ULK1 inhibition promotes oxidative stress-induced differentiation and sensitizes leukemic stem cells to targeted therapy.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Ianniciello A
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7612079 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Similar Datasets
Project description:Reactive oxygen species (ROS) may cause cellular damage and oxidative stress-induced cell death. Autophagy, an evolutionarily conserved intracellular catabolic process, is executed by autophagy (ATG) proteins, including the autophagy initiation kinase Unc-51-like kinase (ULK1)/ATG1. Although autophagy has been implicated to have both cytoprotective and cytotoxic roles in the response to ROS, the role of individual ATG proteins, including ULK1, remains poorly characterized. In this study, we demonstrate that ULK1 sensitizes cells to necrotic cell death induced by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Moreover, we demonstrate that ULK1 localizes to the nucleus and regulates the activity of the DNA damage repair protein poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) in a kinase-dependent manner. By enhancing PARP1 activity, ULK1 contributes to ATP depletion and death of H2O2-treated cells. Our study provides the first evidence of an autophagy-independent prodeath role for nuclear ULK1 in response to ROS-induced damage. On the basis of our data, we propose that the subcellular distribution of ULK1 has an important role in deciding whether a cell lives or dies on exposure to adverse environmental or intracellular conditions.
| S-EPMC4716304 | biostudies-literature
Project description:JunD regulates genes involved in antioxidant defence. We took advantage of the chronic oxidative stress resulting from junD deletion to examine the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in tumour development. In a model of mammary carcinogenesis, junD inactivation increased tumour incidence and revealed an associated reactive stroma. junD-inactivation in the stroma was sufficient to shorten tumour-free survival rate and enhance metastatic spread. ROS promoted conversion of fibroblasts into highly migrating myofibroblasts through accumulation of the hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1alpha transcription factor and the CXCL12 chemokine. Accordingly, treatment with an antioxidant reduced the levels of HIF and CXCL12 and numerous myofibroblast features. CXCL12 accumulated in the stroma of HER2-human breast adenocarcinomas. Moreover, HER2 tumours exhibited a high proportion of myofibroblasts, which was significantly correlated to nodal metastases. Interestingly, this subset of tumours exhibited a significant nuclear exclusion of JunD and revealed an associated oxido-reduction signature, further demonstrating the relevance of our findings in human cancers. Collectively, our data uncover a new mechanism by which oxidative stress increases the migratory properties of stromal fibroblasts, which in turn potentiate tumour dissemination.
| S-EPMC3377319 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The present study investigated the role of autophagy, a cellular self-digestion process, in the cytotoxicity of antileukemic drug cytarabine towards human leukemic cell lines (REH, HL-60, MOLT-4) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells from leukemic patients. The induction of autophagy was confirmed by acridine orange staining of intracellular acidic vesicles, electron microscopy visualization of autophagic vacuoles, as well as by the increase in autophagic proteolysis and autophagic flux, demonstrated by immunoblot analysis of p62 downregulation and LC3-I conversion to autophagosome-associated LC3-II in the presence of proteolysis inhibitors, respectively. Moreover, the expression of autophagy-related genes Atg4, Atg5 and Atg7 was stimulated by cytarabine in REH cells. Cytarabine reduced the phosphorylation of the major negative regulator of autophagy, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), and its downstream target p70S6 kinase in REH cells, which was associated with downregulation of mTOR activator Akt and activation of extracellular signal- regulated kinase. Cytarabine had no effect on the activation of mTOR inhibitor AMP-activated protein kinase. Leucine, an mTOR activator, reduced both cytarabine-induced autophagy and cytotoxicity. Accordingly, pharmacological downregulation of autophagy with bafilomycin A1 and chloroquine, or RNA interference-mediated knockdown of LC3? or p62, markedly increased oxidative stress, mitochondrial depolarization, caspase activation and subsequent DNA fragmentation and apoptotic death in cytarabine-treated REH cells. Cytarabine also induced mTOR-dependent cytoprotective autophagy in HL-60 and MOLT-4 leukemic cell lines, as well as primary leukemic cells, but not normal leukocytes. These data suggest that the therapeutic efficiency of cytarabine in leukemic patients could be increased by the inhibition of the mTOR-dependent autophagic response.
