Project description:The NF-κB pathway is a critical regulator of the immune system and has been implicated in cellular transformation and tumorigenesis. NF-κB response is regulated by the activation state of the IκB kinase (IKK) complex and triggered by a wide spectrum of stimuli. We previously reported that NF-κB is downstream of Notch1 in T cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL), however both the mechanisms involving Notch1-induced NF-κB activation and the potential importance of NF-κB in the maintenance of the disease are unknown. Here we visualize Notch-induced NF-κB activation using both human T-ALL cell lines and animal models of this type of leukemia. We show that it is not Notch1 itself but Hes1, a canonical Notch target, the responsible for sustaining IKK activation in T-ALL. Hes1 exerts its effects by a direct transcriptional repression of the deubiquitinating enzyme CYLD, a well-characterized IKK inhibitor. Consistently, CYLD expression is significantly reduced in primary T-ALL leukemias. Finally, we demonstrate that IKK complex inhibition is a promising option for the targeted therapy of T-ALL as suppression of IKK function affected both the survival of human T-ALL cells in vitro and the maintenance of the disease in vivo. Transcriptional consequences of NF-kB inactivation in human T-ALL1 cell line
Project description:Notch signaling plays both oncogenic and tumor suppressor roles, depending on cell type. In contrast to T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), where Notch activation promotes leukemogenesis, induction of Notch signaling in B-ALL leads to growth arrest and apoptosis. The Notch target Hairy/Enhancer of Split1 (HES1) is sufficient to reproduce this tumor suppressor phenotype in B-ALL, however the mechanism is not yet known. Here we report that HES1 regulates pro-apoptotic signals via the novel interacting protein Poly ADP-Ribose Polymerase1 (PARP1) in a cell type-specific manner. The interaction of HES1 with PARP1 inhibits HES1 function, induces PARP1 activation and results in PARP1 cleavage in B-ALL. HES1-induced PARP1 activation leads to self-ADP ribosylation of PARP1, consumption of NAD+, diminished ATP levels, and translocation of the Apoptosis Inducing Factor (AIF) from mitochondria to the nucleus, resulting in apoptosis in B-ALL, but not T-ALL. Importantly, induction of Notch signaling via the Notch agonist peptide DSL can reproduce these events and leads to BALL apoptosis. The novel interaction of HES1 and PARP1 in B-ALL modulates the function of the HES1 transcriptional complex and signals through PARP1 to induce apoptosis. This mechanism reveals a cell type-specific pro-apoptotic pathway which may lead to Notch agonist-based cancer therapeutics. Study involved the gene expression profiling of human acute lymphoblastic leukemia samples, and comparison of the levels of expression NOTCH1 pathway genes and targets across ALL subtypes
Project description:The NF-M-NM-:B pathway is a critical regulator of the immune system and has been implicated in cellular transformation and tumorigenesis. NF-M-NM-:B response is regulated by the activation state of the IM-NM-:B kinase (IKK) complex and triggered by a wide spectrum of stimuli. We previously reported that NF-M-NM-:B is downstream of Notch1 in T cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL), however both the mechanisms involving Notch1-induced NF-M-NM-:B activation and the potential importance of NF-M-NM-:B in the maintenance of the disease are unknown. Here we visualize Notch-induced NF-M-NM-:B activation using both human T-ALL cell lines and animal models of this type of leukemia. We show that it is not Notch1 itself but Hes1, a canonical Notch target, the responsible for sustaining IKK activation in T-ALL. Hes1 exerts its effects by a direct transcriptional repression of the deubiquitinating enzyme CYLD, a well-characterized IKK inhibitor. Consistently, CYLD expression is significantly reduced in primary T-ALL leukemias. Finally, we demonstrate that IKK complex inhibition is a promising option for the targeted therapy of T-ALL as suppression of IKK function affected both the survival of human T-ALL cells in vitro and the maintenance of the disease in vivo. Transcriptional consequences of NF-kB inactivation in human T-ALL1 cell line Twenty samples were analyzed: human T-ALL, CEM, KOPT-K, DND41, HPB-ALL cells lines have been treated at 100uM for 16 hours with control peptide or IKKM-NM-3 Nemo binding domain (NBD) inhibitory peptide, that specifically block the canonical NF-M-NM-:B activity by disrupting the interaction of IKKM-NM-3 to IKKM-NM-2 and IKKM-NM-1
