APE1 Expression Research Articles

Small-Molecule Inhibitors of APE1 DNA Repair Function: An Overview

APE1 is a multifaceted protein that orchestrates multiple activities in the cell, one of which is the preservation of genomic integrity; a vital process that takes place in the context of the base excision repair (BER) pathway. Studies have implicated APE1 in rendering cancerous cells less vulnerable to the effects of DNA-damaging agents that are commonly used for the treatment of cancer. Furthermore, suppression of APE1 expression in cancer cell lines is accompanied by the potentiation of the activity of cytotoxic agents. As a result, major efforts have been directed towards the identification of small-molecule inhibitors of this DNA-repair enzyme. Herein, we review all patented small-molecule APE1 inhibitors reported prior to 2011. Unfortunately, the potency and selectivity of many of the reported inhibitors were not disclosed by the original authors, and at present it is unclear if APE1 is a bona fide target for many of the purported inhibitors. Moreover, cellular activity and toxicity of many inhibitors remain to be established. Since this is the first comprehensive review of small molecule APE1 inhibitors, we present all compounds reported to inhibit APE1 activity with an IC50 value ≤ 25 μM. Efforts towards a careful validation and optimization of these compounds are warranted. Furthermore, we explore potential allosteric drug-binding sites on the protein as an alternative approach for modulating the activity of this multifunctional protein. In addition, we give an overview of APE2, as well as other APE1 homologues in some disease-causing pathogens. Finally, given the universal importance of DNA repair, as well as the considerable conservation of repair proteins across all living organisms, we propose targeting the AP endonuclease activity of pathogens by the compounds discussed in this review, thereby expanding their therapeutic potential and application.

E3330 Enhanced Antitumor Effect of Adrinmycin on Human Extranodal Nasal-Type NK/T Cell Lymphoma Xenografted–Nude Mice

Abstract 2723 Abstract:Extranodal Nasal-Type NK/T Cell Lymphoma (EN-NK/T-L) is a distinct clinicopathological entity of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which is characterized by a highly aggressive clinical process and poor prognosis especially when disseminated or recurrent after radiotherapy. Human purinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease/redox factor-1 (hAPE/Ref-1) is a multifunctional protein involved in the repair of DNA damaged by oxidative. Because of its involvement in DNA repair and apoptosis-related signaling mechanisms, APE/Ref-1 is also being discussed as a novel target for tumor-therapeutic approaches. In studies, high level of APE1 expression is associated with an resistance to chemotherapeutic agents and adverse prognosis. And recent studies show that E3330, a small molecule inhibitor of the Ape-1/Ref-1 redox domain, induce inhibition of growth in cancer cell in vitro by specific inhibiting the function of APE/REF-1. E3330 blocks the in vitro growth of pancreatic cancer-associated endothelial cells(J Cell Physiol. 2009 Apr;219(1):209–18.) and of the NK/T-cell lineage in our sdudy already and provides a potential therapeutic strategy in tumor. Thus far, no study has reported the experimental research on E3330 combined with chemotherapy in treating NK/T cell lymphoma. Therefore, we try to establish xenografted-nude mice model of human extranodal nasal type NK/T cell lymphoma and to investigate the effect of E3330 combined with adrinmycin on the human EN-NK/T-L xenografted-nude mice and its mechanism. Methods: EN-NK/T-L Xenografted-nude mice model was established by intraperitoneal injection of NK/T cell lymohoma cells SNK-6. IC50 of E3330 for SNK-6 was calculated according to the result of MTT assay. Xenografted- nude mice were divided into four groups: Control group were given equal volume sodium,po,d1-7□ G E3330 group were given E3330, 6mg/kg, po, d1-7□ GADM group were given ADM, 0.5mg/kg, ip,d1,4,7□ GE3330 + ADM group were given both E3330 and ADM, E3330, 6mg/kg, po, d1-7, ADM 0.5mg/kg, ip, D1,4,7. The tumor weight and the survival rate of tumor–bearing mice were assayed, the apoptosis cells were determined by TdT-mediated Dutp Nick-end-Labeling(Tunel). Immunohistochemistry were used to study the expression of ki-67. Immunofluorescence were used to study the expression of APE/REF-1. Results: Nude mice model of human extranodal nasal type NK/T cell lymphoma was established successfully. The results showed that the expression level of APE/REF-1 was higher in tumor tissues compared with that in normal tissues (Fig 1 A 1B). The transplanted tumor volumes of mice were significantly smaller in E3330 + ADM group than those in other three groups(p<0.05)(Table 1). The expression of ki-67 in E3330 + ADM group was lower than other groups(p<0.05) (Fig 2 A 2B 2C 2D) and the apoptosis cells were increased in the same group (Table 2). Conclusion: Our study showed that E3330 + adrinmycin can significantly inhibit the growth of transplanted tumor of extranodal nasal type NK/T cell lymphoma Xenografted-nude mice. Disclosures:No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Alteration of AP-endonuclease1 expression in curcumin-treated fibrotic rats

