56 research outputs found
Alteration of gene expression profiles during mycoplasma-induced malignant cell transformation
BACKGROUND: Mycoplasmas are the smallest microorganisms capable of self-replication. Our previous studies show that some mycoplasmas are able to induce malignant transformation of host mammalian cells. This malignant transformation is a multistage process with the early infection, reversible and irreversible stages, and similar to human tumor development in nature. The purpose of this study is to explore mechanisms for this malignant transformation. METHODS: To better understand mechanisms for this unique process, we examined gene expression profiles of C3H cells at different stages of the mycoplasma-induced transformation using cDNA microarray technology. A total of 1185 genes involved in oncogenesis, apoptosis, cell growth, cell-cycle regulation, DNA repair, etc. were examined. Differences in the expression of these genes were compared and analyzed using the computer software AtlasImage. RESULTS: Among 1185 genes screened, 135 had aberrant expression at the early infection stage, 252 at the reversible stage and 184 at the irreversible stage. At the early infection stage, genes with increased expression (92 genes) were twice more than those with decreased expression (42 genes). The global gene expression at the reversible stage appeared to be more volatile than that at any other stages but still resembled the profile at the early infection stage. The expression profile at the irreversible stage shows a unique pattern of a wide range of expression levels and an increased number of expressing genes, especially the cancer-related genes. Oncogenes and tumor suppressors are a group of molecules that showed significant changes in expression during the transformation. The majority of these changes occurred in the reversible and irreversible stages. A prolonged infection by mycoplasmas lead to the expression of more cancer related genes at the irreversible stage. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that the expression profiles correspond with the phenotypic features of the cells in the mycoplasma induced transformation process. The early mycoplasma infection stage shares a common phenomenon with many other acute infections, genes with increased expression significantly outnumbering those with decreased expression. The reversible stage is a transition stage between benignancy and malignancy at the molecular level. Aberrant expression of oncogenes and tumor repressors plays a key role in mycoplasma-induced malignant transformation
Signal transduction pathways involved in proteolysis-inducing factor induced proteasome expression in murine myotubes
The proteolysis-inducing factor (PIF) is produced by cachexia-inducing tumours and initiates protein catabolism in skeletal muscle. The potential signalling pathways linking the release of arachidonic acid (AA) from membrane phospholipids with increased expression of the ubiquitin-proteasome proteolytic pathway by PIF has been studied using C2C12 murine myotubes as a surrogate model of skeletal muscle. The induction of proteasome activity and protein degradation by PIF was blocked by quinacrine, a nonspecific phospholipase A2 (PLA2) inhibitor and trifluroacetyl AA, an inhibitor of cytosolic PLA2. PIF was shown to increase the expression of calcium-independent cytosolic PLA2, determined by Western blotting, at the same concentrations as those inducing maximal expression of 20S proteasome Ξ±-subunits and protein degradation. In addition, both U-73122, which inhibits agonist-induced phospholipase C (PLC) activation and D609, a specific inhibitor of phosphatidylcholine-specific PLC also inhibited PIF-induced proteasome activity. This suggests that both PLA 2 and PLC are involved in the release of AA in response to PIF, and that this is important in the induction of proteasome expression. The two tyrosine kinase inhibitors genistein and tryphostin A23 also attenuated PIF-induced proteasome expression, implicating tyrosine kinase in this process. PIF induced phosphorylation of p44/42 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) at the same concentrations as that inducing proteasome expression, and the effect was blocked by PD98059, an inhibitor of MAPK kinase, as was also the induction of proteasome expression, suggesting a role for MAPK activation in PIF-induced proteasome expression. Β© 2003 Cancer Research UK
Human Polycomb 2 Protein Is a SUMO E3 Ligase and Alleviates Substrate-Induced Inhibition of Cystathionine Ξ²-Synthase Sumoylation
Human cystathionine Ξ²-synthase (CBS) catalyzes the first irreversible
step in the transsulfuration pathway and commits homocysteine to the synthesis
of cysteine. Mutations in CBS are the most common cause of severe hereditary
hyperhomocysteinemia. A yeast two-hybrid approach to screen for proteins that
interact with CBS had previously identified several components of the
sumoylation pathway and resulted in the demonstration that CBS is a substrate
for sumoylation. In this study, we demonstrate that sumoylation of CBS is
enhanced in the presence of human polycomb group protein 2 (hPc2), an
interacting partner that was identified in the initial yeast two-hybrid screen.
