Introduction CML is a clonal disorder of pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells characterized by the Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome, which results from the reciprocal translocation between the long arms of chromosomes 9 and 22. 1-4 This hybrid B-cell receptor (BCR)-ABL1 gene encodes for a fusion protein Bcr-Abl1 with a constitutive tyrosine kinase activity. 3,4 Despite high rates of clinical responses in early chronic phase CML (CML-CP) to the Bcr-Abl1 kinase inhibitor imatinib, 5-8 development of resistance is a major problem in late CML-CP and in the treatment of blast crisis CML (CML-BC). 9-12 Although Bcr-Abl1-independent mechanisms also exist, 13-15 resistance in CML-CP is usually associated with the expression of mutant Bcr-Abl1 proteins, including T315I and Y253F/H mutations against which the second generation ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) such as nilotinib and/or dasatinib show limited effect. 15-17 Nonetheless , BCR-ABL1 mutations may not account for all cases of drug resistance in CML (CP and BC); indeed, alternative Bcr-Abl1-dependent mechanisms including alterations of sphingolipid metabolism and signaling, 18 might account for TKI resistance. Sphingolipids, ceramide and sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) included, are a family of membrane lipids with important roles in the regulation of the fluidity and subdomain structure of membranes. 19-21 Ceramide can be hydrolyzed by ceramidases to release sphingosine, which is phosphorylated by sphingosine kinases-1 or-2 (SK-1 or SK-2) to generate S1P. 20 Ceramide plays proapoptotic roles 21 whereas S1P mediates proliferation and/or resistance to apoptosis 22,23 generally via G-protein-coupled S1P1-5 receptor signaling. 24 However, receptor-independent intracellular functions of S1P were also reported. 25 Recently, alteration of the balance between the proapoptotic ceramide and antiapoptotic S1P via up-regulation of SK-1 was shown to mediate imatinib resistance in K562 CML-BC patient-derived cells by an unknown mechanism. 18 Here, we report the identification of a novel mechanism by which SK-1/S1P mediates imatinib resistance by regulation of the PP2A-dependent and SHP-1-mediated Bcr-Abl1 dephosphoryla-tion and stability selectively via receptor 2 (S1P2) signaling in CML (CP and BC). In addition, our data suggest that targeting the SK-1/S1P2 signaling axis provides a novel strategy to modulate wild-type (wt) or mutant (T315I or Y253H) Bcr-Abl1 stability by restoring PP2A function, and attenuate drug resistance both in cell culture and in mice bearing 32D/T315I-Bcr-Abl1 allografts. Human CML cell lines K562, LAMA4, and their imatinib-resistant derivatives K562/IMA-0.1,-1,-3, or LAMA4/IMA, were maintained as described. 18 The Bcr-Abl-expressing 32Dcl3 cells, 32D-p210 Bcr-Abl (wt), 32D-p210 Bcr-Abl (Y253H) and (T315I) were maintained in RPMI containing 15% FBS, 2mM L-glutamine, and penicillin and streptomycin (P/S; 100 ng/mL each). MEFs (wt and SK-1 /) were maintained in DMEM with 10% FBS and P/S. Human CD34 primary cells from CML patients and normal donor were obt...

Adiponectin is an adipocyte-derived cytokine that has attracted much attention because of its insulin-sensitizing effects in liver and skeletal muscle. Two adiponectin receptors, AdipoR1 and AdipoR2, have been cloned, but relatively little is known about their intracellular signaling mechanisms. We found that full-length adiponectin rapidly and robustly activates the ERK1/2 mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway in primary vascular smooth muscle, vascular endothelial cells, and hepatocytes. In a HEK293 cell model, we found that downregulating AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 simultaneously, but not individually, by RNA interference attenuated adiponectin-induced ERK1/2 activation, suggesting that either receptor was sufficient to mediate the response. Downregulation of T-cadherin, another adiponectin binding protein, enhanced the response. Downregulation of APPL1, an adapter protein and putative mediator of AdipoR1/R2 signaling, impaired adiponectin-stimulated ERK1/2 activation. Inhibiting PKA modestly attenutated ERK1/2 activation, while inhibition of Src family tyrosine kinases with PP2 abolished the response. The small GTPase inhibitor Clostridium difficile toxin B also produced complete inhibition. Adiponectin caused rapid, PP2-sensitive activation of Ras, but not the cAMP-regulated small GTPase, Rap1, suggesting that Src-dependent Ras activation is the dominant mechanism of adiponectin-stimulated ERK1/2 activation. To test whether Ras-ERK1/2 signaling by adiponectin was physiologically-relevant, we determined the effects of overexpressing AdipoR1, adiponectin, or both, on the rate of HEK293 cell growth. Overexpression of adiponectin alone, but not AdipoR1 alone, supported growth under serum-free conditions, while simultaneous expression of both led to further enhancement. Additional results suggest that adiponectin can exert proliferative effects by activating Ras signaling pathways.

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Heptahelical G protein-coupled receptors employ several mechanisms to activate the ERK1/2 cascade and control gene transcription. Previous work with the angiotensin AT1a receptor has shown that G q/11 activation leads to a rapid and transient rise in ERK1/2 activity, whereas ␤-arrestin binding supports sustained ERK1/2 activation by scaffolding a Raf⅐MEK⅐ERK complex associated with the internalized receptor. In this study, we compared the role of the two ␤-arrestin isoforms in AT1a receptor desensitization, ERK1/2 activation and transcription using selective RNA interference. In HEK293 cells, both the native AT1a receptor and a G protein-coupling deficient DRY/ AAY mutant recruited ␤-arrestin1 and ␤-arrestin2 upon angiotensin binding and internalized with the receptor. In contrast, only ␤-arrestin2 supported protein kinase C-independent ERK1/2 activation by both the AT1a and DRY/AAY receptors. Using focused gene expression filter arrays to screen for endogenous transcriptional responses, we found that silencing ␤-arrestin1 or ␤-arrestin2 individually did not alter the response pattern but that silencing both caused a marked increase in the number of transcripts that were significantly up-regulated in response to AT1a receptor activation. The DRY/AAY receptor failed to elicit any detectable transcriptional response despite its ability to stimulate ␤-arrestin2-dependent ERK1/2 activation. These results indicate that the transcriptional response to AT1a receptor activation primarily reflects heterotrimeric G protein activation. Although ␤-arrestin1 and ␤-arrestin2 are functionally specialized with respect to supporting G protein-independent ERK1/2 activation, their common effect is to dampen the transcriptional response by promoting receptor desensitization.