Project description:Both p150 and p110 isoforms of ADAR1 convert adenosine to inosine in double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). ADAR1p150 suppresses the dsRNA-sensing mechanism that activates MDA5-MAVS-IFN signaling in the cytoplasm. In contrast, the biological function of the ADAR1p110 isoform, which is usually located in the nucleus, is largely unknown. Here, we show that stress-activated phosphorylation of ADAR1p110 by MKK6-p38-MSK MAP kinases promotes its binding to Exportin-5 and its export from the nucleus. After translocating to the cytoplasm, ADAR1p110 suppresses apoptosis in stressed cells by protecting many antiapoptotic gene transcripts that contain 3'-untranslated-region dsRNA structures primarily comprising inverted Alu repeats. ADAR1p110 competitively inhibits binding of Staufen1 to the 3'-untranslated-region dsRNAs and antagonizes Staufen1-mediated mRNA decay. Our study reveals a new stress-response mechanism in which human ADAR1p110 and Staufen1 regulate surveillance of a set of mRNAs required for survival of stressed cells.
Project description:Both p150 and p110 isoforms of ADAR1 convert adenosine to inosine in double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). The p150 isoform suppresses the dsRNA sensing mechanism that activates the interferon induction mediated by the MDA5-MAVS signaling. In contrast, the biological function of the p110 isoform localized in the nucleus remains largely unknown. Here we show that stress-activated phosphorylation of ADAR1p110 by MKK6/p38 MAP kinases promotes its binding to Exportin-5 and nuclear export to the cytoplasm. Once translocated to the cytoplasmic, ADAR1p110 suppresses apoptosis of stressed cells by protecting many anti-apoptotic gene transcripts that contain 3’UTR dsRNA structures such as those consisting of inverted Alu repeats. ADAR1p110 competitively inhibits binding of Staufen1 to the 3’UTR dsRNAs and antagonizes the Staufen1-mediated mRNA decay mechanism. Our studies revealed a new stress response mechanism regulated by MAP kinases, in which ADAR1p110 translocates to the cytoplasm and regulates a class of mRNAs required for survival of stressed cells.
Project description:The Bcl homology-3 (BH3)-only protein p53 upregulated modulator of apoptosis (PUMA) counters Bcl-2 family anti-apoptotic proteins and promotes apoptosis. Although PUMA is a key regulator of apoptosis, the post-transcriptional mechanisms that control PUMA protein stability are not understood. We show that a lysosome-independent activity of chloroquine (CQ) prevents degradation of PUMA protein, promotes apoptosis, and reduces the growth of melanoma xenografts in mice. Compared with wild-type PUMA, a BH3 domain-deleted PUMA protein showed impaired decay in melanoma cells. Fusion of the BH3 domain to a heterologous protein led to its rapid turnover that was inhibited by CQ. Although both CQ and inhibitors of lysosomal proteases stalled autophagy, only CQ stabilized PUMA protein and promoted apoptosis. Our results reveal a lysosomal protease-independent activity of CQ that selectively promotes apoptosis in melanoma cells.
Project description:Hepatocyte nuclear factor-4α (HNF4α, NR2A1) is a nuclear receptor which has a critical role in hepatocyte differentiation and the maintenance of homeostasis in the adult liver. However, a detailed understanding of native HNF4α in the steady state remains to be elucidated. Here we report the native HNF4α isoforms, phosphorylation status and complexes in the steady state, as shown by shotgun proteomics in HepG2 hepatocarcinoma cells. Shotgun proteomic analysis revealed the complexity of native HNF4α, including multiple phosphorylation sites and inter-isoform heterodimerization. The associating complexes identified by label-free semi-quantitative proteomic analysis include the following: the DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit, histone acetyltransferase complexes, mRNA splicing complex, other nuclear receptor coactivator complexes, the chromatin remodeling complex, and the nucleosome remodeling and histone deacetylation complex. Among the associating proteins, GRB10 interacting GYF protein 2 (GIGYF2, PERQ2) is a new candidate cofactor in metabolic regulation. Moreover, an unexpected heterodimerization of HNF4α and Hepatocyte nuclear factor-4γ was found. A biochemical and genome-wide analysis of transcriptional regulation showed that this heterodimerization activates gene transcription. The genes thus transcribed include the cell death-inducing DEF45-like effector b (CIDEB) gene, which is an important regulator of lipid metabolism in the liver. This suggests that the analysis of the distinctive stoichiometric balance of native HNF4α and its cofactor complexes described here is important for an accurate understanding of transcriptional regulation. siRNA-mediated HNF4alpha and HNF4gamma double knockdown in HepG2 cells were analysed by using the Affymetrix GeneChip system in tripricate.
