Notch-1 regulates cell death independently of differentiation in murine erythroleukemia cells through multiple apoptosis and cell cycle pathways

Notch signaling is a potential therapeutic target for various solid and hematopoietic malignancies. We have recently shown that downregulation of Notch-1 expression has significant anti-neoplastic activity in pre-clinical models. However, the mechanisms through which Notch modulation may affect cell fate in cancer remain poorly understood. We had previously shown that Notch-1 prevents apoptosis and is necessary for pharmacologically induced differentiation in murine erythroleukemia (MEL) cells. We investigated the mechanisms of these effects using three experimental strategies: (1) MEL cells stably transfected with antisense Notch-1 or constitutively active Notch-1, (2) activation of Notch-1 by a cell-associated ligand, and (d3) activation of Notch-1 by a soluble peptide ligand. We show that: (1) downregulation of Notch-1 sensitizes MEL cells to apoptosis induced by a Ca(2+) influx or anti-neoplastic drugs; (2) Notch-1 downregulation induces phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) while constitutive activation of Notch-1 or prolonged exposure to a soluble Notch ligand abolishes it; (3) Notch-1 has dose- and time-dependent effects on the levels of apoptotic inhibitor Bcl-x(L) and cell cycle regulators p21(cip1/waf1), p27(kip1), and Rb; and (4) Notch-1 activation by a cell-associated ligand is accompanied by rapid and transient induction of NF-kappaB DNA-binding activity. The relative effects of Notch-1 signaling on these pathways depend on the levels of Notch-1 expression, the mechanism of activation, and the timing of activation. The relevance of these findings to the role of Notch signaling in differentiation and cancer are discussed.     

Activation of Notch-1 signaling maintains the neoplastic phenotype in human Ras-transformed cells

Truncated Notch receptors have transforming activity in vitro and in vivo. However, the role of wild-type Notch signaling in neoplastic transformation remains unclear. Ras signaling is deregulated in a large fraction of human malignancies and is a major target for the development of novel cancer treatments. We show that oncogenic Ras activates Notch signaling and that wild-type Notch-1 is necessary to maintain the neoplastic phenotype in Ras-transformed human cells in vitro and in vivo. Oncogenic Ras increases levels and activity of the intracellular form of wild-type Notch-1, and upregulates Notch ligand Delta-1 and also presenilin-1, a protein involved in Notch processing, through a p38-mediated pathway. These observations place Notch signaling among key downstream effectors of oncogenic Ras and suggest that it might be a novel therapeutic target.     

The non-receptor tyrosine kinase c-Src mediates the PDGF-induced association between Furin and pro-MT1-MMP in HPAC pancreatic cells

Furin is a member of the proprotein convertase family, which is capable of cleaving the precursors of a wide variety of substrates including membrane-type 1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) proenzyme. c-Src is activated by growth factors, and has been linked with a poor prognosis in pancreatic cancer (PCa). Both c-Src and Furin play crucial roles in tumorigenesis, and the mechanism controlling their association is not understood. Modulation of the association between Furin and pro-MT1-MMP by c-Src inhibitor PP2 was evaluated by western blotting, assay of in vitro enzyme, co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP), and confocal immunofluorescence microscopy. Human platelet-derived growth factor BB (PDGF-BB) activated c-Src and induced c-Src-dependent association of Furin with pro-MT1-MMP in HPAC pancreatic cancer cells. Co-IP and confocal immunofluorescence assays revealed that c-Src interacts with Furin in vivo. The SH2 domain appeared to be important for c-Src interaction with Furin. In addition, we showed that Furin protein is tyrosine phosphorylated. Association between Furin and MT1-MMP is regulated by the tyrosine kinase c-Src.     

