Project description:Cancer cell motility and invasiveness are fundamental characteristics of the malignant phenotype and are regulated through diverse signaling networks involving kinases and transcription factors. In this study, we identify a nuclear hormone receptor (ERα)-protein kinase (ERK5)-cofilin (CFL1) network that specifies the degree of breast cancer cell aggressiveness through coupling of actin reorganization and hormone receptor-mediated transcription. Using dominant negative and constitutively active forms, as well as small molecule inhibitors of ERK5 and MEK5, we show that hormone activation of estrogen receptor-α determines the nuclear versus cytoplasmic localization of the MAPK family member ERK5, which functions as a coregulator of ERα-gene transcription. Notably, ERK5 works with the actin remodeling protein, CFL1, and upon hormone exposure both became localized to transcription factories in the nucleus, verified by immunofluorescence and proximity ligation assays. Both factors facilitated PAF1 recruitment to the RNA Pol II complex and both ERK5 and CFL1 were required for regulation of gene transcription. By contrast, in cells lacking ERα, ERK5 and CFL1 localized to cytoplasmic membrane regions of high actin remodeling, promoting cell motility and invasion, thereby revealing a mechanism likely to contribute to the generally poorer prognosis of ERα-negative breast cancers. Our study uncovers the dynamic interplay of nuclear receptor-mediated transcription and actin reorganization in phenotypes of breast cancer aggressiveness, and highlights new prognostic biomarkers and suggests novel approaches for developing targeted therapies to moderate cancer aggressiveness. MCF-7 human breast adenocarcinoma cells were tranfected with control, and ERK5 siRNA for 72 hours and treated with 0.1% EtOH (Vehicle) or 10 nM E2 for 24 hours, and cDNA microarray analyses were carried out using Affymetrix [HG-U133A_2] Affymetrix Human Genome U133A 2.0 Array. siRNA knock-down, ligand treatment

Project description:Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder affecting mainly the dopaminergic neurons of the nigrostriatal pathway, a neuronal circuit involved in the control of movements, thereby the main manifestations correspond to motor impairments. The major molecular hallmark of this disease corresponds to the presence of pathological protein inclusions called Lewy bodies in the midbrain of patients, which have been extensively associated with neurotoxic effects. Importantly, different research groups have demonstrated that CD4+ T-cells infiltrate into the substantia nigra of PD patients and animal models. Moreover, several studies have consistently demonstrated that T-cell deficiency results in a strong attenuation of dopaminergic neurodegeneration in animal models of PD, thus indicating a key role of adaptive immunity in the neurodegenerative process. Recent evidence has shown that CD4+ T-cell response involved in PD patients is directed to oxidised forms of ?-synuclein, one of the main constituents of Lewy bodies. On the other hand, most PD patients present a number of non-motor manifestations. Among non-motor manifestations, gastrointestinal dysfunctions result especially important as potential early biomarkers of PD, since they are ubiquitously found among confirmed patients and occur much earlier than motor symptoms. These gastrointestinal dysfunctions include constipation and inflammation of the gut mucosa and the most distinctive pathologic features associated are the loss of neurons of the enteric nervous system and the generation of Lewy bodies in the gut. Moreover, emerging evidence has recently shown a pivotal role of gut microbiota in triggering the development of PD in genetically predisposed individuals. Of note, PD has been positively correlated with inflammatory bowel diseases, a group of disorders involving a T-cell driven inflammation of gut mucosa, which is strongly dependent in the composition of gut microbiota. Here we raised the hypothesis that T-cell driven inflammation, which mediates dopaminergic neurodegeneration in PD, is triggered in the gut mucosa. Accordingly, we discuss how structural components of commensal bacteria or how different mediators produced by gut-microbiota, including short-chain fatty acids and dopamine, may affect the behaviour of T-cells, triggering the development of T-cell responses against Lewy bodies, initially confined to the gut mucosa but later extended to the brain.

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ERK5 is a critical mediator of inflammation-driven cancer.

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ERK5 is a critical mediator of inflammation-driven cancer.

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