p53 in drug resistance in ovarian cancer.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D Delia.
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We have used the cDNA differential display technique to isolate genes regulated by the synthetic retinoid N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-all-trans-retinamide (HPR), a cancer chemopreventive agent in vivo and a powerful inducer of apoptotic cell death in vitro. Here we report the identification of a novel gene, the expression of which is markedly up-regulated in tumor cells after treatment for 30-60 min with HPR. The full-length cDNA of this gene, determined by screening of a human placenta cDNA, is 3.5 kb long and contains an open reading frame of 2037 nt. The gene is > 90% homologous to the mouse KIF2, a gene belonging to the family of kinesin-related motor proteins, and we therefore named it HK2 (human kinesin 2). A shorter form of the HK2 mRNA (HK2s), containing a 57-nt deletion in the open reading frame, has also been detected. Northern analysis revealed that HK2 is widely expressed among hemopoietic and nonhemopoietic cell lines and tissues. By the use of radiation hybrids, HK2 has been localized to chromosome 5q12-q13. Kinesins constitute a superfamily of motor proteins that use energy liberated from ATP hydrolysis to move cargo along microtubules and are implicated in mechanisms of mitosis or meiosis. The role of HK2 in the growth-inhibitory and apoptotic responses elicited by HPR remains to be established.
Lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) with heterozygous p53 mutations at residues 286A, 133R, 282W, 132E, and 213ter were established from five independent Li-Fraumeni syndrome families. When cell cycle regulation in response to gamma-irradiation was studied, these LCLs showed an abnormal G1 checkpoint associated with defective inhibition of cyclin E/cyclin-dependent kinase 2 activity in all cases except for 282W LCL, which showed a normal G1 checkpoint. On the other hand, the control of S-phase-G2 as determined by cyclin A/cyclin-dependent kinase 2 activity was defective in all these LCLs. The mitotic checkpoint was also defective in the two LCLs analyzed as either competent or incompetent for G1 arrest. When radiation-induced apoptosis, which requires wild-type p53 function under optimal conditions, was studied, all of these LCLs showed significant failure compared to normal LCLs. These findings indicate that although p53-dependent transactivation and G1-S-phase cell cycle control are variably dysregulated, the induction of apoptosis and control of the cell cycle at S-phase-G2 and the mitotic checkpoint in response to DNA-damaging agents are consistently dysregulated in heterozygous mutant LCLs. This suggests that these dysfunctions underlie, at least in part, the susceptibility of Li-Fraumeni syndrome families to cancer. Furthermore, the approach presented is a potentially useful method for studying individual carriers of different germ-line p53 mutations and different biological features.
The radiation response was investigated in two lymphoblastoid cell lines (LBC) derived from families with heterozygous germ-line missense mutations of p53 at codon 282 (LBC282) and 286 (LBC286), and compared to cells with wt/wt p53(LBC-N). By gel retardation assays, we show that p53-containing nuclear extracts from irradiated LBC282 and LBC286 markedly differ in their ability to bind to a p53 DNA consensus sequence, the former generating a shifted band whose intensity is 30-40% that of LBC-N, the latter generating an almost undetectable band. Unlike LBC286, which fail to arrest in G1 after irradiation, LBC282 have an apparently normal G1/S checkpoint, as they arrest in G1, like LBC-N. While in LBC-N, accumulation of p53 and transactivation of p21WAF1 increase rapidly and markedly by 3 h after exposure to gamma-radiation, in LBC286 there is only a modest accumulation of p53 and a significantly delayed and quantitatively reduced transactivation of p21WAF1. Instead, in LBC282 while p53 levels rise little after irradiation, p21WAF1 levels increase rapidly and significantly as in normal LBC. Apoptotic cells present 48 h after irradiation account for 32% in LBC-N, 8-9% in LBC282 and 5-7% in LBC286, while the dose of gamma-radiation required for killing 50% of cells (LD50) is 400 rads, 1190 rads and 3190 rads, respectively, hence indicating that the heterozygous mutations of p53 at codon 282 affects radioresistance and survival, but not the G1/S cell cycle control. In all LBC tested, radiation-induced apoptosis occurs in all phases of the cell cycle and appears not to directly involve changes in the levels of the apoptosis-associated proteins bcl-2, bax and mcl-1. Both basal as well as radiation-induced p53 and p21WAF1 proteins are detected by Western blotting of FACS-purified G1, S and G2/M fractions from the three cell lines. p34CDC2-Tyr15, the inactive form of p34CDC2 kinase phosphorylated on Tyr15, is found in S and G2/M fractions, but not in G1. However, 24 h after irradiation, its levels in these fractions diminish appreciably in LBC-N but not in the radioresistant LBC286 and LBC282. Concomitantly, p34CDC2 histone H1 kinase activity increases in the former, but not in the latter cell lines, hence suggesting a role for this protein in radiation-induced cell death. Altogether, this study shows that, in cells harbouring heterozygous mutations of p53, the G1 checkpoint is not necessarily disrupted, and this may be related to the endogenous p53 heterocomplexes having lost or not the capacity to bind DNA (and therefore transactivate target genes). Radiation-induced cell death is not cell cycle phase specific, does not involve the regulation of bcl-2, bax or mcl-1, but is associated with changes in the phosphorylation state and activation of p34CDC2 kinase.
