Project description:Dysregulation of kinase signaling pathways via mutations favors tumor cell survival and resistance to therapy and it is common in cancer. Here, we reveal a novel mechanism of post-translational regulation of kinase signaling and nuclear receptor activity via deubiquitination in acute leukemia. We observed that the ubiquitin specific protease 11 (USP11) is highly expressed in lymphoblastic leukemia and associates with poor prognosis in this disease. USP11 ablation inhibits leukemia growth in vitro and in vivo, sparing normal hematopoiesis and thymus development, suggesting that USP11 could be a therapeutic target in leukemia. USP11 forms a complex with USP7 to deubiquitinate the oncogenic lymphocyte cell-specific protein-tyrosine kinase (LCK). Deubiquitination of LCK controls its activity, thereby altering T cell receptor signaling. Impairment of LCK activity leads to increased expression of the glucocorticoid receptor transcript, culminating into transcriptional activation of pro-apoptotic target genes, and sensitizes cells to glucocorticoids in primary T cell leukemia patient samples. The transcriptional activation of pro-apoptotic target genes, such as BCL2L11, is orchestrated by the deubiquitinase activity and mediated via an increase in enhancer-promoter interaction intensity. Pharmacological inhibition of USP7 or genetic knockout of USP7 in combination treatment of glucocorticoid displayed improved anti-T-ALL efficacy in vivo. Our data unveil how dysregulated deubiquitination controls signaling pathways, leading to cancer cell survival and drug non-response, and suggest novel therapeutic combinations towards targeting leukemia.
Project description:ARGLU1 is a Transcriptional Coactivator and Splicing Regulator Important for Stress Hormone Signaling and Development Stress hormones bind and activate the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) in many tissues including the brain. We identified arginine and glutamate rich 1 (ARGLU1) in a screen for new modulators of glucocorticoid signaling in the CNS. Biochemical studies show that the glutamate rich C-terminus of ARGLU1 coactivates multiple nuclear receptors including the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and the arginine rich N-terminus interacts with splicing factors and binds to RNA. RNA-seq of neuronal cells depleted of ARGLU1 revealed significant changes in the expression and alternative splicing of distinct genes involved in neurogenesis. Loss of ARGLU1 is embryonic lethal in mice, and knockdown in zebrafish causes neurodevelopmental and heart defects. Treatment with dexamethasone, a GR activator, also induces changes in the pattern of alternatively spliced genes, many of which were lost when ARGLU1 was absent. Importantly, the genes found to be alternatively spliced in response to glucocorticoid treatment were distinct from those under transcriptional control by GR, suggesting an additional mechanism of glucocorticoid action is present in neuronal cells. Our results thus show that ARGLU1 is a novel factor for embryonic development that modulates basal transcription and alternative splicing in neuronal cells with consequences for glucocorticoid signaling.
Project description:ARGLU1 is a Transcriptional Coactivator and Splicing Regulator Important for Stress Hormone Signaling and Development Stress hormones bind and activate the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) in many tissues including the brain. We identified arginine and glutamate rich 1 (ARGLU1) in a screen for new modulators of glucocorticoid signaling in the CNS. Biochemical studies show that the glutamate rich C-terminus of ARGLU1 coactivates multiple nuclear receptors including the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and the arginine rich N-terminus interacts with splicing factors and binds to RNA. RNA-seq of neuronal cells depleted of ARGLU1 revealed significant changes in the expression and alternative splicing of distinct genes involved in neurogenesis. Loss of ARGLU1 is embryonic lethal in mice, and knockdown in zebrafish causes neurodevelopmental and heart defects. Treatment with dexamethasone, a GR activator, also induces changes in the pattern of alternatively spliced genes, many of which were lost when ARGLU1 was absent. Importantly, the genes found to be alternatively spliced in response to glucocorticoid treatment were distinct from those under transcriptional control by GR, suggesting an additional mechanism of glucocorticoid action is present in neuronal cells. Our results thus show that ARGLU1 is a novel factor for embryonic development that modulates basal transcription and alternative splicing in neuronal cells with consequences for glucocorticoid signaling.
Project description:We identified two isoforms of human MKL1 that differ in their N-terminal domains. Since MKL1 is a transcriptional coactivator of SRF and regulates many SRF target genes, we wanted to analyze if transcription is differentially regulated by the two isoforms upon stimulation of the Rho-actin-MKL1-SRF pathway.
Project description:The aim of this study is to identify novel glucocorticoid receptor (GR) regulated hepatic target genes. In order to do so, we used microarray technology to compare the gene expression of wild type and GR-null mice after 3 hrs of dexamethasone treatment.
Project description:Glucocorticoid Receptor (GR) suppresses inflammation by activating anti-inflammatory and repressing pro-inflammatory genes. GR-interacting protein (GRIP)1 of the p160 family has emerged as a unique GR corepressor in macrophages (MΦ), however, whether GRIP1 contributes to GR-activated transcription, and what dictates its context-specific coactivator vs. corepressor properties is unknown. We report that loss of GRIP1 in human and mouse MΦ attenuated GR-mediated induction of several anti-inflammatory targets, revealing a non-redundant function of GRIP1 in coactivation. Moreover, glucocorticoid treatment of quiescent MΦ globally directed GRIP1 toward GR-bound genomic sites dominated by classic palindromic GREs, suggesting its dedicated role as a GR coactivator. Further, GRIP1 N-terminal region was phosphorylated at a serine cluster by Cyclin-Dependent Kinase (CDK)9, which was recruited into GC-induced GR:GRIP1:CDK9 ternary complexes, producing distinct GRIP1 phospho-isoforms at different GREs even associated with the same gene. Functionally, phosphorylation potentiated GRIP1 coactivator properties by facilitating its recruitment and/or creating novel protein:protein interaction surfaces in a GRE-specific manner. Strikingly, GRIP1 function as a GR corepressor was phosphorylation-independent; consistently, no phospho-GRIP1 or CDK9 was detected at GR transrepression sites near pro-inflammatory genes. Thus, liganded GR in MΦ restricts actions of its own coregulator via CDK9-mediated phosphorylation to a subset of complexes driving anti-inflammatory gene transcription.