To rapidly identify genes required for early vertebrate development, we are carrying out a large-scale, insertional mutagenesis screen in zebrafish, using mouse retroviral vectors as the mutagen. We will obtain mutations in 450 to 500 different genes--roughly 20% of the genes that can be mutated to produce a visible embryonic phenotype in this species--and will clone the majority of the mutated alleles. So far, we have isolated more than 500 insertional mutants. Here we describe the first 75 insertional mutants for which the disrupted genes have been identified. In agreement with chemical mutagenesis screens, approximately one-third of the mutants have developmental defects that affect primarily one or a small number of organs, body shape or swimming behavior; the rest of the mutants show more widespread or pleiotropic abnormalities. Many of the genes we identified have not been previously assigned a biological role in vivo. Roughly 20% of the mutants result from lesions in genes for which the biochemical and cellular function of the proteins they encode cannot be deduced with confidence, if at all, from their predicted amino-acid sequences. All of the genes have either orthologs or clearly related genes in human. These results provide an unbiased view of the genetic construction kit for a vertebrate embryo, reveal the diversity of genes required for vertebrate development and suggest that hundreds of genes of unknown biochemical function essential for vertebrate development have yet to be identified.

Protein kinase casein kinase 1 (CK1) phosphorylates Ser-45 of ␤-catenin, ''priming'' the subsequent phosphorylation by glycogen synthase-3 of residues 41, 37, and 33. This concerted phosphorylation of ␤-catenin signals its degradation and prevents its function in triggering cell division. The sequence around Ser-45 does not conform to the canonical consensus for CK1 substrates, which prescribes either phosphoamino acids or acidic residues in position n؊3 from the target serine. However, the ␤-catenin sequence downstream from Ser-45 is very similar to a sequence recognized by CK1 in nuclear factor for activated T cells 4. The common features include an SLS motif followed two to five residues downstream by a cluster of acidic residues. Synthetic peptides reproducing residues 38 -65 of ␤-catenin were assayed with purified rat liver CK1 or recombinant CK1␣ and CK1␣L from zebrafish. The results demonstrate that SLS and acidic cluster motifs are crucial for CK1 recognition. Pro-44 and Pro-52 are also important for efficient phosphorylation. Similar results were obtained with the different isoforms of CK1. Phosphorylation of mutants of full-length recombinant ␤-catenin from zebrafish confirmed the importance of the SLS and acidic cluster motifs. A search for proteins with similar motifs yielded, among other proteins, adenomatous polyposis coli, previously found to be phosphorylated by CK1. There is a strong correlation of ␤-catenin mutations found in thyroid tumors with the motifs recognized by CK1 in this protein.consensus sequence ͉ nuclear factor for activated T cells 4 ͉ adenomatous polyposis coli ͉ Wnt signaling ͉ thyroid tumor mutations

Runx2 regulates osteogenic differentiation and bone formation, but also suppresses pre-osteoblast proliferation by affecting cell cycle progression in the G1 phase. The growth suppressive potential of Runx2 is normally inactivated in part by protein destabilization, which permits cell cycle progression beyond the G1/S phase transition, and Runx2 is again up-regulated after mitosis. Runx2 expression also correlates with metastasis and poor chemotherapy response in osteosarcoma. Here we show that six human osteosarcoma cell lines (SaOS, MG63, U2OS, HOS, G292, and 143B) have different growth rates, which is consistent with differences in the lengths of the cell cycle. Runx2 protein levels are cell cycle-regulated with respect to the G1/S phase transition in U2OS, HOS, G292, and 143B cells. In contrast, Runx2 protein levels are constitutively expressed during the cell cycle in SaOS and MG63 cells. Forced expression of Runx2 suppresses growth in all cell lines indicating that accumulation of Runx2 in excess of its pre-established levels in a given cell type triggers one or more anti-proliferative pathways in osteosarcoma cells. Thus, regulatory mechanisms controlling Runx2 expression in osteosarcoma cells must balance Runx2 protein levels to promote its putative oncogenic functions, while avoiding suppression of bone tumor growth.

β-Catenin is a key protein in the canonical Wnt signaling pathway and in many cancers alterations in transcriptional activity of its components are observed. This pathway is up-regulated by the protein kinase CK2, but the underlying mechanism of this change is unknown. It has been demonstrated that CK2 hyperactivates AKT/PKB by phosphorylation at Ser129, and AKT phosphorylates β-catenin at Ser552, which in turn, promotes its nuclear localization and transcriptional activity. However, the consequences of CK2-dependent hyperactivation of AKT on β-catenin activity and cell viability have not been evaluated. We assessed this regulatory process by manipulating the activity of CK2 and AKT through overexpression of wild-type, constitutively active and dominant negative forms of these proteins as well as analyzing β-catenin-dependent transcriptional activity, survivin expression and viability in HEK-293T cells. We observed that CK2α overexpression up-regulated the β-catenin transcriptional activity, which correlated to an increased nuclear localization of β-catenin as well as survivin expression. Importantly, these effects were strongly reversed when an AKT-S129A mutant was co-expressed in the same cells, followed by a significant decrease in cell viability but no changes in β-catenin stability. Taken together, the data suggest that the CK2α-dependent up-regulation of β-catenin activity requires phosphorylation of AKT in human embryonic kidney cells.

