Mutant conformation of p53 translated in vitro or in vivo requires functional HSP90.

The p53 mutant, 143ala, was translated in vitro in either rabbit reticulocyte lysate (RRL) or wheat germ extract (WGE). In RRL, p53-143ala protein of both mutant and wild-type conformation, as detected immunologically with conformation-specific antibodies, was translated. The chaperone protein HSP90, present in RRL, was found to coprecipitate only with the mutated conformation of p53. Geldanamycin, shown previously to bind to HSP90 and destabilize its association with other proteins, decreased the amount of immunologically detectable mutated p53 and increased the amount of detectable wild-type protein, without affecting the total translation of p53. When translated in WGE, known to contain functionally deficient HSP90, p53-143ala produced p53 protein, which was not recognized by a mutated conformation-specific antibody. In contrast, the synthesis of conformationally detectable wild-type p53 in this system was not compromised. Reconstitution of HSP90 function in WGE permitted synthesis of conformationally detectable mutated p53, and this was abrogated by geldanamycin. Finally, when p53-143ala was stably tansfected into yeast engineered to be defective for HSP90 function, conformational recognition of mutated p53 was impaired. When stable transfectants of p53-143ala were prepared in yeast expressing wild-type HSP90, conformational recognition of mutated p53 was antagonized by macbecin I, a geldanamycin analog also known to bind HSP90. Taken together, these data demonstrate a role for HSP90 in the achievement and/or stabilization of the mutated conformation of p53-143ala. Furthermore, we show that the mutated conformation of p53 can be pharmacologically antagonized by drugs targeting HSP90.     

Wild-type, but not mutant, human p53 proteins inhibit the replication activities of simian virus 40 large tumor antigen.

Murine p53 blocks many of the replication activities of simian virus 40 (SV40) large tumor antigen (T antigen) in vitro. As murine cells do not replicate SV40 DNA, it was of interest to determine how p53 from permissive human cells functions. Recombinant baculoviruses encoding either the wild-type form of human p53 or a mutant p53 cloned from a human tumor cell line were constructed, and p53 proteins were purified from infected insect cells. Surprisingly, we found that wild-type human p53 was as inhibitory to the ability of T antigen to mediate replication of an SV40 origin-containing (ori DNA) plasmid in vitro as was murine p53. Wild-type human p53 also blocked the DNA unwinding activity of T antigen, as did its murine counterpart. In contrast to murine and wild-type human p53, the mutant human p53 did not block ori DNA replication or DNA unwinding. Murine p53 formed a complex with mutant human p53 in vivo. Furthermore, mutant human p53 reduced the inhibition of SV40 ori DNA replication by murine p53 in vitro. These results provide a model for the way in which mutant p53 proteins can affect normal functions of p53.     

The human papilloma virus 16E6 gene sensitizes human mammary epithelial cells to apoptosis induced by DNA damage.

Programmed cell death (apoptosis) is a normal physiological process, which could in principle be manipulated to play an important role in cancer therapy. The key importance of p53 expression in the apoptotic response to DNA-damaging agents has been stressed because mutant or deleted p53 is so common in most kinds of cancer. An important strategy, therefore, is to find ways to induce apoptosis in the absence of wild-type p53. In this paper, we compare apoptosis in normal human mammary epithelial cells, in cells immortalized with human papilloma virus (HPV), and in mammary carcinoma cell lines expressing wild-type p53, mutant p53, or no p53 protein. Apoptosis was induced with mitomycin C (MMC), a DNA cross-linking and damaging agent, or with staurosporine (SSP), a protein kinase inhibitor. The normal and HPV-transfected cells responded more strongly to SSP than did the tumor cells. After exposure to MMC, cells expressing wild-type p53 underwent extensive apoptosis, whereas cells carrying mutated p53 responded weakly. Primary breast cancer cell lines null for p53 protein were resistant to MMC. In contrast, two HPV immortalized cell lines in which p53 protein was destroyed by E6-modulated ubiquitinylation were highly sensitive to apoptosis induced by MMC. Neither p53 mRNA nor protein was induced in the HPV immortalized cells after MMC treatment, although p53 protein was elevated by MMC in cells with wild-type p53. Importantly, MMC induced p21 mRNA but not p21 protein expression in the HPV immortalized cells. Thus, HPV 16E6 can sensitize mammary epithelial cells to MMC-induced apoptosis via a p53- and p21-independent pathway. We propose that the HPV 16E6 protein modulates ubiquitin-mediated degradation not only of p53 but also of p21 and perhaps other proteins involved in apoptosis.     

