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CDC7 kinase phosphorylates serine residues adjacent to acidic amino acids in the minichromosome maintenance 2 protein.

Cdc7 is an essential kinase required for the initiation of eukaryotic DNA replication. Previous studies in many species showed that the minichromosome maintenance complex is a major physiological target of this kinase. In this study, we have mapped the sites in human Mcm2 protein that are phosphorylated by Cdc7. The in vitro phosphorylation of several Mcm2 truncated proteins and peptides revealed that Mcm2 contains two major ((5)S and (53)S) and at least three minor phosphorylation sites ((4)S, (7)S, and (59)T) located at the N-terminal region. Alanine substitution experiments with Mcm2 peptides showed that the phosphorylation of (5)S and (53)S by Cdc7 required the presence of an acidic amino acid adjacent to a serine residue. Furthermore, although Cdc7 was unable to phosphorylate a Mcm2 peptide (spanning amino acids 19-30 and containing (26)S and (27)S), it phosphorylated (26)S efficiently when this peptide contained a chemically synthesized phospho-(27)S modification. Hence, additional Cdc7 phosphorylation sites could be generated in Mcm2 by its prior phosphorylation by a cyclin-dependent kinase. This finding may explain why the sequential action of cyclin-dependent and Cdc7 kinases is essential for the initiation of DNA replication.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Expression of minichromosome maintenance-2 in human malignant fibrous histiocytomas: Correlations with Ki-67 and P53 expression, and apoptosis.

This study examined the clinicopathological significance of minichromosome maintenance-2 (MCM2) expression in 38 human malignant fibrous histiocytomas (MFHs) and 36 benign fibrohistiocytic tumors (BFHTs) immunohistochemically, and in 9 human sarcoma or carcinoma cell lines, as well as 7 surgical specimens by Western blotting. MCM2 was detected in all the cell lines and surgical specimens as a single band at 120 kDa, while P53 expression was variable. Nuclear expression of MCM2 was noted in tumor but not mitotic cells of all the MFHs and 26 (72.2%) of the BFHTs, the labeling indices (LIs) being 62.0% in the 28 ordinary types, 38.5% in the 10 myxoid types, and 11.2% in the BFHTs with significant difference. Moreover, the LI was significantly higher for MCM2 than that for Ki-67 in the MFHs of both types (p<0.05). No correlation was noted between the MCM2-LI and P53 expression or apoptotic indices, which were significantly higher in the MFHs than BFHTs (p<0.01). These results indicate that MCM2 would correlate with cell proliferation rather than apoptosis in MFHs, and the expression is ubiquitous in proliferating cells, regardless of the expression of P53. Thus, MCM2 might be a reliable marker of proliferating cells in human MFH.

Apoptosis↗

Follicular epithelial cell hypertrophy induced by chronic oral administration of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin in female Harlan Sprague-Dawley rats.

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) affects the thyroid morphologically and/or functionally in adult animals. Recently, the National Toxicology Program conducted a 2-year gavage study of TCDD in female Harlan Sprague-Dawley rats. The only treatment-related alterations found in thyroid follicles were decreased luminal size and increased height of the follicular epithelial cells, without prominent protrusion into the lumen. The present study elucidated the nature of these follicular lesions. Thyroid glands of 10 rats each from the control, high (100 ng/kg/day)-dose, and stop-study (100 ng/kg/day, 30 weeks; vehicle to study termination) groups in the 2-year study were evaluated microscopically. Twenty randomly selected follicles were measured morphometrically in each animal. TCDD treatment significantly decreased the mean ratio of luminal/epithelial areas and increased the mean sectional epithelial height of the high-dose group compared to controls. Thyroid sections were immunostained with antibody against minichromosome maintenance (MCM) proteins, a novel cell-cycle biomarker. The MCM labeling index of the high-dose group was significantly higher than that of the control; however, the TUNEL labeling index was also higher in the high-dose group than the control. All data from the stop group were comparable to those from controls. These results indicate that the follicular cell response was hypertrophic and reversible. This information should contribute to diagnosis of nonneoplastic thyroid follicular lesions in rats.

Administration, Oral↗

Enhanced 7-ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin (SN-38) lethality by methylselenocysteine is associated with Chk2 phosphorylation at threonine-68 and down-regulation of Cdc6 expression.

Methylselenocysteine (MSC) is an organic selenium compound in preventative clinical trials involving prostate, lung, and colon carcinoma. We found that methioninase-activated MSC potentiates 7-ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin (SN-38)-induced cell lethality in vitro in the p53-defective human head and neck carcinoma A253 cells. Activated MSC increases chk2 phosphorylation at threonine-68 induced by SN-38, with no significant effect on chk1 phosphorylation. Cell cycle arrest induced by SN-38, however, was not abrogated or potentiated by MSC. These results suggest that the enhanced cellular lethality of SN-38 by MSC was not associated with cell cycle regulation pathways. Because chk2, in addition to its role in cell cycle arrest, can induce apoptosis by phosphorylation/activation, we examined whether increased chk2 phosphorylation could induce preapoptotic DNA fragmentation. DNA damage analysis showed that megabase DNA fragmentation is decreased, accompanied by the increased 30 to 300 kilobase pairs of DNA fragmentation after exposure to SN-38 with MSC, compared with SN-38 alone. No significant changes in the amount of DNA fragments were observed in cells treated with SN-38 or MSC alone. Moreover, proteolytic destruction of DNA replication-associated proteins cdc6, MCM2, and cdc25A may induce a DNA damage checkpoint response. The observed down-regulation of DNA replication proteins cdc6, MCM2, and cdc25A after exposure to SN-38 with MSC further indicates a relationship between drug response and DNA damage. Exposure to SN-38 with MSC resulted in a significant increase of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerasecleavage and caspase 3 activation. All together, the data support the hypothesis that enhanced lethality of this combination is associated with increased chk2 phosphorylation at Thr68 and down-regulation of specific DNA replication-associated proteins, which result in poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage, caspase 3 activation, and the induction of 30 to 300 kilobase pairs of DNA fragmentation.

Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic↗