P53-mediated Cell Cycle Arrest Research Articles

DNA damage during S-phase mediates the proliferation-quiescence decision in the subsequent G1 via p21 expression

Following DNA damage caused by exogenous sources, such as ionizing radiation, the tumour suppressor p53 mediates cell cycle arrest via expression of the CDK inhibitor, p21. However, the role of p21 in maintaining genomic stability in the absence of exogenous DNA-damaging agents is unclear. Here, using live single-cell measurements of p21 protein in proliferating cultures, we show that naturally occurring DNA damage incurred over S-phase causes p53-dependent accumulation of p21 during mother G2- and daughter G1-phases. High p21 levels mediate G1 arrest via CDK inhibition, yet lower levels have no impact on G1 progression, and the ubiquitin ligases CRL4Cdt2 and SCFSkp2 couple to degrade p21 prior to the G1/S transition. Mathematical modelling reveals that a bistable switch, created by CRL4Cdt2, promotes irreversible S-phase entry by keeping p21 levels low, preventing premature S-phase exit upon DNA damage. Thus, we characterize how p21 regulates the proliferation-quiescence decision to maintain genomic stability.

Centrosomes: PIDDosome Joins the Counting Game

Centrosome numbers are tightly regulated during the cell cycle. A new study shows that the PIDDosome prevents the propagation of cells carrying amplified centrosomes via p53 stabilisation and p21-mediated cell-cycle arrest, thus ensuring the maintenance of normal centrosome numbers.

Anti-cancer effect of novel PAK1 inhibitor via induction of PUMA-mediated cell death and p21-mediated cell cycle arrest

Hyper-activation of PAK1 (p21-activated kinase 1) is frequently observed in human cancer and speculated as a target of novel anti-tumor drug. In previous, we also showed that PAK1 is highly activated in the Smad4-deficient condition and suppresses PUMA (p53 upregulated modulator of apoptosis) through direct binding and phosphorylation. On the basis of this result, we have tried to find novel PAK1-PUMA binding inhibitors. Through ELISA-based blind chemical library screening, we isolated single compound, IPP-14 (IPP; Inhibitor of PAK1-PUMA), which selectively blocks the PAK1-PUMA binding and also suppresses cell proliferation via PUMA-dependent manner. Indeed, in PUMA-deficient cells, this chemical did not show anti-proliferating effect. This chemical possessed very strong PAK1 inhibition activity that it suppressed BAD (Bcl-2-asoociated death promoter) phosphorylation and meta-phase arrest via Aurora kinase inactivation in lower concentration than that of previous PAK1 kinase, FRAX486 and AG879. Moreover, our chemical obviously induced p21/WAF1/CIP1 (Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1A) expression by releasing from Bcl-2 (B-cell lymphoma-2) and by inhibition of AKT-mediated p21 suppression. Considering our result, IPP-14 and its derivatives would be possible candidates for PAK1 and p21 induction targeted anti-cancer drug.

Activation of SAT1 engages polyamine metabolism with p53-mediated ferroptotic responses

Although p53-mediated cell-cycle arrest, senescence, and apoptosis remain critical barriers to cancer development, the emerging role of p53 in cell metabolism, oxidative responses, and ferroptotic cell death has been a topic of great interest. Nevertheless, it is unclear how p53 orchestrates its activities in multiple metabolic pathways into tumor suppressive effects. Here, we identified the SAT1 (spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase 1) gene as a transcription target of p53. SAT1 is a rate-limiting enzyme in polyamine catabolism critically involved in the conversion of spermidine and spermine back to putrescine. Surprisingly, we found that activation of SAT1 expression induces lipid peroxidation and sensitizes cells to undergo ferroptosis upon reactive oxygen species (ROS)-induced stress, which also leads to suppression of tumor growth in xenograft tumor models. Notably, SAT1 expression is down-regulated in human tumors, and CRISPR-cas9-mediated knockout of SAT1 expression partially abrogates p53-mediated ferroptosis. Moreover, SAT1 induction is correlated with the expression levels of arachidonate 15-lipoxygenase (ALOX15), and SAT1-induced ferroptosis is significantly abrogated in the presence of PD146176, a specific inhibitor of ALOX15. Thus, our findings uncover a metabolic target of p53 involved in ferroptotic cell death and provide insight into the regulation of polyamine metabolism and ferroptosis-mediated tumor suppression.