When the substrates for CBS, homocysteine and serine for cystathionine
generation and homocysteine and cysteine for H2S generation, are
added to the sumoylation mixture, they inhibit the sumoylation reaction, but
only in the absence of hPc2. Similarly, the product of the CBS reaction,
cystathionine, inhibits sumoylation in the absence of hPc2. Sumoylation in turn
decreases CBS activity by βΌ28% in the absence of hPc2 and by
70% in its presence. Based on these results, we conclude that hPc2
serves as a SUMO E3 ligase for CBS, increasing the efficiency of sumoylation. We
also demonstrate that Ξ³-cystathionase, the second enzyme in the
transsulfuration pathway is a substrate for sumoylation under in vitro
conditions. We speculate that the role of this modification may be for nuclear
localization of the cysteine-generating pathway under conditions where nuclear
glutathione demand is high
Calpain 3 Is a Rapid-Action, Unidirectional Proteolytic Switch Central to Muscle Remodeling
Calpain 3 (CAPN3) is a cysteine protease that when mutated causes Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy 2A. It is thereby the only described Calpain family member that genetically causes a disease. Due to its inherent instability little is known of its substrates or its mechanism of activity and pathogenicity. In this investigation we define a primary sequence motif underlying CAPN3 substrate cleavage. This motif can transform non-related proteins into substrates, and identifies >300 new putative CAPN3 targets. Bioinformatic analyses of these targets demonstrate a critical role in muscle cytoskeletal remodeling and identify novel CAPN3 functions. Among the new CAPN3 substrates are three E3 SUMO ligases of the Protein Inhibitor of Activated Stats (PIAS) family. CAPN3 can cleave PIAS proteins and negatively regulates PIAS3 sumoylase activity. Consequently, SUMO2 is deregulated in patient muscle tissue. Our study thus uncovers unexpected crosstalk between CAPN3 proteolysis and protein sumoylation, with strong implications for muscle remodeling
Silencing Nuclear Pore Protein Tpr Elicits a Senescent-Like Phenotype in Cancer Cells
Background: Tpr is a large coiled-coil protein located in the nuclear basket of the nuclear pore complex for which many different functions were proposed from yeast to human. Methodology/Principal Findings: Here we show that depletion of Tpr by RNA interference triggers G0βG1 arrest and ultimately induces a senescent-like phenotype dependent on the presence of p53. We also found that Tpr depletion impairs the NES [nuclear export sequence]-dependent nuclear export of proteins and causes partial co-depletion of Nup153. In addition Tpr depletion impacts on level and function of the SUMO-protease SENP2 thus affecting SUMOylation regulation at the nuclear pore and overall SUMOylation in the cell. Conclusions: Our data for the first time provide evidence that a nuclear pore component plays a role in controlling cellular senescence. Our findings also point to new roles for Tpr in the regulation of SUMO-1 conjugation at the nuclear pore and directly confirm Tpr involvement in the nuclear export of NES-proteins
SUMO-Interacting Motifs of Human TRIM5Ξ± are Important for Antiviral Activity
Human TRIM5Ξ± potently restricts particular strains of murine leukemia viruses
(the so-called N-tropic strains) but not others (the B- or NB-tropic strains)
during early stages of infection. We show that overexpression of SUMO-1 in human
293T cells, but not in mouse MDTF cells, profoundly blocks N-MLV infection. This
block is dependent on the tropism of the incoming virus, as neither B-, NB-, nor
the mutant R110E of N-MLV CA (a B-tropic switch) are affected by SUMO-1
overexpression. The block occurred prior to reverse transcription and could be
abrogated by large amounts of restricted virus. Knockdown of TRIM5Ξ± in 293T
SUMO-1-overexpressing cells resulted in ablation of the SUMO-1 antiviral
effects, and this loss of restriction could be restored by expression of a human
TRIM5Ξ± shRNA-resistant plasmid. Amino acid sequence analysis of human
TRIM5Ξ± revealed a consensus SUMO conjugation site at the N-terminus and
three putative SUMO interacting motifs (SIMs) in the B30.2 domain. Mutations of
the TRIM5Ξ± consensus SUMO conjugation site did not affect the antiviral
activity of TRIM5Ξ± in any of the cell types tested. Mutation of the SIM
consensus sequences, however, abolished TRIM5Ξ± antiviral activity against
N-MLV. Mutation of lysines at a potential site of SUMOylation in the CA region
of the Gag gene reduced the SUMO-1 block and the TRIM5Ξ± restriction of
N-MLV. Our data suggest a novel aspect of TRIM5Ξ±-mediated restriction, in
which the presence of intact SIMs in TRIM5Ξ±, and also the SUMO conjugation
of CA, are required for restriction. We propose that at least a portion of the
antiviral activity of TRIM5Ξ± is mediated through the binding of its SIMs to
SUMO-conjugated CA
cDNA micro array identification of a gene differentially expressed in adenovirus type 5- versus type 12-transformed cells
Proteins encoded by non-oncogenic adenovirus type 5 and oncogenic adenovirus type 12 differentially affect expression of a number of cellular genes. We have used cDNA micro array analysis to identify a cellular gene that is expressed in Ad12- but not in Ad5-transformed cells. This cellular gene was found to be the gene encoding follistatin-related protein, a TGF-Γ inducible gene. Consistently, a constitutive factor binding to Smad binding elements was found in adenovirus type 12-transformed cells
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