Abstract
The requirement for the serine/threonine protein kinase ATM in coordinating the cellular response to DNA damage induced by ionizing radiation has been studied extensively. Many of the anti-tumor chemotherapeutics in clinical use today cause DNA double strand breaks; however, few have been evaluated for their ability to modulate ATM-mediated pathways. We have investigated the requirement for ATM in the cellular response to doxorubicin, a topoisomerase II-stabilizing drug. Using several ATM-proficient and ATM-deficient cell lines, we have observed ATM-dependent nuclear accumulation of p53 and ATM-dependent phosphorylation of p53 on seven serine residues. This was accompanied by an increased binding of p53 to its cognate binding site, suggesting transcriptional competency of p53 to activate its downstream effectors. Treatment of cells with doxorubicin led to the phosphorylation of histone H2AX on serine 139 with dependence on ATM for the initial response. Doxorubicin treatment also stimulated ATM autophosphorylation on serine 1981 and the ATM-dependent phosphorylation of numerous effectors in the ATM-signaling pathway, including Nbs1 (Ser(343)), SMC1 (Ser(957)), Chk1 (Ser(317) and Ser(345)), and Chk2 (Ser(33/35) and Thr(68)). Although generally classified as a topoisomerase II-stabilizing drug that induces DNA double strand breaks, doxorubicin can intercalate DNA and generate reactive oxygen species. Pretreatment of cells with the superoxide scavenger ascorbic acid had no effect on the doxorubicin-induced phosphorylation and accumulation of p53. In contrast, preincubation of cells with the hydroxyl radical scavenger, N-acetylcysteine, significantly attenuated the doxorubicin-mediated phosphorylation and accumulation of p53, p53-DNA binding, and the phosphorylation of H2AX, Nbs1, SMC1, Chk1, and Chk2, suggesting that hydroxyl radicals contribute to the doxorubicin-induced activation of ATM-dependent pathways.
Highlights
§ A Scientist of the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research and an Investigator of the Canadian Institutes for Health Research
The phosphorylation was absent in the ATMdeficient L3 cells at the times examined; in a manner similar to IR [16], doxorubicin induced a modest accumulation of p53 and phosphorylation at serine 15 in Ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM)-deficient cells at later time points (4 h and longer)
Many of the anticancer drugs in active clinical use today have the capacity to induce double strand breaks (DSBs); little is known about the role of ATM in response to the damage induced by these drugs
Summary
Preincubation of cells with the hydroxyl radical scavenger, N-acetylcysteine, significantly attenuated the doxorubicin-mediated phosphorylation and accumulation of p53, p53-DNA binding, and the phosphorylation of H2AX, Nbs1, SMC1, Chk1, and Chk2, suggesting that hydroxyl radicals contribute to the doxorubicin-induced activation of ATM-dependent pathways. We demonstrate that doxorubicin-induced stabilization and phosphorylation of p53 on serine 15 at early time points following treatment occur only in the presence of the ATM protein kinase (Fig. 1, A and B).
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