Nucleolar protein NPM interacts with HDM2 and protects tumor suppressor protein p53 from HDM2-mediated degradation

Human histone chaperone nucleophosmin enhances acetylation-dependent chromatin transcription

Histone chaperones are a group of proteins that aid in the dynamic chromatin organization during different cellular processes. Here, we report that the human histone chaperone nucleophosmin interacts with the core histones H3, H2B, and H4 but that this histone interaction is not sufficient to confer the chaperone activity. Significantly, nucleophosmin enhances the acetylation-dependent chromatin transcription and it becomes acetylated both in vitro and in vivo. Acetylation of nucleophosmin and the core histones was found to be essential for the enhancement of chromatin transcription. The acetylated NPM1 not only shows an increased affinity toward acetylated histones but also shows enhanced histone transfer ability. Presumably, nucleophosmin disrupts the nucleosomal structure in an acetylation-dependent manner, resulting in the transcriptional activation. These results establish nucleophosmin (NPM1) as a human histone chaperone that becomes acetylated, resulting in the enhancement of chromatin transcription.

Cellular UV damage responses--functions of tumor suppressor p53

DNA damage, provoked by ultraviolet (UV) radiation, evokes a cellular damage response composed of activation of stress signaling and DNA checkpoint functions. These are translated to responses of replicative arrest, damage repair, and apoptosis aimed at cellular recovery from the damage. p53 tumor suppressor is a central stress response protein, activated by multiple endogenous and environmental insults, including UV radiation. The significance of p53 in the DNA damage responses has frequently been reviewed in the context of ionizing radiation or other double strand break (DSB)-inducing agents. Despite partly similar patterns, the molecular events following UV radiation are, however, distinct from the responses induced by DSBs and are profoundly coupled with transcriptional stress. These are illustrated, e.g., by the UV damage-specific translocations of Mdm2, promyelocytic leukemia protein, and nucleophosmin and their interactions with p53. In this review, we discuss UV damage-provoked cellular responses and the functions of p53 in damage recovery and cell death.

What have we learnt from mouse models of NPM-ALK-induced lymphomagenesis?

The nucleophosmin-anaplastic lymphoma kinase (NPM-ALK) is generated as a t(2;5) chromosomal breakpoint product, typically in CD30(+) anaplastic large cell lymphomas. Activation of the NPM-ALK tyrosine kinase by NPM dimerisation causes autophosphorylation at multiple tyrosine residues and the consequent recruitment of a 'signalosome' that couples the fusion protein to pathways regulating mitogenesis and apoptosis. This review focuses on recent advances in our understanding of the transforming signals induced by this fusion protein in mouse models.

p130Cas mediates the transforming properties of the anaplastic lymphoma kinase

Translocations of the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene have been described in anaplastic large-cell lymphomas (ALCLs) and in stromal tumors. The most frequent translocation, t(2;5), generates the fusion protein nucleophosmin (NPM)-ALK with intrinsic tyrosine kinase activity. Along with transformation, NPM-ALK induces morphologic changes in fibroblasts and lymphoid cells, suggesting a direct role of ALK in cell shaping. In this study, we used a mass-spectrometry-based proteomic approach to search for proteins involved in cytoskeleton remodeling and identified p130Cas (p130 Crk-associated substrate) as a novel interactor of NPM-ALK. In 293 cells and in fibroblasts as well as in human ALK-positive lymphoma cell lines, NPM-ALK was able to bind p130Cas and to induce its phosphorylation. Both of the effects were dependent on ALK kinase activity and on the adaptor protein growth factor receptor-bound protein 2 (Grb2), since no binding or phosphorylation was found with the kinase-dead mutant NPM-ALK(K210R) or in the presence of a Grb2 dominant-negative protein. Phosphorylation of p130Cas by NPM-ALK was partially independent from Src (tyrosine kinase pp60c-src) kinase activity, as it was still detectable in Syf-/- cells. Finally, p130Cas-/- (also known as Bcar1-/-) fibroblasts expressing NPM-ALK showed impaired actin filament depolymerization and were no longer transformed compared with wild-type cells, indicating an essential role of p130Cas activation in ALK-mediated transformation.

