Kathleen M. Sakamoto

The Role of the Transcription Factor CREB in Immune Function

CREB is a transcription factor that regulates diverse cellular responses, including proliferation, survival, and differentiation. CREB is induced by a variety of growth factors and inflammatory signals and subsequently mediates the transcription of genes containing a cAMP-responsive element. Several immune-related genes possess this cAMP-responsive element, including IL-2, IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-α. In addition, phosphorylated CREB has been proposed to directly inhibit NF-κB activation by blocking the binding of CREB binding protein to the NF-κB complex, thereby limiting proinflammatory responses. CREB also induces an antiapoptotic survival signal in monocytes and macrophages. In T and B cells, CREB activation promotes proliferation and survival and differentially regulates Th1, Th2, and Th17 responses. Finally, CREB activation is required for the generation and maintenance of regulatory T cells. This review summarizes current advances involving CREB in immune function—a role that is continually being defined.

Protacs: Chimeric molecules that target proteins to the Skp1–Cullin–F box complex for ubiquitination and degradation

The intracellular levels of many proteins are regulated by ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis. One of the best-characterized enzymes that catalyzes the attachment of ubiquitin to proteins is a ubiquitin ligase complex, Skp1-Cullin-F box complex containing Hrt1 (SCF). We sought to artificially target a protein to the SCF complex for ubiquitination and degradation. To this end, we tested methionine aminopeptidase-2 (MetAP-2), which covalently binds the angiogenesis inhibitor ovalicin. A chimeric compound, protein-targeting chimeric molecule 1 (Protac-1), was synthesized to recruit MetAP-2 to SCF. One domain of Protac-1 contains the IκBα phosphopeptide that is recognized by the F-box protein β-TRCP, whereas the other domain is composed of ovalicin. We show that MetAP-2 can be tethered to SCFβ-TRCP, ubiquitinated, and degraded in a Protac-1-dependent manner. In the future, this approach may be useful for conditional inactivation of proteins, and for targeting disease-causing proteins for destruction.

Ribosomal protein S19 deficiency in zebrafish leads to developmental abnormalities and defective erythropoiesis through activation of p53 protein family

Mutations in several ribosomal proteins (RPs) lead to Diamond-Blackfan anemia (DBA), a syndrome characterized by defective erythropoiesis, congenital anomalies, and increased frequency of cancer. RPS19 is the most frequently mutated RP in DBA. RPS19 deficiency impairs ribosomal biogenesis, but how this leads to DBA or cancer remains unknown. We have found that rps19 deficiency in ze-brafish results in hematopoietic and developmental abnormalities resembling DBA. Our data suggest that the rps19-deficient phenotype is mediated by dysregulation of deltaNp63 and p53. During gastrulation, deltaNp63 is required for specification of nonneural ectoderm and its up-regulation suppresses neural differentiation, thus contributing to brain/craniofacial defects. In rps19-deficient embryos, deltaNp63 is induced in erythroid progenitors and may contribute to blood defects. We have shown that suppression of p53 and deltaNp63 alleviates the rps19-deficient phenotypes. Mutations in other ribosomal proteins, such as S8, S11, and S18, also lead to up-regulation of p53 pathway, suggesting it is a common response to ribosomal protein deficiency. Our finding provides new insights into pathogenesis of DBA. Ribosomal stress syndromes represent a broader spectrum of human congenital diseases caused by genotoxic stress; therefore, imbalance of p53 family members may become a new target for therapeutics.

Germline CBL mutations cause developmental abnormalities and predispose to juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia

CBL encodes a member of the Cbl family of proteins, which functions as an E3 ubiquitin ligase. We describe a dominant developmental disorder resulting from germline missense CBL mutations, which is characterized by impaired growth, developmental delay, cryptorchidism and a predisposition to juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML). Some individuals experienced spontaneous regression of their JMML but developed vasculitis later in life. Importantly, JMML specimens from affected children show loss of the normal CBL allele through acquired isodisomy. Consistent with these genetic data, the common p.371Y>H altered Cbl protein induces cytokine-independent growth and constitutive phosphorylation of ERK, AKT and S6 only in hematopoietic cells in which normal Cbl expression is reduced by RNA interference. We conclude that germline CBL mutations have developmental, tumorigenic and functional consequences that resemble disorders that are caused by hyperactive Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK signaling and include neurofibromatosis type 1, Noonan syndrome, Costello syndrome, cardiofaciocutaneous syndrome and Legius syndrome.

