Project description:Promyelocytic leukemia (PML) nuclear bodies (NBs) recruit partner proteins, including p53 and its regulators, thereby controlling their abundance or function. Investigating arsenic sensitivity of acute promyelocytic leukemia, we proposed that PML oxidation promotes NB biogenesis. However, physiological links between PML and oxidative stress response in vivo remain unexplored. Here, we identify PML as a reactive oxygen species (ROS) sensor. Pml-/- cells accumulate ROS, whereas PML expression decreases ROS levels. Unexpectedly, Pml-/- embryos survive acute glutathione depletion. Moreover, Pml-/- animals are resistant to acetaminophen hepatotoxicity or fasting-induced steatosis. Molecularly, Pml-/- animals fail to properly activate oxidative stress-responsive p53 targets, whereas the NRF2 response is amplified and accelerated. Finally, in an oxidative stress-prone background, Pml-/- animals display a longevity phenotype, likely reflecting decreased basal p53 activation. Thus, similar to p53, PML exerts basal antioxidant properties but also drives oxidative stress-induced changes in cell survival/proliferation or metabolism in vivo. Through NB biogenesis, PML therefore couples ROS sensing to p53 responses, shedding a new light on the role of PML in senescence or stem cell biology.
Project description:PML nuclear bodies (NBs) recruit partner proteins -including p53 and its regulators- controlling their abundance or function. Investigating arsenic sensitivity of acute promyelocytic leukemia, we proposed that PML oxidation promotes NB-biogenesis. Yet, physiological links between PML and oxidative stress response in vivo remain unexplored. Here we identify PML as a reactive oxygen species (ROS) sensor. Pml-/- cells accumulate ROS, while PML expression decreases ROS levels. Unexpectedly, Pml-/- embryos survive acute glutathione depletion. Moreover, Pml-/- animals are resistant to acetaminophen hepatotoxicity or fasting-induced steatosis. Molecularly, Pml-/- animals fail to properly activate oxidative stress-responsive p53 targets, while NRF2 response is accelerated. Finally, in an oxidative stress-prone background, Pml-/- animals display a longevity phenotype, likely reflecting decreased basal p53 activation. Thus, similar to p53, PML exerts basal anti-oxidant properties, but also drives oxidative stress-induced changes in cell survival/proliferation or metabolism in vivo. Through NB-biogenesis, PML therefore couples ROS-sensing to p53 responses, shedding a new light on PML role in senescence or stem cell biology.
Project description:Activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3) is rapidly induced by diverse environmental insults including genotoxic stress. We report herein that its interaction with p53, enhanced by genotoxic stress, stabilizes the tumor suppressor thereby augmenting functions of the latter. Overexpression of ATF3 (but not a mutated ATF3 protein (Delta102-139) devoid of its p53-binding region) prevents p53 from MDM2-mediated degradation and leads to increased transcription from p53-regulated promoters. ATF3, but not the Delta102-139 protein, binds the p53 carboxy-terminus and diminishes its ubiquitination and nuclear export. Genotoxic-stressed ATF3-null mouse embryonic fibroblasts, or cells in which ATF3 was reduced by small interference RNA, show inefficient p53 induction and impaired apoptosis compared with wild-type cells. ATF3-null cells (but not wild-type cells), which poorly accumulate p53, are transformed by oncogenic Ras. Thus, ATF3 is a novel stress-activated regulator of p53 protein stability/function providing the cell with a means of responding to a wide range of environmental insult, thus maintaining DNA integrity and protecting against cell transformation.
Project description:Ankyrin repeat-rich membrane spanning (ARMS) plays roles in neural development, neuropathies, and tumor formation. Such pleiotropic function of ARMS is often attributed to diverse ARMS-interacting molecules in different cell context. However, it might be achieved by ARMS' effect on global biological mediator like reactive oxygen species (ROS). We established ARMS-knockdown in melanoma cells (siARMS) and in Drosophila eyes (GMR>dARMS RNAi ) and challenged them with H2O2. Decreased ARMS in both systems compromises nuclear translocation of NF-κB and induces ROS, which in turn augments autophagy flux and confers susceptibility to H2O2-triggered autophagic cell death. Resuming NF-κB activity or reducing ROS by antioxidants in siARMS cells and GMR>dARMS RNAi fly decreases intracellular peroxides level concurrent with reduced autophagy and attenuated cell death. Conversely, blocking NF-κB activity in wild-type flies/melanoma enhances ROS and induces autophagy with cell death. We thus uncover intracellular ROS modulated by ARMS-NFκB signaling primes autophagy for autophagic cell death upon oxidative stress.
Project description:Non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma (NTAPP) is an ionized gas at room temperature and has potential as a new apoptosis-promoting cancer therapy that acts by generating reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, it is imperative to determine its selectivity and standardize the components and composition of NTAPP. Here, we designed an NTAPP-generating apparatus combined with a He gas feeding system and demonstrated its high selectivity toward p53-mutated cancer cells. We first determined the proper conditions for NTAPP exposure to selectively induce apoptosis in cancer cells. The apoptotic effect of NTAPP was greater for p53-mutated cancer cells; artificial p53 expression in p53-negative HT29 cells decreased the pro-apoptotic effect of NTAPP. We also examined extra- and intracellular ROS levels in NTAPP-treated cells to deduce the mechanism of NTAPP action. While NTAPP-mediated increases in extracellular nitric oxide (NO) did not affect cell viability, intracellular ROS increased under NTAPP exposure and induced apoptotic cell death. This effect was dose-dependently reduced following treatment with ROS scavengers. NTAPP induced apoptosis even in doxorubicin-resistant cancer cell lines, demonstrating the feasibility of NTAPP as a potent cancer therapy. Collectively, these results strongly support the potential of NTAPP as a selective anticancer treatment, especially for p53-mutated cancer cells.