Background. Apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease1/ redox factor-1 (APE1/Ref-1) is a multifunctional protein involved in DNA base excision repair and redox regulation of many transcription factors. It is an important pro-survival protein activated in response to oxidative stress. Increased level of this essential redox sensi¬tive protein correlates closely with cellular survival against oxidative insults. Curcumin (diferuloylmethane) a naturally occurring compound derived from turmeric has attracted interest because of its anti-inflamma¬tory, anti-oxidative, and chemopreventive activities.Material and methods. The current study evaluates the in vivo role of curcumin in protecting and treating liver injury and fibrogenesis caused by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) in rats. It also addresses the possible involvement of the multifunctional protein APE1 in hepatoprotection. Analysis of APE1 expression was performed at mRNA and protein levels by reverse trans¬criptase (RT)-PCR and western blotting respectively. Profile of HSCs-activation related genes were assayed by RT-PCR and pro-inflammatory cytokines levels were determined by enzyme-linked immune assays.Results. Here we show that oral administration of curcumin was accompanied by a robust increase in APE1 protein and mRNA levels, and improved the histological architecture of rat liver. In addition, curcumin attenuated oxidative stress by increasing the content of hepatic glutathione within normal values, leading to the re¬duction in the level of lipid hydroperoxide. Curcumin remarkably suppressed inflammation by reducing le¬vels of inflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kB) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). It also inhibited hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) activation by elevating the level of PPARγ and reducing the abundance of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β). We found that oral adminis¬tration of curcumin at 200 mg/kg dose not only protected against CCl4-induced hepatic injury, but also re¬sulted in more than two-fold induction of APE1 protein expression in CCl4-induced rat group.Conclusions. It can be concluded that curcumin reduced markers of liver damage in rats treated with CCl4, with conco¬mitant elevation in APE1 protein level indicating a possible protective effect with unknown mechanism. The induction of DNA repair enzymes may be an important and novel strategy for hepatic protection against oxidative injury.

The repair function of the multifunctional DNA repair/redox protein APE1 is neuroprotective after ionizing radiation

Although exposure to ionizing radiation (IR) can produce significant neurotoxicity, the mechanisms mediating this toxicity remain to be determined. Previous studies using neurons isolated from the central nervous system show that IR produces reactive oxygen species and oxidative DNA damage in those cells. Because the base excision DNA repair pathway repairs single-base modifications caused by ROS, we asked whether manipulating this pathway by altering APE1 expression would affect radiation-induced neurotoxicity. In cultures of adult hippocampal and sensory neurons, IR produces DNA damage as measured by phosphorylation of histone H2A.X and results in dose-dependent cell death. In isolated sensory neurons, we demonstrate for the first time that radiation decreases the capsaicin-evoked release of the neuropeptide CGRP. Reducing APE1 expression in cultured cells augments IR-induced neurotoxicity, whereas overexpressing APE1 is neuroprotective. Using lentiviral constructs with a neuronal specific promoter that selectively expresses APE1s different functions in neurons, we show that selective expression of the DNA repair competent (redox inactive) APE1 constructs in sensory neurons resurrects cell survival and neuronal function, whereas use of DNA-repair deficient (redox active) constructs is not protective. Use of an APE1 redox-specific inhibitor, APX3330, also facilitates neuronal protection against IR-induced toxicity. These results demonstrate for the first time that the repair function of APE1 is required to protect both hippocampal and DRG neuronal cultures—specifically neuronal cells—from IR-induced damage, while the redox activity of APE1 does not appear to be involved.

