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C Norbury

Publications and source records attributed to C Norbury.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Adrenomedullin inhibits hypoxic cell death by upregulation of Bcl-2 in endometrial cancer cells: a possible promotion mechanism for tumour growth.

Regions of hypoxia are a common feature of solid tumours. When tumour cells are exposed to hypoxic stress, transcription of a battery of genes is initiated. The angiogenic factor adrenomedullin (ADM) is a hypoxia regulated gene. ADM is thought to act through the G protein-coupled receptor calcitonin receptor-like receptor (CRLR), with specificity being conferred by the receptor associated modifying protein 2 (RAMP2). Here we report for the first time that ADM treated or stably transfected Ishikawa cells overexpressing ADM show increased resistance to hypoxia induced apoptosis. These cells also show an upregulation of the oncoprotein Bcl-2, which is protective against hypoxic cell death when transiently transfected into Ishikawa cells. Since Ishikawa cells express the putative ADM-receptor CRLR-RAMP2 the production and secretion of ADM with the consecutive upregulation of Bcl-2 could establish an autocrine/paracrine mechanism rescuing malignant cells from hypoxic cell death. These results, taken together with our previous findings that ADM is an angiogenic factor which is upregulated by the nonsteroidal antiestrogen tamoxifen (TAM) in endometrial cells, implicate this peptide as a promoter of tumour growth and a possible target for anticancer strategies.

Adrenomedullin↗
PubMed2000

A fission yeast homolog of Int-6, the mammalian oncoprotein and eIF3 subunit, induces drug resistance when overexpressed.

Through a screen to identify genes that induce multi-drug resistance when overexpressed, we have identified a fission yeast homolog of Int-6, a component of the human translation initiation factor eIF3. Disruption of the murine Int-6 gene by mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) has been implicated previously in tumorigenesis, although the underlying mechanism is not yet understood. Fission yeast Int6 was shown to interact with other presumptive components of eIF3 in vivo, and was present in size fractions consistent with its incorporation into a 43S translation preinitiation complex. Drug resistance induced by Int6 overexpression was dependent on the AP-1 transcription factor Pap1, and was associated with increased abundance of Pap1-responsive mRNAs, but not with Pap1 relocalization. Fission yeast cells lacking the int6 gene grew slowly. This growth retardation could be corrected by the expression of full length Int6 of fission yeast or human origin, or by a C-terminal fragment of the fission yeast protein that also conferred drug resistance, but not by truncated human Int-6 proteins corresponding to the predicted products of MMTV-disrupted murine alleles. Studies in fission yeast may therefore help to explain the ways in which Int-6 function can be perturbed during MMTV-induced mammary tumorigenesis.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2000

Proteasome inhibitors as anti-cancer agents.

The ubiquitin (Ub)-proteasome pathway is the major nonlysosomal pathway of proteolysis in human cells and accounts for the degradation of most short-lived, misfolded or damaged proteins. This pathway is important in the regulation of a number of key biological regulatory mechanisms. Proteins are usually targeted for proteasome-mediated degradation by polyubiquitinylation, the covalent addition of multiple units of the 76 amino acid protein Ub, which are ligated to 1-amino groups of lysine residues in the substrate. Polyubiquitinylated proteins are degraded by the 26S proteasome, a large, ATP-dependent multicatalytic protease complex, which also regenerates monomeric Ub. The targets of this pathway include key regulators of cell proliferation and cell death. An alternative form of the proteasome, termed the immunoproteasome, also has important functions in the generation of peptides for presentation by MHC class I molecules. In recent years there has been a great deal of interest in the possibility that proteasome inhibitors, through elevation of the levels of proteasome targets, might prove useful as a novel class of anti-cancer drugs. Here we review the progress made to date in this area and highlight the potential advantages and weaknesses of this approach.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Cid1, a fission yeast protein required for S-M checkpoint control when DNA polymerase delta or epsilon is inactivated.

