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C J Sherr

Publications and source records attributed to C J Sherr.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Cancer-associated mutations at the INK4a locus cancel cell cycle arrest by p16INK4a but not by the alternative reading frame protein p19ARF.

The INK4a gene, one of the most frequently disrupted tumor suppressor loci in human cancer, encodes two unrelated proteins, p16INK4a and p19ARF, each of which is capable of inducing cell cycle arrest. Splicing of alternative first exons (1 alpha vs. 1 beta) to a common second exon within INK4a generates mRNAs in which exon 2 sequences are translated in two different reading frames. One of the products, the cyclin D-dependent kinase inhibitor p16INK4a, is functionally inactivated by mutations or deletions in a wide variety of cancers. However, because many such mutations reside in exon 2, they also affect the alternative reading frame (ARF) protein. To determine whether such mutations disrupt p19ARF function, we introduced naturally occurring missense mutations into mouse INK4a exon 2 sequences and tested mutant p16INK4a and p19ARF proteins for their ability to inhibit cell cycle progression. Six p19ARF point mutants remained fully active in mediating cell cycle arrest in NIH 3T3 fibroblasts, whereas two of the corresponding mutations within p16INK4a resulted in complete loss of activity. Analysis of p19ARF deletion mutants indicated that the unique aminoterminal domain encoded by exon 1 beta was both necessary and sufficient for inducing G1 arrest. Therefore, cancer-associated mutations within exon 2 of the INK4a gene specifically target p16INK4a, and not p19ARF, for inactivation.

3T3 Cells↗
PubMed1996

Cancer cell cycles.

Uncontrolled cell proliferation is the hallmark of cancer, and tumor cells have typically acquired damage to genes that directly regulate their cell cycles. Genetic alterations affecting p16(INK4a) and cyclin D1, proteins that govern phosphorylation of the retinoblastoma protein (RB) and control exit from the G1 phase of the cell cycle, are so frequent in human cancers that inactivation of this pathway may well be necessary for tumor development. Like the tumor suppressor protein p53, components of this "RB pathway," although not essential for the cell cycle per se, may participate in checkpoint functions that regulate homeostatic tissue renewal throughout life.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Interaction of D-type cyclins with a novel myb-like transcription factor, DMP1.

The cyclin D-dependent kinases CDK4 and CDK6 trigger phosphorylation of the retinoblastoma protein (RB) late in G1 phase, helping to cancel its growth-suppressive function and thereby facilitating S-phase entry. Although specific inhibition of cyclin D-dependent kinase activity in vivo can prevent cells from entering S phase, it does not affect S-phase entry in cells lacking functional RB, implying that RB may be the only substrate of CDK4 and CDK6 whose phosphorylation is necessary for G1 exit. Using a yeast two-hybrid interactive screen, we have now isolated a novel cyclin D-interacting myb-like protein (designated DMP1), which binds specifically to the nonamer DNA consensus sequences CCCG(G/T)ATGT to activate transcription. A subset of these DMP1 recognition sequences containing a GGA trinucleotide core can also function as Ets-responsive elements. DMP1 mRNA and protein are ubiquitously expressed throughout the cell cycle in mouse tissues and in representative cell lines. DMP1 binds to D-type cyclins directly in vitro and when coexpressed in insect Sf9 cells. In both settings, it can be phosphorylated by cyclin D-dependent kinases, suggesting that its transcriptional activity may normally be regulated through such mechanisms. These results raise the possibility that cyclin D-dependent kinases regulate gene expression in an RB independent manner, thereby serving to link other genetic programs to the cell cycle clock.

3T3 Cells↗
PubMed1996

Inhibition of cell proliferation by the Mad1 transcriptional repressor.