Acetylation Is Crucial for p53-Mediated Ferroptosis and Tumor Suppression

Although previous studies indicate that loss of p53-mediated cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, and senescence does not completely abrogate its tumor suppression function, it is unclear how the remaining activities of p53 are regulated. Here, we have identified an acetylation site at lysine K98 in mouse p53 (or K101 for human p53). Whereas the loss of K98 acetylation (p53K98R) alone has very modest effects on p53-mediated transactivation, simultaneous mutations at all four acetylation sites (p534KR: K98R+ 3KR[K117R+K161R+K162R]) completely abolish its ability to regulate metabolic targets, such as TIGAR and SLC7A11. Notably, in contrast to p533KR, p534KR is severely defective in suppressing tumor growth in mouse xenograft models. Moreover, p534KR is still capable of inducing the p53-Mdm2 feedback loop, but p53-dependent ferroptotic responses are markedly abrogated. Together, these data indicate the critical role of p53 acetylation in ferroptotic responses and its remaining tumor suppression activity.

Alternative Therapeutic Approach to Urothelial Cell Carcinoma with Medicinal Mushroom Extracts

Severe side effects from chemotherapy or immunotherapy often limit their clinical utility in urothelial cell carcinoma of the bladder. To explore alternative therapies, we were particularly interested in one of medicinal mushrooms called Phellinus linteus (PL) with antitumor/anticancer activity. We investigated possible anticancer effects of three distinct extracts or fractions of PL using an urothelial cell carcinoma (UCC) model in vitro. Those fractions included PL-I (crude extract), PL-II (water-extracted), and PL-III (ethanol-extracted), which were tested for their antiproliferative effects on UCC cells. To explore the anticancer mechanism(s) of these fractions, cell cycle analysis and analyses of epigenetic parameters, caspases-3 and -9, and apoptotic regulators, were also performed. Both PL-I and -II induced a maximum growth reduction of ~60% at 700 µg/ml while PL-III led to a ~90% growth reduction at 150 µg/ml in 72 h. Cell cycle analysis indicated that cells treated with 500 µg/ml (IC50) of PL-I and -II or 60 µg/ml (IC50) of PL-III underwent a G1 cell cycle arrest, accompanied by the up-regulation of p21, a cell cycle-dependent kinase inhibitor. Additionally, histone deacetylase (HDAC) activity was significantly (>60%) lost, while both histones H3 and H4 were highly acetylated, indicating alterations in the chromatin structure. Moreover, both caspases-3 and -9 in cells treated with each IC50 of three PL-fractions were all significantly (p<0.03) activated, implying induction of apoptosis. The present study shows that all three PL-fractions, PL-I, -II, and -III, have anticancer effects on UCC cells, although PL-III appears to be the most potent. Such an anticancer mechanism is attributed to a p21-mediated cell cycle arrest with epigenetic modifications involving HDAC inactivation and hyperacetylation of H3 and H4, ultimately leading to apoptotic cell death. Therefore, PL-fractions may have clinical implications in a safer and improved therapeutic modality for urothelial cell carcinoma.

Gene Expression Analysis Reveals the Concurrent Activation of Proapoptotic and Antioxidant-Defensive Mechanisms in Flavokawain B–Treated Cervical Cancer HeLa Cells

Flavokawain B (FKB) is known to possess promising anticancer abilities. This is demonstrated in various cancer cell lines including HeLa cells. Cervical cancer is among the most widely diagnosed cancer among women today. Though FKB has been shown to be effective in treating cancer cells, the exact molecular mechanism is still unknown. This study is aimed at understanding the effects of FKB on HeLa cells using a microarray-based mRNA expression profiling and proteome profiling of stress-related proteins. The results of this study suggest that FKB induced cell death through p21-mediated cell cycle arrest and activation of p38. However, concurrent activation of antioxidant-related pathways and iron sequestration pathway followed by activation of ER-resident stress proteins clearly indicate that FKB failed to induce apoptosis in HeLa cells via oxidative stress. This effect implies that the protection of HeLa cells by FKB from H2O2–induced cell death is via neutralization of reactive oxygen species.