Immunohistochemical analysis of p53, APE1, hMSH2 and ERCC1 proteins in actinic cheilitis and lip squamous cell carcinoma

This study has compared the tissue expression of the p53 tumour suppressor protein and DNA repair proteins APE1, hMSH2 and ERCC1 in normal, dysplastic and malignant lip epithelium. Morphological analysis and immunohistochemistry were performed on archived specimens of normal lip mucosa (n=15), actinic cheilitis (AC) (n=30), and lip squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) (n=27). AC samples were classified morphologically according to the severity of epithelial dysplasia and risk of malignant transformation. LSCC samples were morphologically staged according to WHO and invasive front grading (IFG) criteria. Differences between groups and morphological stages were determined by bivariate statistical analysis. Progressive increases in the percentage of epithelial cells expressing p53 and APE1 were associated with increases in morphological malignancy from normal lip mucosa to LSCC. There was also a significant reduction in epithelial cells expressing hMSH2 and ERCC1 proteins in the AC and LSCC groups. A higher percentage of malignant cells expressing APE1 was found in samples with an aggressive morphological IFG grade. Our data showed that epithelial cells from premalignant to malignant lip disease exhibited changes in the expression of p53, APE1, hMSH2 and ERCC1 proteins; these molecular change might contribute to lip carcinogenesis.

Subcellular localization of apurinic endonuclease 1 promotes lung tumor aggressiveness via NF-κB activation

Apurinic endonuclease 1 (Ape1) is not only involved in base excision repair, but also activates some transcriptional factors through its redox activity. However, which subcellular localization of Ape1 is involved in the activation of transcriptional factor remains unclear. We first observed that Cox-2 expression was associated with cytoplasmic Ape1 expression in lung tumors and cancer cell lines. We thus hypothesize that nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB is activated by cytoplasmic Ape1 to cause Cox-2 expression. Herein, we generated cytoplasmic and nuclear Ape1 in Ape1-knockdown lung cancer cells by exogenous expression of Ape1 containing various deletions and/or mutations of the nuclear localization sequence. It was observed that cytoplasmic Ape1, but not nuclear Ape1, induced Cox-2 expression through NF-kappaB activation. NF-kappaB activation by cytoplasmic Ape1 was diminished by the Ape1 redox activity inhibitor resveratrol. Cells expressing cytoplasmic Ape1 exhibited tumor progression and metastasis in vitro and in vivo as xenografts, but cells expressing nuclear Ape1 did not. Patients with tumors containing elevated cytoplasmic Ape1 had a poor prognosis and a 3.722-fold risk of tumor recurrence and/or metastasis. Cytoplasmic Ape1 could therefore enhance lung tumor malignancy through NF-kappaB activation, suggesting that combination of cisplatin and specific redox inhibitor could improve chemotherapeutic response in patients with tumors containing elevated cytoplasmic Ape1.

Role of benzo[α]pyrene in generation of clustered DNA damage in human breast tissue

Complex DNA damage may manifest in double-strand breaks (DSBs) and non-DSB, bistranded, oxidatively induced clustered DNA lesions (OCDLs). Although the carcinogen benzo[α]pyrene (B[α]P) has been shown to induce chromosomal aberrations and transformation of mammary cells, it is not known whether this compound engenders clustered DNA damage. Normal primary breast tissue-derived cells were treated with B[α]P, and the levels of DNA lesions, chromosomal aberrations, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and reactive oxygen species (ROS) were determined. DNA from cells treated with 2 and 8 µM B[α]P exhibited increases of 3- and 4-fold in APE1 ( p < 0.001), 11- and 19-fold in Endo III ( p < 0.001), and 8- and 15-fold in hOGG1 ( p < 0.001) OCDLs, respectively, compared to the 0 µM B[α]P-treated (control) group. Mammary cells treated with 8 µM B[α]P produced 0.12 aberrations per cell ( p < 0.05) and there was a strong positive correlation ( r = 0.91) between the levels of OCDLs and those of chromosomal aberrations. Finally, TAC was decreased by 25% ( p < 0.02), whereas ROS production increased by 2-fold ( p < 0.02) in cells treated with 8 μM B[α]P compared to the control group. In conclusion, oxidatively induced clustered DNA damage mediated through differential expression of APE1, reduced TAC, and increased ROS may play a significant role in the chemically induced transformation of normal primary mammary cells.

