The microphthalmia transcription factor (Mitf ) activates melanocyte-specific gene expression, is critical for survival and proliferation of melanocytes during development, and has been described as an oncogene in malignant melanoma. SWI/SNF complexes are ATP-dependent chromatin-remodeling enzymes that play a role in many developmental processes. To determine the requirement for SWI/SNF enzymes in melanocyte differentiation, we introduced Mitf into fibroblasts that inducibly express dominant negative versions of the SWI/SNF ATPases, Brahma or Brahma-related gene 1 (BRG1). These dominant negative SWI/SNF components have been shown to inhibit gene activation events that normally require SWI/SNF enzymes. We found that Mitf-mediated activation of a subset of endogenous melanocyte-specific genes required SWI/SNF enzymes but that cell-cycle regulation occurred independently of SWI/SNF function. Activation of tyrosinase-related protein 1, a melanocytespecific gene, correlated with SWI/SNF-dependent changes in chromatin accessibility at the endogenous locus. Both BRG1 and Mitf could be localized to the tyrosinase-related protein 1 and tyrosinase promoters by chromatin immunoprecipitation, whereas immunofluorescence and immunoprecipitation experiments indicate that Mitf and BRG1 co-localized in the nucleus and physically interacted. Together these results suggest that Mitf can recruit SWI/SNF enzymes to melanocyte-specific promoters for the activation of gene expression via induced changes in chromatin structure at endogenous loci.Melanocytes are pigment-producing cells that are developmentally derived from the neural crest and that comprise 1-2% of the epidermis (1). They are also present on the epithelial surfaces of mucous membranes, hair follicles, the cochlea of the inner ear, and both the uvea and conjunctiva of the eye (2, 3). On the skin, they play a photoprotective role by synthesizing and distributing melanin (4). Excessive exposure to UV radiation has been linked to the transformation of cutaneous melanocytes to melanoma, a cancer that has steadily increased in frequency and is difficult to treat (5, 6).Microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (Mitf ) 2 is the "master regulator" of melanocyte differentiation and was elegantly shown to convert fibroblasts into dendritic cells that express melanocyte-specific genes (7). It is important for the commitment, proliferation, and survival of melanocytes during neural crest cell migration, and null mutations of the mouse Mitf gene result in complete absence of melanocytes and lack of pigmentation in the skin, eyes, and inner ear (8, 9). Two human diseases resulting from mutations in the MITF gene are Waardenburg type 2 syndrome and Tietz syndrome, both of which are characterized by pigmentary disturbances and sensineural deafness (8).Mitf is a basic helix-loop-helix leucine zipper transcription factor that binds DNA either as a homodimer or as a heterodimer with TFE3, TFEB, or TFEC to conserved E boxes (CAC(G/A)TG) in the promoters of its target genes, which incl...

BackgroundDNA replication initiates at distinct origins in eukaryotic genomes, but the genomic features that define these sites are not well understood.ResultsWe have taken a combined experimental and bioinformatic approach to identify and characterize origins of replication in three distantly related fission yeasts: Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Schizosaccharomyces octosporus and Schizosaccharomyces japonicus. Using single-molecule deep sequencing to construct amplification-free high-resolution replication profiles, we located origins and identified sequence motifs that predict origin function. We then mapped nucleosome occupancy by deep sequencing of mononucleosomal DNA from the corresponding species, finding that origins tend to occupy nucleosome-depleted regions.ConclusionsThe sequences that specify origins are evolutionarily plastic, with low complexity nucleosome-excluding sequences functioning in S. pombe and S. octosporus, and binding sites for trans-acting nucleosome-excluding proteins functioning in S. japonicus. Furthermore, chromosome-scale variation in replication timing is conserved independently of origin location and via a mechanism distinct from known heterochromatic effects on origin function. These results are consistent with a model in which origins are simply the nucleosome-depleted regions of the genome with the highest affinity for the origin recognition complex. This approach provides a general strategy for understanding the mechanisms that define DNA replication origins in eukaryotes.

Origins of DNA replication are generally inefficient, with most firing in fewer than half of cell cycles. However, neither the mechanism nor the importance of the regulation of origin efficiency is clear. In fission yeast, origin firing is stochastic, leading us to hypothesize that origin inefficiency and stochasticity are the result of a diffusible, rate-limiting activator. We show that the Hsk1-Dfp1 replication kinase (the fission yeast Cdc7-Dbf4 homologue) plays such a role. Increasing or decreasing Hsk1-Dfp1 levels correspondingly increases or decreases origin efficiency. Furthermore, tethering Hsk1-Dfp1 near an origin increases the efficiency of that origin, suggesting that the effective local concentration of Hsk1-Dfp1 regulates origin firing. Using photobleaching, we show that Hsk1-Dfp1 is freely diffusible in the nucleus. These results support a model in which the accessibility of replication origins to Hsk1-Dfp1 regulates origin efficiency and provides a potential mechanistic link between chromatin structure and replication timing. By manipulating Hsk1-Dfp1 levels, we show that increasing or decreasing origin firing rates leads to an increase in genomic instability, demonstrating the biological importance of appropriate origin efficiency.

