Transcription coactivator Yes-associated protein (YAP) plays an important role in the regulation of cell proliferation and apoptosis. Here, we identify a new role of YAP in the regulation of cellular senescence. We find that the expression levels of YAP proteins decrease following the replication-induced cellular senescence in IMR90 cells. Silencing of YAP inhibits cell proliferation and induces premature senescence.In additional experiments, we observe that cellular senescence induced by YAP deficiency is TEAD-and Rb/p16/p53-dependent. Furthermore, we show that Cdk6 is a direct downstream target gene of YAP in the regulation of cellular senescence, and the expression of Cdk6 is through the YAP-TEAD complex. Ectopic expression of Cdk6 rescued YAP knockdown-induced senescence. Finally, we find that downregulation of YAP in tumor cells increases senescence in response to chemotherapeutic agents, and YAP or Cdk6 expression rescues cellular senescence. Taken together, our findings define the critical role of YAP in the regulation of cellular senescence and provide a novel insight into a potential chemotherapeutic avenue for tumor suppression. Cancer Res; 73(12); 3615-24. Ó2013 AACR.
DSS1 is an evolutionarily conserved acidic protein that binds to BRCA2. However, study of the function of DSS1 in mammalian cells has been hampered because endogenous DSS1 has not been detectable by Western blotting. Here, we developed a modified Western blotting protocol that detects endogenous DSS1 protein, and used it to study the function of DSS1 and its interaction with BRCA2 in mammalian cells. We found that essentially all BRCA2 in human cell lines is associated with DSS1. Importantly, we found that RNAi knockdown of DSS1 in human cell lines led to dramatic loss of BRCA2 protein, mainly due to its increased degradation. Furthermore, the stability of BRCA2 mutant devoid of the DSS1-binding domain is unaffected by the depletion of DSS1. Most notably, like BRCA2 depletion, DSS1 depletion also led to hypersensitivity to DNA damage. These results demonstrated that the stability of BRCA2 protein in mammalian cells depends on the presence of DSS1. Deletion or mutation of DSS1 or suppression of its expression by other mechanisms are therefore potential causative mechanisms for human breast and ovarian cancer. Such mechanisms may be relevant to sporadic as well as familiar breast cancer where BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations are not present.
In mammalian cells, the centrosome consists of a pair of centrioles and amorphous pericentriolar material. The pair of centrioles, which are the core components of the centrosome, duplicate once per cell cycle. Centrosomes play a pivotal role in orchestrating the formation of the bipolar spindle during mitosis. Recent studies have linked centrosomal activity on centrioles or centriole-associated structures to cytokinesis and cell cycle progression through G1 into the S phase. In this study, we have identified centrobin as a centriole-associated protein that asymmetrically localizes to the daughter centriole. The silencing of centrobin expression by small interfering RNA inhibited centriole duplication and resulted in centrosomes with one or no centriole, demonstrating that centrobin is required for centriole duplication. Furthermore, inhibition of centriole duplication by centrobin depletion led to impaired cytokinesis.
E2F1 promotes DNA damage-induced apoptosis and the post-translational modifications of E2F1 play an important role in the regulation of E2F1-mediated cell death. Here, we found that Set9 and LSD1 regulate E2F1-mediated apoptosis upon DNA damage. Set9 methylates E2F1 at lysine 185, a conserved residue in the DNA-binding domain of E2F family proteins. The methylation of E2F1 by Set9 leads to the stabilization of E2F1 and up-regulation of its proapoptotic target genes p73 and Bim, and thereby induces E2F1-mediated apoptosis in response to genotoxic agents. We also found that LSD1 demethylates E2F1 at lysine 185 and reduces E2F1-mediated cell death. The identification of the methylation/demethylation of E2F1 by Set9/LSD1 suggests that E2F1 is dynamically regulated by epigenetic enzymes in response to DNA damage.
