scholarly journals Targeting NR4A Nuclear Receptors to Control Stromal Cell Inflammation, Metabolism, Angiogenesis, and Tumorigenesis

Author(s):  
Daniel Crean ◽  
Evelyn P. Murphy

The NR4A1–NR4A3 (Nur77, Nurr1, and Nor-1) subfamily of nuclear receptors is a group of immediate early genes induced by a pleiotropy of stimuli including peptide hormones, growth factors, cytokines, inflammatory, and physiological stimuli, and cellular stress. NR4A receptors function as potent sensors of changes in the cellular microenvironment to control physiological and pathological processes through genomic and non-genomic actions. NR4A receptors control metabolism and cardiovascular and neurological functions and mediate immune cell homeostasis in inflammation and cancer. This receptor subfamily is increasingly recognized as an important molecular connection between chronic inflammation, altered immune cell responses, and cancer development. In this review, we examine how transcriptome analysis identified NR4A1/NR4A2 receptors as transcriptional regulators in mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) migration, cell cycle progression, and cytokine production to control local immune responses. In chronic inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, NR4A receptors have been shown to modify the activity of MSC and fibroblast-like stromal cells to regulate synovial tissue hyperplasia, pathological angiogenesis, and cartilage turnover in vivo. Additionally, as NR4A1 has been observed as a major transcriptional regulator in tumor–stromal communication controlling tumorigenesis, we discuss how advances in the pharmacological control of these receptors lead to important new mechanistic insights into understanding the role of the tumor microenvironment in health and disease.

2012 ◽  
pp. 235-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman Balcazar Morales ◽  
Cecilia Aguilar de Plata

Growth factors, insulin signaling and nutrients are important regulators of β-cell mass and function. The events linking these signals to regulation of β-cell mass are not completely understood. Recent findings indicate that mTOR pathway integrates signals from growth factors and nutrients with transcription, translation, cell size, cytoskeleton remodeling and mitochondrial metabolism. mTOR is a part of two distinct complexes; mTORC1 and mTORC2. The mammalian TORC1 is sensitive to rapamycin and contains Raptor, deptor, PRAS40 and the G protein β-subunit-like protein (GβL). mTORC1 activates key regulators of protein translation; ribosomal S6 kinase (S6K) and eukaryote initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1. This review summarizes current findings about the role of AKT/mTORC1 signaling in regulation of pancreatic β cell mass and proliferation. mTORC1 is a major regulator of β-cell cycle progression by modulation of cyclins D2, D3 and cdk4/cyclin D activity. These studies uncovered key novel pathways controlling cell cycle progression in β-cells in vivo. This information can be used to develop alternative approaches to expand β-cell mass in vivo and in vitro without the risk of oncogenic transformation. The acquisition of such knowledge is critical for the design of improved therapeutic strategies for the treatment and cure of diabetes as well as to understand the effects of mTOR inhibitors in β-cell function.


2016 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-140
Author(s):  
A.V. Smirnova ◽  
V.N. Sukhorukov ◽  
V.P. Karagodin ◽  
A.N. Orekhov

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small (~22 nucleotides in length) noncoding RNA sequences regulating gene expression at posttranscriptional level. MicroRNAs bind complementarily to certain mRNA and cause gene silencing. The involvement of miRNAs in the regulation of lipid metabolism, inflammatory response, cell cycle progression and proliferation, oxidative stress, platelet activation, endothelial and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) function, angiogenesis and plaque formation and rapture indicates important roles in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis. The key role of microRNAs in pathophysiology of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), including atherosclerosis, was demonstrated in recent studies. Creating antisense oligonucleotides is a novel technique for selective changes in gene expression both in vitro and in vivo. In this review, we draw attention to the role of miRNAs in atherosclerosis progression, using miRNA as the potential biomarkers and targets in the CVDs, as well as possible application of antisense oligonucleotides


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xueqiang Deng ◽  
Xiaowei Fu ◽  
Hong Teng ◽  
Lu Fang ◽  
Bo Liang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the most fatal digestive system cancers. tripartite motif-29 (TRIM29) has been reported as oncogene in several human cancers. However, the precise role and underlying signal cascade of TRIM29 in PC progression remain unclear.Methods: Western blot, qRT-PCR and immunohistochemistry were used to analyze TRIM29 and Yes-associated protein 1 (YAP1) levels. CCK8 assays, EdU assays and flow cytometry were designed to explore the function and potential mechanism of TRIM29 and YAP1 in the proliferation of PC. Next, a nude mouse model of PC was established for validating the roles of TRIM29 and YAP1 in vivo. The relationship among TRIM29 and YAP1 was explored by co-immunoprecipitation and in vitro ubiquitination assay.Results: TRIM29 and YAP1 was significantly upregulated in PC patient samples, and TRIM29 expression was closely related to a malignant phenotype and poorer overall survival (OS) of PC patients. Functional assays revealed that TRIM29 knockdown suppresses cell growth, arrests cell cycle progression and promotes cell apoptosis of PC cells in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, the rescue experiments demonstrated that TRIM29-induced proliferation is dependent on YAP1 in PC cells. Mechanistically, TRIM29 regulates YAP1 expression by directly binding to YAP1, and reduced its ubiquitination and degradation.Conclusion: Taken together, these results identify a novel mechanism used by PC growth, and provide insight regarding the role of TRIM29 in PC.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1707
Author(s):  
Jee Hoon Song ◽  
Alan H. Tieu ◽  
Yulan Cheng ◽  
Ke Ma ◽  
Venkata S. Akshintala ◽  
...  