Project description:Notch signaling plays both oncogenic and tumor suppressor roles, depending on cell type. In contrast to T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), where Notch activation promotes leukemogenesis, induction of Notch signaling in B-ALL leads to growth arrest and apoptosis. The Notch target Hairy/Enhancer of Split1 (HES1) is sufficient to reproduce this tumor suppressor phenotype in B-ALL, however the mechanism is not yet known. Here we report that HES1 regulates pro-apoptotic signals via the novel interacting protein Poly ADP-Ribose Polymerase1 (PARP1) in a cell type-specific manner. The interaction of HES1 with PARP1 inhibits HES1 function, induces PARP1 activation and results in PARP1 cleavage in B-ALL. HES1-induced PARP1 activation leads to self-ADP ribosylation of PARP1, consumption of NAD+, diminished ATP levels, and translocation of the Apoptosis Inducing Factor (AIF) from mitochondria to the nucleus, resulting in apoptosis in B-ALL, but not T-ALL. Importantly, induction of Notch signaling via the Notch agonist peptide DSL can reproduce these events and leads to BALL apoptosis. The novel interaction of HES1 and PARP1 in B-ALL modulates the function of the HES1 transcriptional complex and signals through PARP1 to induce apoptosis. This mechanism reveals a cell type-specific pro-apoptotic pathway which may lead to Notch agonist-based cancer therapeutics.
Project description:In this study, we describe a novel relationship between glioblastoma CSCs and the Notch pathway, which involves the constitutive activation of STAT3 and NF-κB signaling. We demonstrate that adherent glioma CSCs exhibit characteristics previously described for CSCs grown in suspension culture. The expression of CD133, Sox2 and Nestin increased when compared to glioma cells grown in monolayer, and the adherent CSCs were ~100 times more tumorigenic in vivo than monolayer cultured glioma cells. We also found that while the STAT3 and NF-κB signaling pathways are constitutively activated in glioma lines, these pathways are dramatically activated in glioma CSCs. Treatment with STAT3 inhibitors led to a loss of nuclear activation of STAT3 signaling and suppression of growth in both monolayer and CSC conditions. There was a markedly greater growth suppressive effect on glioma CSCs, suggesting that targeted therapy of these key pathways in glioma CSCs may be possible. To further investigate potential biomarkers in glioma CSCs, microarray analysis was performed and revealed deregulation of the Notch signaling pathway. This constitutive activation of STAT3, NF-κB, and Notch pathways in glioma CSCs helps identify novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of glioma. GBM6 cells were continuously maintained as subcutaneous xenografts in NSG mice, and monolayer and CSC cultures were derived from freshly harvested tumor tissue. A total of 6 samples were subjected to microarray analysis, with three biological replicates for each experimental condition.
Project description:The model was constructed to describe TLR4 induced NF-κB activation in native bone marrow-derived macrophages. It included processes of ligand (lipopolysaccharide) recognition, formation of dimer receptor complex and further signal transduction through TRAF6/TAK1 complex that leads to the activation of IKKα/β kinase, which in turn enables the NF-κB transcription factor phosphorylation and translocation in the cell nucleus, and induction of IkB and WIP1 (as an example of induced protein that promotes NF-κB dephosphorylation 2) gene transcription. Models were based on the current knowledge of TLR signaling framework, protein interactions within the TLR4 pathway, and up-to-date mathematical models describing Toll receptor activation.