Mammalian Sterile 20-like kinase 1 (MST1) protein kinase plays an important role in the apoptosis induced by a variety of stresses. The MST1 is a serine/threonine kinase that is activated upon apoptotic stimulation, which in turn activates its downstream targets, JNK/p38, histone H2B and FOXO. It has been reported that overexpression of MST1 initiates apoptosis by activating p53. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying MST1-p53 signaling during apoptosis are unclear. Here, we report that MST1 promotes genotoxic agent-induced apoptosis in a p53-dependent manner. We found that MST1 increases p53 acetylation and transactivation by inhibiting the deacetylation of Sirtuin 1 (Sirt1) and its interaction with p53 and that Sirt1 can be phosphorylated by MST1 leading to the inhibition of Sirt1 activity. Collectively, these findings define a novel regulatory mechanism involving the phosphorylation of Sirt1 by MST1 kinase which leads to p53 activation, with implications for our understanding of signaling mechanisms during DNA damageinduced apoptosis.The protein kinase mammalian Sterile 20-like kinase 1 (MST1) 4 contains a Ste20-related kinase catalytic domain in the amino-terminal segment followed by a regulatory domain at the COOH terminus (1). It has been implicated in diverse biological functions, including cell proliferation, differentiation, morphogenesis, and cytoskeletal rearrangements. Previous studies have indicated that the noncatalytic tail of MST1 is cleaved by caspase-3 in response to a number of apoptotic stimuli such as death receptor triggering by CD95/FasL, staurosporine or ceramide, and heat shock and arsenite. The amino-terminal fragment of cleaved MST1 translocates into the nucleus where it contributes to chromatin condensation and then apoptosis (2-4). Furthermore, when MST1 is overexpressed, cleavage and subsequent induced apoptosis can also be observed (5). It has been reported that the two major cleavage sites are Asp-326 and Asp-349, and kinase activation, nuclear translocation, and the ability of MST1 to induce cell death are apparently attenuated by mutating these cleavage sites (4, 6). Recently threonine 183 has been identified as a crucial phosphoactivation site in subdomain VIII of MST1, and it is essential for kinase activation. Autophosphorylation of threonine 183 within the MST1 kinase domain is required for its activation (7). Hippo, a mammalian homolog of MST1/2 in Drosophila, has been extensively shown to restrain cell growth and proliferation through inhibition of the transcription and/or degradation of cyclin E and Drosophila Inhibitor of Apoptosis proteins (8, 9) or the phosphorylation and inhibition of Yorkie (10). In mammals, it has been shown that MST1 can activate c-Jun amino-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38 MAPK kinase signaling pathways through MKK4/MKK7 and MKK3/MKK6, respectively (3). Recently, it has been suggested that JNK is essential and sufficient for MST1 activation and MST1-mediated apoptosis via phosphorylation of serine 82 in MST1 (11,12). In addition, MST1-induced c...
BackgroundThe Hippo/MST1 signaling pathway plays an important role in the regulation of cell proliferation and apoptosis. As a major downstream target of the Hippo/MST1 pathway, YAP2 (Yes-associated protein 2) functions as a transcriptional cofactor that has been implicated in many biological processes, including organ size control and cancer development. MST1/Lats kinase inhibits YAP2's nuclear accumulation and transcriptional activity through inducing the phosphorylation at serine 127 and the sequential association with 14-3-3 proteins. However, the dephosphorylation of YAP2 is not fully appreciated.Methodology/Principal FindingsIn the present study, we demonstrate that PP1A (catalytic subunit of protein phosphatase-1) interacts with and dephosphorylates YAP2 in vitro and in vivo, and PP1A-mediated dephosphorylation induces the nuclear accumulation and transcriptional activation of YAP2. Inhibition of PP1 by okadiac acid (OA) increases the phosphorylation at serine 127 and cytoplasmic translocation of YAP2 proteins, thereby mitigating its transcription activity. PP1A expression enhances YAP2's pro-survival capability and YAP2 knockdown sensitizes ovarian cancer cells to cisplatin treatment.Conclusions/SignificanceOur findings define a novel molecular mechanism that YAP2 is positively regulated by PP1-mediated dephosphorylation in the cell survival.
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