Evolutionary history of the reprimo tumor suppressor gene family in vertebrates with a description of a new reprimo gene lineage

Genes related to human diseases should be natural targets for evolutionary studies, since they could provide clues regarding the genetic bases of pathologies and potential treatments. Here we studied the evolution of the reprimo gene family, a group of tumor-suppressor genes that are implicated in p53-mediated cell cycle arrest. These genes, especially the reprimo duplicate located on human chromosome 2, have been associated with epigenetic modifications correlated with transcriptional silencing and cancer progression. We demonstrate the presence of a third reprimo lineage that, together with the reprimo and reprimo-like genes, appears to have been differentially retained during the evolutionary history of vertebrates. We present evidence that these reprimo lineages originated early in vertebrate evolution and expanded as a result of the two rounds of whole genome duplications that occurred in the last common ancestor of vertebrates. The reprimo gene has been lost in birds, and the third reprimo gene lineage has been retained in only a few distantly related species, such as coelacanth and gar. Expression analyses revealed that the reprimo paralogs are mainly expressed in the nervous system. Different vertebrate lineages have retained different reprimo paralogs, and even in species that have retained multiple copies, only one of them is heavily expressed.

Abstract 1355: A novel derivative of benzoxazole enhances radiosensitivity of human colon cancer cells through p53-mediated G2/M arrest and mitochondrial apoptotic pathway

Abstract The tumor suppressor p53 plays a critical role in cell cycle regulation and apoptotic cell death, and its activation can sensitize cancer cells to radio- or chemotherapy. To identify small molecules that induce apoptotic cell death via increasing p53 transcriptional activity, we designed and synthesized 44 benzoxazole derivative small molecule compounds. Using a cell-based screening with p53-responsive luciferase reporter assay system of benzoxazole derivatives, we found AU14022, which significantly increased p53 transcriptional activity in a concentration dependent manner. Treatment of AU14022 increased p53 protein expression, its phosphorylation on serine 15 and its target p21 gene/protein expression and induced apoptotic cell death measured by FACS analysis using Annexin V/PI double staining in wild-type p53 HCT116 human colon cancer cells but not in p53 knockout HCT116 cells. Furthermore, treatment of HCT116 cells with AU14022 exhibited mitochondrial dysfunction including bcl-2 family modulation and cytochrome c release. Combination treatment of AU14022 and ionizing radiation (IR) synergistically induced apoptotic cell death, compared to IR or AU14022 alone. Further investigation demonstrated that cell cycles are significantly arrested at G2/M phase, and marked inductions of p21 protein expression and phosphorylation of Chk1 protein and a decrease of cyclin B1 protein expression were observed by treatment of AU14022 alone and combination treatment with AU14022 and IR. Our findings indicate that AU14022 induced apoptosis through p53-mediated cell cycle arrest with mitochondrial dysfunction, leading to enhanced radiosensitivity of colon cancer cells. These results provide a basis for the further investigations required for its assessment as a promising anticancer agent. Citation Format: Hwani Ryu, Bitna Seo, Jooyoung Kim, In-Sung Jung, Jie-Young Song, Jiyeon Ahn. A novel derivative of benzoxazole enhances radiosensitivity of human colon cancer cells through p53-mediated G2/M arrest and mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 1355.

Benzo[a]pyrene induced p53-mediated cell cycle arrest, DNA repair, and apoptosis pathways in Chinese rare minnow (Gobiocypris rarus).

