bThe activity of DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) is associated with diverse biological activities, including cell proliferation, senescence, and cancer development. In this study, we demonstrated that the HMG box-containing protein 1 (HBP1) transcription factor is a new repressor of DNMT1 in a complex mechanism during senescence. The DNMT1 gene contains an HBP1-binding site at bp ؊115 to ؊134 from the transcriptional start site. HBP1 repressed the endogenous DNMT1 gene through sequencespecific binding, resulting in both gene-specific (e.g., p16INK4 ) and global DNA hypomethylation changes. The HBP1-mediated repression by DNMT1 contributed to replicative and premature senescence, the latter of which could be induced by Ras and HBP1 itself. A detailed investigation unexpectedly revealed that HBP1 has dual and complex transcriptional functions, both of which contribute to premature senescence. HBP1 both repressed the DNMT1 gene and activated the p16 gene in premature senescence. The opposite transcriptional functions proceeded through different DNA sequences and differential protein acetylation. While intricate, the reciprocal partnership between HBP1 and DNMT1 has exceptional importance, since its abrogation compromises senescence and promotes tumorigenesis. Together, our results suggest that the HBP1 transcription factor orchestrates a complex regulation of key genes during cellular senescence, with an impact on overall DNA methylation state.
Epigenetic alterations have essential roles in determining gene expression patterns and in setting the environment for activators or repressors to function appropriately. DNA methylation has been associated with cancer and senescence (1-4). Cellular senescence is characterized by a permanent cell cycle arrest and the acquisition of distinct morphological, physiological, and epigenetic changes in response to events such as telomere attrition, aberrant oncogene activation, or abrogation of tumor suppressor gene functions. Senescence is a tumor-suppressive process the abrogation of which enables the path to tumorigenesis (5-8). Although seemingly two distinct phenomena, cellular senescence and cancer share similarly altered global epigenetic profiles comprising complex changes in DNA methylation, involving both hypomethylation and hypermethylation of certain genes and sequences. The establishment of DNA methylation during DNA replication and DNA repair is catalyzed by a family of DNA methyltransferases (e.g., DNMT1, DNMT3A, and DNMT3B). In particular, DNMT1 mRNA expression is significantly elevated in different cancers and is regarded as a maintenance methylase (9-11). In senescence, the levels of DNA methylation and DNMT1 protein decline in concert with aging (12-15). Yet, the mechanism of age-dependent DNA methylation changes remains unknown. In this study, we found an unexpected connection to the HBP1 transcription factor, which our previous studies had linked to premature senescence (16).HBP1 is a member of the sequence-specific high-mobilitygroup (HMG) family of transcript...