SUMO modification and prostate cancer progression.

Methylation-dependent regulation of HIF-1α stability restricts retinal and tumour angiogenesis

Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) mediates hypoxic responses and regulates gene expression involved in angiogenesis, invasion and metabolism. Among the various HIF-1α posttranslational modifications, HIF-1α methylation and its physiological role have not yet been elucidated. Here we show that HIF-1α is methylated by SET7/9 methyltransferase, and that lysine-specific demethylase 1 reverses its methylation. The functional consequence of HIF-1α methylation is the modulation of HIF-1α stability primarily in the nucleus, independent of its proline hydroxylation, during long-term hypoxic and normoxic conditions. Knock-in mice bearing a methylation-defective Hif1aKA/KA allele exhibit enhanced retinal angiogenesis and tumour vascularization via HIF-1α stabilization. Importantly, S28Y and R30Q mutations of HIF-1α, found in human cancers, are involved in the altered HIF-1α stability. Together, these results demonstrate a role for HIF-1α methylation in regulating protein stability, thereby modulating biological output including retinal and tumour angiogenesis, with therapeutic implications in human cancer.

Optimization of AAV expression cassettes to improve packaging capacity and transgene expression in neurons

Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors can deliver transgenes to diverse cell types and are therefore useful for basic research and gene therapy. Although AAV has many advantages over other viral vectors, its relatively small packaging capacity limits its use for delivering large genes. The available transgene size is further limited by the existence of additional elements in the expression cassette without which the gene expression level becomes much lower. By using alternative combinations of shorter elements, we generated a series of AAV expression cassettes and systematically evaluated their expression efficiency in neurons to maximize the transgene size available within the AAV packaging capacity while not compromising the transgene expression. We found that the newly developed smaller expression cassette shows comparable expression efficiency with an efficient vector generally used for strong gene expression. This new expression cassette will allow us to package larger transgenes without compromising expression efficiency.

Breast cancer metastasis suppressor 1 (BRMS1) is destabilized by the Cul3-SPOP E3 ubiquitin ligase complex.

Breast cancer metastasis suppressor 1 (BRMS1) suppresses metastasis without affecting primary tumorigenesis. The regulatory mechanism of BRMS1 at the protein level has not been revealed until recently. Here, we found that cullin 3 (Cul3), a component of E3 ubiquitin ligase, is a new binding partner of BRMS1 and the interaction between BRMS1 and Cul3 is mediated by the SPOP adaptor protein. Intriguingly, BRMS1 turns out to be a potent substrate that is ubiquitinated by the Cul3-SPOP complex. Knockdown of SPOP increases the level of BRMS1 protein and represses the expression of BRMS1 repressive target genes such as OPN and uPA in breast cancer cells. These results suggest that the novel regulatory mechanism of BRMS1 by Cul3-SPOP complex is important for breast cancer progression.

Bcl3-dependent stabilization of CtBP1 is crucial for the inhibition of apoptosis and tumor progression in breast cancer

B-cell lymphoma 3 (Bcl3) is a proto-oncogene upregulated in a wide range of cancers, including breast cancer. Although Bcl3 is known to promote cell proliferation and inhibit apoptosis, the molecular mechanisms underlying the proto-oncogenic function of Bcl3 have not been completely elucidated. To gain insight into the oncogenic role of Bcl3, we applied a proteomic approach, which led to the identification of C-terminal binding protein 1 (CtBP1) as a binding partner of Bcl3. A PXDLS/R motif embedded in Bcl3 was found to mediate the interaction between Bcl3 and CtBP1, which caused the stabilization of CtBP1 by blocking proteasome-dependent degradation. Apoptotic stimuli-induced degradation of CtBP1 was significantly abolished by the upregulation of Bcl3, leading to the sustained repression of pro-apoptotic gene expression and subsequent inhibition of apoptosis. Intriguingly, a strong positive correlation between the protein levels of Bcl3 and CtBP1 was detected in breast cancer patient samples. Our study reveals a novel combinatorial role for Bcl3 and CtBP1, providing an explanation for the acquisition of resistance to apoptosis in cancer cells, which is a major requirement for cancer development.