Mad1 is a basic helix-loop-helix-leucine zipper protein that is induced upon differentiation of a number of distinct cell types. Mad1 dimerizes with Max and recognizes the same DNA sequences as do Myc:Max dimers. However, Mad1 and Myc appear to have opposing functions. Myc:Max heterodimers activate transcription while Mad:Max heterodimers repress transcription from the same promoter. In addition Mad1 has been shown to block the oncogenic activity of Myc. Here we show that ectopic expression of Mad1 inhibits the proliferative response of 3T3 cells to signaling through the colony-stimulating factor-1 (CSF-1) receptor. The ability of over-expressed Myc and cyclin D1 to complement the mutant CSF-1 receptor Y809F (containing a Y-to-F mutation at position 809) is also inhibited by Mad1. Cell cycle analysis of proliferating 3T3 cells transfected with Mad1 demonstrates a significant decrease in the fraction of cells in the S and G2/M phases and a concomitant increase in the fraction of G1 phase cells, indicating that Mad1 negatively influences cell cycle progression from the G1 to the S phase. Mutations in Mad1 which inhibit its activity as a transcription repressor also result in loss of Mad1 cell cycle inhibitory activity. Thus, the ability of Mad1 to inhibit cell cycle progression is tightly coupled to its function as a transcriptional repressor.

3T3 Cells↗
PubMed1995

Alternative reading frames of the INK4a tumor suppressor gene encode two unrelated proteins capable of inducing cell cycle arrest.

The INK4a (MTS1, CDKN2) gene encodes an inhibitor (p16INK4a) of the cyclin D-dependent kinases CDK4 and CDK6 that blocks them from phosphorylating the retinoblastoma protein (pRB) and prevents exit from the G1 phase of the cell cycle. Deletions and mutations involving INK4a occur frequently in cancers, implying that p16INK4a, like pRB, suppresses tumor formation. An unrelated protein (p19ARF) arises in major part from an alternative reading frame of the mouse INK4a gene, and its ectopic expression in the nucleus of rodent fibroblasts induces G1 and G2 phase arrest. Economical reutilization of coding sequences in this manner is practically without precedent in mammalian genomes, and the unitary inheritance of p16INK4a and p19ARF may underlie their dual requirement in cell cycle control.

3T3 Cells↗
PubMed1995

Deletion and altered regulation of p16INK4a and p15INK4b in undifferentiated mouse skin tumors.

p16INK4a and p15INK4b are cell cycle regulators that specifically bind to and inhibit the cyclin D-dependent kinases, cdk4 and cdk6. Because these genes undergo frequent deletions and/or mutations in various human cancers, we examined the status and expression of the cognate mouse cdk inhibitors in a panel of 29 cell lines, as well as in 12 primary tumors, representing different stages of mouse skin carcinogenesis. Deletion of p16INK4a and/or p15INK4b was seen in 8 of 10 cell lines derived from spindle carcinomas, the most advanced stage of skin carcinogenesis. Five showed deletion of both genes, and three had independent deletions of p16INK4a or p15INK4b, but in those retaining p16INK4a, expression of the protein was not detected. By contrast, none of 19 more differentiated squamous cell lines exhibited such deletions. In several cases, primary tumor DNA was available, and two spindle tumors showed the same deletion pattern as observed in the corresponding cell lines. In apparent contrast, comparison of two clonally related squamous and spindle cell lines derived from a single carcinoma showed unusually high levels of p16INK4a and p15INK4b only in the invasive spindle cells. Therefore, deletion or altered regulation of p16INK4a and p15INK4b occur concomitantly with the loss of differentiation associated with the late spindle stage of tumor progression in mouse skin.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Molecular cloning, expression pattern, and chromosomal localization of human CDKN2D/INK4d, an inhibitor of cyclin D-dependent kinases.

