Cell cycle checkpoints and apoptosis: potential for improving radiation therapy.
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Adenovirus E1A Proteins↗
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Cell cycle checkpoint signaling through the ATM and ATR kinases.
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ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters↗
GADD45b and GADD45g are cdc2/cyclinB1 kinase inhibitors with a role in S and G2/M cell cycle checkpoints induced by genotoxic stress.
Gadd45a (Gadd45), Gadd45b (MyD118), and Gadd45g (CR6) constitute a family of evolutionarily conserved, small, acidic, nuclear proteins, which have been implicated in terminal differentiation, growth suppression, and apoptosis. How Gadd45 proteins function in negative growth control is not fully understood. Recent evidence has implicated Gadd45a in inhibition of cdc2/cyclinB1 kinase and in G2/M cell cycle arrest. Yet, whether Gadd45b and/or Gadd45g function as inhibitors of cdc2/cyclinB1 kinase and/or play a role in G2/M cell cycle arrest has not been fully established. In this work, we show that Gadd45b and Gadd45g specifically interact with the Cdk1/CyclinB1 complex, but not with other Cdk/Cyclin complexes, in vitro and in vivo. Data also has been obtained that Gadd45b and Gadd45g, as well as GADD45a, interact with both Cdk1 and cyclinB1, resulting in inhibition of the kinase activity of the Cdk1/cyclinB1 complex. Inhibition of Cdk1/cyclinB1 kinase activity by Gadd45b and Gadd45a was found to involve disruption of the complex, whereas Gadd45g did not disrupt the complex. Moreover, using RKO lung carcinoma cell lines, which express antisense Gadd45 RNA, data has been obtained, which indicates that all three Gadd45 proteins are likely to cooperate in activation of S and G2/M checkpoints following exposure of cells to UV irradiation.
3T3 Cells↗
Regulation of RAD53 by the ATM-like kinases MEC1 and TEL1 in yeast cell cycle checkpoint pathways.
Mutants of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) homolog MEC1/SAD3/ESR1 were identified that could live only if the RAD53/SAD1 checkpoint kinase was overproduced. MEC1 and a structurally related gene, TEL1, have overlapping functions in response to DNA damage and replication blocks that in mutants can be provided by overproduction of RAD53. Both MEC1 and TEL1 were found to control phosphorylation of Rad53p in response to DNA damage. These results indicate that RAD53 is a signal transducer in the DNA damage and replication checkpoint pathways and functions downstream of two members of the ATM lipid kinase family. Because several members of this pathway are conserved among eukaryotes, it is likely that a RAD53-related kinase will function downstream of the human ATM gene product and play an important role in the mammalian response to DNA damage.
Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated Proteins↗
Fission yeast rad12+ regulates cell cycle checkpoint control and is homologous to the Bloom's syndrome disease gene.
The human BLM gene is a member of the Escherichia coli recQ helicase family, which includes the Saccharomyces cerevisiae SGS1 and human WRN genes. Defects in BLM are responsible for the human disease Bloom's syndrome, which is characterized in part by genomic instability and a high incidence of cancer. Here we describe the cloning of rad12+, which is the fission yeast homolog of BLM and is identical to the recently reported rhq1+ gene. We showed that rad12 null cells are sensitive to DNA damage induced by UV light and gamma radiation, as well as to the DNA synthesis inhibitor hydroxyurea. Overexpression of the wild-type rad12+ gene also leads to sensitivity to these agents and to defects associated with the loss of the S-phase and G2-phase checkpoint control. We showed genetically and biochemically that rad12+ acts upstream from rad9+, one of the fission yeast G2 checkpoint control genes, in regulating exit from the S-phase checkpoint. The physical chromosome segregation defects seen in rad12 null cells combined with the checkpoint regulation defect seen in the rad12+ overproducer implicate rad12+ as a key coupler of chromosomal integrity with cell cycle progression.
Adenosine Triphosphatases↗
Cell cycle checkpoint control is bypassed by human papillomavirus oncogenes.
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Base Sequence↗
DNA damage-induced cell cycle checkpoints and DNA strand break repair in development and tumorigenesis.