Acute myeloid leukemia bearing cytoplasmic nucleophosmin (NPMc+ AML) shows a distinct gene expression profile characterized by up-regulation of genes involved in stem-cell maintenance

Approximately one third of acute myeloid leukemias (AMLs) are characterized by aberrant cytoplasmic localization of nucleophosmin (NPMc+ AML), consequent to mutations in the NPM putative nucleolar localization signal. These events are mutually exclusive with the major AML-associated chromosomal rearrangements, and are frequently associated with normal karyotype, FLT3 mutations, and multilineage involvement. We report the gene expression profiles of 78 de novo AMLs (72 with normal karyotype; 6 without major chromosomal abnormalities) that were characterized for the subcellular localization and mutation status of NPM. Unsupervised clustering clearly separated NPMc+ from NPMc– AMLs, regardless of the presence of FLT3 mutations or non–major chromosomal rearrangements, supporting the concept that NPMc+ AML represents a distinct entity. The molecular signature of NPMc+ AML includes up-regulation of several genes putatively involved in the maintenance of a stem-cell phenotype, suggesting that NPMc+ AML may derive from a multipotent hematopoietic progenitor.

Role of nucleophosmin in embryonic development and tumorigenesis

Nucleophosmin (also known as NPM, B23, NO38) is a nucleolar protein directly implicated in cancer pathogenesis, as the NPM1 gene is found mutated and rearranged in a number of haematological disorders. Furthermore, the region of chromosome 5 to which NPM1 maps is deleted in a proportion of de novo human myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), and loss of chromosome 5 is extremely frequent in therapy-related MDS. NPM is a multifunctional protein, and its role in oncogenesis is controversial as NPM has been attributed with both oncogenic and tumour suppressive functions. To study the function of Npm in vivo, we generated a hypomorphic Npm1 mutant series (Npm1+/- < Npm1(hy/hy) < Npm1-/-) in mouse. Here we report that Npm is essential for embryonic development and the maintenance of genomic stability. Npm1-/- and Npm1(hy/hy) mutants have aberrant organogenesis and die between embryonic day E11.5 and E16.5 owing to severe anaemia resulting from defects in primitive haematopoiesis. We show that Npm1 inactivation leads to unrestricted centrosome duplication and genomic instability. We demonstrate that Npm is haploinsufficient in the control of genetic stability and that Npm1 heterozygosity accelerates oncogenesis both in vitro and in vivo. Notably, Npm1+/- mice develop a haematological syndrome with features of human MDS. Our findings uncover an essential developmental role for Npm and implicate its functional loss in tumorigenesis and MDS pathogenesis.

Nucleophosmin/B23-binding peptide inhibits tumor growth and up-regulates transcriptional activity of p53

The Rev peptide that binds to nucleophosmin/B23 with the highest affinity exhibited the greatest cytotoxicity on Ras-3T3 cells and inhibited tumor growth most effectively in nude mice. The efficiency of colony formation in soft agar of Ras-3T3 cells was significantly inhibited by treatment with Rev peptide. In addition, Rev peptide could potentiate the doxorubicin-induced decrease of cellular viability in U1 bladder cancer cells and inhibition of tumor growth in nude mice. Treatment of Rev peptide increased protein expression and transcriptional activity of p53 and inhibited the nucleophosmin/B23-mediated PCNA promoter activation. Peptides having high affinity of binding to molecular targets such as nucleophosmin/B23 represent a potentially useful approach to anti-cancer biotherapeutics.

Phosphorylation of the acidic domain of Mdm2 by protein kinase CK2

The Murine double-minute clone 2 (Mdm2) onco-protein is the principal regulator of the tumour suppressor, p53. Mdm2 acts as an E3-type ubiquitin ligase that mediates the ubiquitylation and turnover of p53 under normal, unstressed circumstances. In response to cellular stress, such as DNA damage, the Mdm2-p53 interaction is disrupted. Part of the mechanism of uncoupling p53 from Mdm2-mediated degradation involves hypo-phosphorylation of a cluster of phosphorylated serine residues in the central acidic domain of Mdm2. Here, we show that two of the residues within this domain that are phosphorylated in vivo, Ser-260 and Ser-269, are phosphorylated by CK2 in vitro. Treatment of cells with the CK2 inhibitor, 4,5,6,7-tetrabromo-2-azabenzimidazole (TBB), leads to the induction of p53 and downstream targets of p53 including Mdm2 itself and p21. These data are consistent with the idea that CK2-mediated phosphorylation of Mdm2 may regulate Mdm2-mediated p53 turnover.

