Dynamic Proteomics of Individual Cancer Cells in Response to a Drug

Why do seemingly identical cells respond differently to a drug? To address this, we studied the dynamics and variability of the protein response of human cancer cells to a chemotherapy drug, camptothecin. We present a dynamic-proteomics approach that measures the levels and locations of nearly 1000 different endogenously tagged proteins in individual living cells at high temporal resolution. All cells show rapid translocation of proteins specific to the drug mechanism, including the drug target (topoisomerase-1), and slower, wide-ranging temporal waves of protein degradation and accumulation. However, the cells differ in the behavior of a subset of proteins. We identify proteins whose dynamics differ widely between cells, in a way that corresponds to the outcomes—cell death or survival. This opens the way to understanding molecular responses to drugs in individual cells

Human neuroblastoma cells with acquired resistance to the p53 activator RITA retain functional p53 and sensitivity to other p53 activating agents

Adaptation of wild-type p53 expressing UKF-NB-3 cancer cells to the murine double minute 2 inhibitor nutlin-3 causes de novo p53 mutations at high frequency (13/20) and multi-drug resistance. Here, we show that the same cells respond very differently when adapted to RITA, a drug that, like nutlin-3, also disrupts the p53/Mdm2 interaction. All of the 11 UKF-NB-3 sub-lines adapted to RITA that we established retained functional wild-type p53 although RITA induced a substantial p53 response. Moreover, all RITA-adapted cell lines remained sensitive to nutlin-3, whereas only five out of 10 nutlin-3-adapted cell lines retained their sensitivity to RITA. In addition, repeated adaptation of the RITA-adapted sub-line UKF-NB-3rRITA10 μM to nutlin-3 resulted in p53 mutations. The RITA-adapted UKF-NB-3 sub-lines displayed no or less pronounced resistance to vincristine, cisplatin, and irradiation than nutlin-3-adapted UKF-NB-3 sub-lines. Furthermore, adaptation to RITA was associated with fewer changes at the expression level of antiapoptotic factors than observed with adaptation to nutlin-3. Transcriptomic analyses indicated the RITA-adapted sub-lines to be more similar at the gene expression level to the parental UKF-NB-3 cells than nutlin-3-adapted UKF-NB-3 sub-lines, which correlates with the observed chemotherapy and irradiation sensitivity phenotypes. In conclusion, RITA-adapted cells retain functional p53, remain sensitive to nutlin-3, and display a less pronounced resistance phenotype than nutlin-3-adapted cells

ASPP: a new family of oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes

The apoptosis stimulating proteins of p53 (ASPP) family consists of three members, ASPP1, ASPP2 and iASPP. They bind to proteins that are key players in controlling apoptosis (p53, Bcl-2 and RelA/p65) and cell growth (APCL, PP1). So far, the best-known function of the ASPP family members is their ability to regulate the apoptotic function of p53 and its family members, p63 and p73. Biochemical and genetic evidence has shown that ASPP1 and ASPP2 activate, whereas iASPP inhibits, the apoptotic but not the cell-cycle arrest function of p53. The p53 tumour suppressor gene, one of the most frequently mutated genes in human cancer, is capable of suppressing tumour growth through its ability to induce apoptosis or cell-cycle arrest. Thus, the ASPP family of proteins helps to determine how cells choose to die and may therefore be a novel target for cancer therapy

A quantitative LumiFluo assay to test inhibitory compounds blocking p53 degradation induced by human papillomavirus oncoprotein E6 in living cells

High-risk human papillomaviruses (HR-HPVs) are the causative agents for the onset of several epithelial cancers in humans. The deregulated expression of the viral oncoproteins E6 and E7 is the driving force sustaining the progression of malignant transformation in pre-neoplastic lesions. Targeting the viral E6 oncoprotein through inhibitory compounds can counteract the survival of cancer cells due to the reactivation of p53-mediated pathways and represents an intriguing strategy to treat HPV-associated neoplasias. Here, we describe the development of a quantitative and easy-to-perform assay to monitor the E6-mediated degradation of p53 in living cells to be used for small-molecule testing. This assay allows to unbiasedly determine whether a compound can protect p53 from the E6-mediated degradation in cells, through a simple 3-step protocol. We validated the assay by testing two small molecules, SAHA and RITA, reported to impair the E6-mediated p53 degradation. Interestingly, we observed that only SAHA efficiently rescued p53, while RITA could not provide the same degree of protection. The possibility to specifically and quantitatively monitor the ability of a selected compound to rescue p53 in a cellular context through our LumiFluo assay could represent an important step towards the successful development of anti-HPV drugs

