Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a crucial role in tumor angiogenesis. VEGF induces new vessel formation and tumor growth by inducing mitogenesis and chemotaxis of normal endothelial cells and increasing vascular permeability. However, little is known about VEGF function in the proliferation, survival or migration of hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HCC). In the present study, we have found that VEGF receptors are expressed in HCC line BEL7402 and human hepatocellular carcinoma specimens. Importantly, VEGF receptor expression correlates with the development of the carcinoma. By using a comprehensive approaches including TUNEL assay, transwell and wound healing assays, migration and invasion assays, adhesion assay, western blot and quantitative RT-PCR, we have shown that knockdown of VEGF165 expression by shRNA inhibits the proliferation, migration, survival and adhesion ability of BEL7402. Knockdown of VEGF165 decreased the expression of NF-κB p65 and PKCα while increased the expression of p53 signaling molecules, suggesting that VEGF functions in HCC proliferation and migration are mediated by P65, PKCα and/or p53.

The N-terminal transactivation domain (NTD) of estrogen receptor alpha, a well-known member of the family of intrinsically disordered proteins, mediates the receptor's transactivation function. However, an accurate molecular dissection of NTD's structurefunction relationships remains elusive. Here, we show that the NTD adopts a mostly disordered, unexpectedly compact conformation that undergoes structural expansion on chemical denaturation. By combining small-angle X-ray scattering, hydroxyl radical protein footprinting, and computational modeling, we derive the ensemble-structures of the NTD and determine its ensemble-contact map revealing metastable long-range contacts, e.g., between residues I33 and S118. We show that mutation at S118, a known phosphorylation site, promotes conformational changes and increases coactivator binding. We further demonstrate via fluorine-19 ( 19 F) nuclear magnetic resonance that mutations near I33 alter 19 F chemical shifts at S118, confirming the proposed I33-S118 contact in the ensemble of structural disorder. These findings extend our understanding of how specific contact metastability mediates critical functions of disordered proteins.

Edited by Henrik G. DohlmanRas genes potently drive human cancers, with mutated protooncogene GTPase KRAS4B (K-Ras4B) being the most abundant isoform. Targeted inhibition of oncogenic gene products is considered the "holy grail" of present-day cancer therapy, and recent discoveries of small-molecule KRas4B inhibitors were made thanks to a deeper understanding of the structure and dynamics of this GTPase. Because interactions with biological membranes are key for Ras function, Ras-lipid interactions have become a major focus, especially because such interactions evidently involve both the Ras C terminus for lipid anchoring and its G-protein domain. Here, using NMR spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations complemented by biophysicaland cell-biology assays, we investigated the interaction between K-Ras4B with the signaling lipid phosphatidylinositol (4,5)phosphate (PIP2). We discovered that the ␤2 and ␤3 strands as well as helices 4 and 5 of the GTPase G-domain bind to PIP2 and identified the specific residues in these structural elements employed in these interactions, likely occurring in two K-Ras4B orientation states relative to the membrane. Importantly, we found that some of these residues known to be oncogenic when mutated (D47K, D92N, K104M, and D126N) are critical for K-Ras-mediated transformation of fibroblast cells, but do not substantially affect basal and assisted nucleotide hydrolysis and exchange. Moreover, the K104M substitution abolished localization of K-Ras to the plasma membrane. The findings suggest that specific G-domain residues can critically regulate Ras function by mediating interactions with membrane-associated PIP2 lipids; these insights that may inform the future design of therapeutic reagents targeting Ras activity.

In-cell NMR spectroscopy provides insight into protein conformation, dynamics, and function at atomic resolution in living cells. Systematic evaluation of isotopic-labeling strategies is necessary to observe the target protein in the sea of other molecules in the cell. Here, we investigate the detectability, sensitivity, and resolution of in-cell NMR spectra of the globular proteins GB1, ubiquitin, calmodulin, and bcl-xl-cutloop, resulting from uniform (15)N enrichment (with and without deuteration), selective (15)N-Leu enrichment, (13)C-methyl enrichment of isoleucine, leucine, valine, and alanine, fractional (13)C enrichment, and (19)F labeling. Most of the target proteins can be observed by (19)F labeling and (13)C enrichment with direct detection because selectively labeling suppresses background signals and because deuteration improves in-cell spectra. Our results demonstrate that the detectability of proteins is determined by weak interactions with intercellular components and that choosing appropriate labeling strategies is critical for the success of in-cell protein NMR studies.