Several newly identified tumor suppressor genes including ATM, NBS1, BRCA1 and BRCA2 are involved in DNA double-strand break repair (DSBR) and DNA damage-induced checkpoint activation. Many of the gene products involved in checkpoint control and DSBR have been studied in great detail in yeast. In addition to evolutionarily conserved proteins such as Chk1 and Chk2, studies in mammalian cells have identified novel proteins such as p53 in executing checkpoint control. DSBR proteins including Mre11, Rad50, Rad51, Rad54, and Ku are present in yeast and in mammals. Many of the tumor suppressor gene products interact with these repair proteins as well as checkpoint regulators, thus providing a biochemical explanation for the pleiotropic phenotypes of mutant cells. This review focuses on the proteins mediating G1/S, S, and G2/M checkpoint control in mammalian cells. In addition, mammalian DSBR proteins and their activities are discussed. An intricate network among DNA damage signal transducers, cell cycle regulators and the DSBR pathways is illustrated. Mouse knockout models for genes involved in these processes have provided valuable insights into their function, establishing genomic instability as a major contributing factor in tumorigenesis.
Animals↗
Role of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase in cell-cycle checkpoint mechanisms following gamma-irradiation.
A nuclear poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) is activated by gamma-irradiation and consequently synthesizes poly(ADP-ribose) by binding to DNA strand-breaks. This property suggests that PARP is a DNA strand-break-signal generator. Meanwhile, the cell-cycle arrest occurs in G1 and G2 phases following gamma-irradiation. We found that PARP inhibitors including 3-aminobenzamide (3-AB) suppressed G1 arrest and enhanced G2 arrest following gamma-irradiation. These observations suggested that PARP is critical for the induction of G1 arrest and is also involved in the regulation of G2 arrest. Furthermore, the effects of 3-AB on the G1-arrest signal-transduction pathway were also studied. We found that p53 stabilization following gamma-irradiation was not inhibited but the p53-responsive transient increases of WAF1/CIP1/p21 and MDM-2 mRNA were suppressed by 3-AB. Therefore, it is suggested that PARP participates in G1-arrest signal-transduction pathway through the modulation of WAF1/CIP1/p21 and MDM-2 mRNA expression.
Animals↗
A ribonucleotide reductase gene involved in a p53-dependent cell-cycle checkpoint for DNA damage.
The p53 gene is frequently inactivated in human cancers. Here we have isolated a p53-inducible gene, p53R2, by using differential display to examine messenger RNAs in a cancer-derived human cell line carrying a highly regulated wild-type p53 expression system. p53R2 contains a p53-binding sequence in intron 1 and encodes a 351-amino-acid peptide with striking similarity to the ribonucleotide reductase small subunit (R2), which is important in DNA synthesis during cell division. Expression of p53R2, but not R2, was induced by ultraviolet and gamma-irradiation and adriamycin treatment in a wild-type p53-dependent manner. Induction of p53R2 in p53-deficient cells caused G2/M arrest and prevented cells from death in response to adriamycin. Inhibition of endogenous p53R2 expression in cells that have an intact p53-dependent DNA damage checkpoint reduced ribonucleotide reductase activity, DNA repair and cell survival after exposure to various genotoxins. Our results indicate that p53R2 encodes a ribonucleotide reductase that is directly involved in the p53 checkpoint for repair of damaged DNA. The discovery of p53R2 clarifies a relationship between a ribonucleotide reductase activity involved in repair of damaged DNA and tumour suppression by p53.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
The interplay between nonhomologous end-joining and cell cycle checkpoint factors in development, genomic stability, and tumorigenesis.
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Animals↗
Apoptosis by antitumor agents and other factors in relation to cell cycle checkpoints.
