Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by progressive neurodegeneration leading to loss of cognitive abilities and ultimately to death. Postmortem investigations revealed decreased expression of cerebral insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 receptor (IGF-1R) and insulin receptor substrate (IRS) proteins in patients with AD. To elucidate the role of insulin/IGF-1 signaling in AD, we crossed mice expressing the Swedish mutation of amyloid precursor protein (APP(SW), Tg2576 mice) as a model for AD with mice deficient for either IRS-2, neuronal IGF-1R (nIGF-1R(-/-)), or neuronal insulin receptor (nIR(-/-)), and analyzed survival, glucose, and APP metabolism. In the present study, we show that IRS-2 deficiency in Tg2576 mice completely reverses premature mortality in Tg2576 females and delays beta-amyloid (Abeta) accumulation. Analysis of APP metabolism suggested that delayed Abeta accumulation resulted from decreased APP processing. To delineate the upstream signal responsible for IRS-2-mediated disease protection, we analyzed mice with nIGF-1R or nIR deficiency predominantly in the hippocampus. Interestingly, both male and female nIGF-1R(-/-)Tg2576 mice were protected from premature death in the presence of decreased Abeta accumulation specifically in the hippocampus formation. However, neuronal IR deletion had no influence on lethality of Tg2576 mice. Thus, impaired IGF-1/IRS-2 signaling prevents premature death and delays amyloid accumulation in a model of AD.

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Defects in maintaining genome integrity are a hallmark of cancer. The DNA damage response kinase ATM is frequently mutated in human cancer, but the significance of these events to chemotherapeutic efficacy has not been examined deeply in whole organism models. Here we demonstrate that bi-allelic Atm deletion in mouse models of Kras-mutant lung adenocarcinoma does not affect cisplatin responses. In marked contrast, Atmdeficient tumors displayed an enhanced response to the topoisomerase-II poison etoposide. Moreover, Atm-deficient cells and tumors were sensitive to the PARP inhibitor olaparib. This actionable molecular addiction to functional PARP1 signaling was preserved in models that were proficient or deficient in p53, resembling standard or high-risk genetic constellations, respectively. Atm deficiency also markedly enhanced sensitivity to the ATR inhibitor VE-822. Taken together, our results provide a functional rationale to profile human tumors for disabling ATM mutations, particularly given their impact on PARP1 and ATR inhibitors. Cancer Res; 77(11); 3040-56. Ó2017 AACR.

Here, we use a large-scale cell line-based approach to identify cancer cell-specifi c mutations that are associated with DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs) dependence. For this purpose, we profi led the mutational landscape across 1,319 cancerassociated genes of 67 distinct cell lines and identifi ed numerous genes involved in homologous recombination-mediated DNA repair, including BRCA1 , BRCA2 , ATM , PAXIP , and RAD50 , as being associated with non-oncogene addiction to DNA-PKcs. Mutations in the mismatch repair gene MSH3 , which have been reported to occur recurrently in numerous human cancer entities, emerged as the most signifi cant predictors of DNA-PKcs addiction. Concordantly, DNA-PKcs inhibition robustly induced apoptosis in MSH3 -mutant cell lines in vitro and displayed remarkable single-agent effi cacy against MSH3 -mutant tumors in vivo . Thus, we here identify a therapeutically actionable synthetic lethal interaction between MSH3 and the non-homologous end joining kinase DNA-PKcs. Our observations recommend DNA-PKcs inhibition as a therapeutic concept for the treatment of human cancers displaying homologous recombination defects. SIGNIFICANCE:We associate mutations in the MSH3 gene, which are frequently detected in microsatellite-instable colon cancer (∼40%), with a therapeutic response to specifi c DNA-PKcs inhibitors. Because potent DNA-PKcs inhibitors are currently entering early clinical trials, we offer a novel opportunity to genetically stratify patients who may benefi t from a DNA-PKcs-inhibitory therapy. Cancer Discov; 4(5);[592][593][594][595][596][597][598][599][600][601][602][603][604][605]

Generation of new adipocytes plays a major role in the development of obesity. We previously have shown that transcriptional repressor factor that binds to IST (FBI)-1 exerts a dual effect in the process of adipogenesis by inhibiting proliferation and promoting differentiation of preadipocytes. The aim of the present study was to identify FBI-1 regulated molecular effectors that could account for these effects. Overexpressing FBI-1 in preadipocytes resulted in reduced expression of the cell cycle regulator cyclin A, which may explain FBI-1 induced inhibition of proliferation. Interestingly, FBI-1 repressed cyclin A promoter activity through an indirect mechanisms that did not involve direct binding of FBI-1 to the promoter sequence, but rather FBI-1 inhibition of transcriptional activator Sp1 binding to a regulatory element at -452 to -443. We also show that FBI-1 promotes terminal preadipocyte differentiation through a mechanism involving decreased levels of expression of the PPARgamma inhibitor E2F-4. FBI-1 significantly reduced E2F-4 promoter activity. Contrary to cyclin A, we found FBI-1-induced repression of E2F-4 is mediated by a direct mechanism via a FBI-1 regulatory element at -11 to -5. As function of transcriptional repressors normally depends on the presence of regulatory co-factors we also performed expression profiling of potential FBI-1 co-repressors throughout adipogenesis. In these experiments Sin3A and histon deacetylase (HDAC)-1 showed a similar expression pattern compared to FBI-1. Strikingly, co-immunoprecipitation studies revealed that FBI-1 binds Sin3A and HDAC-1 to form a repressor complex. Furthermore, by mutational analysis the amino terminal Poxvirus (POZ) domain of FBI-1 was found to be important for Sin3A and HDAC-1 binding. Taken together, FBI-1 is the first transcriptional repressor shown to act as a dual regulator in adipogenesis exerting repressor activities on target genes by both, direct and indirect mechanisms.

