Analysis of the 5' flanking region of the rat proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) gene

RNAi-mediated down-regulation of Sp3 gene expression inhibits proliferation of HepG2 cells

AIM: To investigate the effect of RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated gene silencing of specificity protein 3 (Sp3) on the proliferation of human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells.

METHODS: HepG2 cells were infected with a lentivirus expressing Sp3-siRNA, and the expression of Sp3 mRNA and protein was determined by semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and Western blot and immunohistochemistry. Cell growth was evaluated by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay, and cell cycle progression was analyzed by flow cytometry.

RESULTS: Compared to control cells, the expression levels of Sp3 mRNA and protein were significantly lower in HepG2 cells transfected with the Sp3-siRNA (mRNA: 0.47 ± 0.05 vs 0.74 ± 0.08, 0.70 ± 0.16, F = 7.322, all P < 0.05; protein: 0.37 ± 0.08vs 0.83 ± 0.17, 0.66 ± 0.13, F = 8.442, all P < 0.05). MTT assay showed that the growth of cells transfected with the Sp3-siRNA was slower at 48 , 72 and 96 h (0.28 ± 0.18 vs 0.34 ± 0.19, 0.35 ± 0.07, F = 3.888; 0.57 ± 0.11 vs 0.84 ± 0.05, 0.74 ± 0.08, F = 12.721; 0.72 ± 18.1 vs 0.98 ± 0.05, 0.93 ± 0.9, F = 6.342, all P < 0.05). Flow cytometry analysis showed that the percentage of cells in G₁ phase increased in cells transfected with the Sp3-siRNA.

CONCLUSION: Sp3 may play an important role in the growth of human hepatic cancer cells, and RNAi-induced Sp3 down-regulation could inhibit the growth of HepG2 cells in vitro.

Spatial repression of PCNA by p53 during kidney development

Transcriptional repression is a key mechanism for the spatial specification of gene expression and cell fate determination. During kidney development, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) is expressed in the nephrogenic zone and is downregulated rapidly as renal epithelial cells enter terminal differentiation and acquire functional characteristics. Our laboratory reported that the transcription factor p53 stimulates the terminal differentiation of renal epithelial cells by means of transcriptional activation of renal function genes (Saifudeen Z, Dipp S, and El-Dahr SS. J Clin Invest 109: 1021-1030, 2002). Because p53-induced growth arrest correlates with downregulation of PCNA gene expression, we examined the impact of p53 inactivation on PCNA expression in mice and evaluated the effect of p53 on PCNA transcription. Immunohistochemistry revealed that the transition from nephrogenesis to terminal epithelial cell differentiation correlates with accumulation of the transcription factor p53. Importantly, the spatially restricted pattern of PCNA expression is disrupted in kidneys of p53-deficient pups, in which there was a redistribution of PCNA expression into the differentiation zone (without a change in total kidney PCNA content) and distortion of the tubular architecture. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays revealed that the binding of kidney nuclear extracts to the p53 response elements in human and rat PCNA promoters is developmentally regulated. Transient transfection assays performed in p53-deficient HeLa cells revealed that exogenous p53 strongly represses transcription from human PCNA promoter-reporter constructs. Interestingly, deletion of the p53-binding site confers enhanced responsiveness to p53-mediated repression, suggesting that transcriptional repression of PCNA by p53 is achieved by a mechanism other than direct DNA binding. On the basis of these results, we propose the hypothesis that p53-mediated transcriptional repression plays a role in the spatial restriction of PCNA gene expression during normal renal development.

Involvement of RFX1 protein in the regulation of the human proliferating cell nuclear antigen promoter

The proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) is an essential eukaryotic DNA replication factor that is transcriptionally regulated by the adenovirus oncoprotein E1A 243R. Inducibility of the human PCNA promoter by E1A 243R is conferred by the cis-acting PCNA E1A-responsive element (PERE), which associates with the ATF-1, cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB), and RFX1 transcription factors and is modulated by cellular proteins such as the coactivator CREB-binding protein (CBP) and tumor suppressor p107 (Labrie, C., Lee, B. H., and Mathews, M. B. (1995) Nucleic Acids Res. 23, 3732-3741; Lee, B. H., and Mathews, M. B. (1997) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 94, 4481-4486; Lee, B. H., Liu, M., and Mathews, M. B. (1998) J. Virol. 72, 1138-1145). RFX1 also forms a complex with sequences in the PCNA promoter of mouse and rat that share homology with the RFX1 consensus site. To explore the role of RFX1 in regulating the PCNA promoter, we examined the effects of mutations in the human PERE on RFX1 binding and gene expression. Mutations within the RFX1 consensus binding site reduced RFX1 binding, whereas mutations upstream of the site, or on its border, increased RFX1 binding. These mutations also affected the transcriptional activity of PCNA-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter constructs in transient expression assays. The relative transcriptional activity of mutant PCNA promoters, both in the presence and absence of E1A 243R, was inversely related to their ability to complex with RFX1. These findings suggest that the binding of RFX1 is influenced by sequences outside its consensus binding site and that this transcription factor plays an inhibitory role in the regulation of PCNA gene expression.

