Loss of the selective autophagy receptor p62 impairs murine myeloid leukemia progression and mitophagy

Abstract Autophagy maintains hematopoietic stem cell integrity and prevents malignant transformation. In addition to bulk degradation, selective autophagy serves as an intracellular quality control mechanism and requires autophagy receptors, such as p62 (SQSTM1), to specifically bridge the ubiquitinated cargos into autophagosomes. Here, we investigated the function of p62 in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in vitro and in murine in vivo models of AML. Loss of p62 impaired expansion and colony-forming ability of leukemia cells and prolonged latency of leukemia development in mice. High p62 expression was associated with poor prognosis in human AML. Using quantitative mass spectrometry, we identified enrichment of mitochondrial proteins upon immunoprecipitation of p62. Loss of p62 significantly delayed removal of dysfunctional mitochondria, increased mitochondrial superoxide levels, and impaired mitochondrial respiration. Moreover, we demonstrated that the autophagy-dependent function of p62 is essential for cell growth and effective mitochondrial degradation by mitophagy. Our results highlight the prominent role of selective autophagy in leukemia progression, and specifically, the importance of mitophagy to maintain mitochondrial integrity.

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The Role of STAT5 in HOXA9-Associated Leukemia

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood.v128.22.3919.3919 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 128 (22) ◽

pp. 3919-3919

Author(s):

Peilin Ma ◽

Yuqing Sun ◽

Jingya Wang ◽

Weihua Song ◽

Tao Xu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Binding Sites ◽

Myeloid Leukemia ◽

Tandem Duplication ◽

Conflicts Of Interest ◽

Hematopoietic Stem ◽

Constitutive Activation ◽

Oncogenic Mutation

Abstract Homeobox A9 (HOXA9) is a homeodomain-containing transcription factor that is essential for hematopoietic stem cell expansion and differentiation. Deregulation of HOXA9 is commonly observed in human acute myeloid leukemia (AML). About half of AML patients overexpress HOXA9 as a result of MLL rearrangements, NUP98 translocations, NPM1 mutations or CDX2/CDX4 overexpression. Despite its central importance in leukemia, the mechanism of transcriptional regulation by HOXA9 and its downstream effectors are poorly understood. HOXA9 physically interacts with MEIS1, a cofactor that greatly accelerates leukemia development in transplanted animals. Our group recently identified a number of transcription factors as HOXA9 potential collaborators by genomic profiling of HOXA9 binding sites and mass spectroscopy. One of these putative collaborators is signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (STAT5), which coimmunoprecipitates with HOXA9. Furthermore STAT motifs extensively overlap with HOXA9 binding sites. STAT5 is important for survival, proliferation and differentiation of hematopoietic cells and constitutive activation of STAT5 has also been observed in human leukemias bearing oncogenic mutation of Jak2, Bcr-Abl, c-Kit and Flt3. FLT3 internal tandem duplication (FLT3-ITD) is observed in 25% of patients with MLL-partial tandem duplication (MLL-PTD) and is associated with HOXA9 upregulation and unfavorable prognosis. Therefore, we hypothesized that the interaction of HOXA9 and STAT5 may play a role in HOXA9-associated leukemogenesis. Treatment of human cell lines bearing MLL-AF9 and FLT3-ITD with specific FLT3 and STAT5 inhibitors showed that suppression of the constitutive activation of STAT5 significantly inhibits the hyper-proliferation of these cells. We then overexpressed FLT3-ITD or active mutation of STAT5 (STAT5 1*6) in mouse hematopoietic stem cells /progenitor cells (HSC/PCs) transduced with MLL-AF9 or HOXA9 and found that constitutively active STAT5 enhances cell proliferation in vitro. We next transduced HOXA9 into HSC/Pcs from wild type (WT) or FLT3-ITD transgenic mice and transplanted these cells into sublethally irradiated WT mice. All of these recipients developed myeloid leukemia, with recipients transplanted with FLT3-ITD (n=4) developing leukemia significantly earlier than WT controls (n=5, p<0.05), suggesting that FLT3-ITD mediated STAT5 activation enhanced HOXA9-induced leukemogenesis in vivo. To further assess the role of STAT5 in HOXA9-mediated transformation, we performed ChIP-Seq assay with HOXA9-transformed cells and identified nearly half of STAT5 binding sites (228 out of 596) colocalized with HOXA9. Most of these cobound sites are located in distal intergenic (61.0%) and intron (35.1%) regions. Five cobound regions (Il2rα, Fgf1, Pdlim5, Pim1, Fabp5) were selected and confirmed by ChIP-qPCR. To further characterize the interaction between HOXA9 and STAT5, GST pull-down assays were performed that showed that the c-terminal of HOXA9 is critical for interaction with STAT5. Overall, the findings suggest that STAT5 promotes HOXA9-induced transformation by functionally interacting with HOXA9 at HOXA9-regulated enhancers. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

