scholarly journals The NF2 Tumor Suppressor Gene Product, Merlin, Inhibits Cell Proliferation and Cell Cycle Progression by Repressing Cyclin D1 Expression

2005 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 2384-2394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guang-Hui Xiao ◽  
Ryan Gallagher ◽  
Justin Shetler ◽  
Kristine Skele ◽  
Deborah A. Altomare ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Inactivation of the NF2 tumor suppressor gene has been observed in certain benign and malignant tumors. Recent studies have demonstrated that merlin, the product of the NF2 gene, is regulated by Rac/PAK signaling. However, the mechanism by which merlin acts as a tumor suppressor has remained obscure. In this report, we show that adenovirus-mediated expression of merlin in NF2-deficient tumor cells inhibits cell proliferation and arrests cells at G1 phase, concomitant with decreased expression of cyclin D1, inhibition of CDK4 activity, and dephosphorylation of pRB. The effect of merlin on cell cycle progression was partially overridden by ectopic expression of cyclin D1. RNA interference experiments showed that silencing of the endogenous NF2 gene results in upregulation of cyclin D1 and S-phase entry. Furthermore, PAK1-stimulated cyclin D1 promoter activity was repressed by cotransfection of NF2, and PAK activity was inhibited by expression of merlin. Interestingly, the S518A mutant form of merlin, which is refractory to phosphorylation by PAK, was more efficient than the wild-type protein in inhibiting cell cycle progression and in repressing cyclin D1 promoter activity. Collectively, our data indicate that merlin exerts its antiproliferative effect, at least in part, via repression of PAK-induced cyclin D1 expression, suggesting a unifying mechanism by which merlin inactivation might contribute to the overgrowth seen in both noninvasive and malignant tumors.

2008 ◽  
Vol 28 (10) ◽  
pp. 3190-3197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelique W. Whitehurst ◽  
Rosalyn Ram ◽  
Latha Shivakumar ◽  
Boning Gao ◽  
John D. Minna ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Multiple molecular lesions in human cancers directly collaborate to deregulate proliferation and suppress apoptosis to promote tumorigenesis. The candidate tumor suppressor RASSF1A is commonly inactivated in a broad spectrum of human tumors and has been implicated as a pivotal gatekeeper of cell cycle progression. However, a mechanistic account of the role of RASSF1A gene inactivation in tumor initiation is lacking. Here we have employed loss-of-function analysis in human epithelial cells for a detailed investigation of the contribution of RASSF1 to cell cycle progression. We found that RASSF1A has dual opposing regulatory connections to G1/S phase cell cycle transit. RASSF1A associates with the Ewing sarcoma breakpoint protein, EWS, to limit accumulation of cyclin D1 and restrict exit from G1. Surprisingly, we found that RASSF1A is also required to restrict SCFβTrCP activity to allow G/S phase transition. This restriction is required for accumulation of the anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C) inhibitor Emi1 and the concomitant block of APC/C-dependent cyclin A turnover. The consequence of this relationship is inhibition of cell cycle progression in normal epithelial cells upon RASSF1A depletion despite elevated cyclin D1 concentrations. Progression to tumorigenicity upon RASSF1A gene inactivation should therefore require collaborating genetic aberrations that bypass the consequences of impaired APC/C regulation at the G1/S phase cell cycle transition.


1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 2570-2578 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Lasorella ◽  
A Iavarone ◽  
M A Israel

