Bcl2 phosphorylation and active PKC alpha are associated with poor survival in AML.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to P P Ruvolo.
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Development of novel therapeutic strategies is a continuing challenge for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The novel triterpenoid, C-28 methyl ester of 2-cyano-3,12-dioxoolen-1,9-dien-28-oic acid (CDDO-Me), induces apoptosis in myeloid leukemic cell lines and in primary AML samples. In this report, the effects of CDDO-Me on CD34(+) AML progenitor cells in vitro were examined. CDDO-Me induced apoptosis in all but one of ten AML samples. CDDO-Me is known to inhibit the activation of ERK1/2. In this series of primary AML samples, ERK was expressed and phosphorylated in all patient samples studied and CDDO-Me inhibited ERK phosphorylation in five of 10 samples. However, CDDO-Me induced apoptosis in four of five samples without decreasing pERK levels, suggesting that pERK is not the sole target of the compound. CDDO-Me induced phosphorylation of p38 in AML-derived U937 cells. Pretreatment of U937 cells with a p38 inhibitor protected cells from the cyto-toxic effects of CDDO-Me. These findings suggest a role for p38 in CDDO-Me-induced apoptosis. In preliminary studies, CDDO-Me induced p38 phosphorylation in seven of eight primary AML samples. These findings suggest that CDDO-Me treatment shifts cell signaling away from cyto-protective pathways and thus CDDO-Me may be effective for the treatment of AML.
Overexpression of protein kinase C alpha (PKC alpha) promotes Bcl2 phosphorylation and chemoresistance in human acute leukemia cells. The contribution of non-Bcl2 mechanisms in this process is currently unknown. In this report, overexpression of PKC alpha was found not to affect cell proliferation, cell cycle, or activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases. The failure of PKC alpha overexpression to activate non-Bcl2 survival pathways suggested that PKC alpha-mediated chemoresistance requires Bcl2. Supporting this notion, REH/PKC alpha transfectants were found to be as sensitive to HA14-1 (a drug that targets Bcl2 function) as parental cells. In addition, HA14-1 abrogated PKC alpha's ability to protect REH cells from etoposide. These findings suggested that Bcl2 is necessary for the protective function of PKC alpha in REH cells. Since Bcl2 phosphorylation status is negatively regulated by protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) and PP2A regulates PKC alpha, we investigated whether PKC alpha can conversely regulate PP2A. Overexpression of PKC alpha was found to suppress mitochondrial PP2A activity by a mechanism that, at least in part, involves suppressed expression of the regulatory subunit comprising the Bcl2 phosphatase (ie the PP2A/B56 alpha subunit). The ability of PKC alpha to target both Bcl2 and the Bcl2 phosphatase represents a novel mechanism for chemoresistance.
The present studies examined performance of SAPK cascades and apoptotic commitment following ribosomal trauma in REH lymphoid leukemia cells. Ribostatic insults included disruption of ribosomal activity by mechanistically dissimilar agents such as blasticidin-S (BCS) (which binds 28S-rRNA to block peptidyl bond formation), kasugamycin (KSM) (which binds 18S-rRNA to prevent translational initiation), and cycloheximide (CHX) (which blocks A-site to P-site translocation of peptidyl-tRNA). Exposure of REH cells to BCS elicited DNA degradation and apoptotic cytolysis. BCS stimulated JNK1/JNK2 and p38, and their shared targets c-Jun and ATF2. Inhibition of JNK1/JNK2 (but not of p38) antagonized blasticidin-induced apoptosis, whereas targeting alternative ribosomal sites with KSM or CHX limited translation, but failed to activate the SAPK cascade or initiate apoptosis. Our findings indicate that interference with 28S-rRNA by BCS initiates apoptosis in REH cells through recruitment of SAPK-JNK signaling. Disparities between the lethal actions of BCS, KSM, and CHX appear to reflect established differences in the subribosomal targets of these agents. We propose that the SAPK cascade comprises an essential mechanism for the transduction of specific lethal stress signals emanating from active ribosomes, and that interference with the 28S-rRNA, rather than the peptidyl transfer center of the large subunit, is critical to apoptotic commitment.