The S-M checkpoint is an intracellular signaling pathway that ensures that mitosis is not initiated in cells undergoing DNA replication. We identified cid1, a novel fission yeast gene, through its ability when overexpressed to confer specific resistance to a combination of hydroxyurea, which inhibits DNA replication, and caffeine, which overrides the S-M checkpoint. Cid1 overexpression also partially suppressed the hydroxyurea sensitivity characteristic of DNA polymerase delta mutants and mutants defective in the "checkpoint Rad" pathway. Cid1 is a member of a family of putative nucleotidyltransferases including budding yeast Trf4 and Trf5, and mutation of amino acid residues predicted to be essential for this activity resulted in loss of Cid1 function in vivo. Two additional Cid1-like proteins play similar but nonredundant checkpoint-signaling roles in fission yeast. Cells lacking Cid1 were found to be viable but specifically sensitive to the combination of hydroxyurea and caffeine and to be S-M checkpoint defective in the absence of Cds1. Genetic data suggest that Cid1 acts in association with Crb2/Rhp9 and through the checkpoint-signaling kinase Chk1 to inhibit unscheduled mitosis specifically when DNA polymerase delta or epsilon is inhibited.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1999

Topoisomerase III is essential for accurate nuclear division in Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

Topoisomerases catalyse changes in the topological state of DNA and are required for many aspects of DNA metabolism. While the functions of topoisomerases I and II in eukaryotes are well established, the role of topoisomerase III remains poorly defined. We have identified a gene in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, designated top3 (+), which shows significant sequence similarity to genes encoding topoisomerase III enzymes in other eukaryotic species. In common with murine TOP3 alpha, but in contrast to Saccharomyces cerevisiae TOP3, the S.pombe top3 (+)gene is essential for long-term cell viability. Fission yeast haploid spores containing a disrupted top3 (+)gene germinate successfully, but then undergo only a limited number of cell divisions. Analysis of these top3 mutants revealed evidence of aberrant mitotic chromosome segregation, including the 'cut' phenotype, where septation is completed prior to nuclear division. Consistent with the existence of an intimate association (originally identified in S.cerevisiae ) between topoisomerase III and DNA helicases of the RecQ family, deletion of the rqh1 (+)gene encoding the only known RecQ helicase in S.pombe suppresses lethality in top3 mutants. This conservation of genetic interaction between two widely diverged yeasts suggests that the RecQ family helicases encoded by the Bloom's and Werner's syndrome genes are likely to act in concert with topoisomerase III isozymes in human cells. Our data are consistent with a model in which the association of a RecQ helicase and topoisomerase III is important for facilitating decatenation of late stage replicons to permit faithful chromosome segregation during anaphase.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1999

Caffeine can override the S-M checkpoint in fission yeast.

The replication checkpoint (or 'S-M checkpoint') control prevents progression into mitosis when DNA replication is incomplete. Caffeine has been known for some time to have the capacity to override the S-M checkpoint in animal cells. We show here that caffeine also disrupts the S-M checkpoint in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. By contrast, no comparable effects of caffeine on the S. pombe DNA damage checkpoint were seen. S. pombe cells arrested in early S phase and then exposed to caffeine lost viability rapidly as they attempted to enter mitosis, which was accompanied by tyrosine dephosphorylation of Cdc2. Despite this, the caffeine-induced loss of viability was not blocked in a temperature-sensitive cdc2 mutant incubated at the restrictive temperature, although catastrophic mitosis was prevented under these conditions. This suggests that, in addition to S-M checkpoint control, a caffeine-sensitive function may be important for maintenance of cell viability during S phase arrest. The lethality of a combination of caffeine with the DNA replication inhibitor hydroxyurea was suppressed by overexpression of Cds1 or Chk1, protein kinases previously implicated in S-M checkpoint control and recovery from S phase arrest. In addition, the same combination of drugs was specifically tolerated in cells overexpressing either of two novel S. pombe genes isolated in a cDNA library screen. These findings should allow further molecular investigation of the regulation of S phase arrest, and may provide a useful system with which to identify novel drugs that specifically abrogate the checkpoint control.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1998

The novel murine calmodulin-binding protein Sha1 disrupts mitotic spindle and replication checkpoint functions in fission yeast.

