Aberrant expression of the Rb pathway proteins in soft tissue sarcomas.

Cell cycle regulation depends on a fine balance between cyclins, cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs), and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors (CKIs) that block the cycle progression. Alterations of the cell cycle regulators are a common feature of many malignant tumors, and some have been shown to have prognostic significance. In this study, 152 cases of different types of soft tissue sarcomas were evaluated for alterations of cell cycle regulator proteins that control the cell cycle progression from G1 to S phase and govern the Rb pathway. Immunohistochemical stains for proteins Rb, E2F1, cyclin D1, CDK4, CDK6, p16, and p27 were carried out on tissue microarrays. The relationship between the expression of these proteins and the histologic grade of the sarcomas was assessed. Altered expression for Rb and p16 proteins was identified in 67.8% and 65.1% of the cases, respectively. Overexpression of E2F1, cyclin D1, CDK4, and CDK6 was detected in 50.7%, 24.3%, 92.1%, and 10.5%, respectively. Overexpression of E2F1 was associated with altered expression of Rb protein. Overexpression of cyclin D1, CDK4, and CDK6 showed an association with normal Rb expression. CDK6 expression revealed a positive correlation with the histologic grade of the sarcoma, and p27 expression was inversely correlated with sarcoma grade. These results suggest that alterations of the Rb pathway proteins are common in soft tissue sarcomas and may participate in their tumorigenesis. CDK6 and p27 showed correlation with the histologic grade of the sarcomas, suggesting that these proteins could be used as prognostic markers.     

沉默ClC-3氯通道基因对HeLa细胞周期分布的影响

目的:探讨沉默HeLa细胞的ClC-3氯通道基因后细胞周期分布的变化及其作用机制。方法:依照siRNA设计原则构建沉默ClC-3基因的ClC-3 siRNA并转染HeLa细胞;实验分为空白对照组(control组)、转染试剂对照组(Lipo组)、阴性对照组(negative siRNA组)和ClC-3 siRNA组。采用real-time PCR检测ClC-3 siRNA的沉默效率;流式细胞术检测细胞周期分布情况;Western blot检测ClC-3蛋白及相关细胞周期蛋白(cyclin)D1、细胞周期蛋白依赖激酶(cyclin-dependent kinase,CDK)4、CDK6、P21和P27等表达。结果:CIC-3 siRNA成功沉默HeLa细胞的ClC-3基因。和其它组相比,ClC-3 siRNA组的细胞周期被阻抑在G_0/G_1期。CIC-3 siRNA组的cyclin D1、CDK4和CDK6蛋白表达水平明显下降,P21和P27蛋白表达水平明显上升。结论:沉默HeLa细胞ClC-3氯通道基因可影响cyclin D1、CDK4、CDK6、P21和27蛋白的表达水平胆抑HeLa细胞周期停滞在G_0/G_1期。     

小檗碱增强表柔比星诱导T24细胞G_0/G_1期阻滞的作用机制

目的:探讨小檗碱联合表柔比星对膀胱癌T24细胞周期的影响及相关作用机制。方法:实验将膀胱癌T24细胞分为4组:对照组、表柔比星组、表柔比星+小檗碱组和小檗碱组,采用MTT法检测细胞的活力,检测药物处理后对膀胱癌T24细胞增殖的抑制情况。用流式细胞术分析T24细胞周期分布并用Western blot法测定cyclin D1、CDK2、CDK4、P21和P27蛋白的表达水平。结果:小檗碱联合表柔比星显著抑制T24细胞的活力,存在时间依赖性,联合用药组的G_0/G_1期细胞比例增高,S期和G_2期细胞比例降低,与单用药物组及对照组比较有显著性差异(P0.05)。联合用药上调细胞周期依赖性激酶抑制蛋白P27和P21蛋白的表达水平,同时下调cyclin D1、CDK2及CDK4细胞周期蛋白的表达水平。结论:小檗碱增强表柔比星对膀胱癌T24细胞增殖的抑制及G_0/G_1期阻滞,其作用机制可能与上调P27及P21蛋白和抑制cyclin D1、CDK2及CDK4蛋白表达有关。     

Tunicamycin enhances the anticellular activity of interferon by inhibiting G1/S phase progression in 3T3 cells.