Updates on p53: modulation of p53 degradation as a therapeutic approach

The p53 pathway is aberrant in most human tumours with over 50% expressing mutant p53 proteins. The pathway is critically controlled by protein degradation. Here, we discuss the latest developments in the search for small molecules that can modulate p53 pathway protein stability and restore p53 activity for cancer therapy

p53 Amino-Terminus Region (1–125) Stabilizes and Restores Heat Denatured p53 Wild Phenotype

BACKGROUND:The intrinsically disordered N-ter domain (NTD) of p53 encompasses approximately hundred amino acids that contain a transactivation domain (1-73) and a proline-rich domain (64-92) and is responsible for transactivation function and apoptosis. It also possesses an auto-inhibitory function as its removal results in remarkable reduction in dissociation of p53 from DNA. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS/METHODOLOGY:In this report, we have discovered that p53-NTD spanning amino acid residues 1-125 (NTD125) interacted with WT p53 and stabilized its wild type conformation under physiological and elevated temperatures, both in vitro and in cellular systems. NTD125 prevented irreversible thermal aggregation of heat denatured p53, enhanced p21-5'-DBS binding and further restored DBS binding activity of heat-denatured p53, in vitro, in a dose-dependent manner. In vivo ELISA and immunoprecipitation analysis of NTD125-transfected cells revealed that NTD125 shifted equilibrium from p53 mutant to wild type under heat stress conditions. Further, NTD125 initiated nuclear translocation of cytoplasmic p53 in transcriptionally active state in order to activate p53 downstream genes such as p21, Bax, PUMA, Noxa and SUMO. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE:Here, we showed that a novel chaperone-like activity resides in p53-N-ter region. This study might have significance in understanding the role of p53-NTD in p53 stabilization, conformational activation and apoptosis under heat-stress conditions

Coexpression of Nuclear Receptors and Histone Methylation Modifying Genes in the Testis: Implications for Endocrine Disruptor Modes of Action

BACKGROUND: Endocrine disruptor chemicals elicit adverse health effects by perturbing nuclear receptor signalling systems. It has been speculated that these compounds may also perturb epigenetic mechanisms and thus contribute to the early origin of adult onset disease. We hypothesised that histone methylation may be a component of the epigenome that is susceptible to perturbation. We used coexpression analysis of publicly available data to investigate the combinatorial actions of nuclear receptors and genes involved in histone methylation in normal testis and when faced with endocrine disruptor compounds. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The expression patterns of a set of genes were profiled across testis tissue in human, rat and mouse, plus control and exposed samples from four toxicity experiments in the rat. Our results indicate that histone methylation events are a more general component of nuclear receptor mediated transcriptional regulation in the testis than previously appreciated. Coexpression patterns support the role of a gatekeeper mechanism involving the histone methylation modifiers Kdm1, Prdm2, and Ehmt1 and indicate that this mechanism is a common determinant of transcriptional integrity for genes critical to diverse physiological endpoints relevant to endocrine disruption. Coexpression patterns following exposure to vinclozolin and dibutyl phthalate suggest that coactivity of the demethylase Kdm1 in particular warrants further investigation in relation to endocrine disruptor mode of action. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This study provides proof of concept that a bioinformatics approach that profiles genes related to a specific hypothesis across multiple biological settings can provide powerful insight into coregulatory activity that would be difficult to discern at an individual experiment level or by traditional differential expression analysis methods

Novel allosteric mechanism of p53 activation by small molecules for targeted anticancer therapy

Given the immense significance of p53 restoration for anti-cancer therapy and that p53-activating molecules are in clinical trials, elucidation of the mechanisms of action of p53-activating molecules is of the utmost importance. Here we report a discovery of a novel allosteric modulation of p53 by small molecules, which is an unexpected turn in the p53 story. We identified a structural element involved in allosteric regulation of p53, whose targeting by small molecules RITA, PpIX and licofelone blocks the binding of two p53 inhibitors, MDM2 and MDMX, thereby restoring p53 function. Deletion and mutation analysis followed by molecular modeling and its thorough validation, identified the key p53 residues S33 and S37 targeted by RITA and PpIX. We propose that the binding of small molecules to the identified site in p53 induces a conformational trap preventing p53 from the interaction with MDM2 and MDMX. These results point to a high potential of allosteric activators as targeted drugs. Our study provides a basis for the development of therapeutics with a novel mechanism of action, thus extending the p53 pharmacopeia