Human apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease (APE1) is a prognostic factor in ovarian, gastro-oesophageal and pancreatico-biliary cancers.

Background:Altered DNA repair may be associated with aggressive tumour biology and impact upon response to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. We investigated whether expression of human AP endonuclease (APE1), a key multifunctional protein involved in DNA BER, would impact on clinicopathological outcomes in ovarian, gastro-oesophageal, and pancreatico-biliary cancer.Methods:Formalin-fixed human ovarian, gastro-oesophageal, and pancreatico-biliary cancers were constructed into TMAs. Expression of APE1 was analysed by IHC and correlated to clinicopathological variables.Results:In ovarian cancer, nuclear APE1 expression was seen in 71.9% (97 out of 135) of tumours and correlated with tumour type (P=0.006), optimal debulking (P=0.009), and overall survival (P=0.05). In gastro-oesophageal cancers previously exposed to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, 34.8% (16 out of 46) of tumours were positive in the nucleus and this correlated with shorter overall survival (P=0.005), whereas cytoplasmic localisation correlated with tumour dedifferentiation (P=0.034). In pancreatico-biliary cancer, nuclear staining was seen in 44% (32 out of 72) of tumours. Absence of cytoplasmic staining was associated with perineural invasion (P=0.007), vascular invasion (P=0.05), and poorly differentiated tumours (P=0.068). A trend was noticed with advanced stage (P=0.077).Conclusions:Positive clinicopathological correlations of APE1 expression suggest that APE1 is a potential drug target in ovarian, gastro-oesophageal, and pancreatico-biliary cancers.

Expression of DNA repair gene apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 and its correlation with the expression of mutant p53 in hepatocellular carcinoma

Objective To detect the expression of apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APEI) and explore its correlation with the expression of mutant p53 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods The expression of APE1 and mutant p53 was detected by SP immunohistochemical method in 10 specimens of normal liver tissue, 40 specimens of liver cirrhosis tissue and 103 specimens of HCC tissue which were collected at the Department of Pathology of Daping Hospital from 1991 to 2004. All data were analyzed by chi-square test, correla-tion analysis and K Independent-Samples Tests. Results The expression rate of APE1 in HCC was 100.0%, which was significantly higher than that in normal liver tissue (40.0%) and liver cirrhosis tissue (82.5%) (χ~2= 47.852, P < 0.01). The expression of APE1 was only detected in the nucleus in normal liver tissue. Ectopic expression of APE1 in cytoplasm was detected in liver cirrhosis tissue and HCC tissue, with the rate of 20.0% and 53.4%, respectively (χ~2=20.757, P <0.01). There was statistical difference in clinical staging and pathological grading of HCC with different combinations of APE1 expression (intranuclear or ectopic expression) and mutant p53 expression (positive or negative expression) (χ~2=12.910, 14.481, P < 0.01), and HCC with ectopic expression of APE1 and positive expression of p53 had high malignant degree. Conclusion Overexpression and ectopic expression of APE1 in cytoplasm may play important roles in the genesis and progression of HCC, and the ectopic expression of APE1 and p53 mutation may have synergistic effect. Key words: Liver neoplasms; Apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1; Mutant p53

Knock down of the dual functional protein apurinic /apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 enhances the killing effect of hematoporphrphyrin derivative‐mediated photodynamic therapy on non‐small cell lung cancer cells in vitro and in a xenograft model