More than a dozen cancer patients died in 1993 after treatment with antineoplastic derivatives of 5-fluorouracil and the antiherpes drug Sorivudine. This paper gives a short review of previous reports showing that killing of cells by 5-fluorouracil and other antitumor agents, including radiation at high doses, results from activation of apoptosis in the G2 phase. On the other hand, apoptosis of lymphocytes by radiation at low doses and treatment with other agents is known to occur in the G1 phase. The cells dying in the G1 or G2 phase could share the same final self-killing steps. For these common steps, I assume a mitotic catastrophe model, in which commitment to self-killing results from premature activation of the mitosis machinery, and propose a concept of a 'G1/G2 death circuit' for cells dying in the G1/G2 phase by short circuit to the M phase. Based on this model, reported modes of cell death, spontaneously occurring or after treatment with various agents, are classified by the phase of dying cells. The associations of incomplete apoptosis with production of chromosomal aberrations and prevention of tumorigenesis by complete apoptosis of carcinogen-treated cells are discussed. A presumptive rule for differentiation of G1 apoptosis and G2 apoptosis is proposed.
Antineoplastic Agents↗
Cell cycle: checkpoint proteins and kinetochores.
Vertebrate homologs of yeast spindle assembly checkpoint proteins are localized to kinetochores and may act as a sensor for proper chromosome attachment to the mitotic spindle.
Animals↗
RACH2, a novel human gene that complements a fission yeast cell cycle checkpoint mutation.
We have identified a novel human gene by virtue of its ability to complement the rad1-1 checkpoint mutant of Schizosaccharomyces pombe. This gene, called RACH2, rescues the temperature-sensitive lethality of a rad1-1 wee1-50 double mutant of S. pombe. Expression of RACH2 in S. pombe rad1-1 strains partially restores UV resistance to the rad1-1 mutant strain. Expression of RACH2 in a rad1-1 cdc25-22 double mutant partially restores the dose-dependent delay in mitotic entry after irradiation that is lost in rad1-1 checkpoint-deficient mutants. Overexpression of RACH2 in human tissue culture cells induces apoptosis.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
Targeted disruption of the cell-cycle checkpoint gene ATR leads to early embryonic lethality in mice.
Checkpoints of DNA integrity are conserved throughout evolution, as are the kinases ATM (Ataxia Telangiectasia mutated) and ATR (Ataxia- and Rad-related), which are related to phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase [1] [2] [3]. The ATM gene is not essential, but mutations lead to ataxia telangiectasia (AT), a pleiotropic disorder characterised by radiation sensitivity and cellular checkpoint defects in response to ionising radiation [4] [5] [6]. The ATR gene has not been associated with human syndromes and, structurally, is more closely related to the canonical yeast checkpoint genes rad3(Sp) and MEC1(Sc) [7] [8]. ATR has been implicated in the response to ultraviolet (UV) radiation and blocks to DNA synthesis [8] [9] [10] [11], and may phosphorylate p53 [12] [13], suggesting that ATM and ATR may have similar and, perhaps, complementary roles in cell-cycle control after DNA damage. Here, we report that targeted inactivation of ATR in mice by disruption of the kinase domain leads to early embryonic lethality before embryonic day 8.5 (E8.5). Heterozygous mice were fertile and had no aberrant phenotype, despite a lower ATR mRNA level. No increase was observed in the sensitivity of ATR(+/-) embryonic stem (ES) cells to a variety of DNA-damaging agents. Attempts to target the remaining wild-type ATR allele in heterozygous ATR(+/-) ES cells failed, supporting the idea that loss of both alleles of the ATR gene, even at the ES-cell level, is lethal. Thus, in contrast to the closely related checkpoint gene ATM, ATR has an essential function in early mammalian development.
Alleles↗
Cell cycle checkpoint abrogator UCN-01 inhibits DNA repair: association with attenuation of the interaction of XPA and ERCC1 nucleotide excision repair proteins.