The sphingolipid ceramide is an important second signal molecule and potent apoptotic agent. The production of ceramide is associated with virtually every known stress stimulus, and thus, generation of this sphingolipid has been suggested as a universal feature of apoptosis. Recent studies suggest that an important component of cell death following diverse stress stimuli (e.g. interleukin-3 withdrawal, sodium arsenite treatment, and peroxide treatment) is the activation of the double-stranded RNA-activable protein kinase, PKR, resulting in the inhibition of protein synthesis (Ito, T., Jagus, R., and May, W. S. (1994) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 91, 7455-7459). The recently discovered cellular PKR activator, RAX, is phosphorylated in association with PKR activation (Ito, T., Yang, M., and May, W. S. (1999) J. Biol. Chem. 274, 15427-15432). Since RAX is phosphorylated by an as yet undetermined SAPK and ceramide is a potent activator of SAPKs such as JNK, a role for ceramide in the activation of RAX might be possible. Results indicate that overexpression of exogenous RAX potentiates ceramide-induced killing. Furthermore, ceramide can potently inhibit protein synthesis. Since ceramide potently promotes RAX and eukaryotic initiation factor-2alpha phosphorylation, a possible role for ceramide in this process may involve the activation of PKR by RAX. Since 2-aminopurine, a serine/threonine kinase inhibitor that has previously been shown to inhibit PKR, blocks both the potentiation of ceramide killing by RAX and ceramide-induced inhibition of protein synthesis, ceramide appears to promote PKR activation, at least indirectly. Collectively, these findings suggest a novel role for ceramide in the regulation of protein synthesis and apoptosis.
Members of the Bcl2 family of proteins are important regulators of programmed cell death pathways with individual members that can suppress (eg Bcl2, Bcl-XL) or promote (eg Bax, Bad) apoptosis. While the mechanism(s) of Bcl2's anti-apoptotic function is not yet clear, introduction of Bcl2 into most eukaryotic cell types will protect the recipient cell from a wide variety of stress applications that lead to cell death. There are, however, physiologic situations in which Bcl2 expression apparently fails to protect cells from apoptosis (eg negative selection of thymocytes). Further, Bcl2 expression in patient tumor samples does not consistently correlate with a worse outcome or resistance to anticancer therapies. For example, patient response and survival following chemotherapy is independent of Bcl2 expression at least for pediatric patients with ALL. These findings indicate that simple expression of Bcl2 may not be enough to functionally protect cells from apoptosis. The finding that Bcl2 is post-translationally modified by phosphorylation suggests another level of regulation of function. Recent studies have shown that agonist-activated phosphorylation of Bcl2 at serine 70 (single site phosphorylation), a site within the flexible loop domain (FLD), is required for Bcl2's full and potent anti-apoptotic function, at least in murine IL-3-dependent myeloid cell lines. Several protein kinases have now been demonstrated to be physiologic Bcl2 kinases indicating the importance of this post-translational modification. Since Bcl2 phosphorylation has been found to be a dynamic process involving both a Bcl2 kinase(s) and phosphatase(s), a mechanism exists to rapidly and reversibly regulate Bcl2's activity and affect cell viability. In addition, multisite Bcl2 phosphorylation induced by anti-mitotic drugs like paclitaxel may inhibit Bcl2 indicating the potential wide range of functional consequences that this post-translational modification may have on function. While post-translational mechanisms other than phosphorylation may also regulate Bcl2's function (eg ubiquitination), this review will focus on the regulatory role for phosphorylation and discuss its potential clinical ramifications.
The sphingolipid ceramide is an important second signal molecule that regulates diverse signaling pathways involving apoptosis, cell senescence, the cell cycle, and differentiation. For the most part, ceramide's effects are antagonistic to growth and survival. Interestingly, ceramide and the pro-growth agonist, diacylglycerol (DAG) appear to be regulated simultaneously but in opposite directions in the sphingomyelin cycle. While ceramide stimulates signal transduction pathways that are associated with cell death or at least are inhibitory to cell growth (eg stress-activated protein kinase, SAPK, pathways), DAG activates the classical and novel isoforms of the protein kinase C (PKC) family. These PKC isoforms are associated with cell growth and cell survival. Furthermore, DAG activation of PKC stimulates other signal transduction pathways that support cell proliferation (eg mitogen-activated protein kinase, MAPK, pathways). Thus, ceramide and DAG generation may serve to monitor cellular homeostasis by inducing pro-death or pro-growth pathways, respectively. The production of ceramide is emerging as a fixture of programmed cell death. Ceramide levels are elevated in response to diverse stress challenges including chemotherapeutic drug treatment, irradiation, or treatment with pro-death ligands such as tumor necrosis factor alpha, TNF alpha. Consistent with this notion, ceramide itself is a potent apoptogenic agent. Ceramide activates stress-activated protein kinases like c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and thus affects transcription pathways involving c-jun. Ceramide activates protein phosphatases such as protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) and protein phosphatase 2 (PP2A). Ceramide activation of protein phosphatases has been shown to promote inactivation of a number of pro-growth cellular regulators including the kinases PKC alpha and Akt, Bcl2 and the retinoblastoma protein. A new role has recently emerged for ceramide in the regulation of protein synthesis. Ceramide-induced activation of double-stranded RNA-dependent protein kinase (PKR), a protein kinase important in anti-viral host defense mechanisms and recently implicated in cellular stress pathways, results in the inhibition of protein synthesis as a prelude to cell death. Taken together, these properties of ceramide suggest that this important second-signal molecule may have useful properties as an anti-neoplastic agent. Thus, strategies to promote ceramide metabolism or use of ceramide analogs directly may one day become useful in the treatment of diseases like leukemia.
