p73 is transcriptionally regulated by DNA damage, p53, and p73

p73 beta-expressing recombinant adenovirus: a potential anticancer agent

Tumor suppressor p53-based gene therapy strategy is ineffective in certain conditions. p73, a p53 homologue, could be a potential alternative gene therapy agent as it has been found to be an important determinant of chemosensitivity in cancer cells. Previously, we have reported the generation of a replication-deficient adenovirus expressing p73 beta (Ad-p73). In this study, we evaluated the therapeutic potential of Ad-p73 against a panel of cancer cells (n=12) of different tissue origin. Ad-p73 infected all the cell lines tested very efficiently resulting in several-fold increase in p73 beta levels, which is also functional as it activated the known target gene p21(WAF1/CIP1). Infection with Ad-p73 resulted in potent cytotoxicity in all the cell lines tested. The mechanism of p73-induced cytotoxicity in these cell lines is found to be due to a combination of cell cycle arrest and induction of apoptosis. In addition, exogenous overexpression of p73 by Ad-p73 infection increased the chemosensitivity of cancer cells by many fold to commonly used drug adriamycin. Moreover, Ad-p73 is more efficient than Ad-p53 in enhancing the chemosensitivity of mutant p53 harboring cells. Furthermore, Ad-p73 infection did not induce apoptosis in human normal lung fibroblasts (HEL 299) and human immortalized keratinocytes (HaCaT). These results suggest that Ad-p73 is a potent cytotoxic agent specifically against cancer cells and could be developed as a cancer gene therapy agent either alone or in combination with chemotherapeutic agents.

The C-terminal sterile alpha motif and the extreme C terminus regulate the transcriptional activity of the alpha isoform of p73

p73, a member of the p53 family, is expressed from two separate promoters, generating TA and DeltaN variants. Each variant potentially encodes at least seven alternatively spliced isoforms (alpha-eta). Interestingly, we and others have shown that the alpha isoform of p73 has a weaker transcriptional activity than the beta isoform. Because the alpha isoform has an extended C terminus consisting of a sterile alpha motif (SAM) and an extreme C terminus, it appears that the C terminus is inhibitory. However, how the C terminus inhibits the transcriptional activity of p73 has not been determined. Here, we found that both the SAM and the extreme C terminus exert their inhibitory activity by preventing the accessibility of p300/CBP to the activation domain in p73. Specifically, we showed that the SAM and the extreme C terminus together or individually are capable of repressing the function of p73 activation domain, but neither interacts directly with the activation domain, or suppresses the DNA-binding activity, of the p73 protein. We also showed that the intact state of the SAM and the extreme C terminus is essential for their inhibitory functions such that a small deletion of either the SAM or the extreme C terminus abolishes its inhibitory activity. Furthermore, we showed that both inhibitory domains in the C terminus are capable of suppressing the function of a cis heterologous activation domain from p53 or Gal4. Finally, we showed that both inhibitory domains suppress the ability of p73 to interact with the transcriptional coactivators p300/CBP that are necessary for the initiation of transcription.