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is considered to be effective treatment for many cancers including lung cancer, head and neck cancers, and prostate cancer. It uses the combination of nontoxic photosensitizers and harmless visible light to generate reactive oxygen species and kill cells. However, DNA repair and reactive oxygen species-induced signaling pathway activation play crucial roles in cellular response to PDT and may also result in therapeutic limitation of PDT. To improve the cancer therapeutic efficacy of PDT, we targeted apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease (APE1), which is essential for both DNA repair and redox regulation of gene transcription, as a potential candidate for PDT combined gene therapy. In our study, an adenovirus-mediated APE1 silencing strategy was introduced to test its therapeutic enhancement for the non-small cell lung cancer cell line A549 both in vitro and in vivo after hematoporphrphyrin derivative (HpD)-mediated PDT. The adenovirus vector Ad5/F35-shAPE1 was validated to significantly suppress the protein expression of APE1 in cultured A549 cell and in its xenograft of nude mice. Ad5/F35-shAPE1 effectively inhibited APE1 protein upregulation induced by PDT and resulted in an increase in A549 cell killing by photoirradiation compared with the hematoporphrphyrin derivative-PDT alone group. Ad5/F35-shAPE1 suppressed the DNA repair capacity for single-strand breaks and abolished the activation of some stress-related transcription factors such as hypoxia-induced factor (HIF)-1 that consequently lead to increased cell apoptosis after PDT. Additionally, knock down of APE1 enhanced the tumor suppression efficacy of PDT on the A549 xenograft. Our study indicated that APE1-targeted gene therapy combined with PDT is a promising strategy for enhancement of the efficacy of PDT in treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.

Role of APE1 in differentiated neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells in response to oxidative stress: Use of APE1 small molecule inhibitors to delineate APE1 functions

Oxidative DNA damage has been implicated in a number of central nervous system pathologies. The base excision repair (BER) pathway is one of the most important cellular protection mechanisms that respond to oxidative DNA damage. Human apurinic (apyrimidinic) endonuclease/redox effector factor (APE1/Ref-1 or APE1) is an essential enzyme in the BER pathway and is expressed in both mitotic and post-mitotic cells in humans. In neurons, a reduction of APE1 expression increases chemotherapy-induced cytotoxicity, while overexpression of APE1 protects cells against the cytotoxicity. However, given the multiple functions of APE1, knockdown of total APE1 is not completely informative of whether it is the redox or DNA repair activity, or interactions with other proteins. Therefore, the use of selective small molecules that can block each function independent of the other is of great benefit in ascertaining APE1 function in post-mitotic cells. In this study, we chose differentiated SH-SY5Y cells as our post-mitotic cell line model to investigate whether a drug-induced decrease in APE1 DNA repair or redox activity contributes to the growth and survival of post-mitotic cells under oxidative DNA damaging conditions. Here, we demonstrate that overexpression of WT-APE1 or C65-APE1 (repair competent) results in significant increase in cell viability after exposure to H2O2. However, the 177/226-APE1 (repair deficient) did not show a protective effect. This phenomenon was further confirmed by the use of methoxyamine (MX), which blocks the repair activity of APE1 that results in enhanced cell killing and apoptosis in differentiated SH-SY5Y cells and in neuronal cultures after oxidative DNA damaging treatments. Blocking APE1 redox function by a small molecule inhibitor, BQP did not decrease viability of SH-SY5Y cells or neuronal cultures following oxidative DNA damaging treatments. Our results demonstrate that the DNA repair function of APE1 contributes to the survival of nondividing post-mitotic cells following oxidative DNA damage.

APE1 protein levels are increased in PIN1 depleted murine mammary tumors

APE1 and several other Base Excision Repair (BER) proteins are known to be phosphorylated, which may regulate their activity and expression. PIN1 is a proline isomerase that acts on proteins phosphorylated at serine/threonine‐proline motifs. Its impact on conformation can affect protein function and turnover. Here we investigated the effect of PIN1 depletion on APE1 expression in mammary tumors. EMT6 murine mammary adenocarcinoma cells lacking PIN1 were generated by stable knockdown with small hairpin RNA. Parallel control cells were established using a mutant sequence. Tumors were established by injecting cells in the 4th mammary fat pad of female BALB/c mice. Tumors lacking PIN1 grew faster and had significantly higher APE1 levels than the corresponding slower growing control tumors. To determine if APE1 expression was attributable to tumor size or PIN1 deficiency, knockdown and control tumors were harvested at different times and tumors of similar sizes were compared. PIN1 knockdown tumors again had significantly higher levels of APE1 than control tumors of similar size harvested slightly later. These results suggest that suppression of PIN1 increases APE1 synthesis or reduces its degradation in developing tumors in vivo. PIN1 may regulate the sensitivity of tumors to DNA damaging agents by its effect on this BER enzyme.