We have shown earlier that the cell growth inhibitory activity of interferon (IFN) is significantly enhanced by tunicamycin (TM) (Maheshwari et al., Science 219, 1339-1341, 1983). In this report, we investigated various regulatory points of synergistic action between TM and IFN-alpha/beta that inhibit cell growth in NIH 3T3 cells. The MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) viability assays showed a dose-dependent increase in percentage inhibition of the cells when treated with either TM or IFN. When doses of TM and IFN that had no significant inhibition on cell viability were used in combination, there was a pronounced suppression of DNA synthesis (tritiated thymidine incorporation). Flow cytometry studies revealed that individual treatments with either IFN or TM that did not alter the cell cycle profile, when combined, resulted in an impaired cell cycle by inhibiting G1/S progression. The blockage of G1/S transition was associated with reduction of cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK4) activity. The mRNA (analyzed by ribonuclease protection assay) and protein levels (assayed by Western blotting) of cyclins D1, D3, and CDK4 were downregulated by combined treatment with IFN and TM. An increase in the expression of p27/kipl, an inhibitor of CDK4, was observed in cells that were treated with both IFN and TM. These studies suggest that insufficient formation of the active cyclin/CDK complex could possibly be deferring the cells from normal cycling and may be responsible for the ability of TM to enhance cell growth inhibition induced by IFN.     

Expression of cyclins and cyclin dependent kinases in human benign and malignant melanocytic lesions

AIMS: The regulation of cell proliferation is a key event in normal development, pathophysiological responses to injury, and tumorigenesis. The orderly progression of cells through the cell cycle depends on a finely tuned balance between the concentrations of activated cyclins and cyclin dependent kinases. This study was undertaken to compare the expression of cell cycle regulators in benign and malignant melanocytic lesions during tumour progression. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry was used to analyse 49 primary cutaneous malignant melanomas, 18 metastatic melanomas, and 12 histologically confirmed naevus cell naevi for their expression of cyclins (A, B1, D1, D2, D3, and E) and cyclin dependent kinases (CDK1, CDK2, and CDK4). RESULTS: Cyclin E and CDK2 had the highest expression patterns in human cutaneous melanomas and metastases and correlated positively with histological type and tumour stage. Cyclins B1, D2, and D3 had significantly increased expression in metastases, but normal or even decreased expression in primary melanomas. However, cyclins A and D1, and CDK1 and CDK4 were expressed very weakly in situ with no significant differences between naevi, melanomas, or metastases, and there was no correlation with histopathological staging. The specificity of recognition by the antibodies used was confirmed by western blotting on a panel of seven human melanoma cell lines. Cyclins A, B, and E were expressed by all seven, whereas cyclin D1 was detectable in six of seven and CDK2 and cdc2 were present in five of seven lines analysed. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, this study demonstrated a significant increase of cyclin E and CDK2 expression during tumour progression in malignant melanomas.     

RN181 is a tumour suppressor in gastric cancer by regulation of the ERK/MAPK–cyclin D1/CDK4 pathway

