Polina Iakova

C/EBPα Arrests Cell Proliferation through Direct Inhibition of Cdk2 and Cdk4

Abstract The transcription factor CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α (C/EBPα) is a strong inhibitor of cell proliferation. We found that C/EBPα directly interacts with cdk2 and cdk4 and arrests cell proliferation by inhibiting these kinases. We mapped a short growth inhibitory region of C/EBPα between amino acids 175 and 187. This portion of C/EBPα is responsible for direct inhibition of cyclin-dependent kinases and causes growth arrest in cultured cells. C/EBPα inhibits cdk2 activity by blocking the association of cdk2 with cyclins. Importantly, the activities of cdk4 and cdk2 are increased in C/EBPα knockout livers, leading to increased proliferation. Our data demonstrate that the liver-specific transcription factor C/EBPα brings about growth arrest through direct inhibition of cdk2 and cdk4.

Aging Reduces Proliferative Capacities of Liver by Switching Pathways of C/EBPα Growth Arrest

The liver is capable of completely regenerating itself in response to injury and after partial hepatectomy. In liver of old animals, the proliferative response is dramatically reduced, the mechanism for which is unknown. The liver specific protein, C/EBPalpha, normally arrests proliferation of hepatocytes through inhibiting cyclin dependent kinases (cdks). We present evidence that aging switches the liver-specific pathway of C/EBPalpha growth arrest to repression of E2F transcription. We identified an age-specific C/EBPalpha-Rb-E2F4 complex that binds to E2F-dependent promoters and represses these genes. The C/EBPalpha-Rb-E2F4 complex occupies the c-myc promoter and blocks induction of c-myc in livers of old animals after partial hepatectomy. Our results show that the age-dependent switch from cdk inhibition to repression of E2F transcription causes a loss of proliferative response in the liver because of an inability to induce E2F target genes after partial hepatectomy providing a possible mechanism for the age-dependent loss of liver regenerative capacity.

Overexpression of CUG Triplet Repeat-binding Protein, CUGBP1, in Mice Inhibits Myogenesis

Accumulation of RNA CUG repeats in myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) patients leads to the induction of a CUG-binding protein, CUGBP1, which increases translation of several proteins that are required for myogenesis. In this paper, we examine the role of overexpression of CUGBP1 in DM1 muscle pathology using transgenic mice that overexpress CUGBP1 in skeletal muscle. Our data demonstrate that the elevation of CUGBP1 in skeletal muscle causes overexpression of MEF2A and p21 to levels that are significantly higher than those in skeletal muscle of wild type animals. A similar induction of these proteins is observed in skeletal muscle of DM1 patients with increased levels of CUGBP1. Immunohistological analysis showed that the skeletal muscle from mice overexpressing CUGBP1 is characterized by a developmental delay, muscular dystrophy, and myofiber-type switch: increase of slow/oxidative fibers and the reduction of fast fibers. Examination of molecular mechanisms by which CUGBP1 up-regulates MEF2A shows that CUGBP1 increases translation of MEF2A via direct interaction with GCN repeats located within MEF2A mRNA. Our data suggest that CUGBP1-mediated overexpression of MEF2A and p21 inhibits myogenesis and contributes to the development of muscle deficiency in DM1 patients.

Molecular Basis for Impaired Muscle Differentiation in Myotonic Dystrophy

ABSTRACT Differentiation of skeletal muscle is affected in myotonic dystrophy (DM) patients. Analysis of cultured myoblasts from DM patients shows that DM myoblasts lose the capability to withdraw from the cell cycle during differentiation. Our data demonstrate that the expression and activity of the proteins responsible for cell cycle withdrawal are altered in DM muscle cells. Skeletal muscle cells from DM patients fail to induce cytoplasmic levels of a CUG RNA binding protein, CUGBP1, while normal differentiated cells accumulate CUGBP1 in the cytoplasm. In cells from normal patients, CUGBP1 up-regulates p21 protein during differentiation. Several lines of evidence show that CUGBP1 induces the translation of p21 via binding to a GC-rich sequence located within the 5′ region of p21 mRNA. Failure of DM cells to accumulate CUGBP1 in the cytoplasm leads to a significant reduction of p21 and to alterations of other proteins responsible for the cell cycle withdrawal. The activity of cdk4 declines during differentiation of cells from control patients, while in DM cells cdk4 is highly active during all stages of differentiation. In addition, DM cells do not form Rb/E2F repressor complexes that are abundant in differentiated cells from normal patients. Our data provide evidence for an impaired cell cycle withdrawal in DM muscle cells and suggest that alterations in the activity of CUGBP1 causes disruption of p21-dependent control of cell cycle arrest.