Insulin‐like growth factor (IGF)‐1 increases proliferation, inhibits apoptosis and promotes differentiation of oligodendrocytes and their precursor cells, indicating an important function for IGF‐1 receptor (IGF‐1R) signaling in myelin development. The insulin receptor substrates (IRS), IRS‐1 and ‐2 serve as intracellular IGF‐1R adaptor proteins and are expressed in neurons, oligodendrocytes and their precursors. To address the role of IRS‐2 in myelination, we analyzed myelination in IRS‐2 deficient (IRS‐2−/−) mice and age‐matched controls during postnatal development. Interestingly, expression of the most abundant myelin proteins, myelin basic protein and proteolipid protein was reduced in IRS‐2−/− brains at postnatal day 10 (P10) as compared to controls. myelin basic protein immunostaining in P10‐IRS‐2−/− mice revealed a reduced immunostaining, but an unchanged regional distribution pattern. In cerebral myelin isolates at P10 unaltered relative expression of different myelin proteins was found, indicating quantitatively reduced but not qualitatively altered myelination. Interestingly, up‐regulation of IRS‐1 expression and increased IGF‐1R signaling were observed in IRS‐2−/− mice at P10‐14, indicating a compensatory mechanism to overcome IRS‐2 deficiency. Adult IRS‐2−/− mice showed unaltered myelination and motor function. Furthermore, in neuronal/brain‐specific insulin receptor knockout mice myelination was unchanged. Thus, our experiments reveal that IGF‐1R/IRS‐2 mediated signals are critical for appropriate timing of myelination in vivo.

Growing evidence suggests a key role for RNA binding proteins (RBPs) in genome stability programs. Additionally, recent developments in RNA sequencing technologies, as well as mass-spectrometry techniques, have greatly expanded our knowledge on protein-RNA interactions. We here use full transcriptome sequencing and label-free LC/MS/MS to identify global changes in protein-RNA interactions in response to etoposide-induced genotoxic stress. We show that RBPs have distinct binding patterns in response to genotoxic stress and that inactivation of the RBP regulator module, p38/MK2, can affect the entire spectrum of protein-RNA interactions that take place in response to stress. In addition to validating the role of known RBPs like Srsf1, Srsf2, Elavl1 in the genotoxic stress response, we add a new collection of RBPs to the DNA damage response. We identify Khsrp as a highly regulated RBP in response to genotoxic stress and further validate its role as a driver of the G1/S transition through the suppression of Cdkn1aP21 transcripts. Finally, we identify KHSRP as an indicator of overall survival, as well as disease free survival in glioblastoma multiforme.

Hyperglycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes causes multiple neuronal complications, e.g., diabetic polyneuropathy, cognitive decline, and embryonic neural crest defects due to increased apoptosis. Possible mechanisms of neuronal response to increased glucose burden are still a matter of debate. Insulin and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) receptor signaling inhibits glucose-induced caspase-3 activation and apoptotic cell death. The insulin receptor substrates (IRS) are intracellular adapter proteins mediating insulin's and IGF-1's intracellular effects. Even though all IRS proteins have similar function and structure, recent data suggest different actions of IRS-1 and IRS-2 in mediating their anti-apoptotic effects in glucose neurotoxicity. We therefore investigated the role of IRS-1/-2 in glucose-induced caspase-3 activation using human neuroblastoma cells. Overexpression of IRS-1 or IRS-2 caused complete resistance to glucose-induced caspase-3 cleavage. Inhibition of PI3-kinase reversed this protective effect of IRS-1 or IRS-2. However, MAP-kinases inhibition had only minor impact. IRS overexpression increased MnSOD abundance as well as BAD phosphorylation while Bim and BAX levels remained unchanged. Since Akt promotes cell survival at least partially via phosphorylation and inhibition of downstream forkhead box-O (FoxO) transcription factors, we generated neuroblastoma cells stably overexpressing a dominant negative mutant of FoxO1 mimicking activation of the insulin/IGF-1 pathway on FoxO-mediated transcription. Using these cells we showed that FoxO1 is not involved in neuronal protection mediated by increased IRS-1/-2 expression. Thus, overexpression of both IRS-1 and IRS-2 induces complete resistance to glucose-induced caspase-3 activation via PI3-kinase mediated BAD phosphorylation and MnSOD expression independent of FoxO1.