RN181, a RING finger domain-containing protein, is an E3 ubiquitin ligase. However, its biological function and clinical significance in cancer biology are obscure. Here, we report that RN181 expression is significantly down-regulated in 165 tumour tissues of gastric carcinoma (GC) versus adjacent non-tumour tissues, and inversely associated with tumour differentiation, tumour size, clinical stage, and patient's overall survival. Alterations of RN181 expression in GC cells by retrovirus-transduced up-regulation and down-regulation demonstrated that RN181 functions as a tumour suppressor to inhibit growth of GC in both in vitro culture and in vivo animal models by decreasing tumour cell proliferation and increasing tumour cell apoptosis. Cell cycle analysis revealed that RN181 controls the cell cycle transition from G1 to S phase. Mechanistic studies demonstrated that RN181 inhibits ERK/MAPK signalling, thereby regulating the activity of cyclin D1–CDK4, and consequently controlling progression in the cell cycle from G1 to S phase. Restoring CDK4 in GC cells rescued the inhibitory phenotype produced by RN181 in vitro and in vivo, suggesting a dominant role of CDK4 in control of the tumour growth by RN181. Importantly, RN181 expression is inversely correlated with the expression of cyclin D1 and CDK4 in GC clinical samples, substantiating the role of the RN181–cyclin D1/CDK4 pathway in control of the tumour growth of GC. Our results provide new insights into the pathogenesis and development of GC and rationale for developing novel intervention strategies against GC by disruption of ERK/MAPK–cyclin D1/CDK4 signalling. In addition, RN181 may serve as a novel biomarker for predicting clinical outcome of GC. © 2019 The Authors. The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.     

Herpes simplex virus type 1 infection imposes a G(1)/S block in asynchronously growing cells and prevents G(1) entry in quiescent cells

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infection disrupted cell cycle regulation in at least two ways. First, infection of quiescent human embryonic lung cells simultaneously with readdition of serum caused inhibition of cyclin D/cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4,6-specific and cyclin E/CDK2-specific phosphorylation of the retinoblastoma protein pRb. The inhibition of cyclin D/CDK4,6 kinase activity corresponded to a loss of cyclin D1 protein and a failure of CDK4 and CDK6 to translocate to the nucleus. Failure to detect cyclin E/CDK2 kinase activity was accompanied by a loss of cyclin E protein and a failure of CDK2 to translocate to the nucleus. Levels of pocket protein p130 persisted, whereas p107 did not accumulate. As a result of these effects on cyclin kinase, G(0)-infected cells failed to reenter the cell cycle. The second type of HSV-induced cell cycle dysregulation was observed in asynchronously dividing cell cultures. A rapid inhibition of preexisting cyclin E/CDK2 and cyclin A/CDK2 activities was observed in human embryonic lung cells, as well as two other human cell lines: C33 and U2OS. HSV-1 immediate-early gene expression was necessary for the inhibition of CDK2 kinase activity. Cyclin and CDK subunit protein levels, intracellular localization, and complex stability were unaffected by infection. In addition, levels of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors, p27 and p21, were not affected by HSV-1. Previous experiments demonstrated that in asynchronous infected cells, hypophosphorylated pRb and pocket protein-E2F complexes accumulated, and cellular DNA synthesis was rapidly inhibited. Coupled with the present results, this indicates that HSV-1 has evolved mechanisms for preventing cells in G(1) from proceeding through the restriction point and for cells in S from completing a round of DNA replication.     

Simvastatin inhibits cell growth and induces apoptosis and G0/G1 cell cycle arrest in hepatic cancer cells

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of major health concerns worldwide and one of leading causes of cancer death after lung and gastric cancers. Simvastatin is a cholesterol-lowering drug which inhibits 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutarylcoenzyme CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase. Simvastatin exhibits numerous pleiotropic effects including anti-cancer activity. Yet, the anticancer effects in HCC remain poorly characterized. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the effects of simvastatin on tumor cell growth, apoptosis and cell cycle. HepG2 and Huh7 cell lines were treated with simvastatin (32 and 64 μM) for different time periods. Tumor cell growth was assessed using MTT assay. Apoptosis and cell cycle analysis were also evaluated. Analysis of cell cycle proteins involved in simvastatin-induced manipulation was performed by Western blot and quantitative RT-PCR analyses. Simvastatin induced a reduction of tumor cell growth. In both cell lines, simvastatin induced apoptosis and impaired cell cycle progression as depicted by the greater rates of G0/G1-phase cells than the rates of S-phase cells. Protein expression levels of cell cycle regulating proteins CDK1, CDK2, CDK4, cyclin D1, cyclin E, p19 and p27 were markedly altered by simvastatin. Moreover, CDC2, CCND1 and CDCN2D mRNA expressions were also altered by drug treatment. Collectively, these results suggest that simvastatin induces apoptosis in tumor cells and its anti-proliferative activity was accompanied by inhibition of cyclin-dependent kinases and cyclins, whereas CDK inhibitors p19 and p27 were enhanced. These results may provide novel insights into simvastatin tumor-suppressive action.     