Competition of CUGBP1 and calreticulin for the regulation of p21 translation determines cell fate

Induction of p21 in senescent human fibroblasts plays a key role in the inactivation of cyclin‐dependent kinases and the resulting irreversible growth arrest in the early stages of cell senescence. We found that RNA‐binding proteins are critical regulators of p21 during senescence. Two RNA‐binding proteins, CUGBP1 and calreticulin (CRT), interact with the same nucleotide sequences within the 5′ region of p21 mRNA, but have opposite effects on the translation of p21 mRNA. CUGBP1 increases translation of p21 mRNA, whereas CRT blocks translation of p21 via stabilization of a stem–loop structure within the 5′ region of the p21 mRNA. CUGBP1 and CRT compete for binding to p21 mRNA and thereby the regulation of p21 translation. In senescent fibroblasts, CUGBP1 displaces CRT from the p21 mRNA and releases CRT‐dependent repression of p21 translation leading to growth arrest and development of a senescent phenotype. These data present evidence that competition between RNA‐binding proteins for the regulation of p21 translation determines cell fate.

Calreticulin Interacts with C/EBPα and C/EBPβ mRNAs and Represses Translation of C/EBP Proteins

ABSTRACT We previously identified an RNA binding protein, CUGBP1, which binds to GCN repeats located within the 5′ region of C/EBPβ mRNAs and regulates translation of C/EBPβ isoforms. To further investigate the role of RNA binding proteins in the posttranscriptional control of C/EBP proteins, we purified additional RNA binding proteins that interact with GC-rich RNAs and that may regulate RNA processing. In HeLa cells, the majority of GC-rich RNA binding proteins are associated with endogenous RNA transcripts. The separation of these proteins from endogenous RNA identified several proteins in addition to CUGBP1 that specifically interact with the GC-rich 5′ region of C/EBPβ mRNA. One of these proteins was purified to homogeneity and was identified as calreticulin (CRT). CRT is a multifunctional protein involved in several biological processes, including interaction with and regulation of rubella virus RNA processing. Our data demonstrate that both CUGBP1 and CRT interact with GCU repeats within myotonin protein kinase and with GCN repeats within C/EBPα and C/EBPβ mRNAs. GCN repeats within these mRNAs form stable SL structures. The interaction of CRT with SL structures of C/EBPβ and C/EBPα mRNAs leads to inhibition of translation of C/EBP proteins in vitro and in vivo. Deletions or mutations abolishing the formation of SL structures within C/EBPα and C/EBPβ mRNAs lead to a failure of CRT to inhibit translation of C/EBP proteins. CRT-dependent inhibition of C/EBPα is sufficient to block the growth-inhibitory activity of C/EBPα. This finding further defines the molecular mechanism for posttranscriptional regulation of the C/EBPα and C/EBPβ proteins.

C/EBPα triggers proteasome‐dependent degradation of cdk4 during growth arrest

CCAAT/enhancer binding protein alpha (C/EBPα) causes growth arrest via direct interaction with the cyclin‐dependent kinases cdk2 and cdk4. In this paper, we present evidence showing that C/EBPα enhances a proteasome‐dependent degradation of cdk4 during growth arrest in liver of newborn mice and in cultured cells. Overexpression of C/EBPα in several biological systems leads to a reduction of cdk4 protein levels, but not mRNA levels. Experiments with several tissue culture models reveal that C/EBPα enhances the formation of cdk4–ubiquitin conjugates and induces degradation of cdk4 through a proteasome‐dependent pathway. As a result, the half‐life of cdk4 is shorter and protein levels of cdk4 are reduced in cells expressing C/EBPα. Gel filtration analysis of cdk4 complexes shows that a chaperone complex cdk4–cdc37–Hsp90, which protects cdk4 from degradation, is abundant in proliferating livers that lack C/EBPα, but this complex is weak or undetectable in livers expressing C/EBPα. Our studies show that C/EBPα disrupts the cdk4–cdc37–Hsp90 complex via direct interaction with cdk4 and reduces protein levels of cdk4 by increasing proteasome‐dependent degradation of cdk4.