P53 hot-spot mutants are resistant to ubiquitin-independent degradation by increased binding to NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1

Proteasomal degradation of p53 is mediated by two alternative pathways that are either dependent or independent of both Mdm2 and ubiquitin. The ubiquitin-independent pathway is regulated by NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) that stabilizes p53. The NQO1 inhibitor dicoumarol induces ubiquitin-independent p53 degradation. We now show that, like dicoumarol, several other coumarin and flavone inhibitors of NQO1 activity, which compete with NAD(P)H for binding to NQO1, induced ubiquitin-independent p53 degradation and inhibited wild-type p53-mediated apoptosis. Although wild-type p53 and several p53 mutants were sensitive to dicoumarol-induced degradation, the most frequent "hot-spot" p53 mutants in human cancer, R175H, R248H, and R273H, were resistant to dicoumarol-induced degradation, but remained sensitive to Mdm2-ubiquitin-mediated degradation. The two alternative pathways for p53 degradation thus have different p53 structural requirements. Further mutational analysis showed that arginines at positions 175 and 248 were essential for dicoumarol-induced p53 degradation. NQO1 bound to wild-type p53 and dicoumarol, which induced a conformational change in NQO1, inhibited this binding. Compared with wild-type p53, the hot-spot p53 mutants showed increased binding to NQO1, which can explain their resistance to dicoumarol-induced degradation. NQO1 thus has an important role in stabilizing hot-spot p53 mutant proteins in human cancer.     

Suppression of p53-mediated growth factor withdrawal-induced apoptosis in the myeloid compartment by hematopoietic cytokines: an overview of hematopoiesis and apoptosis with a presentation of thrombopoietin and the M07E cell line as a model system.

The resistance of leukemic cells to apoptosis induction is one of the great obstacles in clinically alleviating the neoplastic state which they create. Even though p53 is the most commonly mutated protein found in tumors, there does exist the remaining body of cancers that possess wild-type p53. Within the hematopoietic compartment, the majority of acute myelogenous leukemia isolates fall into this latter category ([174, 175,375-377], for example). In particular, it is found that in most AML isolates p53 is genotypically wild-type but found to have an immunophenotype typical of mutant p53, or in the promoter conformation [170, 174,175,377]. The clinical significance of the research which aims to discern the molecular machinery involved in p53 conformational modulation must certainly include the notion that a therapeutic modality may be developed which interferes with the molecular process of shifting p53 from a viability-compromising suppressor conformation to the survival-enhancing promoter conformation. Further studies that investigate the interface between cytokine signaling transduction cascades and the subsystem(s) regulating the redox state of p53 are critical to advancing this field.     

Immune response to p53 is dependent upon p53/HSP70 complexes in breast cancers.

Overexpression of the p53 protein, resulting from gene mutations that increase protein stability, has been detected in greater than 25% of primary human breast cancers. In addition, approximately 10% of breast cancer patients have circulating antibodies to the p53 protein. In this study, the anti-p53 humoral response is correlated with the presence and type of mutant p53 protein expressed in the tumor. In a series of 60 breast cancer patients, 0 of 30 tumors with normal, low-level p53 expression induced anti-p53 antibodies, whereas 7 (23%) of 30 tumors with p53 overexpression elicited a specific anti-p53 antibody response. These 7 patients had anti-p53 antibodies that recognized wild-type p53 and a variety of mutant p53 proteins. A comparison of p53 mutations revealed that antibody-negative tumors had mutations exclusively in exons 7 and 8, whereas antibody-positive tumors had mutations primarily in exons 5 and 6. Moreover, all antibody-eliciting tumors contained complexes between p53 and a 70-kDa heat shock protein, whereas none of the antibody-negative tumors contained this complex. This study implicates a 70-kDa heat shock protein in the antigenic presentation of p53.     

p53 as a target for cancer vaccines: recombinant canarypox virus vectors expressing p53 protect mice against lethal tumor cell challenge.

