Bcl-xL promotes metastasis independent of its anti-apoptotic activity.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Choi S
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4735924 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Glioblastoma (GBM) is one of the cancers with the worst prognosis, despite huge efforts to understand its unusual heterogeneity and aggressiveness. This is mainly due to glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs), which are also responsible for the frequent tumor recurrence following surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy. In this study, we investigate the expression pattern of the anti-apoptotic BCL-xL protein in several GBM cell lines and the role it might play in GSC-enriched tumorspheres. We report that several GBM cell lines have an increased BCL-xL expression in tumorspheres compared to differentiated cells. Moreover, by artificially modulating BCL-xL expression, we unravel a correlation between BCL-xL and tumorsphere size. In addition, BCL-xL upregulation appears to sensitize GBM tumorspheres to newly developed BH3 mimetics, opening promising therapeutic perspectives for treating GBM patients.
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Project description:BackgroundNew therapeutic targets are needed to improve the outcomes for gastric cancer (GC) patients with advanced disease. Evasion of programmed cell death (apoptosis) is a hallmark of cancer cells and direct induction of apoptosis by targeting the pro-survival BCL2 family proteins represents a promising therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment. Therefore, understanding the molecular mechanisms underpinning cancer cell survival could provide a molecular basis for potential therapeutic interventions.MethodHere we explored the role of BCL2L1 and the encoded anti-apoptotic BCL-XL in GC. Using Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR) technology to investigate the DNA amplification of BCL2L1 in GC samples and GC cell lines, the sensitivity of GC cell lines to selective BCL-XL inhibitors A1155463 and A1331852, pan-inhibitor ABT-263, and VHL-based PROTAC-BCL-XL was analyzed using (CellTiter-Glo) CTG assay in vitro. Western Blot (WB) was used to detect the protein expression of BCL2 family members in GC cell lines and the manner in which PROTAC-BCL-XL kills GC cells. Co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) was used to investigate the mechanism of A1331852 and ABT-263 kills GC cell lines. DDPCR, WB, and real-time PCR (RTPCR) were used to investigate the correlation between DNA, RNA, protein levels, and drug activity.ResultsThe functional assay showed that a subset of GC cell lines relies on BCL-XL for survival. In gastric cancer cell lines, BCL-XL inhibitors A1155463 and A1331852 are more sensitive than the pan BCL2 family inhibitor ABT-263, indicating that ABT-263 is not an optimal inhibitor of BCL-XL. VHL-based PROTAC-BCL-XL DT2216 appears to be active in GC cells. DT2216 induces apoptosis of gastric cancer cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner through the proteasome pathway. Statistical analysis showed that the BCL-XL protein level predicts the response of GC cells to BCL-XL targeting therapy and BCL2L1 gene CNVs do not reliably predict BCL-XL expression.ConclusionWe identified BCL-XL as a promising therapeutic target in a subset of GC cases with high levels of BCL-XL protein expression. Functionally, we demonstrated that both selective BCL-XL inhibitors and VHL-based PROTAC BCL-XL can potently kill GC cells that are reliant on BCL-XL for survival. However, we found that BCL2L1 copy number variations (CNVs) cannot reliably predict BCL-XL expression, but the BCL-XL protein level serves as a useful biomarker for predicting the sensitivity of GC cells to BCL-XL-targeting compounds. Taken together, our study pinpointed BCL-XL as potential druggable target for specific subsets of GC.
| S-EPMC10272913 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Breast cancer is the most frequent type of cancer and the major cause of mortality in women. The rapid development of various therapeutic options has led to the improvement of treatment outcomes; nevertheless, one-third of estrogen receptor (ER)-positive patients relapse due to cancer cell acquired resistance. Here, we use dynamic BH3 profiling (DBP), a functional predictive assay that measures net changes in apoptotic priming, to find new effective treatments for ER+ breast cancer. We observed anti-apoptotic adaptations upon treatment that pointed to metronomic therapeutic combinations to enhance cytotoxicity and avoid resistance. Indeed, we found that the anti-apoptotic proteins BCL-xL and MCL-1 are crucial for ER+ breast cancer cells resistance to therapy, as they exert a dual inhibition of the pro-apoptotic protein BIM and compensate for each other. In addition, we identified the AKT inhibitor ipatasertib and two BH3 mimetics targeting these anti-apoptotic proteins, S63845 and A-1331852, as new potential therapies for this type of cancer. Therefore, we postulate the sequential inhibition of both proteins using BH3 mimetics as a new treatment option for refractory and relapsed ER+ breast cancer tumors.
