A major driver of the pathophysiology of sickle cell disease (SCD) is polymerization of deoxygenated haemoglobin S (HbS), which leads to sickling and destruction of red blood cells (RBCs) and end-organ damage. Pharmacologically increasing the proportion of oxygenated HbS in RBCs may inhibit polymerization, prevent sickling and provide long term disease modification. We report that GBT440, a small molecule which binds to the N-terminal a chain of Hb, increases HbS affinity for oxygen, delays in vitro HbS polymerization and prevents sickling of RBCs. Moreover, in a murine model of SCD, GBT440 extends the half-life of RBCs, reduces reticulocyte counts and prevents ex vivo RBC sickling. Importantly, oral dosing of GBT440 in animals demonstrates suitability for once daily dosing in humans and a highly selective partitioning into RBCs, which is a key therapeutic safety attribute. Thus, GBT440 has the potential for clinical use as a disease-modifying agent in sickle cell patients.

Arl2 and Arl3 are closely related members of the Arf family of regulatory GTPases that arose from a common ancestor early in eukaryotic evolution yet retain extensive structural, biochemical, and functional features. The presence of Arl3 in centrosomes, mitotic spindles, midzones, midbodies, and cilia are all supportive of roles in microtubule-dependent processes. Knockdown of Arl3 by siRNA resulted in changes in cell morphology, increased acetylation of alpha-tubulin, failure of cytokinesis, and increased number of binucleated cells. We conclude that Arl3 binds microtubules in a regulated manner to alter specific aspects of cytokinesis. In contrast, an excess of Arl2 activity, achieved by expression of the [Q70L]Arl2 mutant, caused the loss of microtubules and cell cycle arrest in M phase. Initial characterization of the underlying defects suggests a defect in the ability to polymerize tubulin in the presence of excess Arl2 activity. We also show that Arl2 is present in centrosomes and propose that its action in regulating tubulin polymerization is mediated at centrosomes. Somewhat paradoxically, no phenotypes were observed Arl2 expression was knocked down or Arl3 activity was increased in HeLa cells. We conclude that Arl2 and Arl3 have related but distinct roles at centrosomes and in regulating microtubule-dependent processes.

ARF-like 2 (ARL2) is a member of the ARF family and RAS superfamily of regulatory GTPases, predicted to be present in the last eukaryotic common ancestor, and essential in a number of model genetic systems. Though best studied as a regulator of tubulin folding, we previously demonstrated that ARL2 partially localizes to mitochondria. Here, we show that ARL2 is essential to a number of mitochondrial functions, including mitochondrial morphology, motility, and maintenance of ATP levels. We compare phenotypes resulting from ARL2 depletion and expression of dominant negative mutants and use these to demonstrate that the mitochondrial roles of ARL2 are distinct from its roles in tubulin folding. Testing of current models for ARL2 actions at mitochondria failed to support them. Rather, we found that knockdown of the ARL2 GTPase activating protein (GAP) ELMOD2 phenocopies two of three phenotypes of ARL2 siRNA, making it a likely effector for these actions. These results add new layers of complexity to ARL2 signaling, highlighting the need to deconvolve these different cell functions. We hypothesize that ARL2 plays essential roles inside mitochondria along with other cellular functions, at least in part to provide coupling of regulation between these essential cell processes.

Although some patients with acute leukemia have good prognoses, the prognosis of adult and pediatric patients who relapse or cannot tolerate standard chemotherapy is poor. Inhibition of WEE1 with AZD1775 has been shown to sensitize cancer cells to genotoxic chemotherapies including cytarabine in AML and T-ALL. Inhibition of WEE1 impairs homologous recombination by indirectly inhibiting BRCA2. Thus, we sought to determine if AZD1775 could sensitize cells to the PARP1/2 inhibitor olaparib. We found that combined treatment with AZD1775 and olaparib was synergistic in AML and ALL cells, and this combination impaired proliferative capacity upon drug withdrawal. AZD1775 impaired homologous recombination in olaparib-treated cells resulting in enhanced DNA damage accumulation and apoptosis induction. This combination enhanced disease control and increased survival in a murine AML model. Furthermore, we demonstrated that combined treatment with AZD1775 and olaparib reduces proliferation and colony formation and increases apoptosis in AML patient samples. In aggregate, these studies raise the possibility of rational combinations of targeted agents for leukemia in patients for whom conventional chemotherapeutics may not be effective or well tolerated.