Characterization of tissue specific expression of Notch-1 in human tissues

Signaling through the Notch cell surface receptors is a highly conserved mechanism of cell fate specification. Notch signaling regulates proliferation, differentiation and cell death. In vertebrates, putative gene duplication has originated four Notch genes, Notch-1, -2, -3 and -4. They have been implicated in neurogenesis, hematopoiesis, T-cell development, vasculogenesis and brain cortical growth. We have investigated Notch-1 distribution in normal human tissues by immunohistochemistry and immunoblot. We detected widespread expression of Notch-1 cytoplasmatic staining, with different tissue distributions in the different organs examined. In particular, high expression of Notch-1 was detected in the intermediate suprabasal layers, but not in the dead cells at the extreme periphery of stratified epithelia. Moreover, a low/intermediate level of Notch-1 was observed in lymphocytes in several peripheral lymphoid tissues; in particular the germinal centers of lymph nodes showed the most abundant number of positive cells, which appeared to be centroblasts/immunoblasts based on nuclear morphology. Notch-1 participates in keratinocytes differentiation. We showed by Western blot analysis that Notch-1 level was clearly increased in HaCaT cells after Ca(++) addition and remained substantially elevated until late differentiation stages. These results suggest that Notch-1 may function in numerous cell types in processes beyond cell fate determination, such as neuronal plasticity, muscle hypertrophy, liver regeneration, and germinal center lymphopoiesis during the immune response.     

Localization of the delta-like-1-binding site in human Notch-1 and its modulation by calcium affinity

The Notch signaling pathway plays a key role in a myriad of cellular processes, including cell fate determination. Despite extensive study of the downstream consequences of receptor activation, very little molecular data are available for the initial binding event between the Notch receptor and its ligands. In this study, we have expressed and purified a natively folded wild-type epidermal growth factor-like domain (EGF) 11-14 construct from human Notch-1 and have used flow cytometry and surface plasmon resonance analysis to demonstrate a calcium-dependent interaction with the human ligand Delta-like-1. Site-directed mutagenesis of three of the calcium-binding sites within the Notch-(11-14) fragment indicated that only loss of calcium binding to EGF12, and not EGF11 or EGF13, abrogates ligand binding. Further mapping of the ligand-binding site within this region by limited proteolysis of Notch wild-type and mutant fragments suggested that EGF12 rather than EGF11 contains the major Delta-like-1-binding site. Analysis of an extended fragment EGF-(10-14), where EGF11 is placed in a native context, surprisingly demonstrated a reduction in ligand binding, suggesting that EGF10 modulates binding by limiting access of ligand. This inhibition could be overcome by the introduction of a calcium binding mutation in EGF11, which decouples the EGF-(10-11) module interface. This study therefore demonstrates that long range calcium-dependent structural perturbations can influence the affinity of Notch for its ligand, in the absence of any post-translational modifications.     

Curcumin inhibits proliferation and invasion of osteosarcoma cells through inactivation of Notch-1 signaling

The Notch signaling pathway plays critical roles in human cancers, including osteosarcoma, suggesting that the discovery of specific agents targeting Notch would be extremely valuable for osteosarcoma. Curcumin, a naturally occurring phenolic compound found in curcuma longa, has been shown to inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis of osteosarcoma cells in vitro and tumor growth in xenotransplant or orthotransplant models. However, the precise molecular mechanisms by which curcumin exerts its antitumor activity remain unclear. Here we used multiple molecular approaches, such as the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay, the invasion assay, gene transfection, real-time RT-PCR, western blot and gelatin zymography, to investigate whether the downregulation of Notch-1 contributes to curcumin-induced inhibition of proliferation and invasion in osteosarcoma cells. The results showed that curcumin caused marked inhibition of osteosarcoma cell growth and G2/M phase cell cycle arrest. This was associated with concomitant attenuation of Notch-1 and downregulation of its downstream genes, such as matrix metalloproteinases, resulting in the inhibition of osteosarcoma cell invasion through Matrigel. We also found that specific downregulation of Notch-1 via small-interfering RNA prior to curcumin treatment resulted in enhanced inhibition of cell growth and invasion. These results suggest that antitumor activity of curcumin is mediated through a novel mechanism involving inactivation of the Notch-1 signaling pathway. Our data provide the first evidence that the downregulation of Notch-1 by curcumin may be an effective approach for the treatment of osteosarcoma.     

Notch1 signaling contributes to the oncogenic effect of HBx on human hepatic cells

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignant tumor and hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx) plays a crucial role in its pathogenesis. The Notch1 signaling pathway is involved in various malignant tumors including liver cancers and down-regulation of Notch-1 may exert anti-tumor effects. Here, we demonstrate that inhibition of Notch1 by plasmid-based shRNA suppresses growth of human hepatic cells transfected with HBx through G0/G1 cell cycle arrest and apoptosis inhibition, possibly linked to the promoted expression of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, P16, and decreased expression of apoptosis inhibitor, Bcl-2. The anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects of Notch1 shRNA in HBx-transformed L02 cell may be partly mediated by down-regulation of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) binding activities, demonstrating possible cross-talk between Notch-1 and NF-κB signaling pathways. The oncogene HBx may therefore induce malignant transformation of human hepatic cells via Notch1 pathway, indicating that Notch1 plays a crucial role in HBx-related liver cancer and could be an effective therapeutic target for HCC.     