The p53 protein is an attractive target for immunotherapy, because mutations in the p53 gene are the most common genetic alterations found in human tumors. These mutations result in high levels of p53 protein in the tumor cell, whereas the expression level of wild-type p53 in nonmalignant tissue is usually much lower. Several canarypox virus recombinants expressing human or murine p53 in wild-type or mutant form were constructed. Immunization with these viruses protected BALB/c mice from a challenge with an isogenic and highly tumorigenic mouse fibroblast tumor cell line expressing high levels of mutant p53. The tumor protection was equally effective regardless of whether wild-type or mutant p53 was used for the immunization, indicating that the immunologic response was not dependent on any particular p53 mutation and that immunization with this live virus vaccine works effectively against mutant p53 protein expressed in a tumor cell. In tumors escaping immunologic rejection, the expression of the p53 protein was commonly down-regulated.     

Rescue of mutants of the tumor suppressor p53 in cancer cells by a designed peptide

We designed a series of nine-residue peptides that bound to a defined site on the tumor suppressor p53 and stabilized it against denaturation. To test whether the peptides could act as chaperones and rescue the tumor-suppressing function of oncogenic mutants of p53 in living cells, we treated human tumor cells with the fluorescein-labeled peptide Fl-CDB3 (fluorescent derivative of CDB3). Before treatment, the mutant p53 in the cell was predominantly denatured. Fl-CDB3 was taken up into the cytoplasm and nucleus and induced a substantial up-regulation of wild-type p53 protein and representative mutants. The mutants, His-273 and His-175 p53, adopted the active conformation, with a dramatic decrease in the fraction of denatured protein. In all cases, there was p53-dependent induction of expression of the p53 target genes mdm2, gadd45, and p21, accompanied by p53-dependent partial restoration of apoptosis. Fl-CDB3 sensitized cancer cells that carried wild-type p53 to p53-dependent gamma-radiation-induced apoptosis. Although Fl-CDB3 did not elicit a full biological response, it did bind to and rescue p53 in cells and so can serve as a lead for the development of novel drugs for anticancer therapy.     

Effects of two major activating lesions on the structure and conformation of human ras oncogene products.

ras oncogenes are frequently activated in human tumors by mutations at codon 12 or 61 in their coding sequences. To investigate how these subtle alterations exert such profound effects on the biologic activities of these genes, we studied structural and conformational properties of human ras-oncogene-encoded 21-kDa proteins (p21s). We observed striking differences in the electrophoretic mobilities of the proteins under reducing and nonreducing conditions. These findings imply that intramolecular disulfide bonds affect native p21 conformation. The two activating lesions were shown to induce distinctly different alterations in p21 electrophoretic mobility that were unmasked only under reducing conditions. These results suggest that regions of the molecule containing such alterations are either not exposed or under conformational constraints in the native p21 molecule. We confirmed the opposing effects on protein mobility induced by the two activating lesions by using a recombinant gene containing both lesions. The recombinant gene's high-titer transforming activity further established that the two lesions do not negatively complement one another with respect to transforming-gene function. Our findings of distinct alterations in electrophoretic mobilities of position-12- and position-61-altered p21 molecules should be applicable to the rapid immunologic diagnosis of ras oncogenes in human malignancies.     

