Kenji Fukasawa

Abnormal centrosome amplification in the absence of p53.

The centrosome plays a vital role in mitotic fidelity, ensuring establishment of bipolar spindles and balanced chromosome segregation. Centrosome duplication occurs only once during the cell cycle and is therefore highly regulated. Here, it is shown that in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) lacking the p53 tumor suppressor protein, multiple copies of functionally competent centrosomes are generated during a single cell cycle. In contrast, MEFs prepared from normal mice or mice deficient in the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor gene product do not display these abnormalities. The abnormally amplified centrosomes profoundly affect mitotic fidelity, resulting in unequal segregation of chromosomes. These observations implicate p53 in the regulation of centrosome duplication and suggest one possible mechanism by which the loss of p53 may cause genetic instability.

Nucleophosmin/B23 Is a Target of CDK2/Cyclin E in Centrosome Duplication

In animal cells, duplication of centrosomes and DNA is coordinated. Since CDK2/cyclin E triggers initiation of both events, activation of CDK2/cyclin E is thought to link these two events. We identified nucleophosmin (NPM/B23) as a substrate of CDK2/cyclin E in centrosome duplication. NPM/B23 associates specifically with unduplicated centrosomes, and NPM/B23 dissociates from centrosomes by CDK2/cyclin E-mediated phosphorylation. An anti-NPM/B23 antibody, which blocks this phosphorylation, suppresses the initiation of centrosome duplication in vivo. Moreover, expression of a nonphosphorylatable mutant NPM/ B23 in cells effectively blocks centrosome duplication. Thus, NPM/B23 is a target of CDK2/cyclin E in the initiation of centrosome duplication.

Centrosome hyperamplification in human cancer: chromosome instability induced by p53 mutation and/or Mdm2 overexpression

We have previously reported that loss of p53 tumor suppressor protein results in centrosome hyperamplification, which leads to aberrant mitosis and chromosome instability. Since p53 is either deleted or mutated in human cancers at a high frequency, we investigated whether human cancers showed centrosome hyperamplification. Screening of advanced stage breast ductal carcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck (SCCHN) revealed that centrosome hyperamplification is frequent in both tumor types. Moreover, through the analyses of p53 in SCCHN samples by direct sequencing and by loss-of-heterozygosity test, we found that p53 mutations correlated with occurrence of centrosome hyperamplification. However, in some cases, we observed centrosome hyperamplification in tumors that retained wild-type p53. These tumors contained high levels of Mdm2. Since Mdm2 can inactivate p53 through physical association, we investigated whether Mdm2 overexpression induced centrosome hyperamplification. We found that Mdm2 overexpression, like loss of p53, induced centrosome hyperamplification and chromosome instability in cultured cells.

Genomic instability and apoptosis are frequent in p53 deficient young mice

The loss of p53 tumor suppressor functions results in genetic instability, characteristically associated with changes in chromosome ploidy and gene amplification. In vivo, we find that cells from various organs of 4 to 6-week old p53-nullizygous (p53−/−) mice display aneuploidy and frequent gene amplification as well as evidence for apoptosis. Regardless of tissue types, many p53−/− cells contain multiple centrosomes and abnormally formed mitotic spindles. Thus, chromosome instability in vivo may be associated with abnormal centrosome amplification. Moreover, we observed a significant increase in the number of cells overexpressing c-Myc in p53−/− mice. Consistent with previous studies showing that c-Myc overexpression is associated with gene amplification in vitro, many of the p53−/− cells exhibited, in the same cell, c-Myc overexpression and amplified c-myc, dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), and carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase-aspartate transcarbamoyl-dihydroorotase (CAD) genes. Furthermore, apoptosis was frequently observed in cells isolated from p53−/− mice. The apoptotic cells contained abnormally amplified centrosomes, displayed aneuploidy, high levels of c-Myc expression, as well as gene amplification. These results indicate that a high number of aberrant cells is eliminated by p53-independent pathways in vivo.

Loss of p53 and centrosome hyperamplification.

Loss or mutational inactivation of p53 has been shown to lead to abnormal amplification of centrosomes through deregulation of the centrosome duplication cycle and failure to undergo cytokinesis. In mouse cells, most cases of centrosome hyperamplification are attributed to deregulation of centrosome duplication. The presence of excess copies of centrosomes increases the frequency of mitotic defects, leading to unbalanced chromosome transmission to daughter cells. p53 controls centrosome duplication via transactivation-dependent and transactivation-independent mechanisms. In its transactivation-dependent control, p21Waf1/Cip1 acts as a major effector, likely guarding against untimely activation of CDK2/cyclin E kinase, hence ensuring the coordinated initiation of centrosome and DNA duplication. p53 appears to exert its transactivation-independent control through direct physical binding to the centrosomes.

Synergistic induction of centrosome hyperamplification by loss of p53 and cyclin E overexpression.

Centrosome hyperamplification and the consequential mitotic defects contribute to chromosome instability in cancers. Loss or mutational inactivation of p53 has been shown to induce chromosome instability through centrosome hyperamplification. It has recently been found that Cdk2-cyclin E is involved in the initiation of centrosome duplication, and that constitutive activation of Cdk2-cyclin E results in the uncoupling of the centrosome duplication cycle and the DNA replication cycle. Cyclin E overexpression and p53 mutations occur frequently in tumors. Here, we show that cyclin E overexpression and loss of p53 synergistically increase the frequency of centrosome hyperamplification in cultured cells as well as in tumors developed in p53-null, heterozygous, and wild-type mice. Through examination of cells derived from Waf1-null mice, we further found that Waf1, a potent inhibitor of Cdk2-cyclin E and a major target of p53s transactivation function, is involved in coordinating the initiation of centrosome duplication and DNA replication, suggesting that Waf1 may act as a molecular link between p53 and Cdk2-cyclin E in the control of the centrosome duplication cycle.