No abstract

In mammals, bone differentiation requires the functional expression of the Runx2/Cbfβ heterodimeric complex. Our previous results indicate that Runx2 is also a suppressor of preosteoblast proliferation by affecting cell cycle progression at G 1 . Runx2 levels are cell cycle regulated, oscillating from a maximum during early G 1 to a minimum during late G 1 , S and mitosis phases in proliferating pre-osteoblasts Nevertheless, there is no information concerning Cbfβ gene expression during the cell cycle nor on Runx2 cell cycle expression in bone cancer cells. We analyzed Runx2 and Cbfβ gene expression during cell cycle progression in the preosteoblast MC3T3 and osteosarcoma ROS and SaOS cell lines. The expected reduction of Runx2 protein level was observed in MC3T3 cells arrested in late G 1 or M phase using mimosine or nocodazole, respectively. However, this reduction was not observed in the cell cycle arrested osteosarcoma cells. Cbfβ protein levels were not regulated during the cell cycle in pre-osteoblasts and osteosarcoma cells. Using cells synchronized in late G 1 and mitosis we found that Runx2 levels, but not Cbfβ levels, were cell cycle regulated in MC3T3 osteoblasts. Interestingly, both factors showed a constitutively elevated expression throughout the cell cycle in osteosarcoma cells. Proteasome inhibition by MG132 prevented cell cycle-dependent downregulation of Runx2 protein levels in osteoblasts, but not in osteosarcoma. We propose that Runx2 is involved in tumoral osteosarcoma progression. Altogether, deregulated Runx2 expression throughout the cell cycle seems to constitute a central mechanism in the pathogenesis of osteosarcoma.

Protein kinase CK1 (previously known as casein kinase I) conforms to a subgroup of the great protein kinase family found in eukaryotic organisms. The CK1 subgroup of vertebrates contains seven members known as alpha, beta, gamma1, gamma2, gamma3, delta, and epsilon. The CK1alpha gene can generate four variants (CK1alpha, CK1alphaS, CK1alphaL, and CK1alphaLS) through alternate splicing, characterized by the presence or absence of two additional coding sequences. Exon "L" encodes a 28-amino acid stretch that is inserted after lysine 152, in the center of the catalytic domain. The "S" insert encodes 12 amino acid residues and is located close to the carboxyl terminus of the protein. This work reports some biochemical and cellular properties of the four CK1alpha variants found to be expressed in zebrafish (Danio rerio). The results obtained indicate that the presence of the "L" insert affects several biochemical properties of CK1alpha: (a) it increases the apparent Km for ATP twofold, from approximately 30 to approximately 60 microM; (b) it decreases the sensitivity to the CKI-7 inhibitor, raising the I50 values from 113 to approximately 230 microM; (c) it greatly decreases the heat stability of the enzyme at 40 degrees C. In addition, the insertion of the "L" fragment exerts very important effects on some cellular properties of the enzyme. CK1alphaL concentrates in the cell nucleus, excluding nucleoli, while the CK1alpha variant is predominantly cytoplasmic, although some presence is observed in the nucleus. This finding supports the thesis that the basic-rich region found in the "L" insert acts as a nuclear localization signal. The "L" insert-containing variant was also found to be more rapidly degraded (half-life of 100 min) than the CK1alpha variant (half-life of 400 min) in transfected Cos-7 cells.

β-Catenin is crucial in the canonical Wnt signaling pathway. This pathway is up-regulated by CK2 which is associated with an enhanced expression of the antiapoptotic protein survivin, although the underlying molecular mechanism is unknown. AKT/PKB kinase phosphorylates and promotes β-catenin transcriptional activity, whereas CK2 hyperactivates AKT by phosphorylation at Ser129; however, the role of this phosphorylation on β-catenin transcriptional activity and cell survival is unclear. We studied in HEK-293T cells, the effect of CK2-dependent hyperactivation of AKT on cell viability, as well as analyzed β-catenin subcellular localization and transcriptional activity and survivin expression. CK2α overexpression led to an augmented β-catenin-dependent transcription and protein levels of survivin, and consequently an enhanced resistance to apoptosis. However, CK2α-enhancing effects were reversed when an AKT mutant deficient in Ser129 phosphorylation by CK2 was co-expressed. Therefore, our results strongly suggest that CK2α-specific enhancement of β-catenin transcriptional activity as well as cell survival may depend on AKT hyperactivation by CK2.