胃癌细胞中AP-1活性与RARα介导的相关性

为确定全反式视黄酸 ( ATRA)抑制胃癌细胞 AP- 1活性过程中 RARα介导的作用机理 ,利用 Northern印迹和 Western印迹测定 RARα基因和 c Jun、c Fos蛋白表达水平 ;氯霉素乙酰转移酶活性 ( CAT)分析 AP- 1活性 ;以及 MTT法检测细胞生长速率 .结果表明 ,ATRA能够诱导 RARα表达 ,抑制 c Jun和 c Fos蛋白表达和 AP- 1活性 ,由此导致胃癌细胞生长抑制 .结果证实 ,ATRA抑制胃癌细胞 AP- 1活性是抑制细胞生长的重要途径之一 ,并与 RARα介导密切相关 .     

Selectional and mutational scope of peptides sequestering the Jun-Fos coiled-coil domain

The activator protein-1 (AP-1) complex plays a crucial role in numerous pathways, and its ability to induce tumorigenesis is well documented. Thus, AP-1 represents an interesting therapeutic target. We selected peptides from phage display and compared their ability to disrupt the cFos/cJun interaction to a previously described in vivo protein-fragment complementation assay (PCA). A cJun-based library was screened to enrich for peptides that disrupt the AP-1 complex by binding to the cFos coiled-coil domain. Interestingly, phage display identified one helix, JunW_Ph1 [phage-selected winning peptide (clone 1) targeting cFos], which differs in only 2 out of 10 randomized positions to JunW (PCA-selected winning peptide targeting cFos). Phage-selected peptides revealed higher affinity to cFos than wild-type cJun, harboring a T_m of 53 °C compared to 16 °C for cFos/cJun or 44 °C for cFos/JunW. In PCA growth assays in the presence of cJun as competitor, phage-selected JunW_Ph1 conferred shorter generation times than JunW. Bacterial growth was barely detectable, using JunW_Ph1 as a competitor for the wild-type cJun/cFos interaction, indicating efficient cFos removal from the dimeric wild-type complex. Importantly, all inhibitory peptides were able to interfere with DNA binding as demonstrated in gel shift assays. The selected sequences have consequently improved our ‘bZIP coiled-coil interaction prediction algorithm’ in distinguishing interacting from noninteracting coiled-coil sequences. Predicting and manipulating protein interaction will accelerate the systems biology field, and generated peptides will be valuable tools for analytical and biomedical applications.     

Revealing a natural marine product as a novel agonist for retinoic acid receptors with a unique binding mode and inhibitory effects on cancer cells

Retinoids display anti-tumour activity on various cancer cells and therefore have been used as important therapeutic agents. However, adverse side effects and RA (retinoic acid) resistance limit further development and clinical application of retinoid-based therapeutic agents. We report in the present paper the identification of a natural marine product that activates RARs (RA receptors) with a chemical structure distinct from retinoids by high-throughput compound library screening. Luffariellolide was uncovered as a novel RAR agonist by inducing co-activator binding to these receptors in vitro, further inhibiting cell growth and regulating RAR target genes in various cancer cells. Structural and molecular studies unravelled a unique binding mode of this natural ligand to RARs with an unexpected covalent modification on the RAR. Functional characterization further revealed that luffariellolide displays chemotherapeutic potentials for overcoming RA resistance in colon cancer cells, suggesting that luffariellolide may represent a unique template for designing novel non-retinoid compounds with advantages over current RA drugs.     

Murine RARbeta4 displays reduced transactivation activity, lower affinity for retinoic acid, and no anti-AP1 activity

The biological actions of retinoic acid (RA) are mediated by retinoic acid receptors (RARalpha, beta, and gamma) and retinoid X receptors (RXR alpha, beta, and gamma). Each of the RARs is expressed as four to seven different isoforms. Four isoforms of RAR beta (beta1, beta2, beta3, and beta4), which differ only in their N-terminal sequence (A domain) have been described. These RARbeta isoforms display a specific pattern of expression in developing and adult animals and are highly evolutionarily conserved suggesting that they mediate distinct cellular effects of vitamin A. Experiments were performed to examine directly the RA-binding activity, transactivation activity, and anti-AP1 activity of each of these four RARbeta isoforms. The results demonstrate that RARbeta1, beta2, and beta3 bind RA with a similar K(d) value, have a similar EC(50) value in RA-dependent transactivation assays and inhibit AP1 activity to a similar level. By contrast, RARbeta4 has an elevated K(d) for RA, an increased EC(50) value in RA-dependent transactivation assays and does not display the ability to inhibit AP1 activity. This provides additional evidence that at least one RAR isoform, RARbeta4, may mediate distinct activities within a cell. Furthermore, these data suggest that the presence of an A domain in RARbeta is important for modulating these activities of RARs.     

Retinoic acid receptor isoform RAR gamma 1: an antagonist of the transactivation of the RAR beta RARE in epithelial cell lines and normal human keratinocytes.

