Halogenated imidazole derivatives block RNA polymerase II elongation along mitogen inducible genes

Protein Kinase CK2 and Its Potential Role as a Therapeutic Target in Huntington's Disease

Huntington's Disease (HD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder caused by a CAG trinucleotide repeat expansion in the HTT gene, for which no disease modifying therapies are currently available. Much of the recent research has focused on developing therapies to directly lower HTT expression, and while promising, these therapies have presented several challenges regarding administration and efficacy. Another promising therapeutic approach is the modulation of HTT post-translational modifications (PTMs) that are dysregulated in disease and have shown to play a key role in HTT toxicity. Among all PTMs, modulation of HTT phosphorylation has been proposed as an attractive therapeutic option due to the possibility of orally administering specific kinase effectors. One of the kinases described to participate in HTT phosphorylation is Protein Kinase CK2. CK2 has recently emerged as a target for the treatment of several neurological and psychiatric disorders, although its role in HD remains controversial. While pharmacological studies in vitro inhibiting CK2 resulted in reduced HTT phosphorylation and increased toxicity, genetic approaches in mouse models of HD have provided beneficial effects. In this review we discuss potential therapeutic approaches related to the manipulation of HTT-PTMs with special emphasis on the role of CK2 as a therapeutic target in HD.

Complex effects of flavopiridol on the expression of primary response genes

Background

The Positive Transcription Elongation Factor b (P-TEFb) is a complex of Cyclin Dependent Kinase 9 (CDK9) with either cyclins T1, T2 or K. The complex phosphorylates the C-Terminal Domain of RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) and negative elongation factors, stimulating productive elongation by RNAPII, which is paused after initiation. P-TEFb is recruited downstream of the promoters of many genes, including primary response genes, upon certain stimuli. Flavopiridol (FVP) is a potent pharmacological inhibitor of CDK9 and has been used extensively in cells as a means to inhibit CDK9 activity. Inhibition of P-TEFb complexes has potential therapeutic applications.

Results

It has been shown that Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulates the recruitment of P-TEFb to Primary Response Genes (PRGs) and proposed that P-TEFb activity is required for their expression, as the CDK9 inhibitor DRB prevents localization of RNAPII in the body of these genes. We have previously determined the effects of FVP in global gene expression in a variety of cells and surprisingly observed that FVP results in potent upregulation of a number of PRGs in treatments lasting 4-24 h. Because inhibition of CDK9 activity is being evaluated in pre-clinical and clinical studies for the treatment of several pathologies, it is important to fully understand the short and long term effects of its inhibition. To this end, we determined the immediate and long-term effect of FVP in the expression of several PRGs. In exponentially growing normal human fibroblasts, the expression of several PRGs including FOS, JUNB, EGR1 and GADD45B, was rapidly and potently downregulated before they were upregulated following FVP treatment. In serum starved cells re-stimulated with serum, FVP also inhibited the expression of these genes, but subsequently, JUNB, GADD45B and EGR1 were upregulated in the presence of FVP. Chromatin Immunoprecipitation of RNAPII revealed that EGR1 and GADD45B are transcribed at the FVP-treatment time points where their corresponding mRNAs accumulate. These results suggest a possible stress response triggered by CDK9 inhibition than ensues transcription of certain PRGs.

Conclusions

We have shown that certain PRGs are transcribed in the presence of FVP in a manner that might be independent of CDK9, suggesting a possible alternative mechanism for their transcription when P-TEFb kinase activity is pharmacologically inhibited. These results also show that the sensitivity to FVP is quite variable, even among PRGs.

Direct recruitment of ERK cascade components to inducible genes is regulated by heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) K

Components of the ERK cascade are recruited to genes, but it remains unknown how they are regulated at these sites. The RNA-binding protein heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) K interacts with kinases and is found along genes including the mitogen-inducible early response gene EGR-1. Here, we used chromatin immunoprecipitations to study co-recruitment of hnRNP K and ERK cascade activity along the EGR-1 gene. These measurements revealed that the spatiotemporal binding patterns of ERK cascade transducers (GRB2, SOS, B-Raf, MEK, and ERK) at the EGR-1 locus resemble both hnRNP K and RNA polymerase II (Pol II). Inhibition of EGR-1 transcription with either serum-responsive factor knockdown or 5,6-dichloro-1-β-D-ribofuranosylbenzimidazole altered recruitment of all of the above ERK cascade components along this locus that mirrored the changes in Pol II and hnRNP K profiles. siRNA knockdown of hnRNP K decreased the levels of active MEK and ERK at the EGR-1, changes associated with decreased levels of elongating pre-mRNA and less efficient splicing. The hnRNP K dependence and pattern of ERK cascade activation at the c-MYC locus were different from at EGR-1. Ribonucleoprotein immunoprecipitations revealed that hnRNP K was associated with the EGR-1 but not c-MYC mRNAs. These data suggest a model where Pol II transcription-driven recruitment of hnRNP K along the EGR-1 locus compartmentalizes activation of the ERK cascade at these genes, events that regulate synthesis of mature mRNA.

Comprehensive analysis of the palindromic motif TCTCGCGAGA: a regulatory element of the HNRNPK promoter

Definitive identification of promoters, their cis-regulatory motifs, and their trans-acting proteins requires experimental analysis. To define the HNRNPK promoter and its cognate DNA–protein interactions, we performed a comprehensive study combining experimental approaches, including luciferase reporter gene assays, chromatin immunoprecipitations (ChIP), electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA), and mass spectrometry (MS). We discovered that out of the four potential HNRNPK promoters tested, the one containing the palindromic motif TCTCGCGAGA exhibited the highest activity in a reporter system assay. Although further EMSA and MS analyses, performed to uncover the identity of the palindrome-binding transcription factor, did identify a complex of DNA-binding proteins, neither method unambiguously identified the pertinent direct trans-acting protein(s). ChIP revealed similar chromatin states at the promoters with the palindromic motif and at housekeeping gene promoters. A ChIP survey showed significantly higher recruitment of PARP1, a protein identified by MS as ubiquitously attached to DNA probes, within heterochromatin sites. Computational analyses indicated that this palindrome displays features that mark nucleosome boundaries, causing the surrounding DNA landscape to be constitutively open. Our strategy of diverse approaches facilitated the direct characterization of various molecular properties of HNRNPK promoter bearing the palindromic motif TCTCGCGAGA, despite the obstacles that accompany in vitro methods.