Cells which are highly proliferative typically lack expression of differentiated, lineage-specific characteristics. Id2, a member of the helix-loop-helix (HLH) protein family known to inhibit cell differentiation, binds to the retinoblastoma protein (pRb) and abolishes its growth-suppressing activity. We found that Id2 but not Id1 or Id3 was able to bind in vitro not only pRb but also the related proteins p107 and p130. Also, an association between Id2 and p107 or p130 was observed in vivo in transiently transfected Saos-2 cells. In agreement with these results, expression of Id1 or Id3 did not affect the block of cell cycle progression mediated by pRb. Conversely, expression of Id2 specifically reversed the cell cycle arrest induced by each of the three members of the pRb family. Furthermore, the growth-suppressive activities of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors p16 and p21 were efficiently antagonized by high levels of Id2 but not by Id1 Id3. Consistent with the role of p16 as a selective inhibitor of pRb and pRb-related protein kinase activity, p16-imposed cell cycle arrest was completely abolished by Id2. Only a partial reversal of p21-induced growth suppression was observed, which correlated with the presence of a functional pRb. We also documented decreased levels of cyclin D1 protein and mRNA and the loss of cyclin D1-cdk4 complexes in cells constitutively expressing Id2. These data provide evidence for important Id2-mediated alterations in cell cycle components normally involved in the regulatory events of cell cycle progression, and they highlight a specific role for Id2 as an antagonist of multiple tumor suppressor proteins.


1998 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 3212-3222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Genichi Watanabe ◽  
Chris Albanese ◽  
Richard J. Lee ◽  
Anne Reutens ◽  
Gino Vairo ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Coordinated interactions between cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks), their target “pocket proteins” (the retinoblastoma protein [pRB], p107, and p130), the pocket protein binding E2F-DP complexes, and the Cdk inhibitors regulate orderly cell cycle progression. The cyclin D1 gene encodes a regulatory subunit of the Cdk holoenzymes, which phosphorylate the tumor suppressor pRB, leading to the release of free E2F-1. Overexpression of E2F-1 can induce apoptosis and may either promote or inhibit cellular proliferation, depending upon the cell type. In these studies overexpression of E2F-1 inhibited cyclin D1-dependent kinase activity, cyclin D1 protein levels, and promoter activity. The DNA binding domain, the pRB pocket binding region, and the amino-terminal Sp1 binding domain of E2F-1 were required for full repression of cyclin D1. Overexpression of pRB activated the cyclin D1 promoter, and a dominant interfering pRB mutant was defective in cyclin D1 promoter activation. Two regions of the cyclin D1 promoter were required for full E2F-1-dependent repression. The region proximal to the transcription initiation site at −127 bound Sp1, Sp3, and Sp4, and the distal region at −143 bound E2F-4–DP-1–p107. In contrast with E2F-1, E2F-4 induced cyclin D1 promoter activity. Differential regulation of the cyclin D1 promoter by E2F-1 and E2F-4 suggests that E2Fs may serve distinguishable functions during cell cycle progression. Inhibition of cyclin D1 abundance by E2F-1 may contribute to an autoregulatory feedback loop to reduce pRB phosphorylation and E2F-1 levels in the cell.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yiwei Liu ◽  
Hairong Chen ◽  
Xiangcheng Li ◽  
Feng Zhang ◽  
Lianbao Kong ◽  
...  

Proteasome 26S subunit ATPase 2 (PSMC2) plays a pathogenic role in various cancers. However, its function and molecular mechanism in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain unknown. In this study, tissue microarray (TMA) analysis showed that PSMC2 is highly expressed in HCC tumors and correlates with poor overall and disease-free survival in HCC patients. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that PSMC2 is an independent prognostic factor for HCC patients. Furthermore, our results showed that PSMC2 knockdown inhibited cell proliferation and suppressed tumorigenesis in vivo. Knockdown of PSMC2 increased the expression of p21 and therefore decreased the expression of cyclin D1. Dual-luciferase reporter assays indicated that depletion of PSMC2 significantly enhanced the promoter activity of p21. Importantly, PSMC2 knockdown-induced phenotypes were also rescued by downregulation of P21. Taken together, our data suggest that PSMC2 promotes HCC cell proliferation and cell cycle progression through the p21/cyclin D1 signaling pathway and could be a promising diagnostic and therapeutic target for HCC patients.


Blood ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 120 (21) ◽  
pp. 898-898
Author(s):  
Cassandra L Love ◽  
Dereje Jima ◽  
Zhen Sun ◽  
Rodney R. Miles ◽  
Cherie H. Dunphy ◽  
...  