Inhibition of Crm1–p53 interaction and nuclear export of p53 by poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation

Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP-1) and p53 are two key proteins in the DNA-damage response. Although PARP-1 is known to poly(ADP-ribosyl)ate p53, the role of this modification remains elusive. Here, we identify the major poly(ADP-ribosyl)ated sites of p53 by PARP-1 and find that PARP-1-mediated poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation blocks the interaction between p53 and the nuclear export receptor Crm1, resulting in nuclear accumulation of p53. These findings molecularly link PARP-1 and p53 in the DNA-damage response, providing the mechanism for how p53 accumulates in the nucleus in response to DNA damage. PARP-1 becomes super-activated by binding to damaged DNA, which in turn poly(ADP-ribosyl)ates p53. The nuclear export machinery is unable to target poly(ADP-ribosyl)ated p53, promoting accumulation of p53 in the nucleus where p53 exerts its transactivational function.

Direct regulation of the centrosome duplication cycle by the p53-p21Waf1/Cip1 pathway.

The function of the centrosomes to direct mitotic spindles is critical for accurate chromosome transmission to daughter cells. Since each daughter cell inherits one centrosome, each centrosome must duplicate prior to the next mitosis, and do so only once. Thus, there are control mechanism(s) that ensure the coordinated progression of centrosome duplication and other cell cycle events (i.e. DNA synthesis), and limit centrosome duplication to once per cell cycle. Deregulation of the centrosome duplication cycle results in abnormal amplification of centrosomes, leading to aberrant mitoses and increased chromosome transmission errors. This has been found to be the case for cells lacking functional p53 tumor suppressor protein. However, it had remained to be determined whether the deregulation of the centrosome duplication cycle is the direct or indirect effect of loss/mutational inactivation of p53. Here, we found that the normal centrosome duplication cycle is almost completely restored in p53−/− cells by re-introduction of wild-type p53 at a physiologically relevant level, demonstrating that p53 is directly involved in the regulation of centrosome duplication. Since cyclin dependent kinase 2 (CDK2)/cyclin E triggers DNA synthesis as well as centrosome duplication, we tested whether Waf1, a CDK inhibitor and a major target of p53s transactivation function, is an effector of p53-mediated regulation of centrosome duplication. We found that induced expression of Waf1 in p53−/− cells only partially restored the centrosome duplication control, suggesting that Waf1 comprises one of the multiple effector pathways of the p53-mediated regulation of the centrosome duplication cycle.

Involvement of poly(ADP-Ribose) polymerase 1 and poly(ADP-Ribosyl)ation in regulation of centrosome function.

ABSTRACT The regulatory mechanism of centrosome function is crucial to the accurate transmission of chromosomes to the daughter cells in mitosis. Recent findings on the posttranslational modifications of many centrosomal proteins led us to speculate that these modifications might be involved in centrosome behavior. Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP-1) catalyzes poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation to various proteins. We show here that PARP-1 localizes to centrosomes and catalyzes poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation of centrosomal proteins. Moreover, centrosome hyperamplification is frequently observed with PARP inhibitor, as well as in PARP-1-null cells. Thus, it is possible that chromosomal instability known in PARP-1-null cells can be attributed to the centrosomal dysfunction. P53 tumor suppressor protein has been also shown to be localized at centrosomes and to be involved in the regulation of centrosome duplication and monitoring of the chromosomal stability. We found that centrosomal p53 is poly(ADP-ribosyl)ated in vivo and centrosomal PARP-1 directly catalyzes poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation of p53 in vitro. These results indicate that PARP-1 and PARP-1-mediated poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation of centrosomal proteins are involved in the regulation of centrosome function.

Involvement of Crm1 in hepatitis B virus X protein-induced aberrant centriole replication and abnormal mitotic spindles.

ABSTRACT Hepatitis B virus (HBV) includes an X gene (HBx gene) that plays a critical role in liver carcinogenesis. Because centrosome abnormalities are associated with genomic instability in most human cancer cells, we examined the effect of HBx on centrosomes. We found that HBx induced supernumerary centrosomes and multipolar spindles. This effect was independent of mutations in the p21 gene. Furthermore, the ability of HBV to induce supernumerary centrosomes was dependent on the presence of physiological HBx expression. We recently showed that HBx induces cytoplasmic sequestration of Crm1, a nuclear export receptor that binds to Ran GTPase, thereby inducing nuclear localization of NF-κB. Consistently, supernumerary centrosomes were observed in cells treated with a Crm1-specific inhibitor but not with an HBx mutant that lacked the ability to sequester Crm1 in the cytoplasm. Moreover, a fraction of Crm1 was found to be localized at the centrosomes. Immunocytochemical and ultrastructural examination of these supernumerary centrosomes revealed that inactivation of Crm1 was associated with abnormal centrioles. The presence of more than two centrosomes led to an increased frequency of defective mitoses and chromosome transmission errors. Based on this evidence, we suggest that Crm1 is actively involved in maintaining centrosome integrity and that HBx disrupts this process by inactivating Crm1 and thus contributes to HBV-mediated carcinogenesis.