Preparation of cell-lines for conditional knockdown of gene expression and measurement of the knockdown effects on E4orf4-induced cell death

NTPDASE4 gene products cooperate with the adenovirus E4orf4 protein through PP2A-dependent and -independent mechanisms and contribute to induction of cell death

The adenovirus E4orf4 protein induces nonclassical apoptosis in mammalian cells through at least two complementing pathways regulated by the interactions of E4orf4 with protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) and Src kinases. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells, which do not express Src, E4orf4 induces PP2A-dependent toxicity. The yeast Golgi apyrase Ynd1 was found to contribute to E4orf4-mediated toxicity and to interact with the PP2A-B55α regulatory subunit. In addition, a mammalian Ynd1 orthologue, the NTPDASE4 gene product Golgi UDPase, was shown to physically interact with E4orf4. Here we report that knockdown of NTPDASE4 suppressed E4orf4-induced cell death. Conversely, overexpression of the NTPDASE4 gene products Golgi UDPase and LALP70 enhanced E4orf4-induced cell killing. We found that similarly to results obtained in yeast, the apyrase activity of mammalian UDPase was not required for its contribution to E4orf4-induced toxicity. The interaction between E4orf4 and UDPase had two consequences: a PP2A-dependent one, resulting in increased UDPase levels, and a PP2A-independent outcome that led to dissociation of large UDPase-containing protein complexes. The present report extends our findings in yeast to E4orf4-mediated death of mammalian cells, and combined with previous results, it suggests that the E4orf4-NTPDase4 pathway, partly in association with PP2A, may provide an alternative mechanism for the E4orf4-Src pathway to contribute to the cytoplasmic death function of E4orf4.

IMPORTANCE

The adenovirus E4orf4 protein contributes to regulation of the progression of virus infection from the early to the late phase, and when expressed alone, it induces a unique caspase-independent programmed cell death which is more efficient in cancer cells than in normal cells. The interactions of E4orf4 with cellular proteins that mediate its functions, such as PP2A and Src kinases, are highly conserved in evolution. The results presented here reveal that the NTPDASE4 gene product Golgi UDPase, first discovered to contribute to E4orf4 toxicity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, associates with E4orf4 and plays a role in induction of cell death in mammalian cells. Details of the functional interaction between E4orf4, PP2A, and the UDPase are described. Identification of the evolutionarily conserved mechanisms underlying E4orf4 activity will increase our understanding of the interactions between the virus and the host cell and will contribute to our grasp of the unique mode of E4orf4-induced cell death.

Structure- and modeling-based identification of the adenovirus E4orf4 binding site in the protein phosphatase 2A B55α subunit

BACKGROUND

The adenovirus E4orf4 protein must bind protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) for its functions.

RESULTS

The E4orf4 binding site in PP2A was mapped to the α1,α2 helices of the B55α subunit.

CONCLUSION

The E4orf4 binding site in PP2A-B55α lies above the substrate binding site and does not overlap it.

SIGNIFICANCE

A novel functional significance was assigned to the α1,α2 helices of the PP2A-B55α subunit. The adenovirus E4orf4 protein regulates the progression of viral infection and when expressed outside the context of the virus it induces nonclassical, cancer cell-specific apoptosis. All E4orf4 functions known to date require an interaction between E4orf4 and protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), which is mediated through PP2A regulatory B subunits. Specifically, an interaction with the B55α subunit is required for induction of cell death by E4orf4. To gain a better insight into the E4orf4-PP2A interaction, mapping of the E4orf4 interaction site in PP2A-B55α has been undertaken. To this end we used a combination of bioinformatics analyses of PP2A-B55α and of E4orf4, which led to the prediction of E4orf4 binding sites on the surface of PP2A-B55α. Mutation analysis, immunoprecipitation, and GST pulldown assays based on the theoretical predictions revealed that the E4orf4 binding site included the α1 and α2 helices described in the B55α structure and involved at least three residues located in these helices facing each other. Loss of E4orf4 binding was accompanied by reduced contribution of the B55α mutants to E4orf4-induced cell death. The identified E4orf4 binding domain lies above the previously described substrate binding site and does not overlap it, although its location could be consistent with direct or indirect effects on substrate binding. This work assigns for the first time a functional significance to the α1,α2 helices of B55α, and we suggest that the binding site defined by these helices could also contribute to interactions between PP2A and some of its cellular regulators.