| S-EPMC3979773 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Although cancer stem cells (CSC) have been implicated in the development of resistance to anti-cancer therapy including chemotherapy, the mechanisms underlying chemo-resistance by CSC have not yet been elucidated. We herein isolated sphere-forming (cancer stem-like) cells from the cervical cancer cell line, SiHa, and examined the unfolded protein reaction (UPR) to chemotherapeutic-induced endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. We revealed that tunicamycin-induced ER stress-mediated apoptosis occurred in monolayer, but not sphere-forming cells. Biochemical assays demonstrated that sphere-forming cells were shifted to pro-survival signaling through the inactivation of IRE1 (XBP-1 splicing) and activation of PERK (elF2? phosphorylation) branches under tunicamycin-induced ER stress conditions. The proportion of apoptotic cells among sphere-forming cells was markedly increased by the tunicamycin+PERK inhibitor (PERKi) treatment, indicating that PERKi sensitized sphere-forming cells to tunicamycin-induced apoptosis. Cisplatin is also known to induce ER stress-mediated apoptosis. A low concentration of cisplatin failed to shift sphere-forming cells to apoptosis, although IRE1 branch, but not PERK, was activated. ER stress-mediated apoptosis occurred in sphere-forming cells by the cisplatin+IRE1? inhibitor (IRE1i) treatment. IRE1i, synergistic with cisplatin, up-regulated elF2? phosphorylation, and this was followed by the induction of CHOP in sphere-forming cells. The results of the present study demonstrated that the inhibition of ER stress sensors, combined with ER stress-inducible chemotherapy, shifted cancer stem-like cells to ER stress-mediated apoptosis.
| S-EPMC5239519 | biostudies-literature
Project description:In response to stress, cancer cells generate nutrients and energy through a cellular recycling process called autophagy, which can promote survival and tumor progression. Accordingly, autophagy inhibition has emerged as a potential cancer treatment strategy. Inhibitors targeting ULK1, an essential and early autophagy regulator, have provided proof of concept for targeting this kinase to inhibit autophagy; however, these are limited individually in their potency, selectivity, or cellular activity. In this study, we report two small molecule ULK1 inhibitors, ULK-100 and ULK-101, and establish superior potency and selectivity over a noteworthy published inhibitor. Moreover, we show that ULK-101 suppresses autophagy induction and autophagic flux in response to different stimuli. Finally, we use ULK-101 to demonstrate that ULK1 inhibition sensitizes KRAS mutant lung cancer cells to nutrient stress. ULK-101 represents a powerful molecular tool to study the role of autophagy in cancer cells and to evaluate the therapeutic potential of autophagy inhibition.
| S-EPMC6172447 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Development of targeted therapies for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an unmet medical need. Cisplatin has demonstrated its promising potential for the treatment of TNBC in clinical trials; however, cisplatin treatment is associated with hypoxia that, in turn, promotes cancer stem cell (CSC) enrichment and drug resistance. Therapeutic approaches to attenuate this may lead to increased cisplatin efficacy in the clinic for the treatment of TNBC. In this report we analyzed clinical datasets of TNBC and found that TNBC patients possessed higher levels of EGFR and hypoxia gene expression. A similar expression pattern was also observed in cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cells. We, thus, developed a new therapeutic approach to inhibit EGFR and hypoxia by combination treatment with metformin and gefitinib that sensitized TNBC cells to cisplatin and led to the inhibition of both CD44+/CD24- and ALDH+ CSCs. We demonstrated a similar inhibition efficacy on organotypic cultures of TNBC patient samples ex vivo. Since these drugs have already been used frequently in the clinic; this study illustrates a novel, clinically translatable therapeutic approach to treat patients with TNBC.
| S-EPMC7461107 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Metallothioneins (MTs) are intracellular cysteine-rich proteins, and their expressions are enhanced under stress conditions. MTs are recognized as having the ability to regulate redox balance in living organisms; however, their role in regulating osteoblast differentiation is still unclear. In this research, we found that the expression of MT3, one member of the MT protein family, was specifically upregulated in the differentiation process of C2C12 myoblasts treated with bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4). Transfection with MT3-overexpressing plasmids in C2C12 cells enhanced their differentiation to osteoblasts, together with upregulating the protein expression of bone specific transcription factors runt-related gene 2 (Runx2), Osterix, and distal-less homeobox 5 (Dlx5). Additionally, MT3 knockdown performed the opposite. Further studies revealed that overexpression of MT3 decreased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in C2C12 cells treated with BMP4, and MT3 silencing enhanced ROS production. Treating C2C12 cells with antioxidant N-acetylcysteine also promoted osteoblast differentiation, and upregulated Runx2/Osterix/Dlx5, while ROS generator antimycin A treatment performed the opposite. Finally, antimycin A treatment inhibited osteoblast differentiation and Runx2/Osterix/Dlx5 expression in MT3-overexpressing C2C12 cells. These findings identify the role of MT3 in osteoblast differentiation and indicate that MT3 may have interesting potential in the field of osteogenesis research.
