The lncRNA Growth Arrest Specific 5 Regulates Cell Survival via Distinct Structural Modules with Independent Functions

There is increasing evidence that the architecture of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) just like that of proteins-is hierarchically organized into independently folding sub-modules with distinct functions. Studies characterizing the cellular activities of such modules, however, are rare. The lncRNA growth arrest specific 5 (GAS5) is a key regulator of cell survival in response to stress and nutrient availability. We use SHAPE-MaP to probe the structure of GAS5 and identify three separate structural modules that act independently in leukemic T cells. The 5' terminal module with low secondary structure content affects basal survival and slows the cell cycle, whereas the highly structured core module mediates the effects of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibition on cell growth. These results highlight the central role of GAS5 in regulating cell survival and reveal how a single lncRNA transcript utilizes a modular structure-function relationship to respond to a variety of cellular stresses under various cellular conditions

RBM5/LUCA-15 — Tumour Suppression by Control of Apoptosis and the Cell Cycle?

The candidate tumour suppressor gene, LUCA-15, maps to the lung cancer tumour suppressor locus 3p21.3. The LUCA-15 gene locus encodes at least four alternatively spliced transcripts, which have been shown to function as regulators of apoptosis, a fact that may have a major significance in tumour regulation. This review highlights evidence that implicates the LUCA-15 locus in the control of apoptosis and cell proliferation, and reports observations that significantly strengthen the case for tumour suppressor activity by this gene

The long non-coding RNA NEAT1 regulates cell survival in breast cancer cell lines

Background Nuclear long non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs) regulate various cellular processes including the organization of nuclear sub-structures, the alteration of chromatin state, and the regulation of gene expression. Nuclear Enriched Abundant Transcript 1 (NEAT1) is a nuclear lncRNA transcribed from chromosome 11q13. Two transcripts are produced from the NEAT1 gene, 3.7-kb NEAT1_v1 and 23-kb NEAT1_v2. Both isoforms participate in the formation of the nuclear paraspeckles . NEAT1 is reported to be overexpressed in prostate cancer and a direct transcriptional target of hypoxia-inducible factor in many breast cancer cell lines. The aims of this study were to determine the effects of silencing NEAT1 on breast cancer cell survival. Method MCF7 and MDA-MB 231 cells were transfected with siRNAs to different NEAT1 sequences or NEAT1 antisense oligonucleotides (ASO). Controls received scrambled siRNA or scrambled oligonucleotide, as appropriate. In some experiments, cells were exposed to ultraviolet-C (UV-C) light post-transfection to induce apoptosis, and then culture viability and apoptosis were assessed. NEAT1 expression was evaluated by qRT-PCR TaqMan® analysis. Results In MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cells, siRNA-mediated silencing of NEAT1 reduced basal survival and after UV-C irradiation and decreased their colony forming ability. NEAT1 ASOs were more effective in silencing NEAT1 and caused a greater reduction in cell viability. NEAT1 silencing also affected cell cycle profile by enhancing the proportion of cells in G0/G1 phase. Conclusion NEAT1 regulates the survival of Breast cells. Down regulation of NEAT1 expression decreased cell survival, proliferation and modulated cell cycle progression of breast cancer cells, indicating a link between the NEAT1 expression levels and carcinogenesis of breast cancer

The protein phosphatase 4 - PEA15 axis regulates the survival of breast cancer cells

