RhoB对胃癌细胞SGC7901的负性调控作用

目的研究RhoB对胃癌细胞SGC7901增殖调控作用。方法用PCR扩增出RhoB的全长cDNA，构建RhoB可诱导表达载体pGene／V5-His-RhoB；脂质体介导法将调控载体pSwitch及诱导表达载体pGene／V5-His-RhoB先后转入人胃癌细胞SGC7901中，筛选出稳定抗性克隆；Western blot检测米非斯酮诱导后转染细胞中RhoB蛋白的表达。用MTT assay检测RhoB转染细胞株的生长速度、双苯并咪唑染料(Hoechst 33258)活细胞吸收分析法、流式细胞仪(FCM)检测RhoB对胃癌细胞凋亡指数作用。结果成功构建RhoB可诱导真核表达载体pGene／V5-His-RhoB，并经酶切和测序鉴定；转染后经潮霉素B和Zeocin筛选出稳定抗性克隆SGC7901／RhoB；米非斯酮诱导出RhoB蛋白表达，在诱导24小时后蛋白表达最高；细胞增殖试验结果显示，RhoB表达上调后胃癌细胞增殖受到抑制；细胞凋亡检测提示高表达RhoB可明显诱导胃癌细胞凋亡。结论RhoB对胃癌细胞增殖具有负性调控作用，可诱导胃癌细胞出现凋亡。     

Role of farnesyltransferase inhibitors in hematologic malignancies

The treatment of hematologic malignancies has progressed in the last few years. Identification of new pathways and target molecules in leukemia has ushered in a promising new era of therapy. Ras mutations have recently been implicated in the pathogenesis of acute leukemia, and inhibition of Ras signaling through the use of farnesyltransferase inhibitors (FTIs) has shown promise in early trials in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Responses have not correlated with the presence of Ras mutations, suggesting that novel pathways are involved. In several early trials, FTIs have shown activity as single agents in poor-risk AML, suggesting a potential role in combination with standard chemotherapy. FTIs are now being tested in other clinical settings, such as myelodysplasia, chronic myelogenous leukemia and multiple myeloma, with encouraging preliminary activity.     

RhoA亚家族与胃癌细胞恶性表型的关系

目的:研究RhoA亚家族成员RhoA、RhoB和RhoC对胃癌细胞恶性表型的影响。方法:系用脂质体介导法分别将编码正显性RhoA突变体(V14RhoA)与野生型RhoB(wt-RhoB)和RhoC(wt-RhoC)的真核表达载体转染入胃癌SGC7901细胞中,筛选出稳定抗性克隆,并检测转染细胞的生物学行为的变化。结果:RhoA活性增强可促进胃癌细胞的增殖,而降低对化疗药物的敏感性;上调RhoB表达抑制胃癌细胞的增殖,增强对化疗药物的敏感性;上调表达RhoC则对胃癌细胞的增殖及对化疗药物的敏感性无明显的影响,但可明显促进胃癌细胞的迁移。结论:RhoA亚家族分子参与了胃癌生长、耐药及转移等多个方面,其家族中不同分子作用不同。     

Lysophosphatidylcholine Increases Na+/Ca2+ Exchanger Expression via RhoB-Geranylgeranylation in H9c2 Cells

The expression levels of the Na⁺/Ca²⁺ exchanger type 1 (NCX1) change under various cardiac pathophysiological conditions, but the mechanism is unknown. We previously demonstrated that lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) increased NCX1 expression by activating RhoB in H9c2 cardiomyoblasts. Conversely, fluvastatin (Flv), a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitor, decreased NCX1 mRNA and protein expression by inhibiting RhoB. RhoB can be isoprenylated by either geranylgeranylpyrophosphate (GGPP) or farnesylpyrophosphate (FPP). Here we investigated which of GGPP or FPP is involved in the NCX1-increasing effect of LPC. When LPC was added with GGPP to the Flv-treated H9c2 cells, NCX1 mRNA was increased to a level significantly higher than that in the control cells. Only GGPP, but not FPP, allowed LPC to increase NCX1 mRNA in the presence of Flv. Furthermore, geranylgeranyltransferase 1 inhibitor (GGTI), but not farnesyltransferase inhibitor (FTI), inhibited the LPC-induced NCX1 mRNA increase. We conclude that geranylgeranylation, but not farnesylation, of RhoB mediates LPC-induced NCX1 mRNA increase in H9c2 cells.     

