Identification of a transactivation activity in the COOH-terminal region of p73 which is impaired in the naturally occurring mutants found in human neuroblastomas.

p73 is a recently cloned tumor suppressor gene that is highly homologous to p53, and the products of both possess similar functions in inhibiting cell growth and inducing apoptosis. Interestingly, the COOH-terminal region of p53 displays no significant homology with that of p73. Moreover, p73 has an additional segment at its COOH terminus. Recently, we have found two mutations of p73 with amino acid substitution (P405R and P425L) in primary neuroblastomas. Because the region (amino acid residues 382-491) contains a glutamine- and proline-rich domain, we hypothesized that it has a transactivation function, and the mutations found in tumors result in loss of function. To test it, we used the yeast GAL4 DNA-binding fusion system. Yeast transformants expressing a GAL4-p73(1-112) or a GAL4-p73alpha(380-513) fusion protein were grown in SD medium lacking histidine and tryptophan and exhibited a significant induction of beta-galactosidase activity. Transient transfection experiments revealed that both of fusion proteins could induce the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase activity in mammalian cells, indicating that the COOH-terminal as well as NH2-terminal regions of p73 had significantly high levels of transactivation activity. Furthermore, the former activity was severely impaired in two naturally occurring mutant forms found in neuroblastomas. These suggest that, unlike p53, p73 has two domains with transactivation function, one in the NH2-terminal region and the other in the COOH-terminal region. Loss of function mutation in the latter might be involved in tumorigenesis and/or tumor progression.     

A naturally occurring p73 mutation in a p73-p53 double-mutant lung cancer cell line encodes p73 alpha protein with a dominant-negative function

p73, a close homolog of p53 tumor suppressor, induces growth arrest and apoptosis. However, its role in cancers is controversial because of the rarity of p73 mutations, lack of tumors in p73-knockout mice, and the presence of multiple isotypes, among which ΔN isotypes inhibit the function of TA isotypes. We analyzed three naturally occurring p73 mutants found in lung cancer cell lines, NCI-H1155, DMS 92 and A427. NCI-H1155 is a cell line that has a p73 mutation [p73(G264W)] in the DNA-binding domain, as well as a p53 mutation [p53(R273H)], which is frequently found in human cancers and has a "gain-of-function" characteristic. p73α(G264W) not only lacks transactivation activity itself, but also suppressed the transactivation activity of the wild-type p73α in a dose-dependent manner, indicating that p73α(G264W) is a dominant-negative mutant. p73α(G264W) failed to suppress colony formation. We tested two other mutations, p73(Del418) in DMS 92 and p73(Del603) in A427. Both mutants retained similar levels of transactivation activity and suppression of colony formation to those of wild-type p73. The biological significance of these two mutations is unclear. In NCI-H1155 cells the coexistence of mutations that abrogate the normal functions of p73 and p53 may indicate that each mutation confers an additive growth advantage upon the cells.     

When p53 needs p73 to be functional - forced p73 expression induces nuclear accumulation of endogenous p53 protein

In human neuroblastoma (NB), wild type p53 protein does not elicit its archetypal human tumor suppressive activity so far described. To elucidate this alteration, substantial investigations using NB cell lines have underscored p53 protein nuclear localization defect and/or inappropriate conformation, but no definitive evidence has been provided so far. p73, the first homologue of the p53 gene, locates at the 1p36.3 locus, which is known to be deleted in various human tumors including NB. Unlike p53 mRNA, which specifies a single protein, p73alpha mRNAs encode two types of isoform (TAp73alpha and DeltaNp73alpha) resulting from the use of two different promoters, and eliciting or lacking NH(2)-terminal transactivation domain, respectively. DeltaNp73alpha inhibits p53 pro-apoptotic function in murine developing neurons and is abundantly expressed in human undifferentiated NB tumors. However, critical issues have been raised regarding p73alpha isoform roles, and their possible link to p53 are yet to be clarified in human NB using adenoviral infection approach.     

p73beta-Mediated apoptosis requires p57kip2 induction and IEX-1 inhibition

Similarly to p53, p73alpha and p73beta induce growth arrest and/or apoptosis in response to DNA damage or when exogenously expressed. However, how they trigger apoptosis remains unresolved. After stable transduction of either p73alpha or p73beta, a greater apoptotic response was observed for p73beta in both primary and tumor cells. Consistently, blocking ectopic and endogenous p73beta expression by specific shRNA significantly decreased apoptotic levels after DNA damage. We found that p73beta targets the apoptotic program at multiple levels: (i) facilitating caspase activation through p53-dependent signals and (ii) inducing p57KIP2, while down-regulating c-IPA1 and IEX1 through a p53-independent mechanism. p73beta-mediated apoptosis was considerably reduced after inhibition of p57(KIP2) by small interfering RNA, IEX-1 overexpression, and in mouse embryo fibroblasts derived from p57-/- mice. Data from this study offer evidence for the apoptotic activity exclusive of p73beta. In the clinical context, these results might have potential therapeutic implications, because p73beta could induce alternative apoptotic responses in tumors harboring p53 mutations.     