The p53 pathways play an important role in carcinogenesis. In mammals, p53 and p53 target genes have been extensively studied, but little is known about their functions and regulation in fish. In this study, the cDNA fragments of p53 network genes, including p53, p21, mdm2, gadd45α, gadd45β, igfbp-3, and bax, were cloned from Chinese rare minnow (Gobiocypris rarus). These genes displayed high amino acid sequence identities with their zebrafish orthologs. The mRNA levels of p53 network genes and pathological changes in the liver were determined after adult rare minnow were exposed to 0.4, 2, and 10 µg/L of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) for 28 days. The results showed that p53, p21, mdm2, gadd45α, and bax mRNA expressions in the livers from males and females were significantly upregulated compared with those of the controls (p < 0.05), but gadd45β and igfbp-3 expression was not significantly changed. Microphotographs revealed enlargement of the cell nuclei and cellular degeneration in males, while atrophy and vacuolization of hepatocytes were observed in females (10 µg/L). These results suggested that BaP induced liver DNA repair and apoptosis pathways and caused adverse pathological changes in rare minnow. The strongly responsive p53 network genes in the livers suggest that rare minnow is suitable as an experimental fish to screen environmental carcinogens. In addition, the p53 network genes in rare minnow could feasibly be used to identify the mechanism of environmental carcinogenesis. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 32: 979-988, 2017.

Heat-mediated reduction of apoptosis in UVB-damaged keratinocytes in vitro and in human skin ex vivo.

BackgroundUV radiation induces significant DNA damage in keratinocytes and is a known risk factor for skin carcinogenesis. However, it has been reported previously that repeated and simultaneous exposure to UV and heat stress increases the rate of cutaneous tumour formation in mice. Since constant exposure to high temperatures and UV are often experienced in the environment, the effects of exposure to UV and heat needs to be clearly addressed in human epidermal cells.MethodsIn this study, we determined the effects of repeated UVB exposure 1 kJ/m2 followed by heat (39 °C) to human keratinocytes. Normal human ex vivo skin models and primary keratinocytes (NHEK) were exposed once a day to UVB and/or heat stress for four consecutive days. Cells were then assessed for changes in proliferation, apoptosis and gene expression at 2 days post-exposure, to determine the cumulative and persistent effects of UV and/or heat in skin keratinocytes.ResultsUsing ex vivo skin models and primary keratinocytes in vitro, we showed that UVB plus heat treated keratinocytes exhibit persistent DNA damage, as observed with UVB alone. However, we found that apoptosis was significantly reduced in UVB plus heat treated samples. Immunohistochemical and whole genome transcription analysis showed that multiple UVB plus heat exposures induced inactivation of the p53-mediated stress response. Furthermore, we demonstrated that repeated exposure to UV plus heat induced SIRT1 expression and a decrease in acetylated p53 in keratinocytes, which is consistent with the significant downregulation of p53-regulated pro-apoptotic and DNA damage repair genes in these cells.ConclusionOur results suggest that UVB-induced p53-mediated cell cycle arrest and apoptosis are reduced in the presence of heat stress, leading to increased survival of DNA damaged cells. Thus, exposure to UVB and heat stress may act synergistically to allow survival of damaged cells, which could have implications for initiation skin carcinogenesis.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12895-016-0043-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Constitutive aneuploidy and genomic instability in the single‐celled eukaryote Giardia intestinalis

Giardia intestinalis is an important single‐celled human pathogen. Interestingly, this organism has two equal‐sized transcriptionally active nuclei, each considered diploid. By evaluating condensed chromosome numbers and visualizing homologous chromosomes by fluorescent in situ hybridization, we determined that the Giardia cells are constitutively aneuploid. We observed karyotype inter‐and intra‐population heterogeneity in eight cell lines from two clinical isolates, suggesting constant karyotype evolution during in vitro cultivation. High levels of chromosomal instability and frequent mitotic missegregations observed in four cell lines correlated with a proliferative disadvantage and growth retardation. Other cell lines, although derived from the same clinical isolate, revealed a stable yet aneuploid karyotype. We suggest that both chromatid missegregations and structural rearrangements contribute to shaping the Giardia genome, leading to whole‐chromosome aneuploidy, unequal gene distribution, and a genomic divergence of the two nuclei within one cell. Aneuploidy in Giardia is further propagated without p53‐mediated cell cycle arrest and might have been a key mechanism in generating the genetic diversity of this human pathogen.

