scholarly journals Coordination between cell proliferation and apoptosis after DNA damage in Drosophila

Author(s):  
Mireya Ruiz-Losada ◽  
Raul González ◽  
Ana Peropadre ◽  
Alejandro Gil-Gálvez ◽  
Juan J. Tena ◽  
...  

AbstractExposure to genotoxic stress promotes cell cycle arrest and DNA repair or apoptosis. These “life” or “death” cell fate decisions often rely on the activity of the tumor suppressor gene p53. Therefore, the precise regulation of p53 is essential to maintain tissue homeostasis and to prevent cancer development. However, how cell cycle progression has an impact on p53 cell fate decision-making is mostly unknown. In this work, we demonstrate that Drosophila p53 proapoptotic activity can be impacted by the G2/M kinase Cdk1. We find that cell cycle arrested or endocycle-induced cells are refractory to ionizing radiation-induced apoptosis. We show that p53 binding to the regulatory elements of the proapoptotic genes and its ability to activate their expression is compromised in experimentally arrested cells. Our results indicate that p53 genetically and physically interacts with Cdk1 and that p53 proapoptotic role is regulated by the cell cycle status of the cell. We propose a model in which cell cycle progression and p53 proapoptotic activity are molecularly connected to coordinate the appropriate response after DNA damage.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mireya Ruiz-Losada ◽  
Raul González ◽  
Ana Peropadre ◽  
Antonio Baonza ◽  
Carlos Estella

SummaryExposure to genotoxic stress promotes cell-cycle arrest and DNA repair or apoptosis. These “life” or “death” cell fate decisions often rely on the activity of the tumor suppressor gene p53. Therefore, how p53 activity is precisely regulated is essential to maintain tissue homeostasis and to prevent cancer development. Here we demonstrate that Drosophila p53 pro-apoptotic activity is regulated by the G2/M kinase Cdk1. We find that cell cycle arrested or endocycle-induced cells are refractory to ionizing radiation induced apoptosis. We show that the p53 protein is not able to bind to and to activate the expression of the pro-apoptotic genes in experimentally arrested cells. Our results indicate that p53 genetically and physically interacts with Cdk1 and that p53 pro-apoptotic role is regulated by the cell cycle status of the cell. We propose a model in which cell cycle progression and p53 pro-apoptotic activity are molecularly connected to coordinate the appropriate response after DNA damage.


Open Biology ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 140156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Didier J. Colin ◽  
Karolina O. Hain ◽  
Lindsey A. Allan ◽  
Paul R. Clarke

Anti-cancer drugs that disrupt mitosis inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis, although the mechanisms of these responses are poorly understood. Here, we characterize a mitotic stress response that determines cell fate in response to microtubule poisons. We show that mitotic arrest induced by these drugs produces a temporally controlled DNA damage response (DDR) characterized by the caspase-dependent formation of γH2AX foci in non-apoptotic cells. Following exit from a delayed mitosis, this initial response results in activation of DDR protein kinases, phosphorylation of the tumour suppressor p53 and a delay in subsequent cell cycle progression. We show that this response is controlled by Mcl-1, a regulator of caspase activation that becomes degraded during mitotic arrest. Chemical inhibition of Mcl-1 and the related proteins Bcl-2 and Bcl-x L by a BH3 mimetic enhances the mitotic DDR, promotes p53 activation and inhibits subsequent cell cycle progression. We also show that inhibitors of DDR protein kinases as well as BH3 mimetics promote apoptosis synergistically with taxol (paclitaxel) in a variety of cancer cell lines. Our work demonstrates the role of mitotic DNA damage responses in determining cell fate in response to microtubule poisons and BH3 mimetics, providing a rationale for anti-cancer combination chemotherapies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Corinne L. A. Fairchild ◽  
Simranjeet K. Cheema ◽  
Joanna Wong ◽  
Keiko Hino ◽  
Sergi Simó ◽  
...  

Abstract In the neural progenitors of the developing central nervous system (CNS), cell proliferation is tightly controlled and coordinated with cell fate decisions. Progenitors divide rapidly during early development and their cell cycle lengthens progressively as development advances to eventually give rise to a tissue of the correct size and cellular composition. However, our understanding of the molecules linking cell cycle progression to developmental time is incomplete. Here, we show that the microRNA (miRNA) let-7 accumulates in neural progenitors over time throughout the developing CNS. Intriguingly, we find that the level and activity of let-7 oscillate as neural progenitors progress through the cell cycle by in situ hybridization and fluorescent miRNA sensor analyses. We also show that let-7 mediates cell cycle dynamics: increasing the level of let-7 promotes cell cycle exit and lengthens the S/G2 phase of the cell cycle, while let-7 knock down shortens the cell cycle in neural progenitors. Together, our findings suggest that let-7 may link cell proliferation to developmental time and regulate the progressive cell cycle lengthening that occurs during development.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Ho ◽  
Hongwei Luo ◽  
Wei Zhu ◽  
Yi Tang

AbstractCHK1 is a crucial DNA damage checkpoint kinase and its activation, which requires ATR and RAD17, leads to inhibition of DNA replication and cell cycle progression. Recently, we reported that SMG7 stabilizes and activates p53 to induce G1 arrest upon DNA damage; here we show that SMG7 plays a critical role in the activation of the ATR-CHK1 axis. Following genotoxic stress, SMG7-null cells exhibit deficient ATR signaling, indicated by the attenuated phosphorylation of CHK1 and RPA32, and importantly, unhindered DNA replication and fork progression. Through its 14-3-3 domain, SMG7 interacts directly with the Ser635-phosphorylated RAD17 and promotes chromatin retention of the 9-1-1 complex by the RAD17-RFC, an essential step to CHK1 activation. Furthermore, through maintenance of CHK1 activity, SMG7 controls G2-M transition and facilitates orderly cell cycle progression during recovery from replication stress. Taken together, our data reveals SMG7 as an indispensable signaling component in the ATR-CHK1 pathway during genotoxic stress response.


