Project description:In our investigations of the molecular pathways of prostate tumorigenesis in Nkx3.1; Pten mutant mice using gene expression profiling, we now find that the AP-1 transcription factors, c-Jun and c-Fos, are significantly up-regulated during cancer progression. Forced expression of c-Fos and c-Jun in prostate cancer cells results in increased tumorigenicity, activation of Erk MAP kinase, and enhanced survival in the absence of androgens, which are hallmarks of disease progression. In humans, Jun and Fos proteins are significantly up-regulated during prostate cancer progression and significantly correlated with activation of Erk MAP kinase. Most notably, expression of Jun is associated with disease recurrence independent of other currently used prognostic indicators. These analyses reveal a hitherto unappreciated role for AP-1 transcription factors in prostate cancer progression vis-à-vis Erk MAP kinase signaling, as well as the identification of a novel marker of disease recurrence, namely c-Jun. Keywords: Stages of Prostate Cancer
Project description:In our investigations of the molecular pathways of prostate tumorigenesis in Nkx3.1; Pten mutant mice using gene expression profiling, we now find that the AP-1 transcription factors, c-Jun and c-Fos, are significantly up-regulated during cancer progression. Forced expression of c-Fos and c-Jun in prostate cancer cells results in increased tumorigenicity, activation of Erk MAP kinase, and enhanced survival in the absence of androgens, which are hallmarks of disease progression. In humans, Jun and Fos proteins are significantly up-regulated during prostate cancer progression and significantly correlated with activation of Erk MAP kinase. Most notably, expression of Jun is associated with disease recurrence independent of other currently used prognostic indicators. These analyses reveal a hitherto unappreciated role for AP-1 transcription factors in prostate cancer progression vis-à -vis Erk MAP kinase signaling, as well as the identification of a novel marker of disease recurrence, namely c-Jun. Experiment Overall Design: Mouse prostate was collected from wild-type or the Nkx3.1; Pten compound mutant mice at the age of 8-16 months. One lobe of dosolateral prostate was snap-frozen in OCT and stored at -80ºC for laser capture microdissection (LCM). To obtain androgen-independent lesions, mice were castrated at 7 to 14 months of age. Mice were sacrificed for analysis at 8 to 16 months of age and one dosolateral prostatic lobe was snap-frozen in OCT and stored at -80ºC for LCM. Approximate 1000 Prostate epithelial cells were isolated from normal prostate, dysplasia, prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) or cancer lesions using PixCell IIE LCM system (Arcturus), followed by RNA linear amplification and labeling using Small Sample Labeling Protocol VII (Affymetrix). Samples were labeled using a BioArray High Yield RNA transcript labeling kit (Enzo Life Scientific) and were hybridized to MOE430A GeneChips containing 22,690 well characterized mouse genes/ESTs (Affymetrix).
Project description:The transcriptional coactivators YAP/TAZ are the critical downstream regulators of the Hippo pathway that regulate gene expression in response to changes in pathway activity, mainly by binding to TEAD transcription factors. Uncontrolled transcriptional output of YAP/TAZ can lead to rapid induction of aggressive tumor growth. AP-1 is a dimeric basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factor complex with JUN and FOS proteins being the most abundant members of this family. Unlike FOS, JUN can also form homodimers, but in the cell, JUN presumably preferentially forms heterodimers with members of the FOS family, which act as potent transcriptional activators. Previous studies identified substantial co-occupancy of YAP/TAZ and AP-1 at genomic sites, and they demonstrated that JUN/FOS heterodimers cooperate with the YAP/TAZ and TEAD transcription factors to drive YAP/TAZ target gene expression. Here, we now elucidate a negative feedback mechanism in which high YAP activity is restrained by the recruitment of homodimeric JUN::JUN/NCOR1 repressor complexes and show that this noncanonical JUN function is part of a tumor suppressor mechanism in the liver.
Project description:The transcriptional coactivators YAP/TAZ are the critical downstream regulators of the Hippo pathway that regulate gene expression in response to changes in pathway activity, mainly by binding to TEAD transcription factors. Uncontrolled transcriptional output of YAP/TAZ can lead to rapid induction of aggressive tumor growth. AP-1 is a dimeric basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factor complex with JUN and FOS proteins being the most abundant members of this family. Unlike FOS, JUN can also form homodimers, but in the cell, JUN presumably preferentially forms heterodimers with members of the FOS family, which act as potent transcriptional activators. Previous studies identified substantial co-occupancy of YAP/TAZ and AP-1 at genomic sites, and they demonstrated that JUN/FOS heterodimers cooperate with the YAP/TAZ and TEAD transcription factors to drive YAP/TAZ target gene expression. Here, we now elucidate a negative feedback mechanism in which high YAP activity is restrained by the recruitment of homodimeric JUN::JUN/NCOR1 repressor complexes and show that this noncanonical JUN function is part of a tumor suppressor mechanism in the liver.
Project description:The transcriptional coactivators YAP/TAZ are the critical downstream regulators of the Hippo pathway that regulate gene expression in response to changes in pathway activity, mainly by binding to TEAD transcription factors. Uncontrolled transcriptional output of YAP/TAZ can lead to rapid induction of aggressive tumor growth. AP-1 is a dimeric basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factor complex with JUN and FOS proteins being the most abundant members of this family. Unlike FOS, JUN can also form homodimers, but in the cell, JUN presumably preferentially forms heterodimers with members of the FOS family, which act as potent transcriptional activators. Previous studies identified substantial co-occupancy of YAP/TAZ and AP-1 at genomic sites, and they demonstrated that JUN/FOS heterodimers cooperate with the YAP/TAZ and TEAD transcription factors to drive YAP/TAZ target gene expression. Here, we now elucidate a negative feedback mechanism in which high YAP activity is restrained by the recruitment of homodimeric JUN::JUN/NCOR1 repressor complexes and show that this noncanonical JUN function is part of a tumor suppressor mechanism in the liver.