Progression through the G1 phase of the cell cycle is dependent on the activity of holoenzymes formed between D-type cyclins and their catalytic partners, the cyclin-dependent kinases cdk4 and cdk6. p16INK4a, p15INK4b, and p18INK4c, a group of structurally related proteins, function as specific inhibitors of the cyclin D-dependent kinases and are likely to play physiologic roles as specific regulators of these kinases in vivo. A new member of the INK4 gene family, murine INK4d, has recently been identified. Here we report the isolation of human INK4d (gene symbol CDKN2D), which is 86% identical at the amino acid level to the murine clone and approximately 44% identical to each of the other human INK4 family members. The INK4d gene is ubiquitously expressed as a single 1.4-kb mRNA with the highest levels detected in thymus, spleen, peripheral blood leukocytes, fetal liver, brain, and testes. The abundance of INK4d mRNA oscillates in a cell-cycle-dependent manner with expression lowest at mid G1 and maximal during S phase. Using a P1-phage genomic clone of INK4d for fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis, the location of this gene was mapped to chromosome 19p13. No rearrangements or deletions of the INK4d gene were observed in Southern blot analysis of selected cases of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) containing a variant (1;19)(q23;p13) translocation that lacks rearrangement of either E2A or PBX1, or in ALL cases containing homozygous or hemizygous deletions of the related genes, INK4a and INK4b.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1995

Signaling by ABL oncogenes through cyclin D1.

Oncogenic signals induce cellular proliferation by deregulating the cell division cycle. Cyclin D1, a regulator of G1-phase progression, acts synergistically with ABL oncogenes in transforming fibroblasts and hematopoietic cells in culture. Synergy with v-Abl depended on a motif in cyclin D1 that mediates its binding to the retinoblastoma protein, suggesting that ABL oncogenes in part mediate their mitogenic effects via a retinoblastoma protein-dependent pathway. Overexpression of cyclin D1, but not cyclin E, rescued a signaling-defective src-homology 2 (SH2) domain mutant of BCR-ABL for transformation of cells in culture and malignant tumor formation in vivo. These results demonstrate that cyclin D1 can provide essential signals for malignant transformation in concert with an activated tyrosine kinase.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Cloning and characterization of murine p16INK4a and p15INK4b genes.

Progression through the G1 phase of the cell cycle is regulated in part by the D-type cyclin-dependent kinases, cdk4 and cdk6. Genes encoding two specific inhibitors of these kinases, human p16(INK4a/MTS1) and p15(INK4b/MTS2), map to a region of common cytogenetic abnormalities on chromosome 9p21. The murine cognates of these genes were isolated and identified as mouse p16INK4a and p15INK4b based on their homology to their human counterparts and their selective transcriptional induction by SV40T-antigen and TGF-beta, respectively. Both genes map to position C3-C6 on mouse chromosome 4, in a region syntenic with human chromosome 9p. Amplification of polyadenylated mRNA by polymerase chain reactions revealed no expression of mouse p16INK4a in many normal tissues, whereas p15INK4b was expressed ubiquitously. Like human p16INK4a, mouse p16INK4a binds specifically to cdk4 and cdk6 in vitro and inhibits the phosphorylation of the retinoblastoma protein, pRb, by each of these cyclin D-dependent kinases. In mouse MEL erythroleukemia cells, p16INK4a associates preferentially with cdk6 under conditions where cdk4 and cdk6 are coexpressed at equivalent levels. Expression vectors encoding human or mouse p16INK4a caused G1 phase arrest in NIH3T3 fibroblasts, and cyclin D1- and cdk4-dependent pRb kinase activities were inhibited in the p16INK4a-arrested cells.

3T3 Cells↗
PubMed1995

Rescue of defective mitogenic signaling by D-type cyclins.

Three gene products, including Myc and the D- and E-type G1 cyclins, are rate limiting for G1 progression in mammalian fibroblasts. Quiescent mouse NIH 3T3 fibroblasts engineered to express a mutant colony-stimulating factor (CSF-1) receptor (CSF-1R 809F) fail to synthesize c-myc and cyclin D1 mRNAs upon CSF-1 stimulation and remain arrested in early G1 phase. Ectopic expression of c-myc or either of three D-type cyclin genes, but not cyclin E, resensitized these cells to the mitogenic effects of CSF-1, enabling them to proliferate continuously in liquid culture and to form colonies in agar in response to the growth factor. Rescue by cyclin D1 was enhanced by c-myc but not by cyclin E and was reversed by infecting cyclin D1-reconstituted cells with a retroviral vector encoding catalytically inactive cyclin-dependent kinase 4. Induction of cyclin D1 mRNA by CSF-1 was restored in cells forced to express c-myc, and vice versa, suggesting that expression of the two genes is interdependent. Cells reconstituted with c-myc were prevented from entering S phase when microinjected with a monoclonal antibody to cyclin D1, and conversely, those rescued by cyclin D1 were inhibited from forming CSF-1-dependent colonies when challenged with a dominant-negative c-myc mutant. Cyclin D mutants defective in binding to the retinoblastoma protein were impaired in rescuing mitogenic signaling. Therefore, Myc and D-type cyclins collaborate during the mitogenic response to CSF-1, whereas cyclin E functions in a separate pathway.