BACKGROUND: The control of breast cell survival is of critical importance for preventing breast cancer initiation and progression. The activity of many proteins which regulate cell survival is controlled by reversible phosphorylation, so that the relevant kinases and phosphatases play crucial roles in determining cell fate. Several protein kinases act as oncoproteins in breast cancer and changes in their activities contribute to the process of transformation. Through counteracting the activity of oncogenic kinases, the protein phosphatases are also likely to be important players in breast cancer development, but this class of molecules is relatively poorly understood. Here we have investigated the role of the serine/threonine protein phosphatase 4 in the control of cell survival of breast cancer cells. METHODS: The breast cancer cell lines, MCF7 and MDA-MB-231, were transfected with expression vectors encoding the catalytic subunit of protein phosphatase 4 (PP4c) or with PP4c siRNAs. Culture viability, apoptosis, cell migration and cell cycle were assessed. The involvement of phosphoprotein enriched in astrocytes 15kDa (PEA15) in PP4c action was investigated by immunoblotting approaches and by siRNA-mediated silencing of PEA15. RESULTS: In this study we showed that PP4c over-expression inhibited cell proliferation, enhanced spontaneous apoptosis and decreased the migratory and colony forming abilities of breast cancer cells. Moreover, PP4c down-regulation produced complementary effects. PP4c is demonstrated to regulate the phosphorylation of PEA15, and PEA15 itself regulates the apoptosis of breast cancer cells. The inhibitory effects of PP4c on breast cancer cell survival and growth were lost in PEA15 knockdown cells, confirming that PP4c action is mediated, at least in part, through the de-phosphorylation of apoptosis regulator PEA15. CONCLUSION: Our work shows that PP4 regulates breast cancer cell survival and identifies a novel PP4c-PEA15 signalling axis in the control of breast cancer cell survival. The dysfunction of this axis may be important in the development and progression of breast cancer

Interactions between PP4 and PEA-15 in the regulation of cell proliferation and apoptosis of breast cancer cells

Background The serine/threonine protein phosphatase 4 (PP4) is recognised to regulate a variety of cellular functions. Our previous work has shown that the catalytic subunit of PP4 (PP4c) promotes cell death and inhibits proliferation in breast cancer cells, suggestive of a role of PP4c as tumour suppressor gene. Phosphoprotein enriched in astrocytes 15 (PEA-15), a member of the death effector domain protein family known to control cell survival, is reported to be regulated by PP4c. The aims of this study were to investigate the involvement of PEA-15 in mediating the effects of PP4c on breast cancer cells. Method PEA-15 phosphorylation was examined by western blot analysis on proteins extracted from MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cells over-expressing PP4 and PP4 knock down cells. To investigate the role of PEA-15 in mediating the effects of PP4c, MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 were transfected with control (-) siRNA or with three different PEA-15 specific siRNAs. 48 h post-transfection, control cells (transfected with negative control siRNA) and cells transfected with PEA-15 siRNAs were transiently transfected with pcDNA3.1-PP4c expression construct or pcDNA3.1. Cell viability and apoptosis level were assessed post transfection. Results In MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cells, the phosphorylation state of PEA-15 increased when PP4c expression was suppressed and decreased when PP4c was over-expressed. Over-expression of PP4c in cells transfected with (-) siRNA caused 50% reduction in viability compared to cells transfected with empty vector. Cells transfected with PEA-15 siRNAs showed a decrease in viable cell number and long term survival. However, over-expression of PP4c in these cells did not have any additional effect on the decrease in cell viability. Conclusion These observations suggest that the induction of apoptosis by over-expression of PP4c is mediated, at least in part, by the dephosphorylation of PEA-15. The interactions between PEA-15 and PP4c may therefore be critical in breast cancer tumorigenesis

Regulation of the cell cycle and cell death by protein phosphatase 4 in breast cancer cell lines

Background At the molecular level, cell death is often regulated by the level of phosphorylation of particular proteins, i.e. by the balance of between opposing kinase and phosphatase activities on those proteins. Protein phosphatase 4 (PP4) is a PP2A-related serine/threonine phosphatase. PP2A has already been implicated in the control of cell proliferation, cell cycle and tumorigenesis. Using a functional expression cloning strategy, we have previously identified the catalytic subunit of PP4 (PP4c) as an important gene influencing the regulation of both apoptosis and cell proliferation in human leukaemic cell lines and in normal lymphocytes. The aims of this study were to examine the effects of PP4c overexpression and silencing on the cell death and survival of breast cancer cell lines. Method MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cells were transfected with pcDNA3.1 encoding PP4c (pcDNA3-PP4c) or siRNAs to different PP4c sequences. Cells transfected with scrambled siRNA or empty vector were considered as controls. Culture viability, apoptosis and cell cycle were assessed post transfection. Results In MCF7 and metastatic MDA-MB-231 cells, PP4c over-expression exerted an inhibitory effect on cell proliferation, enhanced spontaneous apoptosis and decreased their colony forming ability. Conversely, siRNA mediated silencing of PP4 enhanced the proliferation and survival of MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cells, affected cell cycle kinetics by enhancing the proportion of cells in S and G2/M phases, increased the colony forming ability and stimulated the anchorage independent growth. Conclusion PP4c promotes cell death and inhibits proliferation in breast cells, suggestive of a role of PP4c as tumour suppressor gene. Down regulation of PP4c expression increases cell survival, proliferation and anchorage independent growth of breast cancer cells, indicating a potential link between the PP4c expression levels, tumorigenesis and metastasis