The Role of HDAC6 in Cancer

Histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6), a member of the HDAC family whose major substrate is α-tubulin, has become a target for drug development to treat cancer due to its major contribution in oncogenic cell transformation. Overexpression of HDAC6 correlates with tumorigenesis and improved survival; therefore, HDAC6 may be used as a marker for prognosis. Previous work demonstrated that in multiple myeloma cells, inhibition of HDAC6 results in apoptosis. Furthermore, HDAC6 is required for the activation of heat-shock factor 1 (HSF1), an activator of heat-shock protein encoding genes (HSPs) and CYLD, a cylindromatosis tumor suppressor gene. HDAC6 contributes to cancer metastasis since its upregulation increases cell motility in breast cancer MCF-7 cells and its interaction with cortactin regulates motility. HDAC6 also affects transcription and translation by regulating the heat-shock protein 90 (Hsp90) and stress granules (SGs), respectively. This review will discuss the role of HDAC6 in the pathogenesis and treatment of cancer.

CREB in the Pathophysiology of Cancer: Implications for Targeting Transcription Factors for Cancer Therapy

Transcription factors are key regulators of the pattern of gene expression in a cell and directly control central processes such as proliferation, survival, self-renewal, and invasion. Given this critical role, the function of transcription factors is normally regulated closely, often through transient phosphorylation. Although transcription factors are not often directly modified by mutations in cancer cells, they frequently become activated constitutively through mutations affecting “upstream” pathways. By continually driving the expression of key target genes, these oncogenic transcription factors play a central role in tumor pathogenesis. One such transcription factor is the cAMP-regulatory element-binding protein (CREB), which can be activated through phosphorylation by a number of kinases, including Akt, p90Rsk, protein kinase A, and calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinases and regulates genes whose deregulated expression promotes oncogenesis, including cyclins, Bcl-2 family members, and Egr-1. CREB is overexpressed and constitutively phosphorylated in a number of forms of human cancer, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and non–small cell lung cancer, and appears to play a direct role in disease pathogenesis and prognosis. Although transcription factors have not been a central focus of drug development, recent advances suggest that CREB and other such proteins may be worthwhile targets for cancer therapy.

Development of Protacs to Target Cancer-promoting Proteins for Ubiquitination and Degradation

The proteome contains hundreds of proteins that in theory could be excellent therapeutic targets for the treatment of human diseases. However, many of these proteins are from functional classes that have never been validated as viable candidates for the development of small molecule inhibitors. Thus, to exploit fully the potential of the Human Genome Project to advance human medicine, there is a need to develop generic methods of inhibiting protein activity that do not rely on the target protein’s function. We previously demonstrated that a normally stable protein, methionine aminopeptidase-2 or MetAP-2, could be artificially targeted to an Skp1-Cullin-F-box (SCF) ubiquitin ligase complex for ubiquitination and degradation through a chimeric bridging molecule or Protac (proteolysis targeting chimeric molecule). This Protac consisted of an SCFβ-TRCP-binding phosphopeptide derived from IκBα linked to ovalicin, which covalently binds MetAP-2. In this study, we employed this approach to target two different proteins, the estrogen (ER) and androgen (AR) receptors, which have been implicated in the progression of breast and prostate cancer, respectively. We show here that an estradiol-based Protac can enforce the ubiquitination and degradation of the α isoform of ER in vitro, and a dihydroxytestosterone-based Protac introduced into cells promotes the rapid disappearance of AR in a proteasome-dependent manner. Future improvements to this technology may yield a general approach to treat a number of human diseases, including cancer.