Barrett’s esophagus (BE) is a precursor to esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). Recently, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been identified as key regulators of biological pathways. However, involvement of lncRNAs in the development of BE and EAC has not been well-studied. The aims of the current study were: (1) to study involvement of the lncRNA, miR205HG, in the development of BE and EAC; (2) to clarify the role of miR205HG in in vitro and in vivo experiments; and (3) to investigate the mechanism of miR205HG involving the Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway. These experiments revealed that miR205HG was downregulated in EAC vs. normal esophageal epithelia (NE) as well as in EAC cell lines, and its forced overexpression inhibited EAC cell proliferation and cell cycle progression in vitro. Similarly, overexpression of miR205HG inhibited xenograft tumor growth in mice In vivo. Finally, we show that one mechanism of action of miR205HG involves the Hh signaling pathway: miR205HG and Hh expression levels were inversely correlated in both EAC (r = −0.73) and BE (r = −0.83) tissues, and in vitro studies revealed details of Hh signaling inhibition induced by miR205HG. In conclusion, these findings establish that lncRNA miR205HG functions as a tumor suppressor in the development of BE and EAC, at least in part through its effect on the Hh signaling pathway.


2013 ◽  
Vol 24 (11) ◽  
pp. 1676-1687 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen Dui ◽  
Bin Wei ◽  
Feng He ◽  
Wei Lu ◽  
Changqing Li ◽  
...  

Cell cycle progression is controlled by a complex regulatory network consisting of interacting positive and negative factors. In humans, the positive regulator Skp2, an F-box protein, has been a subject of intense investigation in part because of its oncogenic activity. By contrast, the molecular and developmental functions of its Drosophila homologue, dSkp2, are poorly understood. Here we investigate the role of dSkp2 by focusing on its functional relationship with Dacapo (Dap), the Drosophila homologue of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors p21cip1/p27kip1/p57kip2. We show that dSkp2 interacts physically with Dap and has a role in targeting Dap for ubiquitination and proteasome-mediated degradation. We present evidence that dSkp2 regulates cell cycle progression by antagonizing Dap in vivo. dSkp2 knockdown reduces cell density in the wing by prolonging the cell doubling time. In addition, the wing phenotype caused by dSkp2 knockdown resembles that caused by dap overexpression and can be partially suppressed by reducing the gene dose of dap. Our study thus documents a conserved functional relationship between dSkp2 and Dap in their control of cell cycle progression, suggesting the possibility of using Drosophila as a model system to study Skp2-mediated tumorigenesis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Rühl ◽  
Johanna M. Langner ◽  
Jasmin Reidel ◽  
Roland Schönherr ◽  
Toshinori Hoshi ◽  
...  

AbstractThe cellular resting membrane potential (Vm) not only determines electrical responsiveness of excitable cells but also plays pivotal roles in non-excitable cells, mediating membrane transport, cell-cycle progression, and tumorigenesis. Studying these processes requires estimation of Vm, ideally over long periods of time. Here, we introduce two ratiometric genetically encoded Vm indicators, rArc and rASAP, and imaging and analysis procedures for measuring differences in average resting Vm between cell groups. We investigated the influence of ectopic expression of K+ channels and their disease-causing mutations involved in Andersen-Tawil (Kir2.1) and Temple-Baraitser (KV10.1) syndrome on median resting Vm of HEK293T cells. Real-time long-term monitoring of Vm changes allowed to estimate a 40–50 min latency from induction of transcription to functional Kir2.1 channels in HEK293T cells. The presented methodology is readily implemented with standard fluorescence microscopes and offers deeper insights into the role of the resting Vm in health and disease.


2013 ◽  
Vol 200 (6) ◽  
pp. 743-756 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongxin Zou ◽  
Jun Mi ◽  
Wenxing Wang ◽  
Juanjuan Lu ◽  
Wei Zhao ◽  
...  

Cullin-RING ubiquitin ligases (CRLs) participate in the regulation of diverse cellular processes including cell cycle progression. Mutations in the X-linked CUL4B, a member of the cullin family, cause mental retardation and other developmental abnormalities in humans. Cells that are deficient in CUL4B are severely selected against in vivo in heterozygotes. Here we report a role of CUL4B in the regulation of replication licensing. Strikingly, CDC6, the licensing factor in replication, was positively regulated by CUL4B and contributed to the loading of MCM2 to chromatin. The positive regulation of CDC6 by CUL4B depends on CDK2, which phosphorylates CDC6, protecting it from APCCDH1-mediated degradation. Thus, aside being required for cell cycle reentry from quiescence, CDK2 also contributes to pre-replication complex assembly in G1 phase of cycling cells. Interestingly, the up-regulation of CDK2 by CUL4B is achieved via the repression of miR-372 and miR-373, which target CDK2. Our findings thus establish a CUL4B–CDK2–CDC6 cascade in the regulation of DNA replication licensing.