3T3 Cells↗
PubMed1995

Frequent deletion of p16INK4a/MTS1 and p15INK4b/MTS2 in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

The tandemly linked p16INK4aMTS1 and p15INK4b/MTS2 genes on chromosome 9, band p21 encode proteins that function as specific inhibitors of the cyclin D-dependent kinases CDK4 and CDK6. This locus undergoes frequent bi-allelic deletion in human cancer cell lines, suggesting that the encoded proteins may function as tumor suppressors. However, more recent analysis of primary tumor samples has shown a much lower frequency of abnormalities affecting this region, raising doubt over the importance of these proteins in human malignancies. Hemizygous deletions and rearrangements of chromosome 9, band p21, are among the most frequent cytogenetic abnormalities detected in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), occurring in approximately 10% of cases. To determine if the p16INK4a/p15INK4b locus might be the target of these chromosomal lesions, we analyzed both genes in primary clinical samples from 43 pediatric ALL patients using interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization, Southern blot analysis, and the polymerase chain reaction. Deletions of p16INK4a/p15INK4b were identified in 18 of 20 cases with cytogenetically observed abnormalities of 9p and 5 of 23 with apparently normal chromosomes 9p, with the majority containing bi-allelic deletions (16 homozygous/7 hemizygous). Although most homozygous deletions involved both genes, Southern blot analysis showed an interstitial deletion in a single case that was confined to p16INK4a, suggesting that p15INK4b was not the critical target gene in this case. Sequence analysis of both p16INK4a and p15INK4b in all seven cases with hemizygous deletions failed to show mutations within the coding regions of the retained alleles. In this select group of patients, deletion of p16INK4a/p15INK4b was associated with T-cell phenotype, nonhyperdiploid karyotype (< 50 chromosomes), and poor event-free survival. These findings indicate that deletion of the p16INK4a/p15INK4b locus is one of the most common genetic abnormalities so far detected in pediatric ALL, and that loss of one or more of these cell cycle kinase inhibitors is important in leukemogenesis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

D-type cyclins.

D-type cyclins couple extracellular signals to the biochemical machinery that governs progression through G1 phase of the mammalian cell division cycle. Induced by growth factor stimulation, D-type cyclins assemble with cyclin-dependent kinases CDK4 and CDK6 to form holoenzymes that facilitate exit from G1 by phosphorylating key substrates, including the retinoblastoma protein. Activation of the holoenzymes is antagonized by polypeptide inhibitors of CDK activity, which are induced by antiproliferative signals. Once cells pass a late G1 restriction point, cyclin-D-dependent kinases are unnecessary for completion of the cell cycle, implying that their primary role is to sense the cell's readiness to replicate DNA and to enforce the commitment to enter S phase.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Novel INK4 proteins, p19 and p18, are specific inhibitors of the cyclin D-dependent kinases CDK4 and CDK6.

