Ultraviolet radiation triggers apoptosis of fibroblasts and skin keratinocytes mainly via the BH3-only protein Noxa

To identify the mechanisms of ultraviolet radiation (UVR)–induced cell death, for which the tumor suppressor p53 is essential, we have analyzed mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) and keratinocytes in mouse skin that have specific apoptotic pathways blocked genetically. Blocking the death receptor pathway provided no protection to MEFs, whereas UVR-induced apoptosis was potently inhibited by Bcl-2 overexpression, implicating the mitochondrial pathway. Indeed, Bcl-2 overexpression boosted cell survival more than p53 loss, revealing a p53-independent pathway controlled by the Bcl-2 family. Analysis of primary MEFs lacking individual members of its BH3-only subfamily identified major initiating roles for the p53 targets Noxa and Puma. In the transformed derivatives, where Puma, unexpectedly, was not induced by UVR, Noxa had the dominant role and Bim a minor role. Furthermore, loss of Noxa suppressed the formation of apoptotic keratinocytes in the skin of UV-irradiated mice. Collectively, these results demonstrate that UVR activates the Bcl-2–regulated apoptotic pathway predominantly through activation of Noxa and, depending on cellular context, Puma

The roles of DNA, RNA and histone methylation in ageing and cancer.

Chromatin is a macromolecular complex predominantly comprising DNA, histone proteins and RNA. The methylation of chromatin components is highly conserved as it helps coordinate the regulation of gene expression, DNA repair and DNA replication. Dynamic changes in chromatin methylation are essential for cell-fate determination and development. Consequently, inherited or acquired mutations in the major factors that regulate the methylation of DNA, RNA and/or histones are commonly observed in developmental disorders, ageing and cancer. This has provided the impetus for the clinical development of epigenetic therapies aimed at resetting the methylation imbalance observed in these disorders. In this Review, we discuss the cellular functions of chromatin methylation and focus on how this fundamental biological process is corrupted in cancer. We discuss methylation-based cancer therapies and provide a perspective on the emerging data from early-phase clinical trial therapies that target regulators of DNA and histone methylation. We also highlight promising therapeutic strategies, including monitoring chromatin methylation for diagnostic purposes and combination epigenetic therapy strategies that may improve immune surveillance in cancer and increase the efficacy of conventional and targeted anticancer drugs

A novel BH3 ligand that selectively targets Mcl-1 reveals that apoptosis can proceed without Mcl-1 degradation

Like Bcl-2, Mcl-1 is an important survival factor for many cancers, its expression contributing to chemoresistance and disease relapse. However, unlike other prosurvival Bcl-2–like proteins, Mcl-1 stability is acutely regulated. For example, the Bcl-2 homology 3 (BH3)–only protein Noxa, which preferentially binds to Mcl-1, also targets it for proteasomal degradation. In this paper, we describe the discovery and characterization of a novel BH3-like ligand derived from Bim, BimS2A, which is highly selective for Mcl-1. Unlike Noxa, BimS2A is unable to trigger Mcl-1 degradation, yet, like Noxa, BimS2A promotes cell killing only when Bcl-xL is absent or neutralized. Furthermore, killing by endogenous Bim is not associated with Mcl-1 degradation. Thus, functional inactivation of Mcl-1 does not always require its elimination. Rather, it can be efficiently antagonized by a BH3-like ligand tightly engaging its binding groove, which is confirmed here with a structural study. Our data have important implications for the discovery of compounds that might kill cells whose survival depends on Mcl-1

Transforming growth factor- directly induces p53-up-regulated modulator of apoptosis (PUMA) during the rapid induction of apoptosis in myc-driven B-cell lymphomas

Background: TGF-β induces apoptosis in Burkitt's lymphoma cells. Results: PUMA is a direct target gene of TGF-β signaling and is required for rapid apoptosis. Conclusion: TGF-β-mediated direct induction of PUMA contributes to apoptosis in human and murine c-Myc-driven lymphomas. Significance: These studies link TGF-β signaling and transcriptional activation of PUMA, two factors with critical roles in regulating B-cell survival

An Evolutionarily Conserved Function of Polycomb Silences the MHC Class I Antigen Presentation Pathway and Enables Immune Evasion in Cancer.

Loss of MHC class I (MHC-I) antigen presentation in cancer cells can elicit immunotherapy resistance. A genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 screen identified an evolutionarily conserved function of polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) that mediates coordinated transcriptional silencing of the MHC-I antigen processing pathway (MHC-I APP), promoting evasion of T cell-mediated immunity. MHC-I APP gene promoters in MHC-I low cancers harbor bivalent activating H3K4me3 and repressive H3K27me3 histone modifications, silencing basal MHC-I expression and restricting cytokine-induced upregulation. Bivalent chromatin at MHC-I APP genes is a normal developmental process active in embryonic stem cells and maintained during neural progenitor differentiation. This physiological MHC-I silencing highlights a conserved mechanism by which cancers arising from these primitive tissues exploit PRC2 activity to enable immune evasion.Cancer Research UK Clinician Scientist Fellowship C53779/A20097 (M.L.B), Leukaemia Foundation Australia Senior Fellowship and Howard Hughes Medical Institute International Research Scholarship 55008729 (M.A.D), Peter and Julie Alston Centenary fellowship (K.D.S.), Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellowship 101835/Z/13/Z (P.J.L), Peter MacCallum Postgraduate Scholarship (C.E.S), NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarship (K.L.C.), Maddie Riewoldt's Vision 064728 (Y-C.C), Victorian Cancer Agency (E.Y.N.L), CSL Centenary fellowship (S-J.D), National Breast Cancer Foundation Fellowship ECF-17-005 (P.A.B.), Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust and NIHR Cambridge BRC (M.L.B., P.J.L), NHMRC grant 1085015, 1106444 (M.A.D) and 1128984 (M.A.D, S-J.D)