Inhibition of cell growth and induction of apoptosis in non-small cell lung cancer cells by delta-tocotrienol is associated with notch-1 down-regulation

Lung cancer is the leading cause of death among all cancers. Non-small cell lung cancer accounts for 80% of lung cancer with a 5-year survival rate of 16%. Notch pathway, especially Notch-1 is up-regulated in a subgroup of non-small cell lung cancer patients. Since Notch-1 signaling plays an important role in cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis, down-regulation of Notch-1 may exert anti-tumor effects. The objective of this study was to investigate whether delta-tocotrienol, a naturally occurring isoform of Vitamin E, inhibits non-small cell lung cancer cell growth via Notch signaling. Treatment with delta-tocotrienol resulted in a dose and time dependent inhibition of cell growth, cell migration, tumor cell invasiveness, and induction of apoptosis. Real-time RT-PCR and western blot analysis showed that antitumor activity by delta-tocotrienol was associated with a decrease in Notch-1, Hes-1, Survivin, MMP-9, VEGF, and Bcl-XL expression. In addition, there was a decrease in NF-κB-DNA binding activity. These results suggest that down-regulation of Notch-1, via inhibition of NF-κB signaling pathways by delta-tocotrienol, could provide a potential novel approach for prevention of tumor progression in non-small cell lung cancer.     

Notch-1 decreased expression contributes to leptin receptor downregulation in nasal epithelium from allergic turbinates

BackgroundAllergic rhinitis is characterized by a remodeling of nasal epithelium. Since the Notch and TGF-β signaling pathways are known to be involved in cell differentiation and remodeling processes and leptin adipokine has already been identified as a marker for homeostasis in human bronchial and nasal epithelial cells of asthmatics, roles played by these pathways have been investigated for chronic allergic rhinitis.MethodsThe leptin/leptin receptor expression has been investigated in a study with 40 biopsies from allergic (AR, n = 18) and non-allergic (C, n = 22) inferior turbinates, using immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence staining and RT-PCR. In addition, extracts from in vitro samples prepared from primary cells of inferior turbinates as well as in vitro cultured human nasal epithelial RPMI 2650 cells (ATCC-CCL-30) were also tested for leptin expression and activation of the Notch-1 pathway.ResultsWith regards to AR, in vivo expression levels of both leptin and its receptor significantly decreased in comparison to C. Furthermore, leptin receptor mRNA was significantly reduced in AR as compared to C. Immunofluorescence showed an apparent co-expression of leptin receptor with Notch-1, which was not seen with TGF-β. In vitro, in primary turbinate epithelial cells, the expression of leptin receptor and Notch-1 significantly decreased in AR as compared to C. Moreover, in RPMI 2650 cells, leptin receptor expression was shown to be induced by Notch-1 ligand signaling.ConclusionThus, both the leptin and Notch-1 pathways appear to represent markers for epithelial homeostasis in allergic rhinitis.     

Increased Protein Expression of the PTEN Tumor Suppressor in the Presence of Constitutively Active Notch-1

Mammalian Notch-1 is part of an evolutionarily conserved family of transmembrane receptorsbest known for involvement in cell fate decisions. Mutations that result in Notch-1 activation result inT-lineage oncogenesis. In other cell lineages, however, studies have indicated that cooperation withcellular signaling pathways, such as Ras, is necessary for Notch-mediated oncogenesis and in somesettings, Notch-1 has been reported to function as a tumor suppressor. In order to test the hypothesisthat the Notch-1 pathway exhibits cross-talk with Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK, the constitutively activecytoplasmic portion of Notch-1 was introduced into 293 HEK fibroblasts via retroviral transduction.ERK-1,-2 activation was markedly increased in cells expressing constitutively active Notch-1. Thesecells exhibited a more rounded morphology as compared to 293 cells transduced with an empty vectoror parental 293 cells. These observations correlated with decreased total and phosphorylated focaladhesion kinase protein (FAK). Subsequent examination of phosphatase and tensin homolog deletedon chromosome 10 (PTEN) revealed that total and phosphorylated PTEN protein was elevated in cellsexpressing constitutively active Notch-1. Loss of Akt phosphorylation was also observed in cellsbearing activated Notch-1