The C terminus of p53 family proteins is a cell fate determinant

The p53 tumor suppressor is the most commonly mutated gene in human cancers. The ability of p53 to induce cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, DNA repair, and other p53-dependent activities is well known; however, the mechanism by which p53 induces a specific activity over another is unclear. Here, we showed that stringent regulation of and by p53 family isoforms facilitates differential target gene expression and thus determines cell fate. Through the use of engineered deletion mutants, we found that activation domain 2 is required for induction of the proapoptotic target gene insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3 (IGFBP3) by p53 and that the basic domain inhibits induction of this gene by p53. Thus, for the first time we provide evidence that the basic domain of p53 is inhibitory in vivo as has been determined in vitro. We also showed that the in vivo inhibitory activity of the basic domain depends upon activation domain 1, such that combined deletion of activation domain 1 and the basic domain was required to alleviate the inhibition by the basic domain. Importantly, deletion of the inhibitory functional domains, namely N-terminal activation domain 1 and the C-terminal basic domain, is paralleled in nature. We found that the IGFBP3 promoter was activated by p53(DeltaNDeltaBD), which mimics a naturally occurring N- and C-terminally truncated human p53 isoform, and by p53AS, a C-terminally truncated murine p53 isoform generated through alternative splicing, but not by full-length human or murine p53. In addition, we found that the C termini of p63 and p73 inhibit the induction of IGFBP3, such that C-terminally truncated p63 and p73 isoforms induce the expression of IGFBP3, whereas full-length ones cannot. We also demonstrated that IGFBP3 is an important effector of the apoptosis induced by N- and C-terminally truncated p53, such that knockdown of IGFBP3 by using an IGFBP3 neutralizing antibody or IGFBP3 small interfering RNA partially rescues the cell death induced by N- and C-terminally truncated p53. In addition, we identified that histone deacetylase activity, not p53 DNA binding ability, governs the regulation of IGFBP3 by full-length p53 family proteins, as inhibition of histone deacetylases restores the induction of IGFBP3 by exogenous full-length p53, p63, and p73 proteins. Furthermore, we found that activation of p53 or inhibition of histone deacetylases alone was not sufficient to induce IGFBP3; however, combined treatment endowed endogenous p53 with this activity. To better understand the significance of this regulation, we performed a microarray study and identified several target genes differentially regulated by full-length p53 and p53 lacking the N-terminal activation domain 1 and the C-terminal basic domain. Taken together, our data suggest a novel mechanism by which p53 family proteins differentially regulate gene expression and provide an insight for designing a combined therapy for cancer treatment.

p63 and p73: Roles in Development and Tumor Formation

The tumor suppressor p53 is critically important in the cellular damage response and is the founding member of a family of proteins. All three genes regulate cell cycle and apoptosis after DNA damage. However, despite a remarkable structural and partly functional similarity among p53, p63, and p73, mouse knockout studies revealed an unexpected functional diversity among them. p63 and p73 knockouts exhibit severe developmental abnormalities but no increased cancer susceptibility, whereas this picture is reversed for p53 knockouts. Neither p63 nor p73 is the target of inactivating mutations in human cancers. Genomic organization is more complex in p63 and p73, largely the result of an alternative internal promoter generating NH2-terminally deleted dominant-negative proteins that engage in inhibitory circuits within the family. Deregulated dominant-negative p73 isoforms might play an active oncogenic role in some human cancers. Moreover, COOH-terminal extensions specific for p63 and p73 enable further unique protein-protein interactions with regulatory pathways involved in development, differentiation, proliferation, and damage response. Thus, p53 family proteins take on functions within a wide biological spectrum stretching from development (p63 and p73), DNA damage response via apoptosis and cell cycle arrest (p53, TAp63, and TAp73), chemosensitivity of tumors (p53 and TAp73), and immortalization and oncogenesis (ΔNp73).

The p53 homologue p73 accumulates in the nucleus and localizes to neurites and neurofibrillary tangles in Alzheimer disease brain

The molecular mechanisms that regulate neuronal survival vs. death during Alzheimer disease (AD) remain unclear. Nonetheless, a number of recent studies indicate that increased expression or altered subcellular distribution of numerous cell cycle proteins during AD may contribute to disease pathogenesis. Because homologues of p53, a key regulatory protein in the cell cycle, such as p73, have been identified and shown to participate in cellular differentiation and death pathways, we examined the expression and distribution of p73 in the hippocampus of eight control and 16 AD subjects. In control subjects, hippocampal pyramidal neurones exhibit p73 immunoreactivity that is distributed predominately in the cytoplasm. In AD hippocampus, increased levels of p73 are located in the nucleus of pyramidal neurones and p73 is located in dystrophic neurites and cytoskeletal pathology. Immunoblot analysis confirmed the presence of p73 in the hippocampus. These data indicate that p73 is expressed within hippocampal pyramidal neurones and exhibits altered subcellular distribution in AD.