| S-EPMC8122383 | biostudies-literature
Project description:AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a metabolic stress-sensing enzyme responsible for maintaining cellular energy homeostasis. Activation of AMPK by salicylate and the thienopyridone A-769662 is critically dependent on phosphorylation of Ser108 in the ?1 regulatory subunit. Here, we show a possible role for Ser108 phosphorylation in cell cycle regulation and promotion of pro-survival pathways in response to energy stress. We identify the autophagy initiator Unc-51-like kinase 1 (ULK1) as a ?1-Ser108 kinase in cells. Cellular ?1-Ser108 phosphorylation by ULK1 was dependent on AMPK ?-subunit myristoylation, metabolic stress associated with elevated AMP/ATP ratio, and the intrinsic energy sensing capacity of AMPK; features consistent with an AMP-induced myristoyl switch mechanism. We further demonstrate cellular AMPK signaling independent of activation loop Thr172 phosphorylation, providing potential insight into physiological roles for Ser108 phosphorylation. These findings uncover new mechanisms by which AMPK could potentially maintain cellular energy homeostasis independently of Thr172 phosphorylation.AMPK is involved in sensing of metabolic stress. The authors show that the autophagy initiator ULK1 phosphorylates ?1-Ser108 on the regulatory ?1-subunit, sensitizing AMPK to allosteric drugs, and activates signaling pathways that appear independent of Thr172 phosphorylation in the kinase activation loop.
| S-EPMC5603566 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Administration of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) after myocardial infarction (MI) results in modest functional improvements. However; the effect of microenvironment changes after MI, such as elevated levels of oxidative stress on cardiogenic gene expression of MSCs, remains unclear.MSCs were isolated from the bone marrow of adult rats and treated for 1 week with H2O2 (0.1 to 100 ?M) or 48 hours with glucose oxidase (GOX; 0 to 5 mU/ml) to mimic long-term pulsed or short-term continuous levels of H2O2, respectively.In 100 ?M H2O2 or 5 mU/ml GOX-treated MSCs, mRNA expression of selected endothelial genes (Flt1, vWF, PECAM1), and early cardiac marker (nkx2-5, ?MHC) increased significantly, whereas early smooth muscle markers (smooth muscle ?-actin and sm22?) and fibroblast marker vimentin decreased, as measured with real-time PCR. Interestingly, mRNA expression and activity of the cell-surface receptor Notch1 were significantly increased, as were its downstream targets, Hes5 and Hey1. Co-treatment of MSCs with 100 ?M H2O2 and a ?-secretase inhibitor that prevents Notch signaling abrogated the increase in cardiac and endothelial genes, while augmenting the decrease in smooth muscle markers. Further, on GOX treatment, a significant increase in Wnt11, a downstream target of Notch1, was observed. Similar results were obtained with adult rat cardiac-derived progenitor cells.These data suggest that H2O2- or GOX-mediated oxidative stress upregulates Notch1 signaling, which promotes cardiogenic gene expression in adult stem/progenitor cells, possibly involving Wnt11. Modulating the balance between Notch activation and H2O2-mediated oxidative stress may lead to improved adult stem cell-based therapies for cardiac repair and regeneration.
| S-EPMC3706823 | biostudies-other
Project description:Cannabinoids induce apoptosis on glioma cells via stimulation of ceramide synthesis de novo, whereas they do not affect viability of primary astrocytes. In the present study, we show that incubation with Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol did not induce accumulation of ceramide on astrocytes, although incubation of these cells in a serum-free medium (with or without cannabinoids) led to stimulation of ceramide synthesis de novo and sensitization to oxidative stress. Thus treatment with H2O2 induced apoptosis of 5-day-serum-deprived astrocytes and this effect was abrogated by pharmacological blockade of ceramide synthesis de novo. The sensitizing effect of ceramide accumulation may depend on p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase activation rather than on other ceramide targets. Finally, a protective role of cannabinoids on astrocytes is shown as a long-term incubation with cannabinoids prevented H2O2-induced loss of viability in a CB1 receptor-dependent manner. In summary, our results show that whereas challenge of glioma cells with cannabinoids induces accumulation of de novo -synthesized ceramide and apoptosis, long-term treatment of astrocytes with these compounds does not stimulate this pathway and also abrogates the sensitizing effects of ceramide accumulation.
| S-EPMC1224177 | biostudies-other