APE1 overexpression is associated with cisplatin resistance in non-small cell lung cancer and targeted inhibition of APE1 enhances the activity of cisplatin in A549 cells

Purpose Apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease (APE1), a bifunctional AP endonuclease/redox factor, is important in DNA repair and redox signaling, may be associated with chemoresistance. In this study, we first investigated APE1 expression and its correlation with cisplatin resistance and prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Then, we investigated the effect of chimeric adenoviral vector Ad5/F35 carrying human APE1 siRNA (Ad5/F35-APE1 siRNA) on the sensitivity of cisplatin in A549 human lung adenocarcinoma cells. Methods Tumor specimens from 103 patients with operable NSCLC were obtained from 1999 to 2001. Among these patients, 72 patients have been treated with at least three cycles of cisplatin-based chemotherapy. APE1 protein expression was examined by immunohistochemistry and Western blot on the tumor samples and a cultured A549 cell line, respectively. Cell survival and apoptosis were determined by MTT and TUNEL, respectively. Results 83.3% (20/24) cisplatin-resistant tumors showed high APE1 expression levels, while 8.3% (4/48) cisplatin-sensitive tumors showed high APE1 expression levels ( p < 0.01). Univariate analysis indicated that overall survival and disease-free survival were significantly better in NSCLC patients with low vs those with high APE1 expression levels ( p < 0.01). Treatment with cisplatin resulted in a dose-dependent increase in APE1 protein expression in A549 cells, and Ad5/F35-APE1 siRNA effectively inhibited APE1 expression. Ad5/F35-APE1 siRNA significantly enhanced sensitivity of A549 cells to cisplatin, associated with increased cell apoptosis. Conclusions Our results indicate that APE1 is a new promising target for the combination of cisplatin-based chemotherapy in NCSLC patients.

Regulatory Role of Human AP-Endonuclease (APE1/Ref-1) in YB-1-Mediated Activation of the Multidrug Resistance Gene MDR1

Human AP-endonuclease (APE1/Ref-1), a central enzyme involved in the repair of oxidative base damage and DNA strand breaks, has a second activity as a transcriptional regulator that binds to several trans-acting factors. APE1 overexpression is often observed in tumor cells and confers resistance to various anticancer drugs; its downregulation sensitizes tumor cells to such agents. Because the involvement of APE1 in repairing the DNA damage induced by many of these drugs is unlikely, drug resistance may be linked to APE1's transcriptional regulatory function. Here, we show that APE1, preferably in the acetylated form, stably interacts with Y-box-binding protein 1 (YB-1) and enhances its binding to the Y-box element, leading to the activation of the multidrug resistance gene MDR1. The enhanced MDR1 level due to the ectopic expression of wild-type APE1 but not of its nonacetylable mutant underscores the importance of APE1's acetylation in its coactivator function. APE1 downregulation sensitizes MDR1-overexpressing tumor cells to cisplatin or doxorubicin, showing APE1's critical role in YB-1-mediated gene expression and, thus, drug resistance in tumor cells. A systematic increase in both APE1 and MDR1 expression was observed in non-small-cell lung cancer tissue samples. Thus, our study has established the novel role of the acetylation-mediated transcriptional regulatory function of APE1, making it a potential target for the drug sensitization of tumor cells.

Implications of Apurinic/Apyrimidinic Endonuclease in Reactive Oxygen Signaling Response after Cisplatin Treatment of Dorsal Root Ganglion Neurons

Peripheral neuropathy is one of the major side effects of the anticancer drug cisplatin. Although previous work suggests that this neuropathy correlates with formation of DNA adducts in sensory neurons, growing evidence suggests that cisplatin also increases the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which could cause DNA damage. Apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease/redox factor-1 (Ape1/Ref-1) is a multifunctional protein involved in DNA base excision repair of oxidative DNA damage and in redox regulation of a number of transcription factors. Therefore, we asked whether altering Ape1 functions would influence cisplatin-induced neurotoxicity. Sensory neurons in culture were exposed to cisplatin for 24 hours and several end points of toxicity were measured, including production of ROS, cell death, apoptosis, and release of the immunoreactive calcitonin gene-related peptide (iCGRP). Reducing expression of Ape1 in neuronal cultures using small interfering RNA (siRNA) enhances cisplatin-induced cell killing, apoptosis, ROS generation, and cisplatin-induced reduction in iCGRP release. Overexpressing wild-type Ape1 attenuates all the toxic effects of cisplatin in cells containing normal endogenous levels of Ape1 and in cells with reduced Ape1 levels after Ape1siRNA treatment. Overexpressing the redox deficient/repair competent C65-Ape1 provides partial rescue, whereas the repair-deficient Ape1 (N226A + R177A) does not protect neurons from cisplatin toxicity. We also observe an increase in phosphorylation of p53 after a decrease in Ape1 levels in sensory neuronal cultures. These results strongly support the notion that Ape1 is a potential translational target such that protecting Ape1 levels and particularly its DNA repair function could reduce peripheral neuropathy in patients undergoing cisplatin treatment.

