Summary Protein misfolding stimulates a signaling pathway involving noncoding RNAs to promote cell death. The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is the primary organelle for folding and maturation of secretory and transmembrane proteins. Inability to meet protein-folding demand leads to “ER stress,” and activates IRE1α, an ER transmembrane kinase-endoribonuclease (RNase). IRE1α promotes adaptation through splicing Xbp1 mRNA or apoptosis through incompletely understood mechanisms. Here we found that sustained IRE1α RNase activation caused rapid decay of select microRNAs (miRs -17, -34a, -96, -125b) that normally repress translation of Caspase-2 mRNA, and thus sharply elevates protein levels of this initiator protease of the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. In cell-free systems, recombinant IRE1α endonucleolytically cleaved microRNA precursors at sites distinct from DICER. Thus, IRE1α regulates translation of a proapoptotic protein through terminating microRNA biogenesis, and noncoding RNAs are part of the ER stress response.

Triple-negative breast cancers with elevated MYC are sensitized to CDK inhibition.

Summary Multiple cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) control eukaryotic cell division, but assigning specific functions to individual CDKs remains a challenge. During the mammalian cell cycle, Cdk2 forms active complexes before Cdk1, but lack of Cdk2 protein does not block cell-cycle progression. To detect requirements and define functions for Cdk2 activity in human cells when normal expression levels are preserved, and non-physiologic compensation by other CDKs is prevented, we replaced the wild-type kinase with a version sensitized to specific inhibition by bulky adenine analogs. The sensitizing mutation also impaired a non-catalytic function of Cdk2 in restricting assembly of cyclin A with Cdk1, but this defect could be corrected by both inhibitory and non-inhibitory analogs. This allowed either chemical rescue or selective antagonism of Cdk2 activity in vivo, to uncover a requirement in cell proliferation, and non-redundant, rate-limiting roles in restriction point passage and S-phase entry.