UCN-01, an anticancer agent currently in Phase I clinical trials, has been found to potentiate the cytotoxicity of cisplatin (CDDP). Because mammalian cells remove CDDP-induced DNA adducts through the nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway, we determined the effects of UCN-01 on NER by measuring its effects on the interaction of the repair factors XPA and ERCC1 and the phosphorylation/dephosphorylation of the repair proteins. The repair activity, as measured by an in vitro repair synthesis assay and an in vivo host-cell reactivation assay using A549 cells, was significantly reduced. Although expression of XPA and ERCC1 proteins was elevated in cells exposed to UCN-01, the treatment resulted in a decreased ERCC1 level in the Triton X-100-insoluble fraction of cell lysates. A pull-down assay using the MBP-XPA fusion protein showed a significant reduction in the binding of ERCC1 to XPA in nuclear extracts from UCN-01-treated cells compared with untreated cells, suggesting that UCN-01 reduced the XPA-ERCC1 interaction. Consistent with these data, lower repair incision activity was found in the cell extracts from UCN-01-treated cells. In vitro phosphorylation revealed that UCN-01 had no effect on the phosphorylation/dephosphorylation status of either XPA or ERCC1; however, UCN-01 caused dephosphorylation of an unidentified XPA-bound protein with an apparent molecular mass of 52 kDa. Taken together, these data demonstrate the NER-inhibitory action of UCN-01, which is associated with the inhibition of the XPA-ERCC1 interaction by UCN-01 and with the effect of UCN-01 on the phosphorylation/dephosphorylation of an XPA-bound, 52-kDa protein, the identity of which remains to be determined.
Alkaloids↗
Genomic instability, centrosome amplification, cell cycle checkpoints and Gadd45a.
Genomic instability has been a recognized feature of many human tumors for decades. Until recently, however, there was little insight into potential mechanisms for this phenomenon. Recent work has shown first, that increased centrosome numbers (also referred to as centrosome amplification) often accompany genomic instability and second, that when centrosome numbers are increased, cells become genetically unstable. Deletion of Gadd45a leads to centrosome amplification and consequent abnormal mitosis and aneuploidy. Gadd45a is known to be involved in a G2 checkpoint and may be involved in the normal progression from G2 to M and its coordination with S phase events. Whether these functions contribute to prevention of centrosome amplification is being investigated. However, potential mechanisms can be proposed based on known protein associations with Gadd45a, as well as proteins that regulate Gadd45a transcription and are also required for efficient coordination of centrosome duplication and DNA synthesis.
Animals↗
A DNA-damage-induced cell cycle checkpoint in Arabidopsis.
Although it is well established that plant seeds treated with high doses of gamma radiation arrest development as seedlings, the cause of this arrest is unknown. The uvh1 mutant of Arabidopsis is defective in a homolog of the human repair endonuclease XPF, and uvh1 mutants are sensitive to both the toxic effects of UV and the cytostatic effects of gamma radiation. Here we find that gamma irradiation of uvh1 plants specifically triggers a G(2)-phase cell cycle arrest. Mutants, termed suppressor of gamma (sog), that suppress this radiation-induced arrest and proceed through the cell cycle unimpeded were recovered in the uvh1 background; the resulting irradiated plants are genetically unstable. The sog mutations fall into two complementation groups. They are second-site suppressors of the uvh1 mutant's sensitivity to gamma radiation but do not affect the susceptibility of the plant to UV radiation. In addition to rendering the plants resistant to the growth inhibitory effects of gamma radiation, the sog1 mutation affects the proper development of the pollen tetrad, suggesting that SOG1 might also play a role in the regulation of cell cycle progression during meiosis.
Arabidopsis↗
Loss of cell cycle checkpoint control in Drosophila Rfc4 mutants.
Two alleles of the Drosophila melanogaster Rfc4 (DmRfc4) gene, which encodes subunit 4 of the replication factor C (RFC) complex, cause striking defects in mitotic chromosome cohesion and condensation. These mutations produce larval phenotypes consistent with a role in DNA replication but also result in mitotic chromosomal defects appearing either as premature chromosome condensation-like or precocious sister chromatid separation figures. Though the DmRFC4 protein localizes to all replicating nuclei, it is dispersed from chromatin in mitosis. Thus the mitotic defects appear not to be the result of a direct role for RFC4 in chromosome structure. We also show that the mitotic defects in these two DmRfc4 alleles are the result of aberrant checkpoint control in response to DNA replication inhibition or damage to chromosomes. Not all surveillance function is compromised in these mutants, as the kinetochore attachment checkpoint is operative. Intriguingly, metaphase delay is frequently observed with the more severe of the two alleles, indicating that subsequent chromosome segregation may be inhibited. This is the first demonstration that subunit 4 of RFC functions in checkpoint control in any organism, and our findings additionally emphasize the conserved nature of RFC's involvement in checkpoint control in multicellular eukaryotes.
Alleles↗