Project description:The transcription factor Interferon Regulatory Factor 4 (IRF4) is essential for the survival of the plasma cell malignancy multiple myeloma (MM), although the mechanism by which this is achieved remains unknown. Here we have explored the genetic basis for IRF4 addiction through CRISPR-Cas9 genetic ablation of IRF4 across several MM cells lines. We report that IRF4 loss uniformly resulted in the upregulation of two related pro-apoptotic proteins belonging to the BH3-only subgroup of the BCL2 family: BCL2 modifying factor (BMF) and BCL2 interacting mediator of cell death (BIM). Direct IRF4 binding was identified in the proximal promoter region of both genes. Remarkably, genetic ablation of BMF alone or in combination with BIM largely prevented the cell death that follows IRF4 inactivation, establishing that IRF4 maintains MM survival through the direct transcriptional repression of BMF and BIM.
Project description:Suspension-induced cell death, or anoikis, is implicated in different stages of breast development as well as tumor progression and metastasis. The pro-apoptotic BH3-only proteins BIM and BMF are known positive regulators of anoikis. We examined the gene expression changes that occur in BIM-/- BMF-/- cells during attachment and suspension. This study is supplemental to our work establishing a role for JNK in anoikis (Girnius N, Davis RJ. 2017. JNK promotes epithelial cell anoikis by transcriptional and post-translational regulation of BH3-only proteins. (2017) Cell Reports 21: 1910-1921; doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2017.10.067)
Project description:Developmental morphogenesis, tissue injury, and oncogenic transformation can cause the detachment of epithelial cells. These cells are eliminated by a specialized form of apoptosis (anoikis). While the processes that contribute to this form of cell death have been studied, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here we tested the role of the cJUN NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling pathway using murine models with compound JNK-deficiency in mammary and kidney epithelial cells. These studies demonstrated that JNK is required for efficient anoikis in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, JNK-promoted anoikis required pro-apoptotic members of the BCL2 family of proteins. We show that JNK acts through a BAK/BAX-dependent apoptotic pathway by increasing BIM expression and phosphorylating BMF leading to death of detached epithelial cells.
Project description:Proper chromosome segregation is required to ensure genomic and chromosomal stability. The centromere is a unique chromatin domain present throughout the cell cycle on each chromosome defined by the CENP-A nucleosome. Centromeres (CEN) are responsible for recruiting the kinetochore (KT) during mitosis, ultimately regulating spindle attachment and mitotic checkpoint function. Upregulation of many genes that encode CEN/KT proteins is commonly observed in cancer. Here, we show although FOXM1 occupies the promoters of many CEN/KT genes with MYBL2, occupancy is insufficient alone to drive the FOXM1 correlated transcriptional program. We show that CENP-F, a component of the outer kinetochore, functions with FOXM1 to coregulate G2/M transcription and proper chromosome segregation. Loss of CENP-F results in alteration of chromatin accessibility at G2/M genes, including CENP-A, and leads to reduced FOXM1-MBB complex formation. The FOXM1-CENP-F transcriptional coordination is a cancer-specific function. We observed that a few CEN/KT genes escape FOXM1 regulation such as CENP-C which when upregulated with CENP-A, leads to increased chromosome misegregation and cell death. Together, we show that the FOXM1 and CENP-F coordinately regulate G2/M gene expression, and this coordination is specific to a subset of genes to allow for proliferation and maintenance of chromosome stability for cancer cell survival.
Project description:Proper chromosome segregation is required to ensure genomic and chromosomal stability. The centromere is a unique chromatin domain present throughout the cell cycle on each chromosome defined by the CENP-A nucleosome. Centromeres (CEN) are responsible for recruiting the kinetochore (KT) during mitosis, ultimately regulating spindle attachment and mitotic checkpoint function. Upregulation of many genes that encode CEN/KT proteins is commonly observed in cancer. Here, we show although FOXM1 occupies the promoters of many CEN/KT genes with MYBL2, occupancy is insufficient alone to drive the FOXM1 correlated transcriptional program. We show that CENP-F, a component of the outer kinetochore, functions with FOXM1 to coregulate G2/M transcription and proper chromosome segregation. Loss of CENP-F results in alteration of chromatin accessibility at G2/M genes, including CENP-A, and leads to reduced FOXM1-MBB complex formation. The FOXM1-CENP-F transcriptional coordination is a cancer-specific function. We observed that a few CEN/KT genes escape FOXM1 regulation such as CENP-C which when upregulated with CENP-A, leads to increased chromosome misegregation and cell death. Together, we show that the FOXM1 and CENP-F coordinately regulate G2/M gene expression, and this coordination is specific to a subset of genes to allow for proliferation and maintenance of chromosome stability for cancer cell survival.