Abstract Abstract 898 Burkitt Lymphoma (BL) is a highly proliferative form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and is characterized by translocation of the C-MYC gene to the immunoglobulin gene loci resulting in deregulation. The role of collaborating gene mutations in BL is largely unknown. We performed whole exome sequencing and gene expression profiling of 57 Burkitt lymphoma and 94 DLBCL exomes. Mutational analysis revealed that ID3 is recurrently mutated in 38% of Burkitt lymphoma samples. ID3 mutations did not occur in any of the 94 DLBCL cases. ID3 gene expression was also found to be a distinguishing feature of Burkitt lymphomas (P<10−6), compared to DLBCL. We found a total of 27 distinct mutations in the ID3 genes among the 22 BL cases. These included five frameshift, four nonsense, and 18 missense mutations. We validated 16 of these events with Sanger sequencing with over 90% concordance. All of these mutations were located in the highly conserved helix-loop-helix region located on Exon 1. We explored the biological significance of ID3 mutations by initially comparing the gene expression profiles of BL cases that had mutated and wild-type ID3. Gene set enrichment analysis showed that those samples with mutated ID3 had higher expression of genes that were involved in cell cycle regulation, specifically those involved in the G1-S transition (P=0.01). In order to experimentally investigate the functional consequences of ID3 mutation, we generated mutant constructs corresponding to six different ID3 mutations observed in BLs. These mutant constructs were cloned into lentiviral vectors and overexpressed in BL cells that were wild type for ID3. We then performed cell cycle analysis for these wild type cells expressing GFP controls or the mutant constructs. We found that BL cells expressing each of the six mutant constructs demonstrated significant cell cycle progression from G1 to S phase compared to wild-type (P=0.01). Separately, we tested the effects of expressing mutant ID3 in cell proliferation assays and found that cells expressing mutant ID3 were considerably more proliferative than those expressing wild type (P=0.03). Conversely, we over-expressed the wild type form of ID3 in BL cells that had mutated ID3. These experiments completely rescued the observed phenotypes of the mutant ID3 constructs, with reduced cell cycle progression through increased G1 phase and decreased S-phase (P=0.04). We also noted decreased cell proliferation in these cells (P=0.03). These experiments support a role for ID3 as a novel tumor suppressor gene in Burkitt lymphoma. ID3 is a basic helix loop helix (bHLH) protein that binds to other E-proteins, blocking their ability to bind DNA. ID3 has been shown to be involved in a variety of biological processes including development and T and B cell differentiation. ID3 knockout mice have been shown to develop T cell as well as B cell lymphomas. Our data implicates this gene for the first time as a tumor suppressor in human cancer. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


2004 ◽  
Vol 24 (18) ◽  
pp. 7829-7840 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priam Villalonga ◽  
Rosa M. Guasch ◽  
Kirsi Riento ◽  
Anne J. Ridley

ABSTRACT Rho GTPases are major regulators of cytoskeletal dynamics, but they also affect cell proliferation, transformation, and oncogenesis. RhoE, a member of the Rnd subfamily that does not detectably hydrolyze GTP, inhibits RhoA/ROCK signaling to promote actin stress fiber and focal adhesion disassembly. We have generated fibroblasts with inducible RhoE expression to investigate the role of RhoE in cell proliferation. RhoE expression induced a loss of stress fibers and cell rounding, but these effects were only transient. RhoE induction inhibited cell proliferation and serum-induced S-phase entry. Neither ROCK nor RhoA inhibition accounted for this response. Consistent with its inhibitory effect on cell cycle progression, RhoE expression was induced by cisplatin, a DNA damage-inducing agent. RhoE-expressing cells failed to accumulate cyclin D1 or p21cip1 protein or to activate E2F-regulated genes in response to serum, although ERK, PI3-K/Akt, FAK, Rac, and cyclin D1 transcription was activated normally. The expression of proteins that bypass the retinoblastoma (pRb) family cell cycle checkpoint, including human papillomavirus E7, adenovirus E1A, and cyclin E, rescued cell cycle progression in RhoE-expressing cells. RhoE also inhibited Ras- and Raf-induced fibroblast transformation. These results indicate that RhoE inhibits cell cycle progression upstream of the pRb checkpoint.


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