DeltaNp73beta is active in transactivation and growth suppression

p73, a p53 family protein, shares significant sequence homolog and functional similarity with p53. However, unlike p53, p73 has at least seven alternatively spliced isoforms with different carboxyl termini (p73alpha-eta). Moreover, the p73 gene can be transcribed from a cryptic promoter located in intron 3, producing seven more proteins (DeltaNp73alpha-eta). DeltaNp73, which does not contain the N-terminal activation domain in p73, has been thought to be transcriptionally inactive and dominant negative over p53 or p73. To systemically analyze the activity of the DeltaN variant, we generated stable cell lines, which inducibly express DeltaNp73alpha, DeltaNp73beta, and various DeltaNp73beta mutants by using the tetracycline-inducible expression system. Surprisingly, we found that DeltaNp73beta is indeed active in inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Importantly, we found that, when DeltaNp73beta is expressed at a physiologically relevant level, it is capable of suppressing cell growth. We then demonstrated that these DeltaNp73beta activities are not cell type specific. We showed that the 13 unique residues at the N terminus are required for DeltaNp73beta to suppress cell growth. We also found that, among the 13 residues, residues 6 to 10 are critical to DeltaNp73beta function. Furthermore, we found that DeltaNp73beta is capable of inducing some p53 target genes, albeit to a lesser extent than does p73beta. Finally, we found that the 13 unique residues, together with the N-terminal PXXP motifs, constitute a novel activation domain. Like DeltaNp73beta, DeltaNp73gamma is active in transactivation. However, unlike DeltaNp73beta, DeltaNp73alpha is inactive in suppressing cell growth. Our data, together with others' previous findings, suggest that DeltaNp73beta may have distinct functions under certain cellular circumstances.

p73alpha regulation by Chk1 in response to DNA damage

The checkpoint kinase 1 (Chk1) is an essential component of the DNA damage checkpoint. Previous studies have demonstrated an indispensable role for the p53-related transcription factor p73alpha in DNA damage-induced apoptosis. Here, we provide evidence that p73alpha is a target of Chk1. We found that endogenous p73alpha is serine phosphorylated by endogenous Chk1 upon DNA damage, which is a mechanism required for the apoptotic-inducing function of p73alpha. Consistent with this, we discovered that endogenous p73alpha interacts with Chk1 and is phosphorylated by Chk1 at serine 47 in vitro and in vivo. In contrast, Chk2 does not phosphorylate p73alpha in vitro. Moreover, mutation of serine 47 abolishes both Chk1-dependent phosphorylation of p73alpha upon DNA damage in vivo and the ability of Chk1 to upregulate the transactivation capacity of p73alpha. Our data indicate a novel biochemical pathway through which the p73alpha proapoptotic function requires DNA damage-triggered p73alpha phosphorylation by Chk1.

DNA damage induces transcriptional activation of p73 by removing C-EBPalpha repression on E2F1

p73 is a member of the p53 family often overexpressed in human cancer. Its regulation, particularly following DNA damage, is different from that of p53. Following DNA damage, we found induction of p73 at both the protein and mRNA levels. Furthermore, by using different p73 promoter fragments, we found a role for E2F1 in mediating transcription of p73. However, this observation alone does not account for the observed DNA damage-induced activation of p73 in the cells used in these experiments. By analyzing the p73 promoter sequence, we revealed a new mechanism of p73 induction associated with the removal of transcriptional repression from the p73 promoter. We found, in fact, that treatment of cells with DNA damaging agents induced nuclear export of the transcription factor C-EBPalpha and blockage of this export abolished drug-induced p73 activation. We also show that C-EBPalpha has a direct repressive activity on transfactor E2F1, and for this repression the binding of C-EBPalpha to its consensus sequence in the DNA is required. These data suggest that in normal conditions a repressor complex involving C-EBPalpha, E2F1 and perhaps other proteins is present on the p73 promoter. This repressor complex is destroyed following damage by removal of C-EBPalpha from nuclei.

Tumor suppressor p53 and its homologue p73alpha affect cell migration

The p53 tumor suppressor plays a central role in the negative control of growth and survival of abnormal cells. Previously we demonstrated that in addition to these functions, p53 expression affects cell morphology and lamellar activity of the cell edge (Alexandrova, A., Ivanov, A., Chumakov, P. M., Kopnin, P. B., and Vasiliev, J. M. (2000) Oncogene 19, 5826-5830). In the present work we studied the effects of p53 and its homologue p73alpha on cell migration. We found that loss of p53 function correlated with decreased cell migration that was analyzed by in vitro wound closure test and Boyden chamber assay. The decreased motility of p53-deficient cells was observed in different cell contexts: human foreskin fibroblasts (BJ), human colon and lung carcinoma cell lines (HCT116 and H1299, respectively), as well as mouse normal fibroblasts from lung and spleen, peritoneal macrophages, and keratinocytes. On the other hand, overexpression of the p53 family member p73alpha stimulated cell migration. Changes in cell migration correlated directly with transcription activation induced by p53 or p73alpha. Noteworthy, p53 modulated cell motility in the absence of stress. The effect of p53 and p73alpha on cell migration was mediated through the activity of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Rac1 pathway. This p53/p73 function was mainly associated with some modulation of intracellular signaling rather than with stimulation of production of secreted motogenic factors. The identified novel activity of the p53 family members might be involved in regulation of embryogenesis, wound healing, or inflammatory response.