The susceptibility of Th1 and Th2 cell clones to apoptosis following HIV-gp120/CD4 cross-linking and TCR activation was investigated. We show that only Th1 clones are susceptible to HIV-gp120-sensitized apoptosis, although both types of clones express similar levels of CD4 and bind similar amounts of recombinant gp120. Both types of clones, however, undergo apoptosis induced by CD95 cross-linking with agonistic monoclonal antibody (MoAb). Apoptosis induced by gp120 in the Th1 clones is inhibited by either an anti-CD95 neutralizing MoAb or an anti-CD95L neutralizing MoAb as well as by a specific interleukin-1 beta converting enzyme (ICE) inhibitor. When triggered to apoptosis by gp120, Th1 but not Th2 clones express both cell-associated and soluble CD95L. The CD95L produced by Th1 clones induces cell death, inhibitable by anti-CD95 neutralizing MoAb, of CD95 positive Jurkat cells. These data suggest that, like activation-induced apoptosis, HIV-gp120 sensitized apoptosis in Th1 clones occurs via CD95/CD95L interaction and that lack or insufficient production of CD95L is responsible, at least in part, for the resistance of Th2 clones to such apoptosis.
Since apoptosis is the primary mode of cell death induced by cisplatin, the role of apoptosis and apoptosis-related gene products in cisplatin resistance was investigated in four human cisplatin-resistant cell lines of different tumour type. A common feature of the resistant sublines was a reduced susceptibility to drug-induced apoptosis compared to parental sensitive lines. Loss of wild-type p53 function was not a general event associated with the development of drug resistance. An increased bcl-2 expression was found in resistant cells characterized by mutant p53 (A431/Pt and IGROV-1/Pt), whereas in osteosarcoma (U2-OS/Pt) and in ovarian carcinoma (A2780/CP) cells with wild-type p53, bcl-2 levels were markedly reduced. U2-OS/Pt cells had a 16-fold increase in the level of Bcl-xL protein. Stable transfection of U2-OS cells with bcl-xL cDNA conferred a low level of drug resistance to cisplatin, suggesting that overexpression of this gene contributes to the cisplatin-resistant phenotype of this osteosarcoma cell system. In conclusion, these observations suggest a variable contribution of apoptosis-related genes to cisplatin resistance depending on the biological background of the cell system and presumably reflecting different pathways of apoptosis.
The cancer chemopreventive synthetic retinoid N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)retinamide (HPR) possesses antiproliferative and apoptotic activity at pharmacological doses. In this study we show that addition of antioxidants to HL-60 cells cultured in the presence of 3 microM HPR, markedly suppresses the apoptopic effect of the retinoid and significantly prolongs cell survival (48-96 h). We also show, by the use of the oxidation-sensitive probe 2',7'-dichlorofluorescin diacetate (DCF-DA) and in combination with flow cytometric and spectrofluorimetric analysis, that treatment of cells with 3 microM HPR results in an immediate and sustained production of intracellular free radicals, most likely hydroperoxides. Interestingly, the formation of these HPR-induced free radicals is effectively blocked by the water soluble antioxidants L-ascorbic acid and N-acetyl-L-cysteine. Neither 3-15 microM N-(4-methoxyphenyl) retinamide (MPR), the structurally similar but biologically inert analog of HPR, nor 3 microM doses of the retinoids all-trans retinoic acid, 9-cis-retinoic acid, TTNPB and SR11237 induce intracellular free radicals, thus indicating that the specificity of this phenomenon is restricted to HPR. Altogether, we provide the first direct evidence that HPR stimulates the generation of intracellular free radicals, which appear to have a causative role in the induction of apoptosis in vitro. Our findings raise the possibility that the therapeutic efficacy of HPR may, at least in part, depend on these apoptosis-inducing oxidative phenomena.