| S-EPMC8304651 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundApoptosis is a tightly regulated process: cellular survive-or-die decisions cannot be accidental and must be unambiguous. Since the suicide program may be initiated in response to numerous stress stimuli, signals transmitted through a number of checkpoints have to be eventually integrated.ResultsIn order to analyze possible mechanisms of the integration of multiple pro-apoptotic signals, we constructed a simple model of the Bcl-2 family regulatory module. The module collects upstream signals and processes them into life-or-death decisions by employing interactions between proteins from three subgroups of the Bcl-2 family: pro-apoptotic multidomain effectors, pro-survival multidomain restrainers, and pro-apoptotic single domain BH3-only proteins. Although the model is based on ordinary differential equations (ODEs), it demonstrates that the Bcl-2 family module behaves akin to a Boolean logic gate of the type dependent on levels of BH3-only proteins (represented by Bad) and restrainers (represented by Bcl-xL). A low level of pro-apoptotic Bad or a high level of pro-survival Bcl-xL implies gate AND, which allows for the initiation of apoptosis only when two stress stimuli are simultaneously present: the rise of the p53 killer level and dephosphorylation of kinase Akt. In turn, a high level of Bad or a low level of Bcl-xL implies gate OR, for which any of these stimuli suffices for apoptosis.ConclusionsOur study sheds light on possible signal integration mechanisms in cells, and spans a bridge between modeling approaches based on ODEs and on Boolean logic. In the proposed scheme, logic gates switching results from the change of relative abundances of interacting proteins in response to signals and involves system bistability. Consequently, the regulatory system may process two analogous inputs into a digital survive-or-die decision.
| S-EPMC3750306 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Infection of mammalian cells with viruses often induces apoptosis. How the recognition of viruses leads to apoptosis of the infected cell and which host cell factors regulate this cell death is incompletely understood. In this study, we focussed on two major anti-apoptotic proteins of the host cell, whose abundance and activity are important for cell survival, the Bcl-2-like proteins Mcl-1 and Bcl-XL. During infection of epithelial cells and fibroblasts with modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA), Mcl-1 protein levels dropped but the MVA Bcl-2-like protein F1L could replace Mcl-1 functionally; a similar activity was found in vaccinia virus (VACV)-infected cells. During infection with murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV), Mcl-1-levels were not reduced but a viral Mcl-1-like activity was also generated. Infection of mouse macrophages with any of these viruses, on the other hand, induced apoptosis. Virus-induced macrophage apoptosis was unaltered in the absence of Mcl-1. However, apoptosis was substantially increased in infected Bcl-XL-deficient macrophages or macrophages treated with the Bcl-2/Bcl-XL-inhibitor ABT-737. Genetic loss of Bcl-XL or treatment of macrophages with ABT-737 reduced the generation of infectious VACV. These data show that Mcl-1 is dispensable for the regulation of apoptosis during infection with different large DNA viruses, either because the viruses replace its function (in fibroblasts and epithelial cells) or because the pro-apoptotic activity generated by the infection appears not to be blocked by it (in macrophages). Bcl-XL, on the other hand, can be important to maintain survival of virus-infected cells, and its activity can determine outcome of the infection.
| S-EPMC5108327 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Neuroblastoma is the most frequent extracranial solid tumor in children. Here, we report that the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib (PS-341, Velcade) activated the pro-apoptotic BH3-only proteins PMAIP1/Noxa and BBC3/Puma and induced accumulation of anti-apoptotic MCL1 as well as repression of anti-apoptotic BCL2L1/Bcl-xL. Retroviral expression of Bcl-xL, but not of MCL1, prevented apoptosis by bortezomib. Gene knockdown of Noxa by shRNA technology significantly reduced apoptosis, whereas Puma knockdown did not affect cell death kinetics. Immunoprecipitation revealed that endogenous Noxa associated with both, Bcl-xL and MCL1, suggesting that in neuronal cells Noxa can neutralize Bcl-xL, explaining the pronounced protective effect of Bcl-xL. Tetracycline-regulated Noxa expression did not trigger cell death per se but sensitized to bortezomib treatment in a dose-dependent manner. This implies that the induction of Noxa is necessary but not sufficient for bortezomib-induced apoptosis. We conclude that MCL1 steady-state expression levels do not affect sensitivity to proteasome-inhibitor treatment in neuronal tumor cells, and that both the repression of Bcl-xL and the activation of Noxa are necessary for bortezomib-induced cell death.