What has senescence got to do with cancer?

Cancer therapeutics are primarily thought to work by inducing apoptosis in tumor cells. However, various tumor suppressors and oncogenes have been shown to regulate senescence in normal cells, and senescence bypass appears to be an important step in the development of cancer. Cellular senescence limits the replicative capacity of cells, thus preventing the proliferation of cells that are at different stages of malignancy. A recent body of evidence suggests that induction of senescence can be exploited as a basis for cancer therapy.

Polyamine depletion induces nucleophosmin modulating stability and transcriptional activity of p53 in intestinal epithelial cells

Our previous studies have shown that polyamines are required for normal intestinal mucosal growth and that decreased levels of polyamines inhibit intestinal epithelial cell (IEC) proliferation by stabilizing p53 and other growth-inhibiting proteins. Nucleophosmin (NPM) is a multifunctional protein that recently has been shown to regulate p53 activity. In the present study, we sought to determine whether polyamine depletion increases NPM modulating the stability and transcriptional activity of p53 in a normal IEC-6 intestinal epithelial cell line. Depletion of cellular polyamines by alpha-difluoromethylornithine, the specific inhibitor of polyamine biosynthesis, stimulated expression of the NPM gene and induced nuclear translocation of NPM protein. Polyamine depletion stimulated NPM expression primarily by increasing NPM gene transcription and its mRNA stability, and it induced NPM nuclear translocation through activation of phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase. Increased NPM interacted with p53 and formed a NPM/p53 complex in polyamine-deficient cells. Inhibition of NPM expression by small interfering RNA targeting NPM (siNPM) not only destabilized p53 as indicated by a decrease in its protein half-life but also prevented the increased p53-dependent transactivation as shown by suppression of the p21 promoter activity. Decreased expression of NPM by siNPM also promoted cell growth in polyamine-deficient cells. These results indicate that 1) polyamine depletion increases expression of the NPM gene and enhances NPM nuclear translocation and 2) increased NPM interacts with and stabilizes p53, leading to inhibition of IEC-6 cell proliferation.

Myeloid leukemia factor 1 regulates p53 by suppressing COP1 via COP9 signalosome subunit 3

Myeloid leukemia factor 1 (MLF1) was first identified as the leukemic fusion protein NPM-MLF1 generated by the t(3;5)(q25.1;q34) chromosomal translocation. Although MLF1 expresses normally in a variety of tissues including hematopoietic stem cells and the overexpression of MLF1 correlates with malignant transformation in human cancer, little is known about how MLF1 is involved in the regulation of cell growth. Here we show that MLF1 is a negative regulator of cell cycle progression functioning upstream of the tumor suppressor p53. MLF1 induces p53-dependent cell cycle arrest in murine embryonic fibroblasts. This action requires a novel binding partner, subunit 3 of the COP9 signalosome (CSN3). A reduction in the level of CSN3 protein with small interfering RNA abrogated MLF1-induced G1 arrest and impaired the activation of p53 by genotoxic stress. Furthermore, ectopic MLF1 expression and CSN3 knockdown inversely affect the endogenous level of COP1, a ubiquitin ligase for p53. Exogenous expression of COP1 overcomes MLF1-induced growth arrest. These results indicate that MLF1 is a critical regulator of p53 and suggest its involvement in leukemogenesis through a novel CSN3-COP1 pathway.