HCV NS2 protein inhibits cell proliferation and induces cell cycle arrest in the S-phase in mammalian cells through down-regulation of cyclin A expression

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection often leads to liver cancer. NS2 protein is a HCV hydrophobic transmembrane protein that associates with several cellular proteins in mammalian cells. In this report, we investigated the functions of NS2 protein by examining its effects on cell growth and cell cycle progression. Stable NS2-expressing HeLa and Vero cell lines were established by transfection of the cells with pcDNA3.1(-)-NS2 followed by selection of the transfected cells in the presence of G418. We found that the proliferation rates of both NS2-expressing cell lines were inhibited by 40-50% compared with the control cells that were transfected with pcDNA3.1(-) control vector. Cell cycle analysis of these NS2-expressing cell lines shows that the proportion of cells in the S-phase increased significantly compared to that of control cells that do not express NS2 protein, suggesting NS2 protein induces cell cycle arrest in the S-phase. Further studies showed that the induction of cell cycle arrest in the S-phase by NS2 protein is associated with the decrease of cyclin A level. In contrast, the expression of NS2 protein does not affect the levels of cyclin-dependent kinase CDK2, CDK4, cyclin D1, or cyclin E. Our results suggest that HCV NS2 protein inhibits cell growth and induces the cell cycle arrest in the S-phase through down-regulation of cyclin A expression, which may be beneficial to HCV viral replication. Our findings not only provide information in the understanding mechanism of HCV infection, but also provide guidance for the future development of potential therapeutics for the prevention and treatment of the viral infection.     

Mefloquine inhibits chondrocytic proliferation by arresting cell cycle in G2/M phase

Mefloquine (MQ), an analog of chloroquine, exhibits a promising cytotoxic activity against carcinoma cell lines and for the treatment of glioblastoma patients. The present study demonstrates the effect of mefloquine on proliferation and cell cycle in chondrocytes. MTT assay and propidium iodide staining were used for the analysis of proliferation and cell cycle distribution, respectively. Western blot analysis was used to examine the expression levels of cyclin B1/cdc2, cdc25c, p21WAF1/CIP1 and p53. The results revealed that mefloquine inhibited the proliferation of chondrocytes and caused cell cycle arrests in the G2/M phase. The proliferation of chondrocytes was reduced to 27% at 40 μM concentration of mefloquine after 48 h. The population of chondrocytes in G2/M phase was found to be 15.7 and 48.4%, respectively at 10 and 40 μM concentration of mefloquine at 48 h following treatment. The expression of the cell cycle regulatory proteins including, cyclin B1/cdc2 and cdc25c was inhibited. On the other hand, mefloquine treatment promoted the expression of p21WAF1/CIP1 and p53 at 40 μM concentration after 48 h. Therefore, mefloquine inhibits proliferation and induces cell cycle arrest in chondrocytes.     