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The role of the PZP domain of AF10 in acute leukemia driven by AF10 translocations

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-021-24418-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Brianna J. Klein ◽

Anagha Deshpande ◽

Khan L. Cox ◽

Fan Xuan ◽

Mohamad Zandian ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Critical Role ◽

Cellular Transformation ◽

Acute Leukemias ◽

Hematopoietic Stem ◽

Nucleosome Core ◽

Stem And Progenitor Cells ◽

Transforming Activity

AbstractChromosomal translocations of the AF10 (or MLLT10) gene are frequently found in acute leukemias. Here, we show that the PZP domain of AF10 (AF10PZP), which is consistently impaired or deleted in leukemogenic AF10 translocations, plays a critical role in blocking malignant transformation. Incorporation of functional AF10PZP into the leukemogenic CALM-AF10 fusion prevents the transforming activity of the fusion in bone marrow-derived hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells in vitro and in vivo and abrogates CALM-AF10-mediated leukemogenesis in vivo. Crystallographic, biochemical and mutagenesis studies reveal that AF10PZP binds to the nucleosome core particle through multivalent contacts with the histone H3 tail and DNA and associates with chromatin in cells, colocalizing with active methylation marks and discriminating against the repressive H3K27me3 mark. AF10PZP promotes nuclear localization of CALM-AF10 and is required for association with chromatin. Our data indicate that the disruption of AF10PZP function in the CALM-AF10 fusion directly leads to transformation, whereas the inclusion of AF10PZP downregulates Hoxa genes and reverses cellular transformation. Our findings highlight the molecular mechanism by which AF10 targets chromatin and suggest a model for the AF10PZP-dependent CALM-AF10-mediated leukemogenesis.

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Mitochondrion-Dependent Cell Death in TDP-43 Proteinopathies

Biomedicines ◽

10.3390/biomedicines9040376 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 376

Author(s):

Chantal B. Lucini ◽

Ralf J. Braun

Keyword(s):

Cell Death ◽

Oxygen Species ◽

In Vivo Models ◽

Dependent Cell ◽

Cell Death Mechanisms ◽

Sting Pathway ◽

Mitochondrial Membrane Permeabilization

In the last decade, pieces of evidence for TDP-43-mediated mitochondrial dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases have accumulated. In patient samples, in vitro and in vivo models have shown mitochondrial accumulation of TDP-43, concomitantly with hallmarks of mitochondrial destabilization, such as increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), reduced level of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), and mitochondrial membrane permeabilization. Incidences of TDP-43-dependent cell death, which depends on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) content, is increased upon ageing. However, the molecular pathways behind mitochondrion-dependent cell death in TDP-43 proteinopathies remained unclear. In this review, we discuss the role of TDP-43 in mitochondria, as well as in mitochondrion-dependent cell death. This review includes the recent discovery of the TDP-43-dependent activation of the innate immunity cyclic GMP-AMP synthase/stimulator of interferon genes (cGAS/STING) pathway. Unravelling cell death mechanisms upon TDP-43 accumulation in mitochondria may open up new opportunities in TDP-43 proteinopathy research.

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Abstract 5: Neovascularization By Substance-p- Mobilized Epc And Msc In Vitro And In Vivo

Circulation Research ◽

10.1161/res.115.suppl_1.5 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 115 (suppl_1) ◽

Author(s):

Hyun Sook Hong ◽

Suna Kim ◽

Youngsook Son

Keyword(s):

