SummaryActivated RAS promotes dimerization of members of the RAF kinase family1-3. ATP-competitive RAF inhibitors activate ERK signaling4-7 by transactivating RAF dimers4. In melanomas with mutant BRAF(V600E), levels of RAS activation are low and these drugs bind to BRAF(V600E) monomers and inhibit their activity. This tumor-specific inhibition of ERK signaling results in a broad therapeutic index and RAF inhibitors have remarkable clinical activity in patients with melanomas that harbor mutant BRAF(V600E)8. However, resistance invariably develops. Here, we identify a novel resistance mechanism. We find that a subset of cells resistant to vemurafenib (PLX4032, RG7204) express a 61kd variant form of BRAF(V600E) that lacks exons 4-8, a region that encompasses the RAS-binding domain. p61BRAF(V600E) exhibits enhanced dimerization in cells with low levels of RAS activation, as compared to full length BRAF(V600E). In cells in which p61BRAF(V600E) is expressed endogenously or ectopically, ERK signaling is resistant to the RAF inhibitor. Moreover, a mutation that abolishes the dimerization of p61BRAF(V600E) restores its sensitivity to vemurafenib. Finally, we identified BRAF(V600E) splicing variants lacking the RAS-binding domain in the tumors of six of 19 patients with acquired resistance to vemurafenib. These data support the model that inhibition of ERK signaling by RAF inhibitors is dependent on levels of RAS-GTP too low to support RAF dimerization and identify a novel mechanism of acquired resistance in patients: expression of splicing isoforms of BRAF(V600E) that dimerize in a RAS-independent manner.

The PTEN tumor suppressor is frequently affected in cancer cells, and inherited PTEN mutation causes cancer-susceptibility conditions such as Cowden syndrome. PTEN acts as a plasma-membrane lipid-phosphatase antagonizing the phosphoinositide 3-kinase/AKT cell survival pathway. However, PTEN is also found in cell nuclei, but mechanism, function, and relevance of nuclear localization remain unclear. We show that nuclear PTEN is essential for tumor suppression and that PTEN nuclear import is mediated by its monoubiquitination. A lysine mutant of PTEN, K289E associated with Cowden syndrome, retains catalytic activity but fails to accumulate in nuclei of patient tissue due to an import defect. We identify this and another lysine residue as major monoubiquitination sites essential for PTEN import. While nuclear PTEN is stable, polyubiquitination leads to its degradation in the cytoplasm. Thus, we identify cancer-associated mutations of PTEN that target its posttranslational modification and demonstrate how a discrete molecular mechanism dictates tumor progression by differentiating between degradation and protection of PTEN.

One function of heterochromatin is the epigenetic silencing by sequestration of genes into transcriptionally repressed nuclear neighborhoods. Heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1) is a major component of heterochromatin and thus is a candidate for establishing and maintaining the transcriptionally repressive heterochromatin structure. Here we demonstrate that maintenance of stable heterochromatin domains in living cells involves the transient binding and dynamic exchange of HP1 from chromatin. HP1 exchange kinetics correlate with the condensation level of chromatin and are dependent on the histone methyltransferase Suv39h. The chromodomain and the chromoshadow domain of HP1 are both required for binding to native chromatin in vivo, but they contribute differentially to binding in euchromatin and heterochromatin. These data argue against HP1 repression of transcription by formation of static, higher order oligomeric networks but support a dynamic competition model, and they demonstrate that heterochromatin is accessible to regulatory factors.

Genome structure and gene expression depend on a multitude of chromatin-binding proteins. The binding properties of these proteins to native chromatin in intact cells are largely unknown. Here, we describe an approach based on combined in vivo photobleaching microscopy and kinetic modeling to analyze globally the dynamics of binding of chromatin-associated proteins in living cells. We have quantitatively determined basic biophysical properties, such as off rate constants, residence time, and bound fraction, of a wide range of chromatin proteins of diverse functions in vivo. We demonstrate that most chromatin proteins have a high turnover on chromatin with a residence time on the order of seconds, that the major fraction of each protein is bound to chromatin at steady state, and that transient binding is a common property of chromatin-associated proteins. Our results indicate that chromatin-binding proteins find their binding sites by three-dimensional scanning of the genome space and our data are consistent with a model in which chromatin-associated proteins form dynamic interaction networks in vivo. We suggest that these properties are crucial for generating high plasticity in genome expression.Organization of DNA into higher-order chromatin structure serves to accommodate the genome within the spatial confines of the cell nucleus and acts as an important regulatory mechanism (22,36,46,60). Establishment, maintenance, and alterations of global and local chromatin states are modulated by the combined action of a multitude of chromatin-binding proteins. The nucleosome, containing histone proteins, acts as a structural scaffold and as an entry point for regulatory mechanisms (60, 63). Nonhistone proteins, including the HMG proteins, further contribute to the structural maintenance and regulation of chromatin regions (6, 61). In heterochromatin, specific factors such as HP1 convey a transcriptionally repressed state, possibly by influencing higher-order chromatin structure (19,27). Histone-modifying enzymes such as histone acetyl-and methyltransferases are instrumental in generating epigenetic marks on chromatin domains (60). Chromatin remodeling factors act on specific sites to facilitate access to regulatory DNA elements. Once accessible, transcriptional activators bind specific sequences on DNA and recruit the basal transcription machinery (37,44,46). All of these steps involve binding of proteins to chromatin.Due to their functional significance, chromatin-associated proteins have been extensively characterized-mostly by biochemical extraction and in vitro binding assays. Little is known about the dynamics of how chromatin proteins bind to their target sites in native chromatin in living cells. In vivo microscopy techniques are providing novel tools to study chromatin proteins in living cells (32,39,41,50). Qualitative analysis of photobleaching experiments has revealed a wide range of dynamic behavior for chromatin-associated proteins. The bulk of core histones is immobile on DNA, whereas the linker histone H1...

Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS) is a rare, invariably fatal premature aging disorder. The disease is caused by constitutive production of progerin, a mutant form of the nuclear architectural protein lamin A, leading, through unknown mechanisms, to diverse morphological, epigenetic and genomic damage and to mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) attrition in vivo. Using a high-throughput siRNA screen we identify the NRF2 antioxidant pathway as a driver mechanism in HGPS. Progerin sequesters NRF2 and thereby causes its subnuclear mislocalization, resulting in impaired NRF2 transcriptional activity and consequently increased chronic oxidative stress. Suppressed NRF2 activity or increased oxidative stress are sufficient to recapitulate HGPS aging defects whereas re-activation of NRF2 activity in HGPS patient cells reverses progerin-associated nuclear aging defects and restores in vivo viability of MSCs in an animal model. These findings identify repression of the NRF2-mediated antioxidative response as a key contributor to the premature aging phenotype.

Mammalian cell nucleoli disassemble at the onset of M-phase and reassemble during telophase. Recent studies showed that partially processed preribosomal RNA (pre-rRNA) is preserved in association with processing components in the perichromosomal regions (PRs) and in particles called nucleolus-derived foci (NDF) during mitosis. Here, the dynamics of nucleolar reassembly were examined for the first time in living cells expressing fusions of the processing-related proteins fibrillarin, nucleolin, or B23 with green fluorescent protein (GFP). During telophase the NDF disappeared with a concomitant appearance of material in the reforming nuclei. Prenucleolar bodies (PNBs) appeared in nuclei in early telophase and gradually disappeared as nucleoli formed, strongly suggesting the transfer of PNB components to newly forming nucleoli. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) showed that fibrillarin-GFP reassociates with the NDF and PNBs at rapid and similar rates. The reentry of processing complexes into telophase nuclei is suggested by the presence of pre-rRNA sequences in PNBs. Entry of specific proteins into the nucleolus approximately correlated with the timing of processing events. The mitotically preserved processing complexes may be essential for regulating the distribution of components to reassembling daughter cell nucleoli.

H1 linker histones stabilize the nucleosome, limit nucleosome mobility and facilitate the condensation of metazoan chromatin. Here, we have combined systematic mutagenesis, measurement of in vivo binding by photobleaching microscopy, and structural modeling to determine the binding geometry of the globular domain of the H1(0) linker histone variant within the nucleosome in unperturbed, native chromatin in vivo. We demonstrate the existence of two distinct DNA-binding sites within the globular domain that are formed by spatial clustering of multiple residues. The globular domain is positioned via interaction of one binding site with the major groove near the nucleosome dyad. The second site interacts with linker DNA adjacent to the nucleosome core. Multiple residues bind cooperatively to form a highly specific chromatosome structure that provides a mechanism by which individual domains of linker histones interact to facilitate chromatin condensation.

The nucleus is unique amongst cellular organelles in that it contains a myriad of discrete suborganelles. These nuclear bodies are morphologically and molecularly distinct entities, and they host specific nuclear processes. Although the mode of biogenesis appears to differ widely between individual nuclear bodies, several common design principles are emerging, particularly, the ability of nuclear bodies to form de novo, a role of RNA as a structural element and self-organization as a mode of formation. The controlled biogenesis of nuclear bodies is essential for faithful maintenance of nuclear architecture during the cell cycle and is an important part of cellular responses to intra-and extracellular events.T he mammalian cell nucleus contains a multitude of discrete suborganelles, referred to as nuclear bodies or nuclear compartments (reviewed in Dundr and Misteli 2001;Spector 2001;Lamond and Spector 2003;Handwerger and Gall 2006;Zhao et al. 2009). These bodies are an essential part of the nuclear landscape as they compartmentalize the nuclear space and create distinct environments within the nucleus (reviewed in Misteli 2007). Many nuclear bodies carry out specific nuclear functions, such as the synthesis and processing of pre-ribosomal RNA in the nucleolus, the storage and assembly of spliceosomal components in nuclear speckles, or the retention of RNA molecules in paraspeckles. The mechanisms by which nuclear bodies contribute to function are highly diverse. In some cases, a nuclear body may be host to a particular activity such as transcription; in other cases, a nuclear body seems to act indirectly by regulating the local concentration of its components in the nucleoplasm.In many ways, nuclear bodies are similar to conventional cellular organelles in the cytoplasm. Like cytoplasmic organelles, they contain a specific set of resident proteins, which defines each structure molecularly. Although many nuclear bodies are spherical in shape, most can be characterized based on their unique morphology, particularly when analyzed by electron microscopy and by their nuclear distribution patterns. However, in stark contrast to conventional cytoplasmic organelles, nuclear bodies are not delineated by lipid membranes, and their structural integrity appears to be entirely mediated by protein -protein and possibly protein -RNA interactions. The absence of a demarcating lipid membrane points to unique mechanisms of biogenesis.