Key Amino Acid Residues of Ankyrin-Sensitive Phosphatidylethanolamine/Phosphatidylcholine-Lipid Binding Site of βI-Spectrin

It was shown previously that an ankyrin-sensitive, phosphatidylethanolamine/phosphatidylcholine (PE/PC) binding site maps to the N-terminal part of the ankyrin-binding domain of β-spectrin (ankBDn). Here we have identified the amino acid residues within this domain which are responsible for recognizing monolayers and bilayers composed of PE/PC mixtures. In vitro binding studies revealed that a quadruple mutant with substituted hydrophobic residues W1771, L1775, M1778 and W1779 not only failed to effectively bind PE/PC, but its residual PE/PC-binding activity was insensitive to inhibition with ankyrin. Structure prediction and analysis, supported by in vitro experiments, suggests that “opening” of the coiled-coil structure underlies the mechanism of this interaction. Experiments on red blood cells and HeLa cells supported the conclusions derived from the model and in vitro lipid-protein interaction results, and showed the potential physiological role of this binding. We postulate that direct interactions between spectrin ankBDn and PE-rich domains play an important role in stabilizing the structure of the spectrin-based membrane skeleton

Mutually exclusive subsets of BH3-only proteins are activated by the p53 and c-Jun N-terminal kinase/c-Jun signaling pathways during cortical neuron apoptosis induced by arsenite

The c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase (JNK)/c-jun and p53 pathways form distinct death-signaling modules in neurons that culminate in Bax-dependent apoptosis. To investigate whether this signaling autonomy is due to recruitment of particular BH3-only proteins, we searched for a toxic signal that would activate both pathways in the same set of neurons. We show that arsenite activates both the JNK/c-jun and p53 pathways in cortical neurons, which together account for >95% of apoptosis, as determined by using the mixed-lineage kinase (JNK/c-jun) pathway inhibitor CEP11004 and p53-null mice. Despite the coexistence of both pathways in at least 30% of the population, Bim mRNA and protein expression was increased only by the JNK/c-Jun signaling pathway, whereas Noxa and Puma mRNA and Puma protein expression was entirely JNK/c-Jun independent. About 50% of Puma/Noxa expression was p53 dependent, with the remaining signal being independent of both pathways and possibly facilitated by arsenite-induced reduction in P-Akt. However, functionally, Puma was predominant in mediating Bax-dependent apoptosis, as evidenced by the fact that more than 90% of apoptosis was prevented in Puma-null neurons, although Bim was still upregulated, while Bim- and Noxa-null neurons died similarly to wild-type neurons. Thus, the p53 and JNK/c-jun pathways can activate mutually exclusive subclasses of BH3-only proteins in the same set of neurons. However, other factors besides expression may determine which BH3-only proteins mediate apoptosis

Apoptosis-promoted tumorigenesis: γ-irradiation-induced thymic lymphomagenesis requires Puma-driven leukocyte death

Although tumor development requires impaired apoptosis, we describe a novel paradigm of apoptosis-dependent tumorigenesis. Because DNA damage triggers apoptosis through p53-mediated induction of BH3-only proteins Puma and Noxa, we explored their roles in γ-radiation-induced thymic lymphomagenesis. Surprisingly, whereas Noxa loss accelerated it, Puma loss ablated tumorigenesis. Tumor suppression by Puma deficiency reflected its protection of leukocytes from γ-irradiation-induced death, because their glucocorticoid-mediated decimation in Puma-deficient mice activated cycling of stem/progenitor cells and restored thymic lymphomagenesis. Our demonstration that cycles of cell attrition and repopulation by stem/progenitor cells can drive tumorigenesis has parallels in human cancers, such as therapy-induced malignancies

p53 Efficiently Suppresses Tumor Development in the Complete Absence of Its Cell-Cycle Inhibitory and Proapoptotic Effectors p21, Puma, and Noxa

Activation of apoptosis through transcriptional induction of Puma and Noxa has long been considered to constitute the critical (if not sole) process by which p53 suppresses tumor development, although G1/S boundary cell-cycle arrest via induction of the CDK inhibitor p21 has also been thought to contribute. Recent analyses of mice bearing mutations that impair p53-mediated induction of select target genes have indicated that activation of apoptosis and G1/S cell-cycle arrest may, in fact, be dispensable for p53-mediated tumor suppression. However, the expression of Puma, Noxa, and p21 was not abrogated in these mutants, only reduced; therefore, the possibility that the reduced levels of these critical effectors of p53-mediated apoptosis and G1/S-cell-cycle arrest sufficed to prevent tumorigenesis could not be excluded. To resolve this important issue, we have generated mice deficient for p21, Puma, and Noxa (p21−/−puma−/−noxa−/− mice). Cells from these mice were deficient in their ability to undergo p53-mediated apoptosis, G1/S cell-cycle arrest, and senescence. Nonetheless, these animals remained tumor free until at least 500 days, in contrast to p53-deficient mice, which had all succumbed to lymphoma or sarcoma by 250 days. Interestingly, DNA lesions induced by γ-irradiation persisted longer in p53-deficient cells compared to wild-type or p21−/−puma−/−noxa−/− cells, and the former failed to transcriptionally activate several p53 target genes implicated in DNA repair. These results demonstrate beyond a doubt that the induction of apoptosis, cell-cycle arrest, and possibly senescence is dispensable for p53-mediated suppression of spontaneous tumor development and indicate that coordination of genomic stability and possibly other processes, such as metabolic adaptation, may instead be critical