Angiogenesis plays a key role in tumor growth, progression and metastasis. The modulation of angiogenesis represents a potentially useful target for novel forms of anticancer therapy. Two such modulators are AGM-1470 (TNP-470, angioinhibin), which is a synthetic analog of the antibiotic fumagallin, and the monoclonal antibody TEC-11 to endoglin. We investigated the mechanisms of action of these modulators on human microvascular and macrovascular endothelial cells and on the transformed endothelial cell line ECV-304 in vitro. The administration of AGM-1470 or TEC-11 resulted in a significant inhibition of cell proliferation in all cell types used; this effect was reversible upon removal of these compounds from the culture medium. Furthermore, biochemical and morphological analyses showed that neither AGM-1470 or TEC-11 induce apoptosis. Both AGM-1470 and TEC-11 inhibited the production of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (u-PA), an enzyme involved in the early steps of neovascularization. Finally, the incubation of endothelial cells with both AGM-1470 and TEC-11 did not produce an additive effect on growth cell inhibition, apoptosis or u-PA production. Since both AGM 1470 and TEC-11 inhibit crucial events such as endothelial cell growth and protease production, our results provide a basis for their therapeutic use as angiostatic molecules in cancer.
In order to improve the cytomorphologic diagnosis of malignant lymphoma on lymph node fine-needle aspiration (FNA), and to make a confident discrimination between low-grade follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and lymphoid hyperplasia, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis was performed of the Ig CDR3 region and BCL2 breakpoint region in 25 nonselected cases of malignant lymphoma (17 NHL and 8 Hodgkin's disease [HD]) with histologic control, and 22 cases of lymph nodal hyperplasia with histologic and/or clinical control. Among lymphomas, IgH monoclonality was detected in 7 (77%) of 9 NHLs and BCL2 rearrangement in 3 (17.6%) of 17 NHLs, all of which were follicular centroblastic-centrocytic (FCBCC). Three BCL2/JH negative FCBCC cases were monoclonal for CDR3. Neither IgH monoclonality nor BCL2 rearrangement were found in HD. Among cytologically diagnosed lymphoid hyperplasias, one IgH polyclonal case was considered false-negative, being histologically diagnosed as lymphoplasmacytic NHL on the subsequent excisional biopsy. Another 4 cases (2 BCL2 rearranged and 2 monoclonal for IgH) were considered false-positive on the basis of histologic features or clinical control. These data indicate that the combined PCR analysis of IgH and BCL2 rearrangements can confirm a cytologic diagnosis of lymphoma in FNAs while, due to the occurrence of both false-positive and false-negative results, it is of limited value in the distinction between follicular lymphoma and lymphoid hyperplasia without morphologic or clinical support.
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The retinamide-mediated apoptosis of promyelocytic cells was investigated using pHi- and DNA-sensitive fluorescent probes (BCECF and Hoechst 33342). Acidification and apoptosis were observed during prolonged (0-12 h) exposure to retinamide (1 microM), but were absent in a retinamide-resistant clone. The analysis of experiments performed by simultaneous staining with the two dyes showed that acidification and apoptosis are correlated; the half-time for acidification is about 5 h while that for apoptosis is 80% longer. On the whole, these results suggest that apoptosis is preceded by an early mechanism of acidification in human leukemia cells treated by a retinoid of clinical interest in cancer chemo prevention and therapy.
Retinoids have shown promise as anti-cancer and cancer preventative agents. All-trans-N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)retinamide (4HPR) belongs to a new group of retinoids that not only inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells but also can induce apoptosis in certain cancer cells. Because of its increased efficacy against cancer cells and its low toxicity it has been entered into a number of clinical trials. However, its mechanism of action is not known, and it had been assumed that it is not a true retinoid. Here we analyze its ability to function as an activator of nuclear retinoid receptors (RARs and RXRs). We observe that, in transactivation assays, 4HPR is a potent transactivator with RARgamma and a moderate activator with RARbeta but is not an activator with RARalpha and RXRalpha. Furthermore, RARgamma-selective transactivation by 4HPR is enhanced on some response elements and reduced on others when compared to natural retinoids. In contrast to transactivation, 4HPR in transrepression assays functions mostly with RARalpha, RARbeta, and RXRalpha. Optimal receptor activation is seen at 4HPR concentrations at which it is a potent growth inhibitor and inducer of apoptosis. We conclude that 4HPR is a highly selective activator of retinoid receptors. We propose that this selective activation of the nuclear receptors is likely to be the basis for its specific biological activities and its favorable pharmaceutical properties.