Although considered tightly linked, the linkage effectors for proliferation and antiapoptotic signaling pathways are not clear. Phosphorylation of Bcl2 at serine 70 is required for suppression of apoptosis in interleukin 3 (IL-3)-dependent myeloid cells deprived of IL-3 or treated with antileukemic drugs and can result from agonist activation of mitochondrial protein kinase C alpha (PKCalpha). However, we have recently found that high concentrations of staurosporine up to 1 microM: can only partially inhibit IL-3-stimulated Bcl2 phosphorylation but completely block PKCalpha-mediated Bcl2 phosphorylation in vitro, indicating the existence of a non-PKC, staurosporine-resistant Bcl2 kinase (SRK). Although the RAF-1MEK-1-mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade is required for factor-dependent mitogenic signaling, a direct role in antiapoptosis signaling is not clear. In particular, the role of phosphorylation in the regulation of death substrates is not yet clear. Our findings indicate a potential role for the MEK/MAPK pathway in addition to PKC in antiapoptosis signaling, involving Bcl2 phosphorylation that features a role for extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1 and 2 as SRKs. These findings indicate a novel role for ERK1 and 2 as molecular links between proliferative and survival signaling and may, at least in part, explain the apparent paradox by which Bcl2 may suppress staurosporine-induced apoptosis. Although the effect of phosphorylation on Bcl2 function is not clear, effector molecules that regulate Bcl2 phosphorylation may have clinical significance in patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) who express detectable levels of Bcl2. Preliminary findings suggest that expression of PKCalpha, ERK2, and Bax in leukemic blast cells from patients with AML, although individually not prognostic, appears to have potential clinical value in predicting chemoresistance and survival outcomes.
Phosphorylation of Bcl2 at serine 70 is required for its potent anti-apoptotic function. We have recently shown that Bcl2 phosphorylation is a dynamic process that involves the protein kinase C alpha and protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) (Ruvolo, P. P., Deng, X., Carr, B. K., and May, W. S. (1998) J. Biol. Chem. 273, 25436-25442; and Deng, X., Ito, T., Carr, B. K., Mumby, M. C., and May, W. S. (1998) J. Biol. Chem. 273, 34157-34163). The potent apoptotic agent ceramide can activate a PP2A, suggesting that one potential component of the ceramide-induced death signal may involve the inactivation of Bcl2. Results indicate that C2-ceramide but not inactive C2-dihydroceramide, was found to specifically activate a mitochondrial PP2A, which rapidly and completely induced Bcl2 dephosphorylation and correlated closely with ceramide-induced cell death. Using a genetic approach, the gain-of-function S70E Bcl2 mutation, which mimics phosphorylation, fails to undergo apoptosis even with the addition of high doses of ceramide (IC50 > 50 microM). In contrast, cells overexpressing exogenous wild-type Bcl2 were sensitive to ceramide at dosages where PP2A is fully active and Bcl2 would be expected to be dephosphorylated (IC50 = 14 microM). These findings indicate that in cells expressing functional Bcl2, the mechanism of death action for ceramide may involve, at least in part, a mitochondrial PP2A that dephosphorylates and inactivates Bcl2.