| S-EPMC2844140 | biostudies-other
Project description:PROteolysis-TArgeting Chimeras (PROTACs) have emerged as an innovative drug development platform. However, most PROTACs have been generated empirically because many determinants of PROTAC specificity and activity remain elusive. Through computational modelling of the entire NEDD8-VHL Cullin RING E3 ubiquitin ligase (CRLVHL)/PROTAC/BCL-xL/UbcH5B(E2)-Ub/RBX1 complex, we find that this complex can only ubiquitinate the lysines in a defined band region on BCL-xL. Using this approach to guide our development of a series of ABT263-derived and VHL-recruiting PROTACs, we generate a potent BCL-xL and BCL-2 (BCL-xL/2) dual degrader with significantly improved antitumor activity against BCL-xL/2-dependent leukemia cells. Our results provide experimental evidence that the accessibility of lysines on a target protein plays an important role in determining the selectivity and potency of a PROTAC in inducing protein degradation, which may serve as a conceptual framework to guide the future development of PROTACs.
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Project description:The differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into pancreatic cells involves cellular proliferation and apoptosis during cell fate transitions. However, their implications for establishing cellular identity are unclear. Here, we profiled the expression of BCL-2 family of proteins during pancreatic specification and observed an upregulation of BCL-xL, downregulation of BAK and corresponding downregulation of cleaved CASP3 representative of apoptosis. Experimental inhibition of BCL-xL reciprocally increased apoptosis and resulted in a decreased gene expression of pancreatic markers despite a compensatory increase in anti-apoptotic protein BCL-2. RNA-Seq analyses then revealed a downregulation of multiple metabolic genes upon inhibition of BCL-xL. Follow-up bioenergetics assays revealed broad downregulation of both glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation when BCL-xL was inhibited. Early perturbation of BCL-xL during pancreatic specification also had subsequent detrimental effects on the formation of INS+ pancreatic beta-like cells. In conclusion, the more differentiated pancreatic progenitors are dependent on anti-apoptotic BCL-xL for survival, whereas the less differentiated pancreatic progenitors that survived after WEHI-539 treatment would exhibit a more immature phenotype. Therefore, modulation of the expression level of BCL-xL can potentially increase the survival and robustness of pancreatic progenitors that ultimately define human pancreatic beta cell mass and function.
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Project description:The SOUL protein is known to induce apoptosis by provoking the mitochondrial permeability transition, and a sequence homologous with the BH3 (Bcl-2 homology 3) domains has recently been identified in the protein, thus making it a potential new member of the BH3-only protein family. In the present study, we provide NMR, SPR (surface plasmon resonance) and crystallographic evidence that a peptide spanning residues 147-172 in SOUL interacts with the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-xL. We have crystallized SOUL alone and the complex of its BH3 domain peptide with Bcl-xL, and solved their three-dimensional structures. The SOUL monomer is a single domain organized as a distorted β-barrel with eight anti-parallel strands and two α-helices. The BH3 domain extends across 15 residues at the end of the second helix and eight amino acids in the chain following it. There are important structural differences in the BH3 domain in the intact SOUL molecule and the same sequence bound to Bcl-xL.
| S-EPMC3174058 | biostudies-literature
Project description:By using human melanoma and glioblastoma cell lines and their derivative BCL-XL overexpressing clones, we investigated the role of BCL-XL in aggressive features of these two tumor histotypes. We found that in both models, BCL-XL overexpression increased in vitro cell migration and invasion and facilitated tumor cells to form de novo vasculogenic structures. Furthermore, BCL-XL overexpressing cells exhibited higher tumors sphere formation capacity and expressed higher levels of some stem cell markers, supporting the concept that BCL-XL plays essential roles in the maintenance of cancer stem cell phenotype. BCL-XL expression reduction by siRNA, the exposure to a BCL-XL-specific inhibitor and the use of a panel of human melanoma cell lines corroborated the evidence that BCL-XL regulates tumor progression-associated properties. Finally, the vascular markers and the vasculogenic mimicry were up-regulated in the BCL-XL overexpressing xenografts derived from both tumor histotypes. In conclusion, our work brings further support to the understanding of the malignant actions of BCL-XL and, in particular, to the concept that BCL-XL promotes stemness and contributes to the aggressiveness of both melanoma and glioblastoma.
| S-EPMC5870591 | biostudies-literature