The nucleolus as a stress sensor: JNK2 inactivates the transcription factor TIF-IA and down-regulates rRNA synthesis

Cells respond to a variety of extracellular and intracellular forms of stress by down-regulating rRNA synthesis. We have investigated the mechanism underlying stress-dependent inhibition of RNA polymerase I (Pol I) transcription and show that the Pol I-specific transcription factor TIF-IA is inactivated upon stress. Inactivation is due to phosphorylation of TIF-IA by c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) at a single threonine residue (Thr 200). Phosphorylation at Thr 200 impairs the interaction of TIF-IA with Pol I and the TBP-containing factor TIF-IB/SL1, thereby abrogating initiation complex formation. Moreover, TIF-IA is translocated from the nucleolus into the nucleoplasm. Substitution of Thr 200 by valine as well as knock-out of Jnk2 prevent inactivation and translocation of TIF-IA, leading to stress-resistance of Pol I transcription. Our data identify TIF-IA as a downstream target of the JNK pathway and suggest a critical role of JNK2 to protect rRNA synthesis against the harmful consequences of cellular stress.

The moving parts of the nucleolus

The cell nucleolus is the subnuclear body in which ribosomal subunits are assembled, and it is also the location of several processes not related to ribosome biogenesis. Recent studies have revealed that nucleolar components move about in a variety of ways. One class of movement is associated with ribosome assembly, which is a vectorial process originating at the sites of transcription in the border region between the fibrillar center and the dense fibrillar component. The nascent preribosomal particles move outwardly to become the granular components where further maturation takes place. These particles continue their travel through the nucleoplasm for eventual export to the cytoplasm to become functional ribosomes. In a second kind of motion, many nucleolar components rapidly exchange with the nucleoplasm. Thirdly, nucleolar components engage in very complex movements when the nucleolus disassembles at the beginning of mitosis and then reassembles at the end of mitosis. Finally, many other cellular and viral macromolecules, which are not related to ribosome assembly, also pass through or are retained by the nucleolus. These are involved in nontraditional roles of the nucleolus, including regulation of tumor suppressor and oncogene activities, signal recognition particle assembly, modification of small RNAs, control of aging, and modulating telomerase function.

Nucleophosmin (B23) targets ARF to nucleoli and inhibits its function

The ARF tumor suppressor is a nucleolar protein that activates p53-dependent checkpoints by binding Mdm2, a p53 antagonist. Despite persuasive evidence that ARF can bind and inactivate Mdm2 in the nucleoplasm, the prevailing view is that ARF exerts its growth-inhibitory activities from within the nucleolus. We suggest ARF primarily functions outside the nucleolus and provide evidence that it is sequestered and held inactive in that compartment by a nucleolar phosphoprotein, nucleophosmin (NPM). Most cellular ARF is bound to NPM regardless of whether cells are proliferating or growth arrested, indicating that ARF-NPM association does not correlate with growth suppression. Notably, ARF binds NPM through the same domains that mediate nucleolar localization and Mdm2 binding, suggesting that NPM could control ARF localization and compete with Mdm2 for ARF association. Indeed, NPM knockdown markedly enhanced ARF-Mdm2 association and diminished ARF nucleolar localization. Those events correlated with greater ARF-mediated growth suppression and p53 activation. Conversely, NPM overexpression antagonized ARF function while increasing its nucleolar localization. These data suggest that NPM inhibits ARF's p53-dependent activity by targeting it to nucleoli and impairing ARF-Mdm2 association.

Ribosome synthesis meets the cell cycle

A large number of ribosome synthesis factors have been identified using proteomic analyses in yeast. The patterns of RNA and protein co-precipitation suggest that ribosome synthesis does not proceed via a linear progression of successive steps. Recent analyses have identified several interactions between factors clearly implicated in ribosome synthesis and specific steps in the cell division cycle. The intersections between these pathways were not anticipated, but potential explanations for their existence can be advanced.

Cytoplasmic nucleophosmin in acute myelogenous leukemia with a normal karyotype

BACKGROUND

Nucleophosmin (NPM), a nucleocytoplasmic shuttling protein with prominent nucleolar localization, regulates the ARF-p53 tumor-suppressor pathway. Translocations involving the NPM gene cause cytoplasmic dislocation of the NPM protein.

METHODS

We used immunohistochemical methods to study the subcellular localization of NPM in bone marrow-biopsy specimens from 591 patients with primary acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). We then correlated the presence of cytoplasmic NPM with clinical and biologic features of the disease.