Project description:The transcriptional coactivators YAP/TAZ are the critical downstream regulators of the Hippo pathway that regulate gene expression in response to changes in pathway activity, mainly by binding to TEAD transcription factors. Uncontrolled transcriptional output of YAP/TAZ can lead to rapid induction of aggressive tumor growth. AP-1 is a dimeric basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factor complex with JUN and FOS proteins being the most abundant members of this family. Unlike FOS, JUN can also form homodimers, but in the cell, JUN presumably preferentially forms heterodimers with members of the FOS family, which act as potent transcriptional activators. Previous studies identified substantial co-occupancy of YAP/TAZ and AP-1 at genomic sites, and they demonstrated that JUN/FOS heterodimers cooperate with the YAP/TAZ and TEAD transcription factors to drive YAP/TAZ target gene expression. Here, we now elucidate a negative feedback mechanism in which high YAP activity is restrained by the recruitment of homodimeric JUN::JUN/NCOR1 repressor complexes and show that this noncanonical JUN function is part of a tumor suppressor mechanism in the liver.
Project description:The transcriptional coactivators YAP/TAZ are the critical downstream regulators of the Hippo pathway that regulate gene expression in response to changes in pathway activity, mainly by binding to TEAD transcription factors. Uncontrolled transcriptional output of YAP/TAZ can lead to rapid induction of aggressive tumor growth. AP-1 is a dimeric basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factor complex with JUN and FOS proteins being the most abundant members of this family. Unlike FOS, JUN can also form homodimers, but in the cell, JUN presumably preferentially forms heterodimers with members of the FOS family, which act as potent transcriptional activators. Previous studies identified substantial co-occupancy of YAP/TAZ and AP-1 at genomic sites, and they demonstrated that JUN/FOS heterodimers cooperate with the YAP/TAZ and TEAD transcription factors to drive YAP/TAZ target gene expression. Here, we now elucidate a negative feedback mechanism in which high YAP activity is restrained by the recruitment of homodimeric JUN::JUN/NCOR1 repressor complexes and show that this noncanonical JUN function is part of a tumor suppressor mechanism in the liver.
Project description:The transcriptional coactivators YAP/TAZ are the critical downstream regulators of the Hippo pathway that regulate gene expression in response to changes in pathway activity, mainly by binding to TEAD transcription factors. Uncontrolled transcriptional output of YAP/TAZ can lead to rapid induction of aggressive tumor growth. AP-1 is a dimeric basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factor complex with JUN and FOS proteins being the most abundant members of this family. Unlike FOS, JUN can also form homodimers, but in the cell, JUN presumably preferentially forms heterodimers with members of the FOS family, which act as potent transcriptional activators. Previous studies identified substantial co-occupancy of YAP/TAZ and AP-1 at genomic sites, and they demonstrated that JUN/FOS heterodimers cooperate with the YAP/TAZ and TEAD transcription factors to drive YAP/TAZ target gene expression. Here, we now elucidate a negative feedback mechanism in which high YAP activity is restrained by the recruitment of homodimeric JUN::JUN/NCOR1 repressor complexes and show that this noncanonical JUN function is part of a tumor suppressor mechanism in the liver.
Project description:The transcriptional coactivators YAP/TAZ are the critical downstream regulators of the Hippo pathway that regulate gene expression in response to changes in pathway activity, mainly by binding to TEAD transcription factors. Uncontrolled transcriptional output of YAP/TAZ can lead to rapid induction of aggressive tumor growth. AP-1 is a dimeric basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factor complex with JUN and FOS proteins being the most abundant members of this family. Unlike FOS, JUN can also form homodimers, but in the cell, JUN presumably preferentially forms heterodimers with members of the FOS family, which act as potent transcriptional activators. Previous studies identified substantial co-occupancy of YAP/TAZ and AP-1 at genomic sites, and they demonstrated that JUN/FOS heterodimers cooperate with the YAP/TAZ and TEAD transcription factors to drive YAP/TAZ target gene expression. Here, we now elucidate a negative feedback mechanism in which high YAP activity is restrained by the recruitment of homodimeric JUN::JUN/NCOR1 repressor complexes and show that this noncanonical JUN function is part of a tumor suppressor mechanism in the liver.
Project description:The transcriptional coactivators YAP/TAZ are the critical downstream regulators of the Hippo pathway that regulate gene expression in response to changes in pathway activity, mainly by binding to TEAD transcription factors. Uncontrolled transcriptional output of YAP/TAZ can lead to rapid induction of aggressive tumor growth. AP-1 is a dimeric basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factor complex with JUN and FOS proteins being the most abundant members of this family. Unlike FOS, JUN can also form homodimers, but in the cell, JUN presumably preferentially forms heterodimers with members of the FOS family, which act as potent transcriptional activators. Previous studies identified substantial co-occupancy of YAP/TAZ and AP-1 at genomic sites, and they demonstrated that JUN/FOS heterodimers cooperate with the YAP/TAZ and TEAD transcription factors to drive YAP/TAZ target gene expression. Here, we now elucidate a negative feedback mechanism in which high YAP activity is restrained by the recruitment of homodimeric JUN::JUN/NCOR1 repressor complexes and show that this noncanonical JUN function is part of a tumor suppressor mechanism in the liver.