The A-myb gene encodes a transcription factor that is related both functionally and structurally to the v-myb oncogene. Following our observations that A-myb is expressed in a restricted subset of normal mature human B lymphocytes, with the phenotype CD38+, CD39-, slgM-, we have now investigated the pattern of A-myb expression in neoplastic B cells representating the whole spectrum of B-cell differentiation and compared it to that of c-myb and B-myb. In a panel of 32 B-cell lines, A-myb was very strongly expressed in most Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) cell lines, but weak or negative in 2 pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), 4 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), 6 Epstein-Barr virus-immortalized lymphoblastoid cell lines, and 6 myeloma lines. Protein expression paralleled that of the RNA. We have also investigated A-myb expression in 49 fresh cases of B leukemias. Among 24 ALL, 6 were of the null and 11 of the common type and all these were negative for A-myb expression; on the other hand, all 7 B-ALL cases (slg+), as well as one fresh BL case with bone marrow infiltration, expressed A-myb. A-myb was undetectable in 4 prolymphocytic leukemias (PLL) but was strongly expressed in 5/20 (25%) of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) samples. In the latter A-myb did not correlate with phenotype or clinical stage. Finally, we have studied the progression of one case of CLL into Richter's syndrome and have found that the Richter's cells expressed about 25-fold less A-myb RNA than the CLL cells from the same patient. The pattern of c-myb and B-myb was clearly distinct from that of A-myb. C-myb and B-myb were expressed in all neoplastic groups, except in CLL cells. Thus, A-myb expression, unlike that of c-myb and B-myb, is restricted to a subset of B-cell neoplasias (in particular BL and slg+B-ALL) representative of a specific stage of B-cell differentiation. This expression may in part reflect expression of A-myb by the normal germinal center B cells that are the normal counterpart of these transformed B cells. The data presented strongly support a role for this transcription factor in B-cell differentiation and perhaps in B-cell transformation in some neoplasias.
P53 status may be a determinant of chemosensitivity of tumor cells; however, its involvement in cellular resistance to cisplatin remains uncertain. To investigate the relationships between p53 and the development of resistance to cisplatin, the p53 gene status was studied in ovarian carcinoma cell systems which included two cisplatin-resistant variants (IGROV-1/Pt 0.5 and IGROV-1/Pt 1) selected in vitro after prolonged drug exposure of the cisplatin-sensitive parental IGROV-1 cell line. IGROV-1/Pt 0.5 and IGROV-1/Pt 1 cell lines exhibited a degree of resistance of approximately 6 and 14, respectively, following 96-h exposure to the drug and were cross-resistant to other DNA-damaging agents (ionizing radiation and melphalan). Resistance to cisplatin paralleled a reduced cell susceptibility to cisplatin-induced apoptosis. DNA single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis of exons 5-9 demonstrated the presence of two mutants alleles at exon 8 in the two resistant cell lines, in contrast to the parental IGROV-1 cell line which exhibited the wild-type p53 gene. Direct DNA sequencing revealed that the mutations consist of two nucleotide changes in the DNA-binding domain at codons 270 (T/A) and 282 (C/T). The consecutive levels of p53 protein were lower in IGROV-1 than in IGROV-1/Pt cells. Following exposure to ionizing radiation or cisplatin, accumulation of the p53 protein was markedly enhanced only in the sensitive cells. Concomitantly, the expression of WAF-1 protein was strongly induced in the parental IGROV-1 cells, whereas WAF-1 protein remained undetectable in the IGROV-1/Pt 1 subline after DNA-damaging treatment. Consistent with this finding is the observation that ionizing radiation caused a different pattern of cell cycle perturbation in sensitive and resistant cells. Northern blot analysis demonstrated a marked reduction in bax mRNA levels in IGROV-1/Pt 1 cisplatin-resistant cells. Cotransfection assays with wild-type or mutant p53 expression plasmids and a reporter gene plasmid that utilized the bax gene promoter to drive transcription of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase were consistent with the role of p53 in regulation of bax expression in these cells. Taken together, these observations support a role for mutations of the p53 gene in the development of cisplatin resistance in ovarian cancer as a consequence of loss of the ability of p53 to transactivate bax, an apoptosis-inducing gene.