Development of a benzopyran-containing androgen receptor antagonist to treat antiandrogen-resistant prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is a major cause of death in men worldwide, especially in the USA. Key molecular targets in prostate cancer therapy are the androgen receptor (AR) and its endogenous ligands, such as dihydrotestosterone (DHT). The AR is a member of the nuclear receptor superfamily of ligand-dependent transcription factors, and the identification of AR antagonists is an important step in the development of therapeutic agents for the treatment of prostate cancer. Currently, AR antagonists such as flutamide and bicalutamide are used as

Enhancing inhibitory synaptic function reverses spatial memory deficits in Shank2 mutant mice

ABSTRACT Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are a group of developmental disorders that cause variable and heterogeneous phenotypes across three behavioral domains such as atypical social behavior, disrupted communications, and highly restricted and repetitive behaviors. In addition to these core symptoms, other neurological abnormalities are associated with ASD, including intellectual disability (ID). However, the molecular etiology underlying these behavioral heterogeneities in ASD is unclear. Mutations in SHANK2 genes are associated with ASD and ID. Interestingly, two lines of Shank2 knockout mice (e6–7 KO and e7 KO) showed shared and distinct phenotypes. Here, we found that the expression levels of Gabra2, as well as of GABA receptor‐mediated inhibitory neurotransmission, are reduced in Shank2 e6–7, but not in e7 KO mice compared with their own wild type littermates. Furthermore, treatment of Shank2 e6–7 KO mice with an allosteric modulator for the GABAA receptor reverses spatial memory deficits, indicating that reduced inhibitory neurotransmission may cause memory deficits in Shank2 e6–7 KO mice. This article is part of the Special Issue entitled ‘Ionotropic glutamate receptors’. HIGHLIGHTSExpression of Gabra2 gene coding GABAA receptor &agr;2 subunit was reduced in Shank2 e6–7 KO mice, but not in Shank2 e7 KO mice.GABAA receptor‐mediated synaptic transmission was impaired in Shank2 e6–7 KO mice, resulting in reduced I/E ratio.A GABAA receptor &agr;2 agonist L838,417 restored the impaired I/E ratio in Shank2 e6–7 KO mice.L838,417 treatment reversed spatial memory deficits in Shank2 e6–7 KO mice without affecting the social deficit.

Protein Kinase C-δ-mediated recycling of active KIT in colon cancer

Purpose: Abnormal signaling through receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) moieties is important in tumorigenesis and drug targeting of colorectal cancers. Wild-type KIT (WT-KIT), a RTK that is activated upon binding with stem cell factor (SCF), is highly expressed in some colon cancers; however, little is known about the functional role of SCF-dependent KIT activation in colon cancer pathogenesis. We aimed to elucidate the conditions and roles of WT-KIT activation in colon cancer tumorigenesis. Experimental Design: Colorectal cancers with KIT expression were characterized by immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry. The biologic alterations after KIT-SCF binding were analyzed with or without protein kinase C (PKC) activation. Results: We found that WT-KIT was expressed in a subset of colon cancer cell lines and was activated by SCF, leading to activation of downstream AKT and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathways. We also showed that KIT expression gradually decreased, after prolonged SCF stimulation, due to lysosomal degradation. Degradation of WT-KIT after SCF binding was significantly rescued when PKC was activated. We also showed the involvement of activated PKC-δ in the recycling of WT-KIT. We further showed that a subset of colorectal cancers exhibit expressions of both WT-KIT and activated PKC-δ and that expression of KIT is correlated with poor patient survival (P = 0.004). Conclusions: Continuous downstream signal activation after KIT-SCF binding is accomplished through PKC-δ–mediated recycling of KIT. This sustained KIT activation may contribute to tumor progression in a subset of colon cancers with KIT expression and might provide the rationale for a therapeutic approach targeting KIT. Clin Cancer Res; 19(18); 4961–71. ©2013 AACR.

RORα2 requires LSD1 to enhance tumor progression in breast cancer

Retinoic acid-related orphan receptor α (RORα) regulates diverse physiological processes, including inflammatory responses, lipid metabolism, circadian rhythm, and cancer biology. RORα has four different isoforms which have distinct N-terminal domains but share identical DNA binding domain and ligand binding domain in human. However, lack of specific antibody against each RORα isoform makes biochemical studies on each RORα isoform remain unclear. Here, we generate RORα2-specific antibody and characterize the role of RORα2 in promoting tumor progression in breast cancer. RORα2 requires lysine specific demethylase 1 (LSD1/KDM1A) as a coactivator for transcriptional activation of RORα2 target genes, exemplified by CTNND1. Intriguingly, RORα2 and LSD1 protein levels are dramatically elevated in human breast cancer specimens compared to normal counterparts. Taken together, our studies indicate that LSD1-mediated RORα2 transcriptional activity is important to promote tumor cell migration in human breast cancer as well as breast cancer cell lines. Therefore, our data establish that suppression of LSD1-mediated RORα2 transcriptional activity may be potent therapeutic strategy to attenuate tumor cell migration in human breast cancer.