Loss of p53-mediated cell-cycle arrest, senescence and apoptosis promotes genomic instability and premature aging

Although p53-mediated cell cycle arrest, senescence and apoptosis are well accepted as major tumor suppression mechanisms, the loss of these functions does not directly lead to tumorigenesis, suggesting that the precise roles of these canonical activities of p53 need to be redefined. Here, we report that the cells derived from the mutant mice expressing p533KR, an acetylation-defective mutant that fails to induce cell-cycle arrest, senescence and apoptosis, exhibit high levels of aneuploidy upon DNA damage. Moreover, the embryonic lethality caused by the deficiency of XRCC4, a key DNA double strand break repair factor, can be fully rescued in the p533KR/3KR background. Notably, despite high levels of genomic instability, p533KR/3KRXRCC4−/− mice, unlike p53−/− XRCC4−/− mice, are not succumbed to pro-B-cell lymphomas. Nevertheless, p533KR/3KR XRCC4−/− mice display aging-like phenotypes including testicular atrophy, kyphosis, and premature death. Further analyses demonstrate that SLC7A11 is downregulated and that p53-mediated ferroptosis is significantly induced in spleens and testis of p533KR/3KRXRCC4−/− mice. These results demonstrate that the direct role of p53-mediated cell cycle arrest, senescence and apoptosis is to control genomic stability in vivo. Our study not only validates the importance of ferroptosis in p53-mediated tumor suppression in vivo but also reveals that the combination of genomic instability and activation of ferroptosis may promote aging-associated phenotypes.

Telomere targeting with a novel G-quadruplex-interactive ligand BRACO-19 induces T-loop disassembly and telomerase displacement in human glioblastoma cells.

Interference with telomerase and telomere maintenance is emerging as an attractive target for anticancer therapies. Ligand-induced stabilization of G-quadruplex formation by the telomeric DNA 3′-overhang inhibits telomerase from catalyzing telomeric DNA synthesis and from capping telomeric ends, making these ligands good candidates for chemotherapeutic purposes. BRACO-19 is one of the most effective and specific ligand for telomeric G4. It is shown here that BRACO-19 suppresses proliferation and reduces telomerase activity in human glioblastoma cells, paralleled by the displacement of telomerase from nuclear to cytoplasm. Meanwhile, BRACO-19 triggers extensive DNA damage response at telomere, which may result from uncapping and disassembly of telomeric T-loop structure, characterized by the formation of anaphase bridge and telomere fusion, as well as the release of telomere-binding protein from telomere. The resulting dysfunctional telomere ultimately provokes p53 and p21-mediated cell cycle arrest, apoptosis and senescence. Notably, normal primary astrocytes do not respond to the treatment of BRACO-19, suggesting the agent's good selectivity for cancer cells. These results reinforce the notion that G-quadruplex binding compounds can act as broad inhibitors of telomere-related processes and have potential as selective antineoplastic drugs for various tumors including malignant gliomas.

Therapeutic Response to Non-genotoxic Activation of p53 by Nutlin3a Is Driven by PUMA-Mediated Apoptosis in Lymphoma Cells.

Nutlin3a is a small-molecule antagonist of MDM2 that promotes non-genotoxic activation of p53 through p53 protein stabilization and transactivation of p53 target genes. Nutlin3a is the forerunner of a class of cancer therapeutics that have reached clinical trials. Using transgenic and gene-targeted mouse models lacking the critical p53 target genes, p21, Puma, and Noxa, we found that only loss of PUMA conferred profound protection against Nutlin3a-induced killing in both non-transformed lymphoid cells and Eμ-Myc lymphomas in vitro and in vivo. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated targeting of the PUMA gene rendered human hematopoietic cancer cell lines markedly resistant to Nutlin3a-induced cell death. These results demonstrate that PUMA-mediated apoptosis, but not p21-mediated cell-cycle arrest or senescence, is a critical determinant of the therapeutic response to non-genotoxic p53 activation by Nutlin3a. Importantly, in human cancer, PUMA expression may predict patient responses to treatment with MDM2 antagonists.