Negative autoregulation of p73 and p53 by DeltaNp73 in regulating differentiation and survival of human neuroblastoma cells

p73, mapped to 1p36.2-3, is a p53-related tumor suppressor but is also induced by the oncogene products such as E2F1, raising a question whether p73 is a tumor suppressor gene or oncogene. p73 has several splicing variants including DeltaNp73 which lacks the NH(2)-terminal transactivation domain. In developing neurons, DeltaNp73 is expressed abundantly and seems to inhibit the pro-apoptotic function of p53. However, the role of TAp73 and DeltaNp73 as well as their regulatory mechanism in cell growth and differentiation of neuroblastoma cells are poorly understood. We have found that TAp73 directly activates the transcription of endogenous DeltaNp73 by binding to the TAp73-specific target element located at position-76 to 57 within the DeltaNp73 promoter region. DeltaNp73 was physically associated with TAp73alpha, TAp73beta and p53, and inhibited their transactivation activities when used reporters of Mdm2, Bax or DeltaNp73 itself in SAOS-2 cells. Overexpression of DeltaNp73 in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells promoted cell survival by competing with p53 and TAp73 itself. Thus, our results suggest that the negative feedback regulation of TAp73 by its target DeltaNp73 is a novel autoregulatory system for modulating cell survival and death, that is also functioning in neuroblastoma cells.

Characterization of p73 functional domains necessary for transactivation and growth suppression

p73, a p53 family member, is highly similar to p53 in both structure and function. Like p53, the p73 protein contains an N-terminal activation domain, a DNA-binding domain, a tetramerization domain, and several PXXP motifs. Previously, we and others have shown that some functional domains in p53, such as the DNA-binding and tetramerization domains, are required for inducing both cell cycle arrest and apoptosis whereas others, such as the second activation domain, the proline-rich domain, and the C-terminal basic domain, are only required for inducing apoptosis. To determine the activity of p73 functional domains, we have generated stable inducible cell lines that express p73beta and various mutants deficient in one or more functional domains. We found that in addition to the DNA-binding domain, p73-mediated growth suppression requires the N-terminal activation domain and the tetramerization domain. However, unlike p53, p73-mediated apoptosis does not require the region adjacent to the activation domain or the entire C-terminal region. Interestingly, while the N- or the C-terminal PXXP motifs are dispensable for p73 function, deletion of both the N- and the C-terminal PXXP motifs renders p73 inactive in transactivation. In addition, we found that substitution of two conserved tandem hydrophobic residues with two hydrophilic ones, which can abrogate the activity of the first activation domain in p53, has no effect on p73 transcriptional activity. Together, we showed that the p73 protein has its own unique determinants for transactivation and growth suppression.

Chemosensitivity linked to p73 function

Most chemotherapeutic agents induce DNA damage, leading to p53 accumulation and apoptosis. The factors that determine chemosensitivity in p53-defective tumor cells are poorly understood. We found that the p53 family member p73 is induced by a wide variety of chemotherapeutic drugs. Blocking p73 function with a dominant-negative mutant, siRNA, or homologous recombination led to chemoresistance of human tumor cells and engineered transformed cells, irrespective of p53 status. Mutant p53 can inactivate p73 and downregulation of mutant p53 enhanced chemosensitivity. These findings indicate that p73 is a determinant of chemotherapeutic efficacy in humans.