The major important additions were made to TLR4 signaling description:
1) Receptor dimerization process
2) The existence of a basal nuclear NF-κB level (translocation)
3) NF-κB phosphorylation by IKK complex
Project description:Notch signaling regulates several cellular processes including cell fate decisions and proliferation in both invertebrates and mice. However, comparatively less is known about the role of Notch during early human development. Here, we examined the function of Notch signaling during hematopoietic lineage specification from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) of both embryonic and adult fibroblast origin. Using immobilized Notch ligands and siRNA to Notch receptors we have demonstrated that Notch1, but not Notch2 activation, induced HES1 expression and generation of committed hematopoietic progenitors. Using gain and loss of function approaches, this was shown to be attributed to Notch signaling regulation through HES1, that dictated cell fate decisions from bipotent precursors either to the endothelial or hematopoietic lineages at the clonal level. Our study reveals a previously unappreciated role for the Notch pathway during early human hematopoiesis, whereby Notch signaling via HES1 represents a toggle switch of hematopoietic vs. endothelial fate specification.
Project description:MLL fusion proteins in leukemia induce aberrant transcriptional elongation and associated chromatin perturbations, however the upstream signaling pathways and activators that recruit or retain MLL oncoproteins at initiated promoters are unknown. Through functional and comparative genomic studies, we identified an essential role for NF-kB signaling in MLL leukemia. Suppression of NF-kB led to robust anti-leukemia effects that phenocopied loss of functional MLL oncoprotein or associated epigenetic cofactors. The NF-kB subunit RELA occupies promoter regions of crucial MLL target genes and sustains the MLL-dependent leukemia stem cell program. IKK/NF-kB signaling is required for wild-type MLL and fusion protein retention and maintenance of associated histone modifications providing a molecular rationale for enhanced efficacy in therapeutic targeting of this pathway in MLL leukemias. MV4;11 cells were treated with 1µM IKK inhibitor or vehicle. Each group contains triplicate samples
Project description:In this study, we describe a novel relationship between glioblastoma CSCs and the Notch pathway, which involves the constitutive activation of STAT3 and NF-κB signaling. We demonstrate that adherent glioma CSCs exhibit characteristics previously described for CSCs grown in suspension culture. The expression of CD133, Sox2 and Nestin increased when compared to glioma cells grown in monolayer, and the adherent CSCs were ~100 times more tumorigenic in vivo than monolayer cultured glioma cells. We also found that while the STAT3 and NF-κB signaling pathways are constitutively activated in glioma lines, these pathways are dramatically activated in glioma CSCs. Treatment with STAT3 inhibitors led to a loss of nuclear activation of STAT3 signaling and suppression of growth in both monolayer and CSC conditions. There was a markedly greater growth suppressive effect on glioma CSCs, suggesting that targeted therapy of these key pathways in glioma CSCs may be possible. To further investigate potential biomarkers in glioma CSCs, microarray analysis was performed and revealed deregulation of the Notch signaling pathway. This constitutive activation of STAT3, NF-κB, and Notch pathways in glioma CSCs helps identify novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of glioma.
Project description:MLL fusion proteins in leukemia induce aberrant transcriptional elongation and associated chromatin perturbations, however the upstream signaling pathways and activators that recruit or retain MLL oncoproteins at initiated promoters are unknown. Through functional and comparative genomic studies, we identified an essential role for NF-kB signaling in MLL leukemia. Suppression of NF-kB led to robust anti-leukemia effects that phenocopied loss of functional MLL oncoprotein or associated epigenetic cofactors. The NF-kB subunit RELA occupies promoter regions of crucial MLL target genes and sustains the MLL-dependent leukemia stem cell program. IKK/NF-kB signaling is required for wild-type MLL and fusion protein retention and maintenance of associated histone modifications providing a molecular rationale for enhanced efficacy in therapeutic targeting of this pathway in MLL leukemias. MLL-AF10 cells were treated with 0.5µM IKK inhibitor or vehicle. Each group contains triplicate samples.