Small-molecule inhibitor of the AP endonuclease 1/REF-1 E3330 inhibits pancreatic cancer cell growth and migration

AP endonuclease 1 (APE1; also known as REF-1) contains a DNA repair domain and a redox regulation domain. APE1 is overexpressed in several human cancers, and disruption of APE1 function has detrimental effects on cancer cell viability. However, the selective contribution of the redox and the DNA repair domains to maintenance of cellular homeostasis in cancer has not been elucidated. In the present study, we used E3330, a small-molecule inhibitor of APE1 redox domain function, to interrogate the functional relevance of sustained redox function in pancreatic cancer. We show that E3330 significantly reduces the growth of human pancreatic cancer cells in vitro. This phenomenon was further confirmed by a small interfering RNA experiment to knockdown APE1 expression in pancreatic cancer cells. Further, the growth-inhibitory effects of E3330 are accentuated by hypoxia, and this is accompanied by striking inhibition in the DNA-binding ability of hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha, a hypoxia-induced transcription factor. E3330 exposure promotes endogenous reactive oxygen species formation in pancreatic cancer cells, and the resulting oxidative stress is associated with higher levels of oxidized, and hence inactive, SHP-2, an essential protein tyrosine phosphatase that promotes cancer cell proliferation in its active state. Finally, E3330 treatment inhibits pancreatic cancer cell migration as assessed by in vitro chemokine assays. E3330 shows anticancer properties at multiple functional levels in pancreatic cancer, such as inhibition of cancer cell growth and migration. Inhibition of the APE1 redox function through pharmacologic means has the potential to become a promising therapeutic strategy in this disease.

Chimeric adenoviral vector Ad5/F35-mediated APE1 siRNA enhances sensitivity of human colorectal cancer cells to radiotherapy in vitro and in vivo

Apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease (APE1), a bifunctional AP endonuclease/redox factor, is important in DNA repair and redox signaling, may be associated with radioresistance. Here we investigate whether targeted inhibition of APE1 can sensitize tumor cells to irradiation in vitro and in vivo. We first constructed chimeric adenoviral vector Ad5/F35 carrying human APE1 siRNA (Ad5/F35-APE1 siRNA). The infectivity of chimeric Ad5/F35 to LOVO colon cancer cells was greater than that of Ad5. APE1 was strongly expressed and nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB), a downstream molecule of APE1, known as a radioresistance factor, was constitutively active in LOVO cells. Infection of LOVO cells with Ad5/F35-APE1 siRNA resulted in a dose-dependent decrease of APE1 protein and AP endonuclease activity in vitro. Ad5/F35-APE1 siRNA significantly enhanced sensitivity of LOVO cells to irradiation in clonogenic survival assays, associated with increased cell apoptosis. The APE1 expression in LOVO cells was induced by irradiation in a dose-dependent manner, accompanied with the enhancement of DNA-binding activity of NF-kappaB and Ad5/F35-APE1 siRNA effectively inhibited constitutive and irradiation-induced APE1 expression and NF-kappaB activation. In a subcutaneous nude mouse colon cancer model, Ad5/F35-APE1 siRNA (5 x 10(8) IU, intratumoral injection) inhibited the expression of APE1 protein in LOVO xenografts, and significantly enhanced inhibition of tumor growth by irradiation. In conclusion, APE1 may be involved as one of the radioresistance factors, and targeted inhibition of APE1 shows an effective means of enhancing tumor sensitivity to radiotherapy.