Genetic alterations in ovarian cancer cells that might account for sensitivity to chemotherapy in patients

The cellular response to anticancer agent treatments is determined by many factors that could be altered in tumor cells. The induction of apoptosis of cancer cells is thought to be important for the overall response of these cells. Despite the introduction of new and potent anticancer agents, the survival rate for patients with ovarian cancer remains poor. In general ovarian cancer cells present a poor propensity to undergo apoptosis, which could be one of the reasons for this relatively poor response observed in the clinic. Induction of apoptosis is the result of activation and repression of pro- and antiapoptotic genes, which are regulated by complex mechanisms. Many cancer cells activate a "survival" program to escape disruption and allow propagation. In this review we have analyzed the role of genetic alterations observed in ovarian cancer cells in determining cellular response to drug treatment.

Modulation of p53 and p73 levels by cyclin G: implication of a negative feedback regulation

Cyclin G is a transcriptional target gene of tumor suppressor p53. Recent studies present evidence that cyclin G may play a central role in the p53-Mdm2 autoregulated module, but the precise function of cyclin G remains elusive. Here, we show a negative effect of cyclin G on the stability of p53 and p73. Cyclin G expression resulted in a dramatic decrease of p53 protein levels in response to DNA damage and abrogated irradiation-mediated G1 arrest along with an increase of S phase in MCF7 cells containing wild-type p53. In p53-null Saos2 cells, cyclin G inhibited p73 induction in response to genotoxic stress and delayed the camptothecin-mediated cell cycle arrest. Cyclin G interacts with p53 as well as p73, and its binding to p53 or p73 presumably mediates downregulation of p53 and p73. We also found that cyclin G-mediated reduction of p53 but not of p73 is Mdm2-dependent. Moreover, inhibition of cyclin G by small interfering RNA (siRNA) caused the accumulation of p53 and p73 protein levels in response to DNA damage. Therefore, our results imply that cyclin G is transcriptionally activated by p53 or p73, and, in turn, cyclin G negatively regulates the stabilization of p53 family proteins through an unknown mechanism different from ubiquitination or transcriptional control.

Protein kinase Cdelta is responsible for constitutive and DNA damage-induced phosphorylation of Rad9

The mammalian homolog of the Schizosaccharomyces pombe Rad9 is involved in checkpoint signaling and the induction of apoptosis. While the mechanisms responsible for the regulation of human Rad9 (hRad9) are not known, hRad9 is subject to hyperphosphorylation in the response of cells to DNA damage. The present results demonstrate that protein kinase Cdelta (PKCdelta) associates with Rad9 and that DNA damage induces this interaction. PKCdelta phosphorylates hRad9 in vitro and in cells exposed to genotoxic agents. The functional significance of the interaction between hRad9 and PKCdelta is supported by the finding that activation of PKCdelta is necessary for formation of the Rad9-Hus1-Rad1 complex. We also show that PKCdelta is required for binding of hRad9 to Bcl-2. In concert with these results, inhibition of PKCdelta attenuates Rad9-mediated apoptosis. These findings demonstrate that PKCdelta is responsible for the regulation of Rad9 in the Hus1-Rad1 complex and in the apoptotic response to DNA damage.

Differential activation of p53 by the various adducts of mitomycin C

Mitomycin C (MC) is a cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agent that causes DNA damage in the form of DNA cross-links as well as a variety of DNA monoadducts and is known to induce p53. The various DNA adducts formed upon treatment of mouse mammary tumor cells with MC as well as 10-decarbamoyl MC (DMC) and 2,7-diaminomitosene (2,7-DAM), the major MC metabolite, have been elucidated. The cytotoxicity of DMC parallels closely that of MC in a number of rodent cell lines tested, whereas 2,7-DAM is relatively noncytotoxic. In this study, we investigate the ability of MC, DMC, and 2,7-DAM to activate p53 at equidose concentrations by treating tissue culture cell lines with the three mitomycins. Whereas MC and DMC induced p53 protein levels and increased the levels of p21 and Gadd45 mRNA, 2,7-DAM did not. Furthermore, MC and DMC, but not 2,7-DAM, were able to induce apoptosis efficiently in ML-1 cells. Therefore the 2,7-DAM monoadducts were unable to activate the p53 pathway. Interestingly, DMC was able to initiate apoptosis via a p53-independent pathway whereas MC was not. This is the first finding that adducts of a multiadduct type DNA-damaging agent are differentially recognized by DNA damage sensor pathways.

p73beta is regulated by protein kinase Cdelta catalytic fragment generated in the apoptotic response to DNA damage