Stem Cells ◽

Mesenchymal Stem Cells ◽

Substance P ◽

Network Formation ◽

Skin Wound ◽

Hematopoietic Stem ◽

Vessel Structure

Bone marrow stem cells, especially, endothelial precursor cells (EPC), mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) or hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) are expected as reparative cells for the repair of a variety of tissue damages such as stroke and myocardial infarction, even though their role in the repair is not demonstrated. This report was investigated to find a role of Substance-p (SP) as a reparative agent in the tissue repair requiring EPC and MSC. In order to examine EPC (EPC SP ) and MSC (MSC SP ) mobilized by SP, we injected SP intravenously for consecutive 2 days and saline was injected as a vehicle. At 3 post injection, peripheral blood (PB) was collected.To get mesenchymal stem cells or endothelial progenitor cells, MNCs were incubated in MSCGM or EGM-2 respectively for 10 days. Functional characteristics of the EPC SP were proven by the capacity to form endothelial tubule network in the matrigel in vitro and in the matrigel plug assay in vivo. In contrast, MSC SP did not form a tube-like structure but formed a pellet-structure on matrigel. However, when both cells were premixed before the matrigel assay, much longer and branched tubular network was formed, in which a-SMA expressing MSC SP were decorating outside of the endothelial tube, especially enriched at the bifurcating point. MSC SP may contribute and reinforce elaborate vascular network formation in vivo by working as pericyte-like cells. Thus, the EPC SP and MSC SP were labeled with PKH green and PKH red respectively and their tubular network was examined. Well organized tubular network was formed, which was covered by PKH green labeled cells and was decorated in a punctate pattern by PKH red labeled cells. In order to investigate the role of EPC SP and MSC SP specifically in vivo, rabbit EPC SP and MSC SP were transplanted to full thickness skin wound. The vessel of EPC SP -transplanted groups was UEA-lectin+, which was not covered with a-SMA+ pericytes but EPC SP + MSC SP -transplanted groups showed, in part, a-SMA+ pericyte-encircled UEA-lectin+ vessels. This proved the specific role of MSC SP as pericytes. From these data, we have postulated that the collaboration of MSC and EPC is essential for normal vessel structure and furthermore, accelerated wound healing as ischemia diseases, which can be stimulated through by SP injection.

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The Role of Merlin/NF2 Loss in Meningioma Biology

Cancers ◽

10.3390/cancers11111633 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (11) ◽

pp. 1633 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Sungho Lee ◽

Patrick J. Karas ◽

Caroline C. Hadley ◽

James C. Bayley V ◽

A. Basit Khan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Early Recognition ◽

Neurofibromatosis Type ◽

Genetic Alterations ◽

In Vivo Models ◽

Inhibition Of Proliferation ◽

Nf2 Gene ◽

Sequencing Studies

Mutations in the neurofibromin 2 (NF2) gene were among the first genetic alterations implicated in meningioma tumorigenesis, based on analysis of neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) patients who not only develop vestibular schwannomas but later have a high incidence of meningiomas. The NF2 gene product, merlin, is a tumor suppressor that is thought to link the actin cytoskeleton with plasma membrane proteins and mediate contact-dependent inhibition of proliferation. However, the early recognition of the crucial role of NF2 mutations in the pathogenesis of the majority of meningiomas has not yet translated into useful clinical insights, due to the complexity of merlin’s many interacting partners and signaling pathways. Next-generation sequencing studies and increasingly sophisticated NF2-deletion-based in vitro and in vivo models have helped elucidate the consequences of merlin loss in meningioma pathogenesis. In this review, we seek to summarize recent findings and provide future directions toward potential therapeutics for this tumor.

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TIE2 Induces Breast Cancer Cell Dormancy and Inhibits the Development of Osteolytic Bone Metastases

Cancers ◽

10.3390/cancers12040868 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 868

Author(s):

Florian Drescher ◽

Patricia Juárez ◽

Danna L. Arellano ◽

Nicolás Serafín-Higuera ◽

Felipe Olvera-Rodriguez ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Bone Metastases ◽

