Stat1 Phosphorylation Determines Ras Oncogenicity by Regulating p27Kip1

Inactivation of p27Kip1 is implicated in tumorigenesis and has both prognostic and treatment-predictive values for many types of human cancer. The transcription factor Stat1 is essential for innate immunity and tumor immunosurveillance through its ability to act downstream of interferons. Herein, we demonstrate that Stat1 functions as a suppressor of Ras transformation independently of an interferon response. Inhibition of Ras transformation and tumorigenesis requires the phosphorylation of Stat1 at tyrosine 701 but is independent of Stat1 phosphorylation at serine 727. Stat1 induces p27Kip1 expression in Ras transformed cells at the transcriptional level through mechanisms that depend on Stat1 phosphorylation at tyrosine 701 and activation of Stat3. The tumor suppressor properties of Stat1 in Ras transformation are reversed by the inactivation of p27Kip1. Our work reveals a novel functional link between Stat1 and p27Kip1, which act in coordination to suppress the oncogenic properties of activated Ras. It also supports the notion that evaluation of Stat1 phosphorylation in human tumors may prove a reliable prognostic factor for patient outcome and a predictor of treatment response to anticancer therapies aimed at activating Stat1 and its downstream effectors

Experimentally-induced maternal hypothyroidism alters crucial enzyme activities in the frontal cortex and hippocampus of the offspring rat

Thyroid hormone insufficiency during neurodevelopment can result into significant structural and functional changes within the developing central nervous system (CNS), and is associated with the establishment of serious cognitive impairment and neuropsychiatric symptomatology. The aim of the present study was to shed more light on the effects of gestational and/or lactational maternal exposure to propylthiouracil (PTU)-induced hypothyroidism as a multilevel experimental approach to the study of hypothyroidism-induced changes on crucial brain enzyme activities of 21-day-old Wistar rat offspring in a brain region-specific manner. This experimental approach has been recently developed and characterized by the authors based on neurochemical analyses performed on newborn and 21-day-old rat offspring whole brain homogenates; as a continuum to this effort, the current study focused on two CNS regions of major significance for cognitive development: the frontal cortex and the hippocampus. Maternal exposure to PTU in the drinking water during gestation and/or lactation resulted into changes in the activities of acetylcholinesterase and two important adenosinetriphosphatases (Na+,K+- and Mg2+-ATPase), that seemed to take place in a CNS-region-specific manner and that were dependent upon the PTU-exposure timeframe followed. As these findings are analyzed and compared to the available literature, they: (i) highlight the variability involved in the changes of the aforementioned enzymatic parameters in the studied CNS regions (attributed to both the different neuroanatomical composition and the thyroid-hormone-dependent neurodevelopmental growth/differentiation patterns of the latter), (ii) reveal important information with regards to the neurochemical mechanisms that could be involved in the way clinical hypothyroidism could affect optimal neurodevelopment and, ultimately, cognitive function, as well as (iii) underline the need for the adoption of more consistent approaches towards the experimental simulation of congenital and early-age-occurring hypothyroidism. © 2014, Springer Science+Business Media New York

Inhibition of Na+,K+-ATPase in the hypothalamus, pons and cerebellum of the offspring rat due to experimentally-induced maternal hypothyroidism

Neurodevelopment is known to be particularly susceptible to thyroid hormone insufficiency and can result in extensive structural and functional deficits within the central nervous system (CNS), subsequently leading to the establishment of cognitive impairment and neuropsychiatric symptomatology. The current study evaluated the effects of gestational and/or lactational maternal exposure to propylthiouracil (PTU)-induced hypothyroidism (as a suggestive multilevel experimental approach to the study of hypothyroidism-induced changes that has been developed and characterized by the authors) on crucial brain enzyme activities of 21-day-old Wistar rat offspring in a CNS region-specific manner. The activities of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), Na+,K+-ATPase and Mg2+-ATPase in the offspring hypothalamus, cerebellum and pons were assessed. The study demonstrated that maternal exposure to PTU (0.05% w/v in the drinking water) during the critical periods of neurodevelopment can result in an inhibition of hypothalamic, pontine and cerebellar Na+,K+-ATPase; a major marker of neuronal excitability and metabolic energy production as well as an important regulator of important systems of neurotransmission. On the other hand, no significant changes in the activities of the herein offspring CNS regions' AChE and Mg2+-ATPase were recorded. The observed Na+,K+-ATPase inhibition: (i) is region-specific (and non-detectable in whole brain homogenetes), (ii) could constitute a central event in the pathophysiology of clinically-relevant hypothyroidism-associated developmental neurotoxicity, (iii) occurs under all examined experimental schemes, and (iv) certainly deserves further clarification at a molecular and histopathological level. As these findings are analyzed and compared to the available literature, they also underline the need for the adoption and further study of Na+,K+-ATPase activity as a consistent neurochemical marker within the context of a systematic comparative study of existing (and novel) simulation approaches to congenital and early age hypothyroidism. © 2014 Informa UK Ltd. All rights reserved

Downregulation of PERK activity and eIF2α serine 51 phosphorylation by mTOR complex 1 elicits pro-oxidant and pro-death effects in tuberous sclerosis-deficient cells article

Oxidative stress determines cell fate through several mechanisms, among which regulation of mRNA translation by the phosphorylation of the alpha (α) subunit of the translation initiation factor eIF2α at serine 51 (eIF2αP) plays a prominent role. Increased eIF2αP can contribute to tumor progression as well as tumor suppression. While eIF2αP is increased in most cells to promote survival and adaptation to different forms of stress, we demonstrate that eIF2αP is reduced in tuberous sclerosis complex 2 (TSC2)-deficient cells subjected to oxidative insults. Decreased eIF2αP in TSC2-deficient cells depends on reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and is associated with a reduced activity of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-resident kinase PERK owing to the hyper-activation of the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1). Downregulation of PERK activity and eIF2αP is accompanied by increased ROS production and enhanced susceptibility of TSC2-deficient cells to extrinsic pro-oxidant stress. The decreased levels of eIF2αP delay tumor formation of TSC2-deficient cells in immune deficient mice, an effect that is significantly alleviated in mice subjected to an anti-oxidant diet. Our findings reveal a previously unidentified connection between mTORC1 and eIF2αP in TSC2-deficient cells with potential implications in tumor suppression in response to oxidative insults. © 2018 The Author(s)