The reduction of SIRT1 in livers of old mice leads to impaired body homeostasis and to inhibition of liver proliferation

Age declines liver functions, leading to the development of age‐associated diseases. A member of the sirtuins family, SIRT1, is involved in the control of glucose homeostasis and fat metabolism. Because aging livers have alterations in glucose and fat metabolism, we examined a possible role of SIRT1 in these alterations. We found that aged livers have a reduced expression of SIRT1 and have lost proper control of the regulation of SIRT1 after partial hepatectomy (PH). Down‐regulation of SIRT1 in the liver of old mice is mediated by CCAAT/Enhancer Binding Protein/histone deacetylase 1 (C/EBPβ‐HDAC1) complexes, which bind to and repress the SIRT1 promoter. In the livers of young mice, SIRT1 is activated after PH and supports high levels of glucose and triglycerides during liver regeneration. In old mice, however, C/EBPβ‐HDAC1–mediated repression of the SIRT1 promoter blocks activation of SIRT1, leading to low levels of glucose and triglycerides during liver regeneration. Down‐regulation of SIRT1 in the livers of young mice resulted in alterations similar to those observed in the livers of old mice, whereas the normalization of SIRT1 in the livers of old mice corrects the levels of glucose and triglycerides after PH. The normalization of SIRT1 in old mice also improves liver regeneration via the elimination of the C/EBPα‐Brm complex. These studies showed a critical role of the reduction of SIRT1 in age‐associated liver dysfunctions and provide a potential tool for the correction of liver functions in old patients after surgical resections. (HEPATOLOGY 2011;)

Intracellular Signaling and Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Liver cancer is the fifth most common cancer and the third most common cause of cancer related death in the world. The recent development of new techniques for the investigations of global change in the gene expression, signaling pathways and wide genome binding has provided novel information for the mechanisms underlying liver cancer progression. Although these studies identified gene expression signatures in hepatocellular carcinoma, the early steps of the development of hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) are not well understood. The development of HCC is a multistep process which includes the progressive alterations of gene expression leading to the increased proliferation and to liver cancer. This review summarizes recent progress in the identification of the key steps of the development of HCC with the focus on early events of carcinogenesis and on the role of translational and epigenetic alterations in the development of HCC. Quiescent stage of the liver is supported by several tumor suppressor proteins including p53, Rb and C/EBPα. Studies with chemical models of liver carcinogenesis and with human HCC have shown that the elevation of gankyrin is responsible for the elimination of these three proteins at early steps of carcinogenesis. Later stages of progression of the liver cancer are associated with alterations in many signaling pathways including translation which leads to epigenetic silencing/activation of many genes. Particularly, recent reports suggest a critical role of histone deacetylase 1, HDAC1, in the development of HCC through the interactions with transcription factors such as C/EBP family proteins.

Elimination of C/EBPα through the ubiquitin-proteasome system promotes the development of liver cancer in mice

Despite significant advancements in our understanding of cancer development, the molecular mechanisms that underlie the formation of liver cancer remain largely unknown. C/EBPalpha is a transcription factor that regulates liver quiescence. Phosphorylation of C/EBPalpha at serine 193 (S193-ph) is upregulated in older mice and is thought to contribute to age-associated liver dysfunction. Because development of liver tumors is associated with increasing age, we investigated the role of S193-ph in the development of liver cancer using knockin mice expressing a phospho-mimetic aspartic acid residue in place of serine at position 193 (S193D) of C/EBPalpha. The S193D isoform of C/EBPalpha was able to completely inhibit liver proliferation in vivo after partial hepatectomy. However, treatment of these mice with diethylnitrosamine/phenobarbital (DEN/PB), which induces formation of liver cancer, actually resulted in earlier development of liver tumors. DEN/PB treatment was associated with specific degradation of both the S193-ph and S193D isoforms of C/EBPalpha through activation of the ubiquitinproteasome system (UPS). The mechanism of UPS-mediated elimination of C/EBPalpha during carcinogenesis involved elevated levels of gankyrin, a protein that was found to interact with the S193-ph isoform of C/EBPalpha and target it for UPS-mediated degradation. This study identifies a molecular mechanism that supports the development of liver cancer in older mice and potential therapeutic targets for the prevention of liver cancer.