mTOR激酶抑制剂CC-223抑制乳腺癌细胞增殖的实验研究

目的:探讨哺乳动物雷帕霉素靶蛋白(mTOR)激酶抑制剂CC-223对乳腺癌细胞增殖的抑制作用及其相关分子机制。方法:CCK-8法检测CC-223对人乳腺癌细胞MCF-7和MDA-MB-231细胞活力的抑制作用;流式细胞术分析CC-223对乳腺癌细胞周期的影响;Western blot实验检测CC-223对细胞周期调控相关蛋白及细胞增殖相关蛋白c-Myc和存活蛋白(survivin)表达的影响。结果:CCK-8结果表明,CC-223能够显著抑制MCF-7细胞和MDA-MB-231细胞活力(P<0.05);流式细胞术实验结果显示,CC-223能够诱导MCF-7细胞发生G 1期和G 2/M期阻滞(P<0.05);较低浓度的CC-223诱导MDA-MB-231细胞周期阻滞于G 2/M期(P<0.05),而处于G 1期的细胞数量无显著差异。CC-223处理乳腺癌细胞24 h后,细胞周期蛋白B1、细胞周期蛋白D1表达和细胞分裂周期蛋白2(Cdc2)磷酸化水平显著降低(P<0.05)。Western blot结果表明,MCF-7和MDA-MB-231细胞经CC-223作用后,c-Myc和survivin的表达水平显著下调(P<0.05)。结论:CC-223能够抑制乳腺癌细胞活力,阻滞细胞周期进程,同时下调乳腺癌细胞中c-Myc与survivin的蛋白表达。     

转录因子环磷酸腺苷反应元件结合蛋白在紫杉醇诱导HeLa细胞周期阻滞中的作用及其机制

目的探讨转录因子环磷酸腺苷反应元件结合蛋白(CREB)在紫杉醇诱导宫颈腺癌HeLa细胞周期阻滞中的作用及其分子机制。方法 MTT法确定紫杉醇的最佳浓度和处理时间;PCR技术构建pCI neo/CREB(PN)重组质粒及pCI neo/CREB-M(PM)定点突变质粒;流式细胞术检测细胞周期,Western blotting检测磷酸化CREB(pCREB)、CREB、cyclins以及CDKs蛋白表达。结果紫杉醇抑制HeLa细胞增殖的有效条件为0.1μmol/L处理24 h。0.1μmol/L紫杉醇诱导G2/M细胞数量增加,并呈时间依赖性;cyclin A表达量下调,cyclin B1、D1和pCREB表达量上调。此外,紫杉醇的处理对cyclin E、CDK1、CDK2、CDK4和CREB表达量并无显著性改变。然而,PM联合紫杉醇处理后显著性地反转了紫杉醇单独处理引起的cyclin A下调、cyclin B1和cyclin D1的上调,并且细胞周期G2/M期阻滞显著性减少。结论转录因子CREB介导的靶向细胞周期蛋白表达在紫杉醇诱导的细胞周期阻滞过程中扮演重要角色。     

小檗碱增强丝裂霉素C诱导的膀胱癌T24细胞周期阻滞及凋亡

目的:研究小檗碱(berberine,Ber)增强丝裂霉素C(mitomycin C,MMC)诱导的人类膀胱癌T24细胞周期阻滞和细胞凋亡的作用及其相关机制。方法:将T24细胞分为4组:对照组、MMC组、MMC+Ber组和Ber组;采用CCK-8法检测不同药物处理后T24细胞的活力;采用流式细胞术分析不同药物处理后T24细胞周期的情况;Western blot检测细胞周期调控相关蛋白及凋亡相关蛋白的表达;Annexin V-FITC/PI双染后用流式细胞术检测各组细胞凋亡率。结果:CCK-8实验表明Ber能增强MMC抑制T24细胞活力的作用;流式细胞术检测细胞周期结果显示,MMC+Ber组T24细胞滞于G_0/G_1期(P0.05);与MMC组相比,MMC+Ber组p21和p27的蛋白表达上调(P0.05),cyclin D1、CDK2和CDK4的蛋白表达下调(P0.05),同时Ber促进MMC下调survivin的蛋白表达(P0.05);Annexin V-FITC/PI双染结果显示,Ber能促进MMC诱导的T24细胞凋亡(P0.05)。结论:Ber能显著增强MMC抑制T24细胞活力的作用,其机制可能是通过上调p21和p27,进而抑制cyclin D1、CDK2和CDK4表达;同时通过抑制survivin蛋白的表达,最终导致细胞被阻滞在G_0/G_1期,并促进细胞凋亡。