Cyclin D-dependent kinases act as mitogen-responsive, rate-limiting controllers of G1 phase progression in mammalian cells. Two novel members of the mouse INK4 gene family, p19 and p18, that specifically inhibit the kinase activities of CDK4 and CDK6, but do not affect those of cyclin E-CDK2, cyclin A-CDK2, or cyclin B-CDC2, were isolated. Like the previously described human INK4 polypeptides, p16INK4a/MTS1 and p15INK4b/MTS2, mouse p19 and p18 are primarily composed of tandemly repeated ankyrin motifs, each ca. 32 amino acids in length, p19 and p18 bind directly to CDK4 and CDK6, whether untethered or in complexes with D cyclins, and can inhibit the activity of cyclin D-bound cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs). Although neither protein interacts with D cyclins or displaces them from preassembled cyclin D-CDK complexes in vitro, both form complexes with CDKs at the expense of cyclins in vivo, suggesting that they may also interfere with cyclin-CDK assembly. In proliferating macrophages, p19 mRNA and protein are periodically expressed with a nadir in G1 phase and maximal synthesis during S phase, consistent with the possibility that INK4 proteins limit the activities of CDKs once cells exit G1 phase. However, introduction of a vector encoding p19 into mouse NIH 3T3 cells leads to constitutive p19 synthesis, inhibits cyclin D1-CDK4 activity in vivo, and induces G1 phase arrest.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1995

Mammalian G1 cyclins and cell cycle progression.

Since their discovery in 1991, the D- and E-type cyclins, their associated catalytic subunits, and the molecules that regulate their kinase activity have been subjects of intense scrutiny by a rapidly expanding group of investigators. Part of the excitement stems from an emerging realization that these molecules define a final common pathway for growth factor-induced and antiproliferative signals during the cell cycle. As such, their study is helping to describe the biochemical pathways that determine the basis of late GI phase control, much as studies of growth factors, receptors, cytoplasmic signaling molecules, and responding transcription factors helped to define temporally earlier steps in the mitogenic process. In retrospect, it is neither surprising that there is a functional interplay between these cell cycle regulators and previously recognized tumor suppressor gene products (p53 and pRB) that are themselves engaged in GI phase checkpoint control, nor is it surprising that genetic perturbations affecting the functions of these genes contribute to cancer. It seems equally likely that further elucidation of the functions of these molecules will help to better explain such diverse processes as differentiation and apoptosis, which cooperatively depend on the cell cycle machinery for their proper execution.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Cyclic AMP-induced G1 phase arrest mediated by an inhibitor (p27Kip1) of cyclin-dependent kinase 4 activation.

Cyclic AMP (cAMP) blocks the mitogenic effects of colony-stimulating factor 1 (CSF-1) in macrophages, inducing cell cycle arrest in mid-G1 phase. Complexes between cyclin D1 and cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (cdk4) assemble in growth arrested cells, but cdk4 is not phosphorylated in vivo by the cdk-activating kinase (CAK) and remains inactive. Although undetectable in lysates of cAMP-treated cells, active CAK is recovered after antibody precipitation, indicating that it is not the direct target of inhibition. Levels of the cdk inhibitor p27Klp1 increase in cAMP-treated cells, and its immunodepletion from inhibitory lysates restores CAK-mediated cdk4 activation. Kip1 does not bind to CAK, but its association with cyclin D-cdk4 prevents CAK from phosphorylating and activating the holoenzyme.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Monoclonal antibodies to mammalian D-type G1 cyclins.

D-type cyclins are necessary and rate-limiting for G1 progression during the mammalian cell cycle. Cyclins D1, D2, and D3 are encoded by distinct genes and are expressed in proliferating cells in a lineage-specific manner. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) generated to bacterially produced recombinant D-type cyclins were able to react with the native proteins expressed in mammalian cells. One mouse and three rat mAbs immunoprecipitated cyclin D1 from mouse macrophages. Only rat mAbs reacted with human cyclin D1 and cross-reacted with cyclin D2 expressed in proliferating T lymphocytes and human tumor cell lines. A single rat mAb to cyclin D2 exhibited a pattern of reactivity reciprocal to that of rat mAbs to D1. Three rat mAbs reacted specifically with mouse or human cyclin D3, but did not cross-react with cyclins D1 or D2 from either species. Representative mAbs were useful for immunoblotting and detected D-type cyclins coprecipitating in complexes recovered with antiserum to cyclin-dependent kinase-4 (CDK4). Because these mAbs detect D-type cyclins in the nuclei of fixed permeabilized cells, they should prove useful in documenting cyclin overexpression in those human tumors in which the genes are amplified or are targets of specific chromosomal rearrangements.

Animals↗