Phosphorylation of Bcl2 at serine 70 may result from activation of a classic protein kinase C (PKC) isoform and is required for functional suppression of apoptosis by Bcl2 in murine growth factor-dependent cell lines (Ito, T., Deng, X., Carr, B., and May, W. S. (1997) J. Biol. Chem. 272, 11671-11673). Human pre-B REH cells express high levels of Bcl2 yet remain sensitive to the chemotherapeutic agents etoposide, cytosine arabinoside, and Adriamycin. In contrast, myeloid leukemia-derived HL60 cells express less than half the level of Bcl-2 but are >10-fold more resistant to apoptosis induced by these drugs. The mechanism responsible for this apparent dichotomy appears to involve a deficiency of mitochondrial PKCalpha since 1) HL60 but not REH cells contain highly phosphorylated Bcl2; 2) PKCalpha is the only classical isoform co-localized with Bcl2 in HL60 but not REH mitochondrial membranes; 3) the natural product and potent PKC activator bryostatin-1 induces mitochondrial localization of PKCalpha in association with Bcl2 phosphorylation and increased REH cell resistance to drug-induced apoptosis; 4) PKCalpha can directly phosphorylate wild-type but not phosphorylation-negative and loss of function S70A Bcl2 in vitro; 5) stable, forced expression of exogenous PKCalpha induces mitochondrial localization of PKCalpha, increased Bcl2 phosphorylation and a >10-fold increase in resistance to drug-induced cell death; and () PKCalpha-transduced cells remain highly sensitive to staurosporine, a potent PKC inhibitor. Furthermore, treatment of the PKCalpha transformants with bryostatin-1 leads to even higher levels of mitochondrial PKCalpha, Bcl2 phosphorylation, and REH cell survival following chemotherapy. While these findings strongly support a role for PKCalpha as a functional Bcl2 kinase that can enhance cell resistance to antileukemic chemotherapy, they do not exclude the possibility that another Bcl2 kinase(s) may also exist. Collectively, these findings identify a functional role for PKCalpha in Bcl2 phosphorylation and in resistance to chemotherapy and suggest a novel target for antileukemic strategies.
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Syngeneic graft-vs-host disease (SGVHD) is a MHC class II-restricted T cell-mediated autoimmune syndrome that occurs following syngeneic bone marrow transplantation and the administration of cyclosporin (CsA). The present studies evaluated the V beta repertoire of T lymphocytes that mediate SGVHD. To facilitate analysis, SGVHD effector cells were adoptively transferred into thymectomized syngeneic recipients reconstituted with T cell-depleted bone marrow to provide an environment that allows for the selective clonal expansion of autoreactive T cells. Analysis of target tissues and PBL by reverse transcriptase PCR using oligonucleotide V beta-specific primers revealed a predominance of V beta 8.5+ T cells and a minor population expressing V beta 10. The majority of infiltrating lymphocytes in target tissues was confirmed to be V beta 8.5+ by in situ hybridization and by immunoperoxidase staining. A small population of V beta 10+ cells could also be detected. Furthermore, SGVHD effector T splenocytes depleted of lymphocytes expressing either the TCR-alpha beta or the V beta 8.5 determinant could not adoptively transfer SGVHD. Depletion of T cells expressing the V beta 10 determinant delayed the onset of this autoaggression syndrome. Subset analysis of the autoreactive T cell compartment revealed that the V beta 8.5 determinant was expressed on both CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes whereas the V beta 10 determinant was principally expressed on a minor population of CD4+ autoreactive T cells. These data were confirmed by limiting dilution analysis. Additional studies examining the effect of CsA on thymic differentiation revealed that although V beta 8.5 is not normally clonally deleted, there was a pronounced shift in the expression of this determinant between CD4 and CD8 single positive thymocytes, suggesting that CsA may inhibit normal positive selection processes for MHC class I and class II reactive T cells.
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The DNA and protein sequences of single-stranded DNA binding proteins (SSBs) encoded by the plP71a, plP231a, and R64 conjugative plasmids have been determined and compared to Escherichia coli SSB and the SSB encoded by F-plasmid. Although the amino acid sequences of all of these proteins are highly conserved within the NH2-terminal two-thirds of the protein, they diverge in the COOH-terminal third region. A number of amino acid residues which have previously been implicated as being either directly or indirectly involved in DNA binding are conserved in all of these SSBs. These residues include Trp-40, Trp-54, Trp-88, His-55, and Phe-60. On the basis of these sequence comparisons and DNA binding studies, a role for Tyr-70 in DNA binding is suggested for the first time. Although the COOH-terminal third of these proteins diverges more than their NH2-terminal regions, the COOH-terminal five amino acid residues of all five of these proteins are identical. In addition, all of these proteins share the characteristic property of having a protease resistant, NH2-terminal core and an acidic COOH-terminal region. Despite the high degree of sequence homology among the plasmid SSB proteins, the F-plasmid SSB appears unique in that it was the only SSB tested that neither bound well to poly(dA) nor was able to stimulate DNA polymerase III holoenzyme elongation rates. Poly [d(A-T)] melting studies suggest that at least three of the plasmid encoded SSBs are better helix-destabilizing proteins than is the E. coli SSB protein.