Dysregulated expression of Fau and MELK is associated with poor prognosis in breast cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Programmed cell death through apoptosis plays an essential role in the hormone-regulated physiological turnover of mammary tissue. Failure of this active gene-dependent process is central both to the development of breast cancer and to the appearance of the therapy-resistant cancer cells that produce clinical relapse. Functional expression cloning in two independent laboratories has identified Finkel-Biskis-Reilly murine sarcoma virus-associated ubiquitously expressed gene (Fau) as a novel apoptosis regulator and candidate tumour suppressor. Fau modifies apoptosis-controller Bcl-G, which is also a key target for candidate oncoprotein maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK). METHODS: We have used RNA interference to downregulate Fau and Bcl-G expression, both simultaneously and independently, in breast cancer cells in vitro to determine the importance of their roles in apoptosis. Expression of Fau, Bcl-G and MELK was measured by quantitative RT-PCR in breast cancer tissue and in matched breast epithelial tissue from the same patients. Expression data of these genes obtained using microarrays from a separate group of patients were related to patient survival in Kaplan-Meier analyses. RESULTS: siRNA-mediated downregulation of either Fau or Bcl-G expression inhibited apoptosis, and the inhibition produced by combining the two siRNAs was consistent with control of Bcl-G by Fau. Fau expression is significantly reduced in breast cancer tissue and this reduction is associated with poor patient survival, as predicted for a candidate breast cancer tumour suppressor. In addition, MELK expression is increased in breast cancer tissue and this increase is also associated with poor patient survival, as predicted for a candidate oncogene. Bcl-G expression is reduced in breast cancer tissue but decreased Bcl-G expression showed no correlation with survival, indicating that the most important factors controlling Bcl-G activity are post-translational modification (by Fau and MELK) rather than the rate of transcription of Bcl-G itself. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of in vitro functional studies with the analysis of gene expression in clinical breast cancer samples indicates that three functionally interconnected genes, Fau, Bcl-G and MELK, are crucially important in breast cancer and identifies them as attractive targets for improvements in breast cancer risk prediction, prognosis and therapy.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

Investigation into the Role of Long-Non-Coding RNA MIAT in Leukemia

Myocardial Infarction Associated Transcript (MIAT) is a nuclear long non-coding RNA (LncRNA) with four different splicing variants. MIAT dysregulation is associated with carcinogenesis, mainly acting as an oncogene regulating cellular growth, invasion, and metastasis. The aim of the current study is to investigate the role of MIAT in the regulation of T and chronic myeloid leukemic cell survival. To this end, MIAT was silenced using MIAT-specific siRNAs in leukemic cell lines, and functional assays were performed thereafter. This investigation also aims to investigate the effects of MIAT silencing on the expression of core genes involved in cancer. Functional studies and gene expression determination confirm that MIAT knockdown not only affects short- and long-term survival and the apoptosis of leukemic cells but also plays a pivotal role in the alteration of key genes involved in cancer, including c-MYC and HIF-1A. Our observations suggest that MIAT could act as an oncogene and it has the potential to be used not only as a reliable biomarker for leukemia, but also be employed for prognostic and therapeutic purposes

Protein phosphatase 4 regulates apoptosis in leukemic and primary human T-cells

The control of T-cell survival is of overwhelming importance for preventing leukemia and lymphoma. The present report demonstrates that the serine/threonine protein phosphatase PP4 regulates the survival of both leukemic T-cells and untransformed human peripheral blood T-cells, particularly after treatment with anti-leukemic drugs and other cytotoxic stimuli. PP4-induced apoptosis is mediated, at least in part, through de-phosphorylation of apoptosis regulator PEA-15, previously implicated in the control of leukemic cell survival. PP4 activity significantly affects the mutation rate in leukemic T-cells, indicating that PP4 dysfunction may be important in the development and progression of leukemia