Translational Restarts: AUG Reinitiation of a lac Repressor Fragment

An early, spontaneous amber mutation in the lac i-gene allows translational reinitiation, which results in a mutant lac repressor. Comparison of the amino-terminal sequence of this mutant repressor with the partial amino-acid sequence of the wild-type lac repressor shows that reinitiation occurs at the first internal AUG codon, and results in a mutant protein lacking 42 residues at the amino-terminal end. This protein binds the inducer isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactoside with normal affinity, and is capable of maintaining a tetrameric structure; however, it does not repress in vivo. These data suggest that the amino-terminal portion of the wild-type lac repressor is necessary either for direct binding to the lac operator or for the correct conformation for binding to DNA.     

Mammalian cells resistant to tumor suppressor genes.

Expression of p53 causes growth arrest or apoptosis in many normal and neoplastic cell types, but the relationship between these two effects has remained obscure. To begin to dissect the underlying mechanisms at a genetic level, we have generated mutant cells resistant to the action of wild-type p53. Rat embryo fibroblasts transformed with ras and a temperature-sensitive p53 (tsp53(135val)) gene were chemically mutagenized and selected for growth at a temperature at which p53 adopts a wild-type conformation (31.5 degrees C). Clones that grew exponentially at 31.5 degrees C were selected. Cell fusion experiments demonstrated that the mutations conferring resistance to p53-mediated growth arrest were dominant. The mutagenized clones were resistant not only to p53-mediated growth arrest, but also to the apoptosis induced by E1A in conjunction with p53, and partially resistant to the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor, pRB. The results suggest that a single downstream pathway can control the induction of growth arrest and apoptosis, and that both p53 and RB function through this pathway.     

Clustering of low-energy conformations near the native structures of small proteins

Recent experimental studies of the denatured state and theoretical analyses of the folding landscape suggest that there are a large multiplicity of low-energy, partially folded conformations near the native state. In this report, we describe a strategy for predicting protein structure based on the working hypothesis that there are a greater number of low-energy conformations surrounding the correct fold than there are surrounding low-energy incorrect folds. To test this idea, 12 ensembles of 500 to 1,000 low-energy structures for 10 small proteins were analyzed by calculating the rms deviation of the Cα coordinates between each conformation and every other conformation in the ensemble. In all 12 cases, the conformation with the greatest number of conformations within 4-Å rms deviation was closer to the native structure than were the majority of conformations in the ensemble, and in most cases it was among the closest 1 to 5%. These results suggest that, to fold efficiently and retain robustness to changes in amino acid sequence, proteins may have evolved a native structure situated within a broad basin of low-energy conformations, a feature which could facilitate the prediction of protein structure at low resolution.     

Two distinct mechanisms alter p53 in breast cancer: mutation and nuclear exclusion.

Twenty-seven cases of inflammatory breast cancer were screened for the presence of the p53 protein by immunocytochemical methods using a monoclonal antibody directed against the p53 protein. Three groups were detected: 8 cases (30%) had high levels of p53 in the nucleus of the cancer cells; 9 cases (33%) had a complete lack of detectable staining; 10 cases (37%) showed a pattern of cytoplasmic staining with nuclear sparing. Nucleotide sequence analysis of p53 cDNAs derived from the samples with cytoplasmic staining revealed only wild-type p53 alleles in 6 out of 7 cases. An eighth case was determined to be wild type by a single-strand conformation polymorphism. In contrast, the samples containing nuclear p53 contained a variety of missense mutations and a nonsense mutation. The p53 cDNAs from 3 of the tumors that lacked detectable p53 staining were analyzed, and all 3 had wild-type nucleotide sequences. Interestingly, a case of normal lactating breast tissue also showed intense cytoplasmic staining for p53 with nuclear sparing. These data suggest that some breast cancers that contain the wild-type form of p53 protein may inactivate its tumor-suppressing activity by sequestering this protein in the cytoplasm, away from its site of action in the cell nucleus. The detection of cytoplasmic p53 in normal lactating breast tissue could suggest that this is the mechanism employed in specific physiological situations to permit transient cell proliferation. This observation could explain how some breast cancer tissues inactivate p53 function without mutation.