CDK4 is emerging as a target in KRAS-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We demonstrate that KRAS-mutant NSCLC cell lines are initially sensitive to the CDK4/6 inhibitor palbociclib, but readily acquire resistance associated with increased expression of CDK6, D-type cyclins and cyclin E. Resistant cells also demonstrated increased ERK1/2 activity and sensitivity to MEK and ERK inhibitors. Moreover, MEK inhibition reduced the expression and activity of cell cycle proteins mediating palbociclib resistance. In resistant cells, ERK activated mTOR, driven in part by upstream FGFR1 signaling resulting from the extracellular secretion of FGF ligands. A genetically-engineered mouse model of KRAS-mutant NSCLC initially sensitive to palbociclib similarly developed acquired resistance with increased expression of cell cycle mediators, ERK1/2 and FGFR1. In this model, resistance was delayed with combined palbociclib and MEK inhibitor treatment. These findings implicate an FGFR1–MAP kinase–mTOR pathway resulting in increased expression of D-cyclins and CDK6 that confers palbociclib resistance and indicate that CDK4/6 inhibition acts to promote MAP kinase dependence.

BCL2 suppresses apoptosis by binding the BH3 domain of pro-apoptotic factors and thereby regulating outer mitochondrial membrane permeabilization. Many tumor types, including B-cell lymphomas and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, are dependent on BCL2 for survival, but become resistant to apoptosis after treatment. Here we identified a direct interaction between the anti-apoptotic protein BCL2 and the enzyme poly(ADP) ribose polymerase 1 (PARP1), which suppresses PARP1 enzymatic activity and inhibits PARP1-dependent DNA repair in diffuse large B cell lymphoma cells. The BH3 mimetic ABT-737 displaced PARP1 from BCL2 in a dose-dependent manner, re-establishing PARP1 activity and DNA repair and promoting non-apoptotic cell death. This form of cell death was unaffected by resistance to single-agent ABT-737 that results from upregulation of anti-apoptotic BCL2 family members. Based on the ability of BCL2 to suppress PARP1 function, we hypothesized that ectopic BCL2 expression would kill PARP inhibitor-sensitive cells. Strikingly, BCL2 expression reduced the survival of PARP inhibitor-sensitive breast cancer and lung cancer cells by 90-100%, and these effects were reversed by ABT-737. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that a novel interaction between BCL2 and PARP1 blocks PARP1 enzymatic activity and suppresses PARP1-dependent repair. Targeted disruption of the BCL2-PARP1 interaction therefore may represent a potential therapeutic approach for BCL2-expressing tumors resistant to apoptosis.

The S-phase DNA damage checkpoint slows replication when damage occurs during S phase. Cdc25, which activates Cdc2 by dephosphorylating tyrosine-15, has been shown to be a downstream target of the checkpoint in metazoans, but its role is not clear in fission yeast. The dephosphorylation of Cdc2 has been assumed not to play a role in S-phase regulation because cells replicate in the absence of Cdc25, demonstrating that tyrosine-15 phosphorylated dc2 is sufficient for S phase. However, it has been reported recently that Cdc25 is involved in the slowing of S phase in response to damage in fission yeast, suggesting a modulatory role for Cdc2 dephosphorylation in S phase. We have investigated the role of Cdc25 and the tyrosine phosphorylation of Cdc2 in the S-phase damage checkpoint, and our results show that Cdc2 phosphorylation is not a target of the checkpoint. The checkpoint was not compromised in a Cdc25 overexpressing strain, a strain carrying nonphosphorylatable form of Cdc2, or in a strain lacking Cdc25. Our results are consistent with a strictly Cdc2-Y15 phosphorylation-independent mechanism of the fission yeast S-phase DNA damage checkpoint.

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PARP inhibitors are emerging as important new anticancer agents, especially in cancers defective in homologous recombination (HR) repair, such as those lacking BRCA1 or BRCA2. To date, the potential role of PARP inhibition in NSCLC has not been extensively studied. As previously reported, we examined a panel of 26 genotypically-defined NSCLC cell lines for sensitivity to the PARP-1 inhibitor AG014699 (rucaparib) using colony formation assays. We identified 5 cell lines that are exquisitely sensitive (IC50 ≈ 50nM), 9 cell lines that are moderately sensitive (IC50 ≈ 60-500nM) and 12 cell lines that are resistant (IC50 > 5 μM). These data were confirmed with a second PARP inhibitor, AZD2281 (Olaparib). To determine whether sensitive cell lines have defective HR compared to resistant cell lines, we examined the formation of RAD51 foci. Both sensitive and resistant cell lines demonstrated efficient formation of RAD51 foci as well as gamma-H2AX foci in response to DNA damaging treatments, indicating correct initiation of HR. In resistant cell lines, the repair process following PARP inhibition is completed within 24 hours, with resolution of RAD51 and gamma-H2AX foci. However, in sensitive cell lines, these foci persist greater than 30 hours following DNA damaging treatments. These results suggest that although sensitive lines are able to initiate HR repair, they are unable to complete the process, so that RAD51 foci are not resolved. The persistence of DNA damage in these cell lines is confirmed by persistent gamma-H2AX focus formation as well as S/G2 arrest, the latter representing intact checkpoint control. Our results suggest that proteins required downstream of RAD51, including helicases and Holliday junction resolvases, are lacking in the sensitive lines. Consistent with this hypothesis, NCI-H520 cells, a highly PARP inhibitor-sensitive cell line, lacks expression of WRN, RECQL4 and RECQL5. siRNA-mediated depletion of these proteins individually sensitizes the resistant A549 cell line to PARP inhibition, with reduction in rucaparib IC50 by 100 fold. Our results may define a novel subset of NSCLCs with a late-step defect in HR that can be approached with PARP inhibition as a novel treatment strategy. Citation Format: Naveen Kommajosyula, Ye Cao, Lisa Moreau, Alan D'Andrea, Geoffrey I. Shapiro. Identification of factors governing sensitivity of NSCLC cell lines to inhibition of Poly (ADP-Ribose) Polymerase (PARP). [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1787. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-1787