Project description:Follistatin (FST) performs several vital functions in the cells, including protection from apoptosis during stress. The expression of FST is up-regulated in response to glucose deprivation by an unknown mechanism. We herein showed that the induction of FST by glucose deprivation was due to an increase in the half-life of its mRNA. We further identified an AU-rich element (ARE) in the 3'UTR of FST mRNA that mediated its decay. The expression of FST was elevated after knocking down AUF1 and reduced when AUF1 was further expressed. In vitro binding assays and RNA pull-down assays revealed that AUF1 interacted with FST mRNA directly via its ARE. During glucose deprivation, a majority of AUF1 shuttled from cytoplasm to nucleus, resulting in dissociation of AUF1 from FST mRNA and thus stabilization of FST mRNA. Finally, knockdown of AUF1 decreased whereas overexpression of AUF1 increased glucose deprivation-induced apoptosis. The apoptosis promoting effect of AUF1 was eliminated in FST expressing cells. Collectively, this study provided evidence that AUF1 is a negative regulator of FST expression and participates in the regulation of cell survival under glucose deprivation.
Project description:Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) is an mRNA surveillance mechanism that plays integral roles in eliminating mRNAs with premature termination codons to prevent the synthesis of truncated proteins that could be pathogenic. One response to the accumulation of detrimental proteins is apoptosis, which involves the activation of enzymatic pathways leading to protein and nucleic acid cleavage and culminating in cell death. It is not clear whether NMD is required to ensure the accurate expression of apoptosis genes or is no longer necessary since cytotoxic proteins are not an issue during cell death. The present study shows that caspases cleave the two NMD factors UPF1 and UPF2 during apoptosis impairing NMD. Our results demonstrate a new regulatory pathway for NMD that occurs during apoptosis and provide evidence for role of the UPF cleaved fragments in apoptosis and NMD inhibition.
Project description:Reversible protein phosphorylation is one of the most important posttranslational modifications (PTMs) due to its vital role in cellular functions and signaling pathways. Protein phosphorylation is also known to be involved in the regulation of apoptosis. Previously, we have performed a SILAC-based analysis of phosphotyrosinylation of cisplatin-induced apoptotic Jurkat T cells. To further expand this study, we used the same experimental setup and analyzed the global phosphorylation profile. The different steps of the phosphopeptide enrichment protocol using TiO2 beads were tested and the best approach was applied in combination with LC-MS with different normalized collision energy (NCE) values for HCD fragmentation. In total, more than 2,000 phosphoproteins of more than 4,000 phosphopeptides were identified in the four biological replicates of both states. HCD with NCE 25 accounted for 64% and NCE 35 for 36 % of identified phosphopeptides. 425 phosphopeptides were found to be significantly regulated in cisplatin-treated against control samples. KEGG pathway analysis revealed splicosomal proteins and the MAPK signaling pathway to be upregulated and cell cycle proteins to be downregulated. The transcription factors Atf2 and Jun, which are both involved in the MAPK signaling pathway, were further investigated. For Jun, more than 90 spectral counts were found only in apoptotic cells and covered the well-known stress induced phosphorylation sites at S-63/S-73, as well as S-243 which reduces the ability to bind DNA and is required for GSK3 mediated ubiquitinylation at S-239. For Atf2, more than 60 spectral counts were found in apoptotic cells vs. 8 in control cells. Most significantly upregulated sites for Atf2 have been identified at S-90 and S-112, which are less well studied phosphorylation sites of Atf2 as several other sites. Western blot analyses using non-phosphorylated and phosphorylated antibodies were performed to validate the phosphorylation events of Jun and Atf2. Our findings contribute to the current knowledge of the phosphorylation profiles of apoptotic cells.