2001 ◽  
Vol 21 (15) ◽  
pp. 4929-4937 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susumu Adachi ◽  
Alvaro J. Obaya ◽  
Zhiyong Han ◽  
Noemi Ramos-Desimone ◽  
James H. Wyche ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The c-myc proto-oncogene encodes a transcription factor that participates in the regulation of cellular proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Ectopic overexpression of c-Myc has been shown to sensitize cells to apoptosis. We report here that cells lacking c-Myc activity due to disruption of the c-myc gene by targeted homologous recombination are defective in DNA damage-initiated apoptosis in the G2 phase of the cell cycle. The downstream effector of c-Myc is cyclin A, whose ectopic expression in c-myc −/− cells rescues the apoptosis defect. The kinetics of the G2 response indicate that the induction of cyclin A and the concomitant activation of Cdk2 represent an early step during commitment to apoptosis. In contrast, expression of cyclins E and D1 does not rescue the apoptosis defect, and apoptotic processes in G1 phase are not affected in c-myc −/− cells. These observations link DNA damage-induced apoptosis with cell cycle progression and implicate c-Myc in the functioning of a subset of these pathways.


2011 ◽  
Vol 195 (3) ◽  
pp. 499-513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pengbo Wang ◽  
Christoph Ballestrem ◽  
Charles H. Streuli

Integrins are cell adhesion receptors that sense the extracellular matrix (ECM) environment. One of their functions is to regulate cell fate decisions, although the question of how integrins initiate intracellular signaling is not fully resolved. In this paper, we examine the role of talin, an adapter protein at cell–matrix attachment sites, in outside-in signaling. We used lentiviral small hairpin ribonucleic acid to deplete talin in mammary epithelial cells. These cells still attached to the ECM in an integrin-dependent manner and spread. They had a normal actin cytoskeleton, but vinculin, paxillin, focal adhesion kinase (FAK), and integrin-linked kinase were not recruited to adhesion sites. Talin-deficient cells showed proliferation defects, and reexpressing a tail portion of the talin rod, but not its head domain, restored integrin-mediated FAK phosphorylation, suppressed p21 expression, and rescued cell cycle. Thus, talin recruits and activates focal adhesion proteins required for proliferation via the C terminus of its rod domain. Our study reveals a new function for talin, which is to link integrin adhesions with cell cycle progression.


2021 ◽  
Vol 134 (24) ◽  

ABSTRACT First Person is a series of interviews with the first authors of a selection of papers published in Journal of Cell Science, helping early-career researchers promote themselves alongside their papers. Nadine Pollak is first author on ‘ Cell cycle progression and transmitotic apoptosis resistance promote escape from extrinsic apoptosis’, published in JCS. Nadine conducted the research described in this article while a postdoc at the Institute of Cell Biology and Immunology, University of Stuttgart, Germany, initially under the supervision of Prof. Peter Scheurich and subsequently in the lab of Prof. Markus Rehm, where she is now investigating the mechanisms underlying cell fate decisions in response to death stimuli throughout the cell cycle at the single-cell level.


2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (18) ◽  
pp. 4678-4683 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanggang Deng ◽  
Guobei Yan ◽  
Xin Song ◽  
Lin Xie ◽  
Yu Zhou ◽  
...  

p21WAF1/CIP1 is a broad-acting cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor. Its stability is essential for proper cell-cycle progression and cell fate decision. Ubiquitylation by the multiple E3 ubiquitin ligase complexes is the major regulatory mechanism of p21, which induces p21 degradation. However, it is unclear whether ubiquitylated p21 can be recycled. In this study, we report USP11 as a deubiquitylase of p21. In the nucleus, USP11 binds to p21, catalyzes the removal of polyubiquitin chains conjugated onto p21, and stabilizes p21 protein. As a result, USP11 reverses p21 polyubiquitylation and degradation mediated by SCFSKP2, CRL4CDT2, and APC/CCDC20 in a cell-cycle–independent manner. Loss of USP11 causes the destabilization of p21 and induces the G1/S transition in unperturbed cells. Furthermore, p21 accumulation mediated by DNA damage is completely abolished in cells depleted of USP11, which results in abrogation of the G2 checkpoint and induction of apoptosis. Functionally, USP11-mediated stabilization of p21 inhibits cell proliferation and tumorigenesis in vivo. These findings reveal an important mechanism by which p21 can be stabilized by direct deubiquitylation, and they pinpoint a crucial role of the USP11-p21 axis in regulating cell-cycle progression and DNA damage responses.


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