RhoB is frequently downregulated in non-small-cell lung cancer and resides in the 2p24 homozygous deletion region of a lung cancer cell line

Identification of a homozygous deletion in cancer cells provides strong evidence for the location of a tumor suppressor gene (TSG). We analyzed the 2p24 homozygous deletion of a non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell line, NCI-H2882, and found that the deletion size was 3.7 Mbp. Since RhoB, which has been suggested to be a candidate TSG, was located in this region, we analyzed RhoB for alterations in NSCLC. Although we found no mutations in 48 cell lines including 20 NSCLCs, a loss of heterozygosity (LOH) analysis in 128 primary NSCLCs showed that 25 of 62 informative samples had LOH at the RhoB locus. Northern blot analysis of 28 cell lines (including 15 NSCLCs) indicated that RhoB expression was downregulated in 27. We analyzed RhoB expression in 112 primary NSCLCs with immunohistochemistry and found no or a weak RhoB expression in 33 (42%) of 78 adenocarcinomas, whereas we found it in 29 (94%) of 31 squamous cell carcinomas. No or a weak expression of RhoB was more frequently observed in poorly- or moderately-differentiated adenocarcinomas than in well-differentiated ones (p = 0.0014). Furthermore, no or a weak expression of RhoB indicated a tendency to poor patient prognosis. Although hypermethylation was not found at the promoter region, the RhoB expression in NSCLC cell lines was induced by histone deacetylase inhibition, suggesting that RhoB downregulation may be due to histone modification. The present study demonstrates that RhoB expression is frequently downregulated in NSCLCs by multiple mechanisms, suggesting that RhoB is a candidate TSG for NSCLC.     

Simvastatin inhibits glucose-stimulated vascular smooth muscle cell migration involving increased expression of RhoB and a block of Ras/Akt signal

Background: Diabetic patients are at high risk to develop atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and have a higher restenotic rate after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Statins improve cardiovascular outcome and reduce restenosis after PCI by inhibiting proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). But the effect of statins on diabetes without dyslipidemia was still not fully understood. Our previous study has demonstrated that simvastatin inhibits VSMC proliferation in high glucose status without dyslipidemia, inducing a G0/G1 phase cell cycle growth arrest by acting on multiple steps upstream of pRb, including inhibition of CDK2/4 expression and upregulation of p53, p21, p16, and p27. Method: Following our previous study, we investigated the mechanism of simvastatin inhibition of VSMC migration in a diabetes‐like model (A7r5 cells under high glucose conditions without dyslipidemia). Results: Under high glucose conditions, simvastatin dose‐dependently inhibited VSMC migration, decreased PI3K/Akt pathway activity, reduced c‐Raf and Ras expression, increased RhoB but not RhoA, Rac1, and Cdc2 expression, dose‐dependently inhibited MMP‐2, but not MMP‐9, activity, and dose‐dependently inhibited NF‐κB activity. Conclusion: The inhibition of VSMC migration under high glucose conditions was via two different pathways. The first pathway is mevalonate‐related but not RhoA protein‐related and involves suppression of Ras and PI3K/Akt signals. The second pathway is not mevalonate‐related and involves increasing RhoB expression directly.     

Cullin‐3/KCTD10 E3 complex is essential for Rac1 activation through RhoB degradation in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2‐positive breast cancer cells

Rho GTPase Rac1 is a central regulator of F‐actin organization and signal transduction to control plasma membrane dynamics and cell proliferation. Dysregulated Rac1 activity is often observed in various cancers including breast cancer and is suggested to be critical for malignancy. Here, we showed that the ubiquitin E3 ligase complex Cullin‐3 (CUL3)/KCTD10 is essential for epidermal growth factor (EGF)‐induced/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)‐dependent Rac1 activation in HER2‐positive breast cancer cells. EGF‐induced dorsal membrane ruffle formation and cell proliferation that depends on both Rac1 and HER2 were suppressed in CUL3‐ or KCTD10‐depleted cells. Mechanistically, CUL3/KCTD10 ubiquitinated RhoB for degradation, another Rho GTPase that inhibits Rac1 activation at the plasma membrane by suppressing endosome‐to‐plasma membrane traffic of Rac1. In HER2‐positive breast cancers, high expression of Rac1 mRNA significantly correlated with poor prognosis of the patients. This study shows that this novel molecular axis (CUL3/KCTD10/RhoB) positively regulates the activity of Rac1 in HER2‐positive breast cancers, and our findings may lead to new treatment options for HER2‐ and Rac1‐positive breast cancers.     

RhoB enhances migration and MMP1 expression of prostate cancer DU145

Rho family protein regulates variety of cellular functions as cytoskeletal organization, cell proliferation and apoptosis. In the present study, we demonstrate that RhoB-overexpressed prostate cancer cells showed an enhanced cell motility and the administration of the GSK-3 inhibitors inhibited this increase in migration. Among the extracellular matrix and adhesion-related molecules, MMP1 RNA expression was increased in RhoB-overexpressed cells, administration of MMP inhibitor suppressed the collagen gel invasion in these cells. This is the first report evaluating RhoB function and the downstream signaling events in prostate cancer cell. Our results indicate that RhoB promotes cell motility and invasion in a metastatic prostate cancer cell.