Project description:The chemokine, CCL5, is a key mediator for the recruitment of immune cells into tumors and tissues. Akt/NF-?B signaling is significantly activated by CCL5. However, the role of NF-?B inactivation in apoptosis induced by negative regulation of CCL5 remains unclear. Here, we analyzed the effect of cordycepin on NF-?B activity in SKOV-3 cells and found that cordycepin-mediated inhibition of NF-?B signaling induced apoptosis in SKOV-3 cells via the serial activation of caspases. In addition, immune-blotting analysis showed that CCL5 is highly expressed in SKOV-3 cells. In addition to activating caspases, we show that, cordycepin prevents TNF-?-induced increase in CCL5, Akt, NF-?B, and c-FLIPL activation and that CCL5 siRNA could inhibit Akt/NF-?B signaling. Moreover, cordycepin negatively regulated the TNF-?-mediated I?B/NF-?B pathway and c-FLIPL activation to promote JNK phosphorylation, resulting in caspase-3 activation and apoptosis. Also, we show that c-FLIPL is rapidly lost in NF-?B activation-deficient. siRNA mediated c-FLIP inhibition increased JNK. SP600125, a selective JNK inhibitor, downregulated p-JNK expression in cordycepin-treated SKOV-3 cells, leading to suppression of cordycepin-induced apoptosis. Thus, these results indicate that cordycepin inhibits CCL5-mediated Akt/NF-?B signaling, which upregulates caspase-3 activation in SKOV-3 cells, supporting the potential of cordycepin as a therapeutic agent for ovarian cancer.
Project description:PurposeLenvatinib is a long-awaited alternative to Sorafenib for first-line targeted therapy of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, resistance to Lenvatinib results in tumor progression and has become a major obstacle to improving the prognosis of HCC patients. Exploring the mechanisms underlying Lenvatinib resistance is considered essential for the treatment of advanced HCC.MethodsLenvatinib resistant HCC (LR-HCC) cells were generated and potential long non-coding RNAs (Lnc-RNAs) upregulated in LR-HCC cells were identified by RNA sequencing. The effects of upregulated Lnc-RNAs were evaluated in vitro in cell models and in vivo in experimental animals using quantitative cell viability and apoptosis assays.ResultsWe found that Lnc-RNA MT1JP (MT1JP) was upregulated in LR-HCC cells and inhibited the apoptosis signaling pathway. In addition, we found that sponging of microRNA-24-3p by MT1JP released Bcl-2 like 2 (BCL2L2), an anti-apoptotic protein, thereby forming a positive-feedback loop. The role of this feedback loop was validated using rescue assays. Additionally, we found that upregulation of MT1JP and BCL2L2 impaired the sensitivity of HCC cells to Lenvatinib both vitro and vivo.ConclusionsOur results suggest a novel molecular feedback loop between MT1JP and apoptosis signaling in Lenvatinib sensitive HCC cells.
Project description:Anti-PD1 immunotherapy, as a single agent or in combination with standard chemotherapies, has significantly improved the outcome of many patients with cancers. However, resistance to anti-PD1 antibodies often decreases the long-term therapeutic benefits. Despite this observation in clinical practice, the molecular mechanisms associated with resistance to anti-PD1 antibody therapy have not yet been elucidated. To identify the mechanisms of resistance associated with anti-PD1 antibody therapy, we developed cellular models including purified T cells and different cancer cell lines from glioblastoma, lung adenocarcinoma, breast cancer and ovarian carcinoma. A murine model of lung cancer was also used. Longitudinal blood samples of patients treated with anti-PD1 therapy were also used to perform a proof-of-concept study of our findings. We found that anti-PD1 exposure of T-cell promotes an enrichment of exosomal miRNA-4315. We also noted that exosomal miRNA-4315 induced a phenomenon of apopto-resistance to conventional chemotherapies in cancer cells receiving exosomal miRNA-4315. At molecular level, we discern that the apopto-resistance phenomenon was associated with the miRNA-4315-mediated downregulation of Bim, a proapoptotic protein. In cellular and mice models, we observed that the BH3 mimetic agent ABT263 circumvented this resistance. A longitudinal study using patient blood showed that miRNA-4315 and cytochrome c can be used to define the time period during which the addition of ABT263 therapy may effectively increase cancer cell death and bypass anti-PD1 resistance.This work provides a blood biomarker (exosomal miRNA-4315) for patient stratification developing a phenomenon of resistance to anti-PD1 antibody therapy and also identifies a therapeutic alternative (the use of a BH3 mimetic drug) to limit this resistance phenomenon.