p53 polymorphism influences response in cancer chemotherapy via modulation of p73-dependent apoptosis

Intact p73 function is shown to be an important determinant of cellular sensitivity to anticancer agents. Inhibition of p73 function by dominant-negative proteins or by mutant p53 abrogates apoptosis and cytotoxicity induced by these agents. A polymorphism encoding either arginine (72R) or proline (72P) at codon 72 of p53 influences inhibition of p73 by a range of p53 mutants identified in squamous cancers. Clinical response following cisplatin-based chemo-radiotherapy for advanced head and neck cancer is influenced by this polymorphism, cancers expressing 72R mutants having lower response rates than those expressing 72P mutants. Polymorphism in p53 may influence individual responsiveness to cancer therapy.     

H1299细胞中P1k3对p73转录活性的影响

背景与目的:研究表明蛋白激酶P1k3可以增加肿瘤抑制因子p53的转录活性,但对p73转录活性的影响尚不清楚,因此本实验旨在研究蛋白激酶P1k3对p73转录活性的影响.方法:选用p53缺失型人类肺癌细胞系H1299,采用荧光素酶报告剂分析、反转录聚合酶链反应(RT-PCR)及克隆形成实验的方法研究蛋白激酶P1k3及激酶活性缺失的P1k3(K52R)对p73转录活性的影响.结果:荧光素酶报告剂分析结果显示,单独转染p73基因可以增加p21~(WAF1)和Bax启动子介导的荧光素酶的表达(P<0.05);共转染p73基因和P1k3基因,p21~(WAF1)和Bax启动子介导的荧光素酶的表达与单独转染p73基因组相比显著降低(P<0.05),且呈浓度依赖性;而激酶活性缺失的Plk3(K52R)对p21~(WAF1)和Bax启动子介导的荧光素酶的表达没有显著影响(P>0.05).RT-PCR检测结果也显示,p73诱导p2~(WAF1)和Bax的mRNA表达(P<0.05),P1k3降低了p73诱导的p21~(WAF1)和Bax的mRNA表达水平(P<0.05);而激酶活性缺失的P1k3(K52R)对p73诱导的p21~(WAF1)和Bax的mRNA表达水平无显著影响(P>0.05).克隆形成实验结果显示,p73抑制了H1299细胞克隆的形成(P<0.05),P1k3降低了p73对H1299细胞克隆形成的抑制(P<0.05),而激酶活性缺失的P1k3(K52R)对p73抑制H1299细胞克隆形成无显著影响(P>0.05).结论:P1k3可以抑制p73的转录活性,而激酶活性缺失的P1k3(K52R)对p73的转录活性无明显影响.     

Biologic and biochemical analyses of p16(INK4a) mutations from primary tumors.

BACKGROUND: Point mutations in the tumor suppressor gene p16(INK4a) (also known as p16, CDKN2, MTS1, and INK4a) are found in many tumor types. Because the function of the products of these naturally occurring mutants has not been fully explored, we investigated the functional activities of a wide range of naturally occurring p16 mutant proteins. METHODS: Sixteen cancer-associated p16 mutant proteins, resulting from missense mutations, were characterized for their ability to bind and inhibit the cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK4 and CDK6) and to induce cell cycle arrest in G(1) phase. RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS: Among 16 mutants analyzed, nine had detectable functional defects. Three mutants (D84V, D84G, and R87P) had defects in CDK binding, kinase inhibition, and cell cycle arrest. The corresponding mutations are located in the third ankyrin repeat in a highly conserved region believed to form the CDK binding cleft. Three mutants (P48L, D74N, and R87L) had defects in kinase inhibition and cell cycle arrest. Among the 10 mutants with normal CDK binding and inhibitory activity, three mutants (N71S, R80L, and H83Y) had defects only in their ability to induce cell cycle arrest. Thus, p16 mutant proteins that retain CDK4 and CDK6 binding may have more subtle functional defects. All nine mutations leading to functional impairments mapped to the central portion of the p16 protein. Ankyrin repeats II and III appear more critical to p16 function, and mutations in ankyrin repeats I and IV are less likely to disrupt p16 function.