In an extension of earlier studies on the Escherichia coli plasmid-encoded single-stranded DNA-binding proteins pIP71a SSB, F SSB and R64 SSB [Khamis, M. I., Casas-Finet, J. R., Maki, A. H., Ruvolo, P. P. & Chase, J. W. (1987) Biochemistry 26, 3347-3354; Casas-Finet, J. R., Khamis, M. I., Maki, A. H., Ruvolo, P. P. & Chase, J. W. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 8574-8593], we have investigated the binding of pIP231a SSB to natural and heavy-atom-derivatized single-stranded homopolynucleotides. Fluorimetric equilibrium binding isotherms indicate that pIP231a SSB has a greater solubility at low ionic strength than any other plasmid SSB protein investigated. Furthermore, its complex with mercurated poly(uridylic acid) [poly(Hg5U)] shows a greater resistance to disruption by salt than the other plasmid SSB complexes. Essentially complete binding of pIP231a SSB to poly(Hg5U) could be achieved, and time-resolved optically detected triplet-state magnetic resonance (ODMR) techniques could be applied to the complex. These methods allowed complete resolution of the three Trp chromophores of pIP231a SSB. Comparison of wavelength-selected ODMR results with those obtained for the poly(Hg5U) complex of a point-mutated chromosomal ssb gene product (Eco SSB) carrying substitutions of Phe for Trp [Khamis, M. I., Casas-Finet, J. R., Maki, A. H., Murphy, J. B. & Chase, J. W. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 10938-10945] confirm that Trp40 and Trp54 of pIP231a SSB are stacked in the complex, while Trp88 is not. This is the same distribution of stacked Trp residues found in Eco SSB. These results are confirmed further by specific effects observed on the ODMR signals of pIP231a SSB upon binding to poly(Br5U) and poly(dT), which are known to be caused by the stacking of Trp54 with nucleic acid bases.
Optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) spectroscopy has been applied to several single-stranded DNA-binding (SSB) proteins encoded by conjugative plasmids of enteric bacteria. Fluorimetric equilibrium binding isotherms confirm their preferential binding to single-stranded DNA and polynucleotides and reveal a limited protein solubility at low ionic strength. The plasmid SSB-like proteins show the highest affinity for polydeoxythymidylic acid; these complexes are the least sensitive to disruption by salt. ODMR data on these complexes suggest the existence of stacking interactions between tryptophan residue(s) and thymine bases, as evidenced by spectral red shifts of the tryptophan phosphorescence 0,0 band, reduction of the magnitude of D zero field splitting parameter, and a dramatic reversal of the polarity of the ODMR signals. Wavelength-selected ODMR results point to the existence of two distinct tryptophan sites in these complexes. The triplet state properties of the red-shifted site are drastically altered by its interaction with the thymine bases. The chromosomal Escherichia coli SSB protein-poly(dT) complex shows an additional tryptophan site with zero field splitting parameters similar to those of the free protein. This site can be attributed to Trp-135, which is missing in each of the other plasmid SSB proteins, suggesting that this particular residue is not involved in the interaction with polynucleotides.
Optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) methods were employed to study three single-stranded DNA binding (SSB) proteins encoded by plasmids of enteric bacteria: pIP71a, R64, and F. Equilibrium binding isotherms obtained by fluorescence titrations reveal that the complexes of the plasmid SSB proteins with heavy atom modified polynucleotides are readily disrupted by salt. Since all the plasmid SSB proteins show limited solubility at low ionic strength (pIP71a greater than R64 greater than F), we were able to bind only the pIP71a protein to mercurated poly(uridylic acid) [poly(5-HgU)] and brominated poly(uridylic acid) [poly(5-BrU)]. ODMR results reveal the existence of at least one heavy atom perturbed, red-shifted, stacked Trp residue in these complexes. Amplitude-modulated phosphorescence microwave double resonance spectra display selectively the phosphorescence associated with Hg-perturbed Trp residue(s) in the pIP71a SSB protein-poly(5-HgU) complex, which has a broad, red-shifted 0,0-band. Our results suggest that Trp-135 in Escherichia coli SSB, which is absent in the plasmid-encoded SSB proteins, is located in a polar environment and is not involved in stacking interactions with the nucleotide bases. Phosphorescence spectra and lifetime measurements of the pIP71a SSB protein-poly (5-BrU) complex show that at least one Trp residue in the complex does not undergo stacking. This sets a higher limit of two stacking interactions of Trp residues with nucleotide bases in complexes of pIP71a SSB with single-stranded polynucleotides.