Protein kinase C (PKC) delta is cleaved by caspase-3 to a kinase-active catalytic fragment (PKCdeltaCF) in the apoptotic response of cells to DNA damage. Expression of PKCdeltaCF contributes to the induction of apoptosis by mechanisms that are presently unknown. Here we demonstrate that PKCdeltaCF associates with p73beta, a structural and functional homologue of the p53 tumor suppressor. The results show that PKCdeltaCF phosphorylates the p73beta transactivation and DNA-binding domains. One PKCdeltaCF-phosphorylation site has been mapped to Ser-289 in the p73beta DNA-binding domain. PKCdeltaCF-mediated phosphorylation of p73beta is associated with accumulation of p73beta and induction of p73beta-mediated transactivation. By contrast, PKCdeltaCF-induced activation of p73beta is attenuated by mutating Ser-289 to Ala (S289A). The results also demonstrate that PKCdeltaCF stimulates p73beta-mediated apoptosis and that this response is attenuated with the p73beta(S289A) mutant. These findings demonstrate that cleavage of PKCdelta to PKCdeltaCF induces apoptosis by a mechanism in part dependent on PKCdeltaCF-mediated phosphorylation of the p73beta Ser-289 site.

p53 induces the expression of its antagonist p73 Delta N, establishing an autoregulatory feedback loop

The p53 tumor suppressor protein activates transcription and induces cell death. A close homologue of p53, termed p73, is expressed in transactivating (TA) forms that induce growth arrest and apoptosis much like p53. However, the p73 gene contains a second promoter, giving rise to the expression of p73 Delta N, a species of p73 proteins that lack the N-terminal transactivation domain. We show here that the expression of p73 Delta N is induced by p53 on the mRNA and protein level. The promoter that regulates p73 Delta N expression in human cells was cloned and found to be activated by p53, as well as by p73TA, directly through a specific DNA element. The p73 Delta N proteins, that are thereby expressed, bound to p53-responsive promoter DNA, competed with p53 for DNA binding, antagonized the activation of transcription by p53, and prevented p53-induced cell death. In addition, a transcriptional repressor domain was identified within the splicing variant p73 Delta Nalpha. The combination of p73DeltaNalpha and mdm2 antagonized p53 more strongly than either p73Nalpha or mdm2 alone. Blocking endogenous p73 Delta N by a trans dominant fragment, or its removal by siRNA, increased the activity of a p53-responsive promoter in cells that contain a wild type p53 gene. Thus, the induction of p73 Delta N expression by p53 establishes an autoregulatory feedback loop that keeps the trigger of cell death under tight control.

Physical interaction of p73 with c-Myc and MM1, a c-Myc-binding protein, and modulation of the p73 function

p73 shares high sequence homology with the tumor suppressor p53. Like p53, ectopic overexpression of p73 induces cell cycle arrest and/or apoptosis, and these biological activities are linked to its sequence-specific transactivation function. The COOH-terminal region of p73 is unique and has a function to modulate DNA-binding ability and transactivation activity. To identify and characterize cellular proteins that interact with the COOH-terminal region of p73 alpha and regulate its activity, we employed a yeast-based two-hybrid screen with a human fetal brain cDNA library. We found MM1, a nuclear c-Myc-binding protein, was associated with p73 alpha in both yeast two-hybrid and in vitro pull-down assays. In mammalian cells, MM1 co-immunoprecipitated with p73 alpha, whereas p73 beta and tumor suppressor p53 did not interact with MM1. Overexpression of MM1 in p53-deficient osteosarcoma SAOS-2 cells enhanced the p73 alpha-dependent transcription from the p53/p73-responsive Bax and PG13 promoters, whereas p73 beta- and p53-mediated transcriptional activation was unaffected in the presence of MM1. MM1 also stimulated the p73 alpha-mediated growth suppression in SAOS-2 cells. More importantly, we found that c-Myc was physically associated with p73 alpha and significantly impaired the transcriptional activity of p73 alpha on Bax and p21(waf1) promoters. Expression of MM1 strongly reduced the c-Myc-mediated inhibitory activity on p73 alpha. These results suggest that MM1 may act as a molecular partner for p73 to prevent the c-Myc-mediated inhibitory effect on its activity.