Blood ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 128 (22) ◽  
pp. 1537-1537 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zejin Sun ◽  
Donna Cerabona ◽  
Ying He ◽  
Grzegorz Nalepa

Abstract Cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor 3 (CDKN3) is a dual-specificity cell cycle regulatory phosphatase. In interphase, CDKN3 prevents premature G1/S transition by dephosphorylating interphase cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) to prevent premature inactivation of the RB pathway. During cell division, CDKN3 dephosphorylates the key mitotic kinase CDK1 at threonine-161 to extinguish CDK1 activity at the exit from mitosis. CDKN3 knockdown in cultured cells impairs the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC), accelerates cell cycle progression and causes chromosomal instability, suggesting that it may function as a tumor suppressor. However, since CDKN3 has been reported as overexpressed in some malignancies and mutated or silenced in others, it is unclear whether it functions as an oncogene or a tumor suppressor. To understand the in vivo role of CDKN3 in carcinogenesis, we generated the first Cdkn3 conditional knockout mouse model. We found that Cdkn3-/- mice were viable, non-dysmorphic and born at expected Mendelian ratios, indicating that this gene is dispensable for normal embryonic development. In agreement with the postulated role of this phosphatase in cell cycle progression and regulation of CDKs, we found that Cdkn3-/- cells had increased CDK1, CDK2 and CDK4 activity; increased inhibitory phosphorylation of Rb; increased DNA replication and proliferation; and impaired SAC. Increased CDK activity and accelerated cell cycle progression caused genomic instability reflected by increased frequency of in vivo micronucleation during hematopoiesis as well as higher frequency of aneuploidy and multinucleation and accumulation of supernumerary centrosomes in Cdkn3-/- cells cultured ex vivo. Cdkn3-/- mice had increased myeloid colony-forming units in progenitor assays. Long-term observation of Cdkn3-/- mice revealed an increased risk of death from a variety of hematopoietic (leukemia and lymphoma) and non-hematopoietic (lung, prostate and ovarian) malignancies. Our findings establish Cdkn3 as an in vivo tumor suppressor in bone marrow and a variety of other tissues. In the long term, Cdkn3-/- mice will serve as a tool to dissect the function of this phosphatase in cell cycle control in more detail, and may prove useful in preclinical studies of chemotherapy of CDK-hyperactive, genomically unstable leukemia and lymphoma. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


1994 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 3022-3029 ◽  
Author(s):  
M G Goebl ◽  
L Goetsch ◽  
B Byers

The transition from G1 to S phase of the cell cycle in Saccharomyces cerevisiae requires the activity of the Ubc3 (Cdc34) ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme. S. cerevisiae cells lacking a functional UBC3 (CDC34) gene are able to execute the Start function that initiates the cell cycle but fail to form a mitotic spindle or enter S phase. The Ubc3 (Cdc34) enzyme has previously been shown to catalyze the attachment of multiple ubiquitin molecules to model substrates, suggesting that the role of this enzyme in cell cycle progression depends on its targeting an endogenous protein(s) for degradation. In this report, we demonstrate that the Ubc3 (Cdc34) protein is itself a substrate for both ubiquitination and phosphorylation. Immunochemical localization of the gene product to the nucleus renders it likely that the relevant substrates similarly reside within the nucleus.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xueqiang Deng ◽  
Xiaowei Fu ◽  
Hong Teng ◽  
Lu Fang ◽  
Bo Liang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the most fatal digestive system cancers. tripartite motif-29 (TRIM29) has been reported as oncogene in several human cancers. However, the precise role and underlying signal cascade of TRIM29 in PC progression remain unclear. Methods Western blot, qRT-PCR and immunohistochemistry were used to analyze TRIM29 and Yes-associated protein 1 (YAP1) levels. CCK8 assays, EdU assays and flow cytometry were designed to explore the function and potential mechanism of TRIM29 and YAP1 in the proliferation of PC. Next, a nude mouse model of PC was established for validating the roles of TRIM29 and YAP1 in vivo. The relationship among TRIM29 and YAP1 was explored by co-immunoprecipitation and in vitro ubiquitination assay. Results TRIM29 and YAP1 was significantly upregulated in PC patient samples, and TRIM29 expression was closely related to a malignant phenotype and poorer overall survival (OS) of PC patients. Functional assays revealed that TRIM29 knockdown suppresses cell growth, arrests cell cycle progression and promotes cell apoptosis of PC cells in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, the rescue experiments demonstrated that TRIM29-induced proliferation is dependent on YAP1 in PC cells. Mechanistically, TRIM29 regulates YAP1 expression by directly binding to YAP1, and reduced its ubiquitination and degradation. Conclusion Taken together, these results identify a novel mechanism used by PC growth, and provide insight regarding the role of TRIM29 in PC.


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