NAT10 regulates p53 activation through acetylating p53 at K120 and ubiquitinating Mdm2.

As a genome guardian, p53 maintains genome stability by arresting cells for damage repair or inducing cell apoptosis to eliminate the damaged cells in stress response. Several nucleolar proteins stabilize p53 by interfering Mdm2–p53 interaction upon cellular stress, while other mechanisms by which nucleolar proteins activate p53 remain to be determined. Here, we identify NAT10 as a novel regulator for p53 activation. NAT10 acetylates p53 at K120 and stabilizes p53 by counteracting Mdm2 action. In addition, NAT10 promotes Mdm2 degradation with its intrinsic E3 ligase activity. After DNA damage, NAT10 translocates to nucleoplasm and activates p53‐mediated cell cycle control and apoptosis. Finally, NAT10 inhibits cell proliferation and expression of NAT10 decreases in human colorectal carcinomas. Thus, our data demonstrate that NAT10 plays a critical role in p53 activation via acetylating p53 and counteracting Mdm2 action, providing a novel pathway by which nucleolar protein activates p53 as a cellular stress sensor.

The Dual Nature of Nek9 in Adenovirus Replication.

To successfully replicate in an infected host cell, a virus must overcome sophisticated host defense mechanisms. Viruses, therefore, have evolved a multitude of devices designed to circumvent cellular defenses that would lead to abortive infection. Previous studies have identified Nek9, a cellular kinase, as a binding partner of adenovirus E1A, but the biology behind this association remains a mystery. Here we show that Nek9 is a transcriptional repressor that functions together with E1A to silence the expression of p53-inducible GADD45A gene in the infected cell. Depletion of Nek9 in infected cells reduces virus growth but unexpectedly enhances viral gene expression from the E2 transcription unit, whereas the opposite occurs when Nek9 is overexpressed. Nek9 localizes with viral replication centers, and its depletion reduces viral genome replication, while overexpression enhances viral genome numbers in infected cells. Additionally, Nek9 was found to colocalize with the viral E4 orf3 protein, a repressor of cellular stress response. Significantly, Nek9 was also shown to associate with viral and cellular promoters and appears to function as a transcriptional repressor, representing the first instance of Nek9 playing a role in gene regulation. Overall, these results highlight the complexity of virus-host interactions and identify a new role for the cellular protein Nek9 during infection, suggesting a role for Nek9 in regulating p53 target gene expression. In the arms race that exists between a pathogen and its host, each has continually evolved mechanisms to either promote or prevent infection. In order to successfully replicate and spread, a virus must overcome every mechanism that a cell can assemble to block infection. On the other hand, to counter viral spread, cells must have multiple mechanisms to stifle viral replication. In the present study, we add to our understanding of how the human adenovirus is able to circumvent cellular roadblocks to replication. We show that the virus uses a cellular protein, Nek9, in order to block activation of p53-regulated gene GADD45A, which is an important player in stress response and p53-mediated cell cycle arrest. Importantly, our study also identifies Nek9 as a transcriptional repressor.

Combined loss of PUMA and p21 accelerates c-MYC-driven lymphoma development considerably less than loss of one allele of p53.