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Bcl-2 and Bax are homologous proteins which can heterodimerize with each other. These proteins have opposing effects on cell survival when overexpressed in cells, with Bcl-2 blocking and Bax promoting apoptosis. Here we demonstrate that gene transfer-mediated elevations in Bcl-2 protein levels result in a marked increase in the steady-state levels of endogenous p21Bax protein as determined by immunoblotting in the Jurkat T-cell and 697 pre-B-cell leukemia cell lines, but not in several other cell lines including CEM T-cell leukemia, 32D.3 myeloid progenitor, PC12 pheochromocytoma, and NIH-3T3 fibroblasts. Steady-state levels of p21Bax protein were also elevated in the lymph nodes of Bcl-2 transgenic mice in which a BCL-2 transgene is expressed at high levels in B-cells. Northern blot analysis of BCL-2-transfected and control-transfected Jurkat and 697 leukemia cells revealed no Bcl-2-induced alterations in the steady-state levels of BAX mRNAs. In contrast, L-[35S]methionine pulse-chase analysis indicated a marked increase in the half-life (t1/2) of the p21Bax protein in BCL-2-transfected 697 cells compared to control-transfected cells (t1/2 > 24 h versus approximately 4 h), whereas the rate of Bax degradation was unaltered in Bcl-2-transfected CEM cells. The results demonstrate that levels of the proapoptotic p21Bax protein can be post-translationally regulated by Bcl-2, probably in a tissue-specific fashion, and suggest the existence of a feedback mechanism that may help to maintain the ratio of Bcl-2 to Bax protein in physiologically appropriate ranges.
The cell line AR230 was established from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of a patient with chronic myeloid leukemia and t(9;22) translocation bearing a variant type of BCR/ABL rearrangement. AR230 expresses a BCR/ABL fusion protein with a molecular mass of 230 kilodaltons (kDa) due to the insertion of 180 amino acids encoded by 3' exons of BCR (b4 to c3). An immune complex kinase assay showed that the 230-kDa BCR/ABL protein ahd autophosphorylation activity. Immunoprecipitation analysis revealed a stable complex of GRB2 and 230-kDa BCR/ABL proteins, indicating that the Ras activation pathway is involved in the process of transformation. AR230 expressed another short transcript consisting of a BCRc2/ABL junction, which is associated with a stop signal shortly after the junction. To our knowledge, this is the first cell line expressing a 230-kDa fusion product of BCR/ABL. AR230 will be useful for studying the biological function of divergent BCR/ABL proteins.
The cancer chemopreventive retinoid N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-all-trans retinamide (HPR) was recently shown by us to have antiproliferative and apoptotic effects on human leukemic cell lines, including those unresponsive to all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA). We have now characterized further the process of HPR-induced cell death. We report that inhibitors of RNA transcription and of protein synthesis, activators of protein kinase C (PKC), inhibitors of tyrosine kinases, Zn++, and the antioxidants acetylcysteine, ascorbic acid, alpha-tocopherol, and deferoxamine suppressed HPR-induced apoptosis. HL60 cells induced toward monocytic differentiation by 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin-D3 [1,25(OH)2D3], but not those induced toward the granulocytic differentiation by ATRA, showed reduced responses to HPR. The transport of HPR by cells with different sensitivity to the retinoid, however, was similar, even after treatment with the phorbol ester 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), which induces unresponsiveness to HPR. The expression of the apoptosis-related genes bcl-2, p53, and c-myc was examined to determine their role in HPR-triggered cell death. The levels of bcl-2 mRNA were markedly diminished by 24 hours of HPR treatment in all cell lines except in the relatively HPR-insensitive line K422. However, probably because of its long half-life, bcl-2 protein levels were either unchanged or only slightly decreased. Downregulation of p53 mRNA was also observed within 24 hours of HPR exposure in NB4 but not K422 cells, but no changes in the amount of p53 protein were found. Suppression of c-myc transcription was observed in all cells except K422. The protective role of bcl-2 on cell death by HPR was investigated in HL60 as well as 697 pre-B leukemia and Jurkat T-acute lymphocytic leukemia (T-ALL) cells constitutively expressing high levels of bcl-2 proteins due to gene transfer manipulation. Compared with control cells, the onset of apoptosis in these cells with deregulated bcl-2 production was delayed by at least 24 hours. These findings establish that cell death by HPR requires RNA transcription and protein synthesis and is regulated by the activation of PKC. Although changes in bcl-2, p53, and c-myc expression are found in cells treated with HPR, the time-course of these events suggests that HPR-triggered apoptosis is not directly controlled by these genes. Finally, while ectopic overexpression of bcl-2 does not protect cells from death by HPR, it markedly delays its onset.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)