HMGB1 and HMGB2 cell-specifically down-regulate the p53- and p73-dependent sequence-specific transactivation from the human Bax gene promoter

The recently cloned gene p73 is a close homologue of p53, which is a crucial tumor suppressor gene for preventing the malignant transformation of cells by inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Previous reports have shown that architectural DNA-bending/looping chromosomal proteins HMGB1 and HMGB2 (formerly known as HMG1 and HMG2), which function in a number of biological processes including transcription and DNA repair, interact in vitro with p53 and stimulate p53 binding to DNA containing p53 consensus sites. Here, we report that HMGB1 physically interacts with two splicing variants of p73, alpha and beta (pull-down assay), and enhances binding of p73 to specific cognate DNA sites (gel-shift assay). Both HMG box domains of HMGB1, A and B, interact with p73alpha. Association of HMGB1 with p73, like the demonstrated ability of HMGB1 to stimulate p73 binding to different p53-responsive elements, requires the oligomerization region and/or region between DNA-binding domain and oligomerization domain of p73 (residues 312-381). Transient transfections revealed that ectopically expressed or endogenous HMGB1 and HMGB2 (antisense strategy) significantly inhibit in vivo both p73alpha/beta- and p53-dependent transactivation from the Bax gene promoter (and much less from Mdm2 and p21(waf1) promoters) in p53-deficient SAOS-2 cells. In contrast, HMGB1 and HGMB2 stimulate p73- or p53-dependent transactivation in p53-deficient H1299 cells, irrespective of the promoter used. Our results suggest that ubiquitously expressed HMGB1 and HMGB2 have potential to cell- and promoter-specifically down- or up-regulate in vivo transcriptional activity of different members of the p53 family. A possible mechanism of HMGB1-mediated modulation of p73- and p53-dependent transactivation is discussed.

Centrosome abnormalities, recurring deletions of chromosome 4, and genomic amplification of HER2/neu define mouse mammary gland adenocarcinomas induced by mutant HER2/neu

The conditional expression of activated HER2/neu gene under its endogenous promoter in the mammary epithelium of the mouse results in accelerated lobular development and focal mammary tumors. Carcinogenesis, however, requires amplification and considerably increased expression levels of oncogenic neu. Deducing from the multiple genetic aberrations required for human breast cancer to develop, we hypothesized that in addition to the over-expression of an activated HER2/neu, secondary aberrations would occur. We have therefore conducted a genomic screen for chromosomal imbalances and translocations using comparative genomic hybridization and spectral karyotyping. The results reveal a moderate degree of chromosomal instability and micronuclei formation in short-term cultures established from primary tumors. Genomic instability appears to be linked to the amplification of functional centrosomes, a phenomenon that we frequently observed in other tumor types. Seventy per cent of the tumors revealed genomic amplification of HER2/neu, often in the form of double minute chromosomes, which correlated with recurring loss of mouse chromosome 4D-E, a region that is orthologous to distal human chromosome 1p. It is likely that this region contains putative tumor suppressor genes whose inactivation is required for tumor formation in this model of human breast cancer.

The p53 family member genes are involved in the Notch signal pathway

The p53 tumor suppressor is a transcription factor that regulates cell growth and death in response to environmental stimuli such as DNA damage. p63/p51 and p73 were recently identified as members of the p53 gene family. In contrast to p53 however, p63 and p73 are rarely mutated in human cancers. Mice that lack p53 are developmentally normal, while p63 and p73 appear to play critical roles in normal development. To determine how p63 and p73 are involved in normal development, we attempted to identify target genes that are specifically regulated by p63 and/or p73 but not by p53. We found that the Jagged1 (JAG1) and Jagged2 (JAG2) genes, encoding ligands for the Notch receptors, are up-regulated by p63 and p73. Furthermore, we identified a p63-binding site in the second intron of the JAG1 gene, which can directly interact with the p63 protein in vivo, as assessed by a chromatin immunoprecipitation assay. A heterologous reporter assay revealed that this p63-binding site is a functional response element and is specific for p63. We also found a target of Notch signaling, HES-1 was up-regulated in Jurkat cells, in which Notch1 is highly expressed, when co-cultured with p63-transfected cells, suggesting that p63 can trigger the Notch signal pathway in neighboring cells. Our findings show an association between the p53 family genes and Notch signaling and suggest a potential molecular mechanism for the involvement of the p53 family genes in normal development.