Serum responsiveness of the rat PCNA promoter involves the proximal ATF and AP-1 sites

We have previously shown that the rat PCNA (proliferating cell nuclear antigen) gene promoter is responsive to serum stimulation. In this study, the sequence of the promoter responsive to serum stimulation has been localized in the region between nucleotides -70 and +125 relative to the transcription initiation site. This region contains an ATF site (nucleotides -51 to -44) and an AP-1 site (nucleotides -64 to -58). Mutation at either the ATF or the AP-1 site reduced the serum responsiveness of the promoter. In gel mobility shift assays, nuclear extracts from serum stimulated cells, compared to those from quiescent cells, exhibit an increasing binding activity toward a promoter related oligonucleotide (-70 to -42) which includes the ATF site and the AP-1 site. Formation of the DNA:protein complexes requires the simultaneous involvement of ATF and AP-1 sites as either element can abrogate the complexes in the competition experiment. Both the distance and sequence are essential to complex formation. Moreover, ATF-1 but not ATF-2 (or CREB) has been identified as a major component of the complexes in the antibody supershift or interference experiment. The results of this study suggest that ATF-1 in association with other factors is involved in regulating the serum stimulation of the rat PCNA promoter activity via the proximal ATF and AP-1 sites.

A novel G1-specific enhancer identified in the human heat shock protein 70 gene

Expression of the human heat shock protein 70 gene (hsp70) is induced by various kinds of stress and by oncogenes. In the absence of stress, hsp70 is mainly expressed in the G1and S phases of the cell cycle, but the elements contributing to cell cycle-dependent expression from the hsp70 promoter remain elusive. We have previously reported that two elements, named HSP-MYCA and HSP-MYCB, located approximately 200 bp upstream (-200) from the transcription start site (+1) of human hsp70, are important for initiation of DNA replication at the hsp70 locus. In this report we examine the effect of these two elements on transcriptional activity from the hsp70 promoter, especially in terms of cell cycle-dependent expression. Various segments of the hsp70 promoter region (up to -300) were linked to the luciferase gene and the constructs were transfected into mouse L cells to examine their transcriptional activity. A strong enhancer activity was defined in the HSP-MYCB element, but not in HSP-MYCA. Mutations introduced within HSP-MYCB abolished the transcriptional activation. In synchronized cells, pHB-Luc (a luciferase construct containing approximately 2.4 kb of the hsp70 promoter region) as well as endogenous hsp70 showed two peaks of expression; one in G1 and the other in the S phase. Site-directed mutagenesis of HSP-MYCB in pHB-Luc abolished the expression peak in G1, but not that in the S phase. To test promoter specificity, wild-type and mutant HSP-MYCB elements were then linked to the luciferase gene in combination with the hsp70 , the cyclin A or the PCNA promoter. Both in transient experiments and established cell lines, a strong peak of expression in mid-G1phase was observed with all the constructs containing wild-type HSP-MYCB, but not with the constructs containing the mutant sequence. These results suggest that the HSP-MYCB sequence is a G1-specific enhancer and is responsible for cell cycle-dependent expression of hsp70.

Promoter activity of the proliferating-cell nuclear antigen gene is associated with inducible CRE-binding proteins in interleukin 2-stimulated T lymphocytes

The proliferating-cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) gene encodes an auxiliary factor of DNA polymerase delta and functions in DNA replication during S phase. It is expressed at much higher levels in proliferating cells than in quiescent cells. We have studied the regulatory role of the 5'-flanking sequence of the murine PCNA gene in interleukin 2 (IL-2)-responsive cloned T cells (L2). Analysis of a set of deletion constructs in transient transfection assays measuring heterologous reporter gene (luciferase) activity demonstrated that the 182-bp 5'-flanking region provides full promoter activity in IL-2-stimulated L2 cells. While many elements contribute to PCNA promoter strength in IL-2-stimulated cells, the largest decrease in activity occurred with deletion of the tandem CRE (cyclic AMP response element) binding sites located at nucleotides -37 to -52. With a gel mobility shift assay, several IL-2-inducible DNA-protein complexes were detected, including CREB (CRE-binding) and ATF1 (activating transcription factor) proteins that are specific for the PCNA-CRE sequence. Methylation interference analysis confirmed specific binding of these proteins to the CRE sites. Mutation at the PCNA-CRE motif abolishes IL-2-inducible binding and reduces substantially PCNA promoter activity. These results indicate that IL-2-stimulated PCNA transcription may be partially mediated by these CRE-binding proteins.

