A novel, plasmid-based system for studying gene rearrangements in mammalian cells

Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase 2 and CHOP Restrict the Expression of the Growth Arrest-Specific p20K Lipocalin Gene to G0

The activation of the growth arrest-specific (gas) p20K gene depends on the interaction of C/EBPβ with two elements of a 48-bp promoter region termed the quiescence-responsive unit (QRU). Here we identify extracellular signal-related kinase 2 (ERK2) as a transcriptional repressor of the p20K QRU in cycling chicken embryo fibroblasts (CEF). ERK2 binds to repeated GAAAG sequences overlapping the C/EBPβ sites of the QRU. The recruitment of ERK2 and C/EBPβ is mutually exclusive and dictates the expression of p20K. C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) was associated with C/EBPβ under conditions promoting endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and, to a lesser extent, in cycling CEF but was not detectable when C/EBPβ was immunoprecipitated from contact-inhibited cells. During ER stress, overexpression of CHOP inhibited p20K, while its downregulation promoted p20K, indicating that CHOP is also a potent inhibitor of p20K. Transcriptome analyses revealed that hypoxia-responsive genes are strongly induced in contact-inhibited but not serum-starved CEF, and elevated levels of nitroreductase activity, a marker of hypoxia, were detected at confluence. Conditions of hypoxia (2% O₂) induced growth arrest in subconfluent CEF and markedly stimulated p20K expression, suggesting that the control of proliferation and gas gene expression is closely linked to limiting oxygen concentrations associated with high cell densities.

Dissociation of ras oncogene-induced gene expression and anchorage-independent growth in a series of somatic cell mutants

The mechanism or mechanisms by which ras oncogenes induce morphological transformation and anchorage-independent growth are poorly understood but are thought to involve stable alterations in gene expression. We previously described a genetically dominant, mutant rat fibroblast cell line (ER-1-2) that is resistant to ras-induced anchorage-independent growth. We now describe a cell line derived from ER-1-2 cells, termed ER-1-2T, that has apparently sustained a second, dominant mutation that conferred on these cells the ability to form colonies in soft agar. Analysis of these and control cell lines demonstrated that deregulation of many of the genes commonly associated with the transformed phenotype could be dissociated from anchorage-independent growth. After infection with a ras-expressing retrovirus, both control and ER-1-2 cell lines constitutively expressed elevated levels of the c-jun, junB, fosB, c-myc, collagenase, ornithine decarboxylase, osteopontin, stromelysin, cathepsin L, and insulin-like growth factor 1 genes. These data indicate that signaling events downstream of ras were largely intact in ER-1-2 cells and that the defect in these cells lies either on a pathway separate from those that control stable, ras-mediated expression of these genes or at a point in the cell-division cycle distinct from those that control expression of the genes. In contrast, only c-jun, junB, c-myc, and ornithine decarboxylase were expressed at a significantly elevated level in ER-1-2T cells. Thus, deregulated expression of the genes analyzed was not sufficient for anchorage-independent growth. Furthermore, deregulation of most of them was also not necessary.

Reporter gene expression upon stable transfection when only a TATA box or a TATA box plus Sp1 sites are present 5' to the gene

Episomal plasmids for stable transfection of mammalian cell cultures were constructed that have a G418-resistance (neo) gene immediately downstream of a highly truncated promoter. These plasmids had a function hygromycin-resistance gene (hyg) as a selectable marker. Surprisingly, in LTK- cells, but not HeLa cells, stably transfected with these BK virus-based plasmids having no promoter elements adjacent to the neo gene, readthrough transcription, probably from about 1 kb upstream, gave almost as efficient expression of the neo gene as of the hyg gene with a full-length promoter immediately upstream. When the transfecting plasmids contained Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA sequences for episomal maintenance and had multiple Sp1 sites and a TATA box as the only promoter elements 5' to the neo gene, only about 3-9% of HeLa transfectants were G418 resistant (G418R). In transfections with analogous plasmids lacking these promoter elements 5' to the neo gene, no G418R colonies were seen. The establishment of the G418R phenotype probably required integration of plasmid DNA into favorable chromosomal sites and was aided by the presence of the TATA box plus Sp1 sites as a subminimal promoter. The absence of detectable G418-resistance in most of the HeLa transfectant clones obtained with EBV-type plasmids, even at a high plasmid copy number and even when a TATA box and six Sp1 sites were present immediately upstream of the neo gene, indicates that these elements do not suffice for appreciable gene expression in vivo and that this is a suitable model system for studying DNA rearrangements that can potentiate expression of the neo gene.