Kinase Inhibitors ◽

Disseminated Tumor Cells ◽

Tyrosine Kinase Receptor ◽

In Vivo Models ◽

Hematopoietic Stem ◽

Cell Dormancy

Breast cancer (BCa) cells disseminating to the bone can remain dormant and resistant to treatments for many years until relapsing as bone metastases. The tyrosine kinase receptor TIE2 induces the dormancy of hematopoietic stem cells, and could also induce the dormancy of BCa cells. However, TIE2 is also a target for anti-angiogenic treatments in ongoing clinical trials, and its inhibition could then restart the proliferation of dormant BCa cells in bone. In this study, we used a combination of patient data, in vitro, and in vivo models to investigate the effect of TIE2 in the dormancy of bone metastases. In BCa patients, we found that a higher TIE2 expression is associated with an increased time to metastases and survival. In vitro, TIE2 decreased cell proliferation as it increased the expression of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors CDKN1A and CDKN1B and arrested cells in the G0/G1 phase. Expression of TIE2 also increased the resistance to the chemotherapeutic 5-Fluorouracil. In mice, TIE2 expression reduced tumor growth and the formation of osteolytic bone metastasis. Together, these results show that TIE2 is sufficient to induce dormancy in vitro and in vivo, and could be a useful prognostic marker for patients. Our data also suggest being cautious when using TIE2 inhibitors in the clinic, as they could awaken dormant disseminated tumor cells.

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Exploiting GRK2 Inhibition as a Therapeutic Option in Experimental Cancer Treatment: Role of p53-Induced Mitochondrial Apoptosis

Cancers ◽

10.3390/cancers12123530 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (12) ◽

pp. 3530

Author(s):

Jessica Gambardella ◽

Antonella Fiordelisi ◽

Gaetano Santulli ◽

Michele Ciccarelli ◽

Federica Andrea Cerasuolo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cell Proliferation ◽

Cancer Cell ◽

Nude Mice ◽

Specific Inhibitor ◽

Cancer Cell Proliferation ◽

In Vivo Models ◽

P53 Expression

The involvement of GRK2 in cancer cell proliferation and its counter-regulation of p53 have been suggested in breast cancer even if the underlying mechanism has not yet been elucidated. Furthermore, the possibility to pharmacologically inhibit GRK2 to delay cancer cell proliferation has never been explored. We investigated this possibility by setting up a study that combined in vitro and in vivo models to underpin the crosstalk between GRK2 and p53. To reach this aim, we took advantage of the different expression of p53 in cell lines of thyroid cancer (BHT 101 expressing p53 and FRO cells, which are p53-null) in which we overexpressed or silenced GRK2. The pharmacological inhibition of GRK2 was achieved using the specific inhibitor KRX-C7. The in vivo study was performed in Balb/c nude mice, where we treated BHT-101 or FRO-derived tumors with KRX-C7. In our in vitro model, FRO cells were unaffected by GRK2 expression levels, whereas BHT-101 cells were sensitive, thus suggesting a role for p53. The regulation of p53 by GRK2 is due to phosphorylative events in Thr-55, which induce the degradation of p53. In BHT-101 cells, the pharmacologic inhibition of GRK2 by KRX-C7 increased p53 levels and activated apoptosis through the mitochondrial release of cytochrome c. These KRX-C7-mediated events were also confirmed in cancer allograft models in nude mice. In conclusion, our data showed that GRK2 counter-regulates p53 expression in cancer cells through a kinase-dependent activity. Our results further corroborate the anti-proliferative role of GRK2 inhibitors in p53-sensitive tumors and propose GRK2 as a therapeutic target in selected cancers.

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Role of microRNAs as Clinical Cancer Biomarkers for Ovarian Cancer: A Short Overview

Cells ◽

10.3390/cells9010169 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 169 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Cristina Elena Staicu ◽

Dragoș-Valentin Predescu ◽

Călin Mircea Rusu ◽

Beatrice Mihaela Radu ◽

Dragos Cretoiu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ovarian Cancer ◽

Simultaneous Detection ◽

Clinical Signs ◽

In Vivo Models ◽

Circulating Micrornas ◽

Clinical Biomarkers ◽

Molecular Clustering

Ovarian cancer has the highest mortality rate among gynecological cancers. Early clinical signs are missing and there is an urgent need to establish early diagnosis biomarkers. MicroRNAs are promising biomarkers in this respect. In this paper, we review the most recent advances regarding the alterations of microRNAs in ovarian cancer. We have briefly described the contribution of miRNAs in the mechanisms of ovarian cancer invasion, metastasis, and chemotherapy sensitivity. We have also summarized the alterations underwent by microRNAs in solid ovarian tumors, in animal models for ovarian cancer, and in various ovarian cancer cell lines as compared to previous reviews that were only focused the circulating microRNAs as biomarkers. In this context, we consider that the biomarker screening should not be limited to circulating microRNAs per se, but rather to the simultaneous detection of the same microRNA alteration in solid tumors, in order to understand the differences between the detection of nucleic acids in early vs. late stages of cancer. Moreover, in vitro and in vivo models should also validate these microRNAs, which could be very helpful as preclinical testing platforms for pharmacological and/or molecular genetic approaches targeting microRNAs. The enormous quantity of data produced by preclinical and clinical studies regarding the role of microRNAs that act synergistically in tumorigenesis mechanisms that are associated with ovarian cancer subtypes, should be gathered, integrated, and compared by adequate methods, including molecular clustering. In this respect, molecular clustering analysis should contribute to the discovery of best biomarkers-based microRNAs assays that will enable rapid, efficient, and cost-effective detection of ovarian cancer in early stages. In conclusion, identifying the appropriate microRNAs as clinical biomarkers in ovarian cancer might improve the life quality of patients.

