Conformational effects of the substitution of Arg for Gly 13 in the ras oncogene-encoded P21 protein

Codon 12 and codon 13 mutations at the K-ras gene induce different soft tissue sarcoma types in nude mice

K-ras codon 12 mutation is more oncogenic in in vitro and in vivo experimental systems than K-ras codon 13 mutation. Moreover, human colorectal tumors bearing a codon 12 mutation are more aggressive, invasive, and metastatic than the same tumor types carrying a codon 13 mutation. However, despite the association between specific sarcoma types and codon 12 or codon 13 mutations, the relationship between the position of the mutated codon at ras genes and tumor aggressiveness has not been studied in this tumor type. Here, we used a nude mice model to evaluate the tumorogenic capacity of stable transfectants of NIH3T3 fibroblasts, expressing K-ras mutated at codon 12 (K12) or 13 (K13), and morphologically, functionally, and molecularly compared these tumors. We found histopathological differences between them, K12-derived tumors showing fibrosarcoma-like features, whereas K13-derived tumors resembled malignant fibrous histiocytomas. Moreover, K12 tumors showed shorter latency of appearance, lower apoptotic and mitotic rates, and higher expression of markers for sarcoma aggressiveness (Ki67, p53 and c-myc) than K13 tumors. They also showed differences in the expression or activation of Ras, Ras downstream pathways [c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), MAPK and AKT], and apoptotic [AKT, Bcl-2, Focal adhesion kinase (FAK)] and mitotic (cyclin B1) regulators, which could explain their functional differences. Most remarkably, the significantly diminished apoptotic rate observed in K12-derived tumors was associated with enhanced antiapoptotic signaling through the AKT pathway. These morphological, functional, and molecular differences demonstrate that codon 12 and codon 13 mutations in the K-ras oncogene can induce two different soft tissue sarcoma types in our in vivo model.

Conformational effects of amino acid substitutions at positions 10, 12, and 13 in the P21 protein

Substitutions of amino acids for Gly 12 or Gly 13 in the ras oncogene-encoded P21 proteins have been demonstrated to produce unique structural changes in these proteins that correlate with their ability to produce cell transformation. For example, the P21 proteins with Arg 12 or Val 13 are both known to be actively transforming. Recent site-specific mutagenesis experiments on the transforming Arg 12 protein have found that the substitution of Val for Gly 10 has no effect on transforming activity whereas the substitution of Val for Gly 13 led to a loss of transforming activity. In this study, we examine the structural effects of these substitutions on the amino terminal hydrophobic decapeptide (Leu 6-Gly 15) of P21 using conformational energy analysis. The results show that the transforming proteins with Gly 10 and Arg 12 or Val 10 and Arg 12 can both adopt the putative malignancy-causing conformation, whereas, for the nontransforming protein with Arg 12 and Val 13, this conformation is energetically disallowed. These results further support the theory that due to structural changes the transforming P21 proteins are unable to bind to some regulatory cellular element which may be the recently identified binding protein responsible for the induction of increased GTPase activity in normal P21 compared with transforming mutants.