Regulation of the human AP-endonuclease (APE1/Ref-1) expression by the tumor suppressor p53 in response to DNA damage

The human AP-endonuclease (APE1/Ref-1), an essential multifunctional protein, plays a central role in the repair of oxidative base damage via the DNA base excision repair (BER) pathway. The mammalian AP-endonuclease (APE1) overexpression is often observed in tumor cells, and confers resistance to various anticancer drugs; its downregulation sensitizes tumor cells to those agents via induction of apoptosis. Here we show that wild type (WT) but not mutant p53 negatively regulates APE1 expression. Time-dependent decrease was observed in APE1 mRNA and protein levels in the human colorectal cancer line HCT116 p53(+/+), but not in the isogenic p53 null mutant after treatment with camptothecin, a DNA topoisomerase I inhibitor. Furthermore, ectopic expression of WTp53 in the p53 null cells significantly reduced both endogenous APE1 and APE1 promoter-dependent luciferase expression in a dose-dependent fashion. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays revealed that endogenous p53 is bound to the APE1 promoter region that includes a Sp1 site. We show here that WTp53 interferes with Sp1 binding to the APE1 promoter, which provides a mechanism for the downregulation of APE1. Taken together, our results demonstrate that WTp53 is a negative regulator of APE1 expression, so that repression of APE1 by p53 could provide an additional pathway for p53-dependent induction of apoptosis in response to DNA damage.

Granzyme K degrades the redox/DNA repair enzyme Ape1 to trigger oxidative stress of target cells leading to cytotoxicity

Granzyme K (Gzm K) and granzyme A (GzmA) are the only two tryptases among all the granzymes. Tryptase activity is necessary for cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL)/nature killer (NK) cells-mediated cytolysis. Granzyme K might be a potent granzyme to rescue the activity of granzyme A. Granzyme K expresses at high levels in CD56 high NK cells, memory CD8 + T cells and CD56 + T cells. We recently demonstrated human granzyme K induces rapid cell death with rapid externalization of phosphatidylserine, nuclear morphological changes and single-stranded DNA nicks. Moreover, Granzyme K can induce rapid reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and collapse of mitochondrial inner membrane potential. Blockade of reactive oxygen species accumulation suppresses granzyme K-induced cell death. However, it is unknown about how reactive oxygen species generate in Granzyme K-mediated apoptosis. Here we found the redox factor-1/apurinic apyrimidinic endonuclease Ape1 can antagonize reactive oxygen species generation. Overexpression of Ape1 inhibits, whereas silencing Ape1 expression potentiates reactive oxygen species accumulation under treatment with oxidative reagents or loading with granzyme K. Ape1 is a physiological substrate of granzyme K. Ape1 cleavage by granzyme K facilitates intracellular reactive oxygen species accumulation and enhances granzyme K-induced cell death.

ATF4-Dependent Oxidative Induction of the DNA Repair Enzyme Ape1 Counteracts Arsenite Cytotoxicity and Suppresses Arsenite-Mediated Mutagenesis

Arsenite is a human carcinogen causing skin, bladder, and lung tumors, but the cellular mechanisms underlying these effects remain unclear. We investigated expression of the essential base excision DNA repair enzyme apurinic endonuclease 1 (Ape1) in response to sodium arsenite. In mouse 10T(1/2) fibroblasts, Ape1 induction in response to arsenite occurred about equally at the mRNA, protein, and enzyme activity levels. Analysis of the APE1 promoter region revealed an AP-1/CREB binding site essential for arsenite-induced transcriptional activation in both mouse and human cells. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays indicated that an ATF4/c-Jun heterodimer was the responsible transcription factor. RNA interference targeting c-Jun or ATF4 eliminated arsenite-induced APE1 transcription. Suppression of Ape1 or ATF4 sensitized both mouse fibroblasts (10T(1/2)) and human lymphoblastoid cells (TK6) to arsenite cytotoxicity. Expression of Ape1 from a transgene did not efficiently restore arsenite resistance in ATF4-depleted cells but did offset initial accumulation of abasic DNA damage following arsenite treatment. Mutagenesis by arsenite (at the TK and HPRT loci in TK6 cells) was observed only for ATF4-depleted cells, which was strongly offset by Ape1 expression from a transgene. Therefore, the ATF4-mediated up-regulation of Ape1 and other genes plays a key role against arsenite-mediated toxicity and mutagenesis.