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HDAC2 attenuates airway inflammation by suppressing IL-17A production in HDM-challenged mice

AJP Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology ◽

10.1152/ajplung.00143.2018 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 316 (1) ◽

pp. L269-L279 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Tianwen Lai ◽

Mindan Wu ◽

Chao Zhang ◽

Luanqing Che ◽

Feng Xu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Airway Inflammation ◽

Inflammatory Cytokines ◽

Allergic Inflammation ◽

Allergic Airway Inflammation ◽

Inflammatory Cells ◽

Protective Role ◽

In Vivo Models

Histone deacetylase (HDAC)2 is expressed in airway epithelium and plays a pivotal role in inflammatory cells. However, the role of HDAC2 in allergic airway inflammation remains poorly understood. In the present study, we determined the role of HDAC2 in airway inflammation using in vivo models of house dust mite (HDM)-induced allergic inflammation and in vitro cultures of human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cells exposed to HDM, IL-17A, or both. We observed that HDM-challenged Hdac2+/− mice exhibited substantially enhanced infiltration of inflammatory cells. Higher levels of T helper 2 cytokines and IL-17A expression were found in lung tissues of HDM-challenged Hdac2+/− mice. Interestingly, IL-17A deletion or anti-IL-17A treatment reversed the enhanced airway inflammation induced by HDAC2 impairment. In vitro, HDM and IL-17A synergistically decreased HDAC2 expression in HBE cells. HDAC2 gene silencing further enhanced HDM- and/or IL-17A-induced inflammatory cytokines in HBE cells. HDAC2 overexpresion or blocking IL-17A gene expression restored the enhanced inflammatory cytokines. Collectively, these results support a protective role of HDAC2 in HDM-induced airway inflammation by suppressing IL-17A production and might suggest that activation of HDAC2 and/or inhibition of IL-17A production could prevent the development of allergic airway inflammation.

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The lncRNA Gm15622 stimulates SREBP-1c expression and hepatic lipid accumulation by sponging the miR-742-3p in mice

The Journal of Lipid Research ◽

10.1194/jlr.ra120000664 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 61 (7) ◽

pp. 1052-1064 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Minjuan Ma ◽

Rui Duan ◽

Lulu Shen ◽

Mengting Liu ◽

Yaya Ji ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Lipid Accumulation ◽

Lipid Deposition ◽

In Vivo Models ◽

Hepatic Lipid ◽

Hepatic Lipid Accumulation ◽

Regulatory Circuit ◽

Murine Liver

Excessive lipid deposition is a hallmark of NAFLD. Although much has been learned about the enzymes and metabolites involved in NAFLD, few studies have focused on the role of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in hepatic lipid accumulation. Here, using in vitro and in vivo models of NAFLD, we found that the lncRNA Gm15622 is highly expressed in the liver of obese mice fed a HFD and in murine liver (AML-12) cells treated with free fatty acids. Investigating the molecular mechanism in the liver-enriched expression of Gm15622 and its effects on lipid accumulation in hepatocytes and on NAFLD pathogenesis, we found that Gm15622 acts as a sponge for the microRNA miR-742-3p. This sponging activity increased the expression of the transcriptional regulator SREBP-1c and promoted lipid accumulation in the liver of the HFD mice and AML-12 cells. Moreover, further results indicated that metformin suppresses Gm15622 and alleviates NAFLD-associated lipid deposition in mice. In conclusion, we have identified an lncRNA Gm15622/miR-742-3p/SREBP-1c regulatory circuit associated with NAFLD in mice, a finding that significantly advances our insight into how lipid metabolism and accumulation are altered in this metabolic disorder. Our results also suggest that Gm15622 may be a potential therapeutic target for managing NAFLD.

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