Net1 stimulates RNA polymerase I transcription and regulates nucleolar structure independently of controlling mitotic exit.

The budding yeast RENT complex, consisting of at least three proteins (Net1, Cdc14, Sir2), is anchored to the nucleolus by Net1. RENT controls mitotic exit, nucleolar silencing, and nucleolar localization of Nop1. Here, we report two new functions of Net1. First, Net1 directly binds Pol I and stimulates rRNA synthesis both in vitro and in vivo. Second, Net1 modulates nucleolar structure by regulating rDNA morphology and proper localization of multiple nucleolar antigens, including Pol I. Importantly, we show that the nucleolar and previously described cell cycle functions of the RENT complex can be uncoupled by a dominant mutant allele of CDC14. The independent functions of Net1 link a key event in the cell cycle to nucleolar processes that are fundamental to cell growth.

Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and interleukin-3 signaling pathways converge on the CREB-binding site in the human egr-1 promoter.

Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) stimulates myeloid progenitor cell proliferation and enhances the function of terminally differentiated effector cells. Interleukin-3 (IL-3) stimulation results in the proliferation and maturation of early bone marrow progenitor cells. These activities are mediated by non-tyrosine kinase-containing receptors which consist of ligand-specific alpha subunits that complex with a common beta subunit required for signal transduction. Both GM-CSF and IL-3 rapidly and transiently induce expression of early growth response gene 1 (egr-1) in the human factor-dependent cell line TF-1. To define the mechanism of early response gene induction by GM-CSF and IL-3, growth factor- and serum-starved TF-1 cells transfected with recombinant constructs containing sequences of the human egr-1 promoter were stimulated with GM-CSF or IL-3. A 116-nucleotide (nt) region of the egr-1 promoter which contains sequences inducible by GM-CSF and IL-3 was defined. DNase I footprint analysis identified a 20-nt region, including nt -57 to -76, which contains a potential cyclic AMP (cAMP) response element (CRE). Electrophoretic mobility shift assays performed with CREB antibody confirmed the presence of CREB in the DNA-binding complex. Mutational analysis of the cytokine-responsive region of the egr-1 promoter revealed that both the cAMP response and serum response elements are required for induction by GM-CSF and IL-3. Nuclear extracts from GM-CSF- or IL-3-stimulated but not unstimulated TF-1 cells contain factors which specifically bind to the Egr-1-binding site in the nt -600 to -480 region of the promoter. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays were performed with antibodies against the Egr-1 protein to demonstrate the presence of the protein product in the shifted complex. Our studies suggest that the Egr-1 protein may further stimulate transcription of the egr-1 gene in response to GM-CSF as a secondary event.

Targeting CREB for Cancer Therapy: Friend or Foe

The cyclic-AMP response element-binding protein (CREB) is a nuclear transcription factor activated by phosphorylation at Ser133 by multiple serine/threonine (Ser/Thr) kinases. Upon phosphorylation, CREB binds the transcriptional co-activator, CBP (CREB-binding protein), to initiate CREB-dependent gene transcription. CREB is a critical regulator of cell differentiation, proliferation and survival in the nervous system. Recent studies have shown that CREB is involved tumor initiation, progression and metastasis, supporting its role as a proto-oncogene. Overexpression and over-activation of CREB were observed in cancer tissues from patients with prostate cancer, breast cancer, non-small-cell lung cancer and acute leukemia while down-regulation of CREB in several distinct cancer cell lines resulted in inhibition of cell proliferation and induction of apoptosis, suggesting that CREB may be a promising target for cancer therapy. Although CREB, as a transcription factor, is a challenging target for small molecules, various small molecules have been discovered to inhibit CREB phosphorylation, CREB-DNA, or CREB-CBP interaction. These results suggest that CREB is a suitable transcription factor for drug targeting and therefore targeting CREB could represent a novel strategy for cancer therapy.