Promoter activity of the proliferating-cell nuclear antigen gene is associated with inducible CRE-binding proteins in interleukin 2-stimulated T lymphocytes

The proliferating-cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) gene encodes an auxiliary factor of DNA polymerase delta and functions in DNA replication during S phase. It is expressed at much higher levels in proliferating cells than in quiescent cells. We have studied the regulatory role of the 5'-flanking sequence of the murine PCNA gene in interleukin 2 (IL-2)-responsive cloned T cells (L2). Analysis of a set of deletion constructs in transient transfection assays measuring heterologous reporter gene (luciferase) activity demonstrated that the 182-bp 5'-flanking region provides full promoter activity in IL-2-stimulated L2 cells. While many elements contribute to PCNA promoter strength in IL-2-stimulated cells, the largest decrease in activity occurred with deletion of the tandem CRE (cyclic AMP response element) binding sites located at nucleotides -37 to -52. With a gel mobility shift assay, several IL-2-inducible DNA-protein complexes were detected, including CREB (CRE-binding) and ATF1 (activating transcription factor) proteins that are specific for the PCNA-CRE sequence. Methylation interference analysis confirmed specific binding of these proteins to the CRE sites. Mutation at the PCNA-CRE motif abolishes IL-2-inducible binding and reduces substantially PCNA promoter activity. These results indicate that IL-2-stimulated PCNA transcription may be partially mediated by these CRE-binding proteins.

A complex promoter element mediates transactivation of the human proliferating cell nuclear antigen promoter by the 243-residue adenovirus E1A oncoprotein

The adenovirus E1A oncoproteins interfere with the normal regulation of cellular proliferation through interactions with cell cycle regulatory proteins. In view of the essential role of proliferating-cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in DNA replication, we performed a mutational analysis of the minimal human PCNA promoter (nucleotides -87 to +62) to define sequence elements which mediate transactivation by the 243-residue E1A protein (E1A 243R). Linker-scanning and site-directed mutants were examined for basal and E1A-induced expression of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) from PCNA promoter-CAT reporter constructs transiently expressed in HeLa cells. The results define the cis-acting element required for induction of PCNA by E1A 243R as a region between -59 and -45 relative to the transcription initiation site. This PCNA E1A-responsive element (PERE), which is protected from DNase I digestion by nuclear extracts from 293 cells, includes the sequence AGCGTGG immediately upstream of the ATF binding site previously shown to be important for activation of PCNA by E1A 243R (G. F. Morris and M. B. Mathews, J. Virol. 65:6397-6406, 1991). Mutation of either the upstream component or the ATF site within the PERE diminishes basal promoter activity and abrogates transactivation by E1A 243R. This novel cis-acting element is also essential for both basal and E1A-induced expression in the context of the full-length PCNA promoter.

A complex promoter element mediates transactivation of the human proliferating cell nuclear antigen promoter by the 243-residue adenovirus E1A oncoprotein

The adenovirus E1A oncoproteins interfere with the normal regulation of cellular proliferation through interactions with cell cycle regulatory proteins. In view of the essential role of proliferating-cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in DNA replication, we performed a mutational analysis of the minimal human PCNA promoter (nucleotides -87 to +62) to define sequence elements which mediate transactivation by the 243-residue E1A protein (E1A 243R). Linker-scanning and site-directed mutants were examined for basal and E1A-induced expression of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) from PCNA promoter-CAT reporter constructs transiently expressed in HeLa cells. The results define the cis-acting element required for induction of PCNA by E1A 243R as a region between -59 and -45 relative to the transcription initiation site. This PCNA E1A-responsive element (PERE), which is protected from DNase I digestion by nuclear extracts from 293 cells, includes the sequence AGCGTGG immediately upstream of the ATF binding site previously shown to be important for activation of PCNA by E1A 243R (G. F. Morris and M. B. Mathews, J. Virol. 65:6397-6406, 1991). Mutation of either the upstream component or the ATF site within the PERE diminishes basal promoter activity and abrogates transactivation by E1A 243R. This novel cis-acting element is also essential for both basal and E1A-induced expression in the context of the full-length PCNA promoter.