No abstract

Database mining and phylogenetic analysis of the Arf (ADP-ribosylation factor) superfamily revealed the presence in mammals of at least 22 members, including the six Arfs, two Sars and 14 Arl (Arf-like) proteins. At least six Arf family members were found in very early eukaryotes, including orthologues of Arf, Sar, Arl2, Arl3, Arl6 and Arl8. While roles for Arfs in membrane traffic are well known, those for most of the Arls remain unknown. Depletion in cells of the most closely related human Arf proteins, Arf1–Arf5, reveals specificities among their cellular roles and suggests that they may function in pairs at different steps in endocytic and secretory membrane traffic. In addition, recent results from a number of laboratories suggest that several of the Arl proteins may be involved in different aspects of microtubule-dependent functions. Thus, a second major role for Arf family GTPases, that of regulating microtubules, is emerging. Because membrane traffic is often dependent upon movement of vesicles along microtubules this raises the possibility that these two fundamental functions of Arf family members, regulation of vesicle traffic and microtubule dynamics, diverged from one function of Arfs in the earliest cells that has continued to branch and allow additional levels of regulation.

Mitochondria are essential, dynamic organelles that respond to a number of stressors with changes in morphology that are linked to several mitochondrial functions, though the mechanisms involved are poorly understood. We show that the levels of the regulatory GTPase ARL2 and its GAP, ELMOD2, are specifically increased at mitochondria in immortalized mouse embryo fibroblasts deleted for Mitofusin 2 (MFN2), but not MFN1. Elevated ARL2 and ELMOD2 in MEFs deleted for MFN2 could be reversed by re-introduction of MFN2, but only when the mitochondrial fragmentation in these MEFs was also reversed, demonstrating that reversal of elevated ARL2 and ELMOD2 requires the fusogenic activity of MFN2. Other stressors with links to mitochondrial morphology were investigated and several, including glucose or serum deprivation, also caused increases in ARL2 and ELMOD2. In contrast, a number of pharmacological inhibitors of energy metabolism caused increases in ARL2 without affecting ELMOD2 levels. Together we interpret these data as evidence of two ARL2-sensitive pathways in mitochondria, one affecting ATP levels that is independent of ELMOD2 and the other leading to mitochondrial fusion involving MFN2 that does involve ELMOD2.

Database mining and phylogenetic analysis of the Arf (ADP-ribosylation factor) superfamily revealed the presence in mammals of at least 22 members, including the six Arfs, two Sars and 14 Arl (Arf-like) proteins. At least six Arf family members were found in very early eukaryotes, including orthologues of Arf, Sar, Arl2, Arl3, Arl6 and Arl8. While roles for Arfs in membrane traffic are well known, those for most of the Arls remain unknown. Depletion in cells of the most closely related human Arf proteins, Arf1-Arf5, reveals specificities among their cellular roles and suggests that they may function in pairs at different steps in endocytic and secretory membrane traffic. In addition, recent results from a number of laboratories suggest that several of the Arl proteins may be involved in different aspects of microtubule-dependent functions. Thus, a second major role for Arf family GTPases, that of regulating microtubules, is emerging. Because membrane traffic is often dependent upon movement of vesicles along microtubules this raises the possibility that these two fundamental functions of Arf family members, regulation of vesicle traffic and microtubule dynamics, diverged from one function of Arfs in the earliest cells that has continued to branch and allow additional levels of regulation.