The Role of HDAC6 in Cancer

Histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6), a member of the HDAC family whose major substrate is α-tubulin, has become a target for drug development to treat cancer due to its major contribution in oncogenic cell transformation. Overexpression of HDAC6 correlates with tumorigenesis and improved survival; therefore, HDAC6 may be used as a marker for prognosis. Previous work demonstrated that in multiple myeloma cells, inhibition of HDAC6 results in apoptosis. Furthermore, HDAC6 is required for the activation of heat-shock factor 1 (HSF1), an activator of heat-shock protein encoding genes (HSPs) and CYLD, a cylindromatosis tumor suppressor gene. HDAC6 contributes to cancer metastasis since its upregulation increases cell motility in breast cancer MCF-7 cells and its interaction with cortactin regulates motility. HDAC6 also affects transcription and translation by regulating the heat-shock protein 90 (Hsp90) and stress granules (SGs), respectively. This review will discuss the role of HDAC6 in the pathogenesis and treatment of cancer

CREB: A Key Regulator of Normal and Neoplastic Hematopoiesis

The cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) is a nuclear transcription factor downstream of cell surface receptors and mitogens that is critical for normal and neoplastic hematopoiesis. Previous work from our laboratory demonstrated that a majority of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) overexpress CREB in the bone marrow. To understand the role of CREB in leukemogenesis, we examined the biological effect of CREB overexpression on primary leukemia cells, leukemia cell lines, and CREB overexpressing transgenic mice. Our results demonstrated that CREB overexpression leads to an increase in cellular proliferation and survival. Furthermore, CREB transgenic mice develop a myeloproliferative disorder with aberrant myelopoiesis in both the bone marrow and spleen. Additional research from other groups has shown that the expression of the cAMP early inducible repressor (ICER), a CREB repressor, is also deregulated in leukemias. And, miR-34b, a microRNA that negative regulates CREB expression, is expressed at lower levels in myeloid leukemia cell lines compared to that of healthy bone marrow. Taken together, these data suggest that CREB plays a role in cellular transformation. The data also suggest that CREB-specific signaling pathways could possibly serve as potential targets for therapeutic intervention

Innate immune system activation in zebrafish and cellular models of Diamond Blackfan Anemia.

Deficiency of ribosomal proteins (RPs) leads to Diamond Blackfan Anemia (DBA) associated with anemia, congenital defects, and cancer. While p53 activation is responsible for many features of DBA, the role of immune system is less defined. The Innate immune system can be activated by endogenous nucleic acids from non-processed pre-rRNAs, DNA damage, and apoptosis that occurs in DBA. Recognition by toll like receptors (TLRs) and Mda5-like sensors induces interferons (IFNs) and inflammation. Dying cells can also activate complement system. Therefore we analyzed the status of these pathways in RP-deficient zebrafish and found upregulation of interferon, inflammatory cytokines and mediators, and complement. We also found upregulation of receptors signaling to IFNs including Mda5, Tlr3, and Tlr9. TGFb family member activin was also upregulated in RP-deficient zebrafish and in RPS19-deficient human cells, which include a lymphoid cell line from a DBA patient, and fetal liver cells and K562 cells transduced with RPS19 shRNA. Treatment of RP-deficient zebrafish with a TLR3 inhibitor decreased IFNs activation, acute phase response, and apoptosis and improved their hematopoiesis and morphology. Inhibitors of complement and activin also had beneficial effects. Our studies suggest that innate immune system contributes to the phenotype of RPS19-deficient zebrafish and human cells

Development of Protacs to Target Cancer-promoting Proteins for Ubiquitination and Degradation

The proteome contains hundreds of proteins that in theory could be excellent therapeutic targets for the treatment of human diseases. However, many of these proteins are from functional classes that have never been validated as viable candidates for the development of small molecule inhibitors. Thus, to exploit fully the potential of the Human Genome Project to advance human medicine, there is a need to develop generic methods of inhibiting protein activity that do not rely on the target protein’s function. We previously demonstrated that a normally stable protein, methionine aminopeptidase-2 or MetAP-2, could be artificially targeted to an Skp1-Cullin-F-box (SCF) ubiquitin ligase complex for ubiquitination and degradation through a chimeric bridging molecule or Protac (proteolysis targeting chimeric molecule). This Protac consisted of an SCFß-TRCP-binding phosphopeptide derived from I{kappa}B{alpha} linked to ovalicin, which covalently binds MetAP-2. In this study, we employed this approach to target two different proteins, the estrogen (ER) and androgen (AR) receptors, which have been implicated in the progression of breast and prostate cancer, respectively. We show here that an estradiol-based Protac can enforce the ubiquitination and degradation of the {alpha} isoform of ER in vitro, and a dihydroxytestosterone-based Protac introduced into cells promotes the rapid disappearance of AR in a proteasome-dependent manner. Future improvements to this technology may yield a general approach to treat a number of human diseases, including cancer

Expression profile of CREB knockdown in myeloid leukemia cells.