The tumor suppressor p53 is mutated in ~50% of human cancers. P53 is activated by a range of stimuli and regulates several cellular processes, including apoptotic cell death, cell cycle arrest, senescence and DNA repair. P53 induces apoptosis via transcriptional induction of the BH3-only proteins PUMA (p53-upregulated modulator of apoptosis) and NOXA, and cell cycle arrest via p21. Induction of these processes was proposed to be critical for p53-mediated tumor suppression. It is therefore surprising that mice lacking PUMA, NOXA and p21, as well as mice bearing mutations in p53 that impair the transcriptional activation of these genes, are not tumor prone, unlike mice lacking p53 function, which spontaneously develop tumors with 100% incidence. These p53 target genes and the processes they regulate may, however, impact differently on tumor development depending on the oncogenic drivers. For example, loss of PUMA enhances c-MYC-driven lymphoma development in mice, but, interestingly, the acceleration was less impressive compared with that caused by the loss of even a single p53 allele. Different studies have reported that loss of p21 can accelerate, delay or have no impact on tumorigenesis. In an attempt to resolve this controversy, we examined whether loss of p21-mediated cell cycle arrest cooperates with PUMA deficiency in accelerating lymphoma development in Eμ-Myc mice (overexpressing c-MYC in B-lymphoid cells). We found that Eμ-Myc mice lacking both p21 and PUMA (Eμ-Myc;Puma(-/-);p21(-/-)) developed lymphoma at a rate comparable to Eμ-Myc;Puma(-/-) animals, notably with considerably longer latency than Eμ-Myc;p53(+/-)mice. Loss of p21 had no impact on the numbers, cycling or survival of pre-leukemic Eμ-Myc B-lymphoid cells, even when PUMA was lost concomitantly. These results demonstrate that even in the context of deregulated c-MYC expression, p53 must suppress tumor development by activating processes apart from, or in addition to, PUMA-mediated apoptosis and p21-induced cell cycle arrest.

Caveolin-1 Modulates Docetaxel-Induced Cell Death in Breast Cancer Cell Subtypes through Different Mechanisms.

PurposeCaveolin-1 (CAV-1) expression is more associated with basal-like cancers than estrogen receptor- or ErbB-2–expressing breast cancers. However, the biological relevance of different levels of CAV-1 expression according to subtype in the epithelial compartment of breast cancer remains unclear.Materials and MethodsWe investigated whether CAV-1 functions as a tumor suppressor and/or modulator of the cytotoxic activity of docetaxel (DTX) in subtypes of breast cancer using in vitro and xenograft models.ResultsThe levels of CAV-1 expression were closely associated with DTX sensitivity in triple-negative breast cancer cells. In addition, CAV-1 significantly inhibited cell proliferation and modulated DTX-induced apoptosis through cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase. The mechanisms underlying DTX-induced apoptosis differed in breast cancers according to the levels of CAV-1 expression. DTX robustly enhanced Bcl-2 inactivation by CAV-1 in MDA-MB-231 cells, while p53-mediated cell cycle arrest by DTX was more pronounced in CAV-1–low but p53-functional MCF-7 cells. In parallel with the data from breast cancer cell lines, CAV-1–transfected MCF-7 cells showed higher efficacy of DTX treatment in a xenograft model.ConclusionWe clearly demonstrated cooperative effects between CAV-1 and DTX in mediating apoptosis, suggesting that the levels of CAV-1 expression might be an important indicator for DTX use in breast cancer.

Intestinal inhibition of Atg7 prevents tumour initiation through a microbiome-influenced immune response and suppresses tumour growth.

Here, we show that autophagy is activated in the intestinal epithelium in murine and human colorectal cancer and that the conditional inactivation of Atg7 in intestinal epithelial cells inhibits the formation of pre-cancerous lesions in Apc(+/-) mice by enhancing anti-tumour responses. The antibody-mediated depletion of CD8(+) T cells showed that these cells are essential for the anti-tumoral responses mediated by the inhibition of autophagy. We show that Atg7 deficiency leads to intestinal dysbiosis and that the microbiota is required for anticancer responses. In addition, Atg7 deficiency resulted in a stress response accompanied by metabolic defects, AMPK activation and p53-mediated cell-cycle arrest in tumour cells but not in normal tissue. This study reveals that the inhibition of autophagy within the epithelium may prevent the development and progression of colorectal cancer in genetically predisposed patients.