RESULTS

Cytoplasmic NPM was detected in 208 (35.2 percent) of the 591 specimens from patients with primary AML but not in 135 secondary AML specimens or in 980 hematopoietic or extrahematopoietic neoplasms other than AML. It was associated with a wide spectrum of morphologic subtypes of the disease, a normal karyotype, and responsiveness to induction chemotherapy, but not with recurrent genetic abnormalities. There was a high frequency of FLT3 internal tandem duplications and absence of CD34 and CD133 in AML specimens with a normal karyotype and cytoplasmic dislocation of NPM, but not in those in which the protein was restricted to the nucleus. AML specimens with cytoplasmic NPM carried mutations of the NPM gene that were predicted to alter the protein at its C-terminal; this mutant gene caused cytoplasmic localization of NPM in transfected cells.

CONCLUSIONS

Cytoplasmic NPM is a characteristic feature of a large subgroup of patients with AML who have a normal karyotype, NPM gene mutations, and responsiveness to induction chemotherapy.

The molecular pathology of acute myeloid leukemia

The pathogenesis of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) involves an array of molecular alterations that disrupt almost every facet of cell transformation. These processes include the regulation of cell proliferation, differentiation, self-renewal, survival, cell cycle checkpoint control, DNA repair and chromatin stability, and cell dissemination. Normal regulatory networks are disrupted or usurped by these leukemogenic insults, and the understanding of these alterations is guiding the design of new therapeutic strategies. This overview describes some of the critical molecular alterations and implicates the rogue leukemogenic proteins in the onset and progression of AML.

Oncogenes as Novel Targets for Cancer Therapy (Part IV)

This is the final part of a four-part serial review on oncogenes and their potential use as targets for cancer therapy. Previous sections discussed various categories of oncogenes (growth factors, tyrosine kinases, intermediate signaling molecules, and transcription factors) and the advances made in various strategies being used to alter their actions. This part describes four oncogenes, MDM2, BCL2, XIAP, and Survivin, that are involved in regulation of the cell cycle and apoptosis.

Protein NPM3 interacts with the multifunctional nucleolar protein B23/nucleophosmin and inhibits ribosome biogenesis

Protein B23/nucleophosmin is a multifunctional protein that plays roles in ribosome biogenesis, control of centrosome duplication, and regulation of p53 expression. A yeast two-hybrid screen was performed in a search for interaction partners of B23. The complementary DNA for a highly acidic protein, nucleoplasmin 3 (NPM3), was found in multiple positive clones. Protein NPM3 and its interaction with B23 were further characterized. Endogenous B23 was able to be co-immunoprecipitated with NPM3, and this complex was resistant to ribonuclease treatment and high concentrations of salt. The N-terminal 35-90 amino acids of B23 were found to be required for their interaction. Separate co-immunoprecipitation studies of B23 and NPM3 suggested the existence of two different complexes, one containing B23 and 28 S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and another composed of B23, NPM3, and other proteins, but no RNA. NPM3 was localized in the nucleolus, and its nucleolar localization depended on active rRNA transcription. In the cells overexpressing NPM3, there were decreased rates of pre-rRNA synthesis and processing. Overexpression of a mutant of NPM3 that did not interact with B23 did not alter pre-rRNA synthesis and processing, suggesting that the interaction of NPM3 with B23 plays a role in the ribosome biogenesis.

A novel site of AKT-mediated phosphorylation in the human MDM2 onco-protein

MDM2 is an E3 ubiquitin ligase which mediates ubiquitylation and proteasome-dependent degradation of the p53 tumor suppressor protein. Phosphorylation of MDM2 by the protein kinase AKT is thought to regulate MDM2 function in response to survival signals, but there has been uncertainty concerning the identity of the sites phosphorylated by AKT. In the present study, we identify Ser-166, a site previously reported as an AKT target, and Ser-188, a novel site which is the major site of phosphorylation of MDM2 by AKT in vitro. Analysis of MDM2 in cultured cells confirms that Ser-166 and Ser-188 are phosphorylated by AKT in a physiological context.