Project description:Proper chromosome segregation is required to ensure genomic and chromosomal stability. The centromere is a unique chromatin domain present throughout the cell cycle on each chromosome defined by the CENP-A nucleosome. Centromeres (CEN) are responsible for recruiting the kinetochore (KT) during mitosis, ultimately regulating spindle attachment and mitotic checkpoint function. Upregulation of many genes that encode CEN/KT proteins is commonly observed in cancer. Here, we show although FOXM1 occupies the promoters of many CEN/KT genes with MYBL2, occupancy is insufficient alone to drive the FOXM1 correlated transcriptional program. We show that CENP-F, a component of the outer kinetochore, functions with FOXM1 to coregulate G2/M transcription and proper chromosome segregation. Loss of CENP-F results in alteration of chromatin accessibility at G2/M genes, including CENP-A, and leads to reduced FOXM1-MBB complex formation. The FOXM1-CENP-F transcriptional coordination is a cancer-specific function. We observed that a few CEN/KT genes escape FOXM1 regulation such as CENP-C which when upregulated with CENP-A, leads to increased chromosome misegregation and cell death. Together, we show that the FOXM1 and CENP-F coordinately regulate G2/M gene expression, and this coordination is specific to a subset of genes to allow for proliferation and maintenance of chromosome stability for cancer cell survival.
Project description:Proper chromosome segregation is required to ensure genomic and chromosomal stability. The centromere is a unique chromatin domain present throughout the cell cycle on each chromosome defined by the CENP-A nucleosome. Centromeres (CEN) are responsible for recruiting the kinetochore (KT) during mitosis, ultimately regulating spindle attachment and mitotic checkpoint function. Upregulation of many genes that encode CEN/KT proteins is commonly observed in cancer. Here, we show although FOXM1 occupies the promoters of many CEN/KT genes with MYBL2, occupancy is insufficient alone to drive the FOXM1 correlated transcriptional program. We show that CENP-F, a component of the outer kinetochore, functions with FOXM1 to coregulate G2/M transcription and proper chromosome segregation. Loss of CENP-F results in alteration of chromatin accessibility at G2/M genes, including CENP-A, and leads to reduced FOXM1-MBB complex formation. The FOXM1-CENP-F transcriptional coordination is a cancer-specific function. We observed that a few CEN/KT genes escape FOXM1 regulation such as CENP-C which when upregulated with CENP-A, leads to increased chromosome misegregation and cell death. Together, we show that the FOXM1 and CENP-F coordinately regulate G2/M gene expression, and this coordination is specific to a subset of genes to allow for proliferation and maintenance of chromosome stability for cancer cell survival.
Project description:Proper adhesion to extracellular matrix is critical for epithelial cell survival. Detachment from matrix signals results in apoptosis, referred to as anoikis. Selective apoptosis of cells that become detached from matrix is associated with the formation of a lumen in three-dimensional mammary epithelial acinar structures in vitro. Because early breast cancer lesions such as carcinoma in situ, characterized by ducts exhibiting lumens filled with cells, are often associated with hypoxic markers, we sought to examine the role of hypoxia in anoikis and lumen formation in mammary epithelial cells. Here, we show that hypoxic conditions inhibit anoikis and block expression of proapoptotic BH3-only family members Bim and Bmf in epithelial cells. Hypoxia-mediated anoikis protection is associated with increased activation of the epidermal growth factor receptor-mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (Erk) kinase pathway and requires the hypoxia-activated transcription factor. Consistent with these data, hypoxic conditions inhibit luminal clearing during morphogenesis in human mammary epithelial acini when grown in three-dimensional cultures and are associated with decreased expression of Bim and Bmf as well as Erk activation. We show that hypoxia regulates specific cell survival pathways that disrupt tissue architecture related to clearing of luminal space during mammary morphogenesis and suggest that hypoxia-mediated anoikis resistance may contribute to cancer progression.
Project description:Bmf contributes to the onset of anoikis by translocating from cytoskeleton to mitochondria when cells lose attachment to the extracellular matrix. However, the structural details of Bmf cytoskeleton tethering and the control of Bmf release upon loss of anchorage remained unknown. Here we showed that cell detachment induced rapid and sustained activation of p38 MAPK in mammary epithelial cell lines. Inhibition of p38 signaling or Bmf knockdown rescued anoikis. Activated p38 MAPK could directly phosphorylate Bmf at multiple sites including a non-proline-directed site threonine 72 (T72). Crystallographic studies revealed that Bmf T72 directly participated in DLC2 binding and its phosphorylation would block Bmf/DLC2 interaction through steric hindrance. Finally, we showed that phosphomimetic mutation of T72 enhanced Bmf apoptotic activity in vitro and in a knock-in mouse model. This work unraveled a novel regulatory mechanism of Bmf activity during anoikis and provided structural basis for Bmf cytoskeleton tethering and dissociation.
Project description:The centrosomal protein, CEP55 is a key regulator of cytokinesis and its overexpression is linked to genomic instability, a hallmark of cancer. However, the mechanism by which it mediates genomic instability remains elusive. Here, we showed that CEP55 overexpression/knockdown impacts survival of aneuploid cells. Loss of CEP55 sensitizes breast cancer cells to anti-mitotic agents through premature CDK1/Cyclin B activation and CDK1-Caspase-dependent mitotic cell death. Further, we showed that CEP55 is a downstream effector of the MEK1/2-MYC axis. Blocking MEK1/2-PLK1 signaling therefore reduced outgrowth of basal-like syngeneic and human breast tumors in in-vivo models. In conclusion, high CEP55 levels dictate cell fate during perturbed mitosis. Forced mitotic cell death by blocking MEK1/2-PLK1 represents a potential therapeutic strategy for MYC-CEP55-dependent basal-like, triple-negative breast cancers.