Entry into mitosis is normally blocked in eukaryotic cells that have not completed replicative DNA synthesis; this 'S-M' checkpoint control is fundamental to the maintenance of genomic integrity. Mutants of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe defective in the S-M checkpoint fail to arrest the cell cycle when DNA replication is inhibited and hence attempt mitosis and cell division with unreplicated chromosomes, resulting in the 'cut' phenotype. In an attempt to identify conserved molecules involved in the S-M checkpoint we have screened a regulatable murine cDNA library in S. pombe and have identified cDNAs that induce the cut phenotype in cells arrested in S phase by hydroxyurea. One such cDNA encodes a novel protein with multiple calmodulin-binding motifs that, in addition to its effects on the S-M checkpoint, perturbed mitotic spindle functions, although spindle pole duplication was apparently normal. Both aspects of the phenotype induced by this cDNA product, which we term Sha1 (for spindle and hydroxyurea checkpoint abnormal), were suppressed by simultaneous overexpression of calmodulin. Sha1 is structurally related to the product of the Drosophila gene abnormal spindle (asp). These data suggest that calmodulin-binding protein(s) are important in the co-ordination of mitotic spindle functions with mitotic entry in fission yeast, and probably also in multicellular eukaryotes.

3T3 Cells↗
PubMed1998

The ubiquitin-proteasome pathway in cancer.

Degradation by the 26S proteasome of specific proteins that have been targeted by the ubiquitin pathway is the major intracellular non-lysosomal proteolytic mechanism and is involved in a broad range of processes, such as cell cycle progression, antigen presentation and control of gene expression. Recent work, reviewed here, has shown that this pathway is often the target of cancer-related deregulation and can underlie processes, such as oncogenic transformation, tumour progression, escape from immune surveillance and drug resistance.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Resistance to diverse drugs and ultraviolet light conferred by overexpression of a novel human 26 S proteasome subunit.

We have investigated the usefulness of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe as a model organism for the discovery of novel modes of drug resistance in human cells. In fission yeast, overexpression of the essential pad1(+) gene confers pleiotropic drug resistance through a pathway involving an AP-1 transcription factor encoded by pap1(+). We have identified POH1, a human pad1 homologue that can substitute fully for pad1(+) and induce AP-1-dependent drug resistance in fission yeast. POH1 also confers P-glycoprotein-independent resistance to taxol (paclitaxel), doxorubicin, 7-hydroxystaurosporine, and ultraviolet light when transiently overexpressed in mammalian cells. Poh1 is a previously unidentified component of the human 26 S proteasome, a multiprotein complex that degrades proteins targeted for destruction by the ubiquitin pathway. Hence, Poh1 is part of a conserved mechanism that determines cellular susceptibility to cytotoxic agents, perhaps by influencing the ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis of transcription factors.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1995

Cell cycle phase-specific phosphorylation of human topoisomerase II alpha. Evidence of a role for protein kinase C.

Type II topoisomerases are essential for faithful cell division in all organisms. In human cells, the alpha isozyme of topoisomerase II has been implicated in catalyzing mitotic chromosome segregation via its action as a DNA unlinking enzyme. Here, we have shown that the enzymatic activity of topoisomerase II alpha protein purified from HeLa cell nuclei was strongly enhanced following phosphorylation by protein kinase C. We have investigated the possibility that this kinase is involved in cell cycle phase-specific phosphorylation of topoisomerase II alpha in HeLa cells. Two-dimensional tryptic phosphopeptide mapping revealed that topoisomerase II alpha protein immunoprecipitated from metabolically labeled HeLa cells was differentially phosphorylated during the G2/M phases of the cell cycle. To identify sites of phosphorylation, and the kinase(s) responsible for this modification, oligohistidine-tagged recombinant domains of topoisomerase II alpha protein were overexpressed in Escherichia coli and purified by affinity chromatography. Phosphorylation of a short fragment of the N-terminal ATPase domain of topoisomerase II alpha by protein kinase C in vitro generated two phosphopeptides that co-migrated with prominent G2/M phase-specific phosphopeptides from the HeLa cell-derived topoisomerase II alpha protein. Site-directed mutagenesis studies indicated that phosphorylation of serine 29 generated both of these phosphopeptides. Our results implicate protein kinase C in the cell cycle phase-dependent modulation of topoisomerase II alpha enzymatic activity in human cells.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1995