BackgroundThe cAMP Response Element Binding Protein, CREB, is a transcription factor that regulates cell proliferation, differentiation, and survival in several model systems, including neuronal and hematopoietic cells. We demonstrated that CREB is overexpressed in acute myeloid and leukemia cells compared to normal hematopoietic stem cells. CREB knockdown inhibits leukemic cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo, but does not affect long-term hematopoietic reconstitution.MethodsTo understand downstream pathways regulating CREB, we performed expression profiling with RNA from the K562 myeloid leukemia cell line transduced with CREB shRNA.ResultsBy combining our expression data from CREB knockdown cells with prior ChIP data on CREB binding we were able to identify a list of putative CREB regulated genes. We performed extensive analyses on the top genes in this list as high confidence CREB targets. We found that this list is enriched for genes involved in cancer, and unexpectedly, highly enriched for histone genes. Furthermore, histone genes regulated by CREB were more likely to be specifically expressed in hematopoietic lineages. Decreased expression of specific histone genes was validated in K562, TF-1, and primary AML cells transduced with CREB shRNA.ConclusionWe have identified a high confidence list of CREB targets in K562 cells. These genes allow us to begin to understand the mechanisms by which CREB contributes to acute leukemia. We speculate that regulation of histone genes may play an important role by possibly altering the regulation of DNA replication during the cell cycle

Transplantation for Congenital Bone Marrow Failure Syndromes

Congenital bone marrow failure syndromes (BMFSs) are relatively rare disorders characterized by aberrant development in one or more hematopoietic lineages. Genetic alterations have now been identified in most of these disorders although the exact role of the molecular defects has yet to be elucidated. Most of these diseases are successfully managed with supportive care, however, treatment refractoriness and disease progression—often involving malignant transformation—may necessitate curative treatment with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Due to the underlying molecular defects, the outcome of transplantation for BMFS may be dramatically different than those associated with transplantation for more common diseases, including leukemia. Given recent improvements in survival and molecular diagnosis of bone marrow failure syndrome patients presenting at adult ages without physical stigmata, it is important for both pediatric and adult hematologists to be aware of the possible diagnosis of BMF syndromes and the unique approaches required in treating such patients

CREB in the pathophysiology of cancer: implications for targeting transcription factors for cancer therapy

Transcription factors are key regulators of the pattern of gene expression in a cell and directly control central processes such as proliferation, survival, self-renewal, and invasion. Given this critical role, the function of transcription factors is normally regulated closely, often through transient phosphorylation. Although transcription factors are not often directly modified by mutations in cancer cells, they frequently become activated constitutively through mutations affecting "upstream" pathways. By continually driving the expression of key target genes, these oncogenic transcription factors play a central role in tumor pathogenesis. One such transcription factor is the cAMP-regulatory element-binding protein (CREB), which can be activated through phosphorylation by a number of kinases, including Akt, p90Rsk, protein kinase A, and calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinases and regulates genes whose deregulated expression promotes oncogenesis, including cyclins, Bcl-2 family members, and Egr-1. CREB is overexpressed and constitutively phosphorylated in a number of forms of human cancer, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and non–small cell lung cancer, and appears to play a direct role in disease pathogenesis and prognosis. Although transcription factors have not been a central focus of drug development, recent advances suggest that CREB and other such proteins may be worthwhile targets for cancer therapy

A highly conserved regulatory element controls hematopoietic expression of GATA-2 in zebrafish

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>GATA-2 is a transcription factor required for hematopoietic stem cell survival as well as for neuronal development in vertebrates. It has been shown that specific expression of <it>GATA-2 </it>in blood progenitor cells requires distal <it>cis</it>-acting regulatory elements. Identification and characterization of these elements should help elucidating transcription regulatory mechanisms of <it>GATA-2 </it>expression in hematopoietic lineage.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>By pair-wise alignments of the zebrafish genomic sequences flanking <it>GATA-2 </it>to orthologous regions of fugu, mouse, rat and human genomes, we identified three highly conserved non-coding sequences in the genomic region flanking <it>GATA-2</it>, two upstream of <it>GATA-2 </it>and another downstream. Using both transposon and bacterial artificial chromosome mediated germline transgenic zebrafish analyses, one of the sequences was established as necessary and sufficient to direct hematopoietic GFP expression in a manner that recapitulates that of <it>GATA-2</it>. In addition, we demonstrated that this element has enhancer activity in mammalian myeloid leukemia cell lines, thus validating its functional conservation among vertebrate species. Further analysis of potential transcription factor binding sites suggested that integrity of the putative HOXA3 and LMO2 sites is required for regulating <it>GATA-2/GFP </it>hematopoietic expression.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Regulation of <it>GATA-2 </it>expression in hematopoietic cells is likely conserved among vertebrate animals. The integrated approach described here, drawing on embryological, transgenesis and computational methods, should be generally applicable to analyze tissue-specific gene regulation involving distal DNA <it>cis</it>-acting elements.</p