The diversity of isoforms of retinoic acid (RA) receptors (RARs) and of DNA sequences of retinoic acid-responsive elements (RAREs) suggests the existence of selectivities in the RAR/RARE recognition or in the subsequent gene modulation. Such selectivities might be particularly important for RAREs involved in positive feedback, eg. the RAR beta RARE. In the present work we found that in several epithelial cell lines, reporter constructs containing the RAR beta RARE linked to the HSV-tk promoter were transactivated in the presence of RA by endogenous RARs and co-transfected RAR alpha 1 and RAR beta 2 isoforms, but not by RAR gamam 1. On the contrary, this latter isoform behaved towards the RAR beta RARE as an inhibitor of the transactivation produced by endogenous RARs and by cotransfected RAR alpha 1 and RAR beta 2. RAR gamma 1 also behaved as an antagonist of the transactivation produced by cotransfected RXR alpha. The natural RAR beta gene promoter or RAR beta RARE tk constructs were not activated by the endogenous receptors of normal human keratinocytes (NHK), which are known to contain predominantly RAR gamma 1. It was, however, possible to activate to a certain extent RAR beta RARE-reporter constructs in NHK by co-transfecting RAR alpha 1, RAR beta 2 or RXR alpha. The antagonist behavior of RAR gamma 1 towards the RAR beta RARE may explain why in certain cell types such as keratinocytes, RAR beta is neither expressed nor induced by RA.     

The role of cadherin,beta-catenin,and AP-1 in retinoid-regulated carcinoma cell differentiation and proliferation

Vitamin A derivatives (retinoids) are potent regulators of cell proliferation and differentiation. Retinoids inhibit the function of the oncogenic AP-1 and beta-catenin/TCF pathways and also stabilize components of the adherens junction, a tumor suppressor complex. When treated with retinoic acid (RA), the breast cancer cell line, SKBR3, undergoes differentiation and reduction in cell proliferation. The present work demonstrates that in SKBR3 cells, which exhibit high AP-1 activity, RA-regulation of cadherin expression and function, but not changes in AP-1 (or beta-catenin/TCF) signaling, is responsible for the epithelial differentiation. However, cadherin function and recruitment of beta-catenin to the membrane is not required for RA to regulate DNA synthesis in these cells. RA also reduces the activity of an AP-1 and TCF-sensitive cyclin D1 reporter in SKBR3 cells in a manner that is independent of the TCF site. In contrast, in SW480 cells, which have high levels of beta-catenin/TCF signaling, the activity and retinoid responsiveness of the cyclin D1 promoter was markedly inhibited by mutation of the TCF site. These data indicate that the remarkably broad effects of RA on the growth and differentiation of many different epithelial cancers may well be explained by the ability of RA to differentially regulate the activity of RAR/RXR, AP-1, and beta-catenin/TCF pathways.     

Altered expression of retinoic acid (RA) receptor mRNAs in the fetal mouse secondary palate by all-trans and 13-cis RAs: implications for RA-induced teratogenesis

Retinoic acid (RA) is mandatory for various biological processes and normal embryonic development but is teratogenic at high concentrations. In rodents, one of the major malformations induced by RA is cleft palate (CP). RA mediates its effects by RA receptors (RARs), but the expression patterns of RARs in the developing palate are still unclear. We investigated the normal expression of RAR alpha, beta, and gamma messenger RNAs (mRNAs) in the fetal mouse secondary palate and the effects of all-trans and 13-cis RAs on the expression of RAR mRNAs by Northern blot analysis. RAR alpha (2.8, 3.8 kb), RAR beta (3.3 kb), and RAR gamma (3.7 kb) mRNAs were detected in the fetal palate on gestational days (GD) 12.5-14.5. The expression of RAR alpha and gamma mRNAs did not show apparent sequential changes, but that of RAR beta mRNA increased at GD 13.5. Treatment of pregnant mice with 100 mg/kg all-trans RA induced CP in 94% of the fetuses and elevated the levels of RAR beta and gamma mRNAs in the fetal palate. The up-regulation of RAR beta mRNA by all-trans RA was more marked than that of RAR gamma mRNA. Treatment with 100 mg/kg 13-cis RA induced CP in only 19% of the fetuses. Although 13-cis RA elevated the RAR beta and gamma mRNA levels in fetal palates, its up-regulation was slower and less marked than that induced by all-trans RA. These findings indicate that the induction of RAR beta mRNA in the fetal palate correlates well with the tissue concentration of all-trans RA after RA treatment, and RAR beta may be one of the most influential candidate molecules for RA-induced teratogenesis.     

Retinoic acid resistance of the variant embryonal carcinoma cell line RAC65 is caused by expression of a truncated RARα

P19 embryonal carcinoma (EC) cells differentiate when treated with retinoic acid (RA). The P19 EC-derived mutant cell line RAC65 is resistant to the differentiation-inducing activity of RA. We show that these cells express a truncated retinoic acid receptor alpha(mRAR alpha-RAC65), probably due to the integration of a transposon-like element in the RAR alpha gene. This receptor lacks 71 C-terminal amino acids and terminates in the ligand-binding domain. In CAT assays in RAC65 cells, mRAR alpha-RAC65 fails to trans-activate the RAR beta promoter, which contains a RA-response element. In wild-type P19 EC cells mRAR alpha-RAC65 functions as a dominant-negative repressor of RA-induced RAR beta activation. Gel retardation assays demonstrate that mRAR alpha-RAC65 is still able to bind to the RA-response element of the RAR beta promoter, indicating that competition with functional RARs for the same binding site leads to the observed dominant-negative effect. In addition, in two RAC65 clones in which wild-type hRAR alpha was stably transfected RA-sensitivity was restored and in one RAR beta expression could be induced by RA. Taken together, these data show that the primary cause of RA-resistance of RAC65 cells is the expression of a defective RAR alpha, which prevents the trans-activation of RA-responsive genes and results in a loss of the ability to differentiate.