Cellular responses to DNA damage: cell-cycle checkpoints, apoptosis and the roles of p53 and ATM.

'Checkpoint' controls arrest the cell cycle after DNA damage, allowing repair to take place before mutations can be perpetuated. In multicellular organisms, DNA damage can also induce apoptotic cell death, protecting the organism at the expense of the individual cell. How does a cell 'choose' between cycle arrest and death? Analysis of two human tumour suppressor proteins, p53 and the ATM (ataxia-telangiectasia mutated) gene product, may provide some answers.

Apoptosis↗
PubMed1995

Inactivation of Cdc2 increases the level of apoptosis induced by DNA damage.

A number of lines of evidence have suggested a possible involvement of the mitosis-promoting protein kinase Cdc2 in the process of apoptotic cell death, and one recent study concluded that premature activation of Cdc2 is required for apoptosis. Here we have used a temperature-sensitive murine Cdc2 mutant cell line and Cdc2 inhibitor compounds to study the effect of inhibition of this protein kinase on apoptosis induced by DNA-damaging drugs. Inhibition of Cdc2 activity before or during exposure to DNA strand break-inducing drugs had the effect of increasing the level of subsequent apoptosis, as assessed by electron microscopy and flow cytometry. We conclude that, far from being required for cell death, a form of mammalian Cdc2 suppresses apoptosis induced by DNA damage. This form of Cdc2 appears to be active in G2-arrested cells and is therefore presumably distinct from the mitosis-promoting Cdc2-cyclin B heterodimer.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Premature chromatin condensation upon accumulation of NIMA.

The NIMA protein kinase of Aspergillus nidulans is required for the G2/M transition of the cell cycle. Mutants lacking NIMA arrest without morphological characteristics of mitosis, but they do contain an activated p37nimX kinase (the Aspergillus homologue of p34cdc2). To gain a better understanding of NIMA function we have investigated the effects of expressing various NIMA constructs in Aspergillus, fission yeast and human cells. Our experiments have shown that the instability of the NIMA protein requires sequences in the non-catalytic C-terminus of the protein. Removal of this domain results in a stable protein that, once accumulated, promotes a lethal premature condensation of chromatin without any other aspects of mitosis. Similar effects were also observed in fission yeast and human cells accumulating Aspergillus NIMA. This phenotype is independent of cell cycle progression and does not require p34cdc2 kinase activity. As gain of NIMA function by accumulation results in premature chromatin condensation, and loss of NIMA function results in an inability to enter mitosis, we propose that NIMA functions in G2 to promote the condensation of chromatin normally associated with entry into mitosis.

Apoptosis↗
PubMed1994

Cdc2 activation is not required for thymocyte apoptosis.

Apoptosis is a mode of cell death characterized by chromatin condensation and disassembly of the nuclear lamina, processes that are also characteristic of mitosis. The apparent similarity between the two events, together with observations that apoptosis can occur following G2 arrest, has led to the suggestion that apoptosis could be a defective form of mitosis. Further support for this idea comes from the recent description of activation of the p34cdc2 protein kinase (Cdc2), the universal M-phase promoter, during death induced by a lymphocyte granule protease. We have monitored the protein kinase activity of Cdc2 during apoptosis of primary rat thymocytes, which die from a quiescent (G0) state. We demonstrate unequivocally that activation of Cdc2 is not involved in the induction of apoptosis in thymocytes, indicating that chromatin condensation and lamina disassembly occur in this system by processes different from those that operate in mitosis.

Animals↗