Summary The BimEL tumor suppressor is a potent pro-apoptotic BH3-only protein. We found that in response to survival signals BimEL was rapidly phosphorylated on three serine residues in a conserved degron, facilitating binding and degradation via the F-box protein βTrCP. Phosphorylation of the BimEL degron was executed by Rsk1/2 and promoted by the Erk1/2-mediated phosphorylation of BimEL on Ser69. Compared to wild type BimEL, a BimEL phosphorylation mutant unable to bind βTrCP was stabilized and consequently potent at inducing apoptosis by the intrinsic mitochondrial pathway. Moreover, although non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells often become resistant to gefitinib (a clinically relevant tyrosine kinase inhibitor that induces apoptosis through BimEL), silencing of either βTrCP or Rsk1/2 resulted in BimEL-mediated apoptosis of both gefitinib-sensitive and gefitinib-insensitive NSCLC cells. Our findings reveal that βTrCP promotes cell survival in cooperation with the ERK-RSK pathway, by targeting BimEL for degradation.

RNA interference (RNAi) techniques hold forth great promise for therapeutic silencing of deleterious genes. However, clinical applications of RNAi require the development of safe and efficient methods for intracellular delivery of small interfering RNA (siRNA) oligonucleotides specific to targeted genes. We describe the use of a lipitoid, a cationic oligopeptoid-phospholipid conjugate, for non-viral transfection of synthetic siRNA oligos in cell culture. This peptidomimetic delivery vehicle allows for efficient siRNA transfection in a variety of human cell lines with negligible toxicity and promotes extensive downregulation of the targeted genes at both the protein and the mRNA level. We compare the lipitoid reagent to a standard commercial transfection reagent. The lipitoid is highly efficient even in primary IMR-90 human lung fibroblasts in which other commercial reagents are typically ineffective.

Skp2 is an oncoprotein that mediates the degradation of several negative regulators of the cell cycle to promote cell proliferation. A recent report by Huang and colleagues reveals that Skp2 directs the ubiquitylation and subsequent degradation of FoxO1, a member of the FoxO family of transcription factors. Since FoxO proteins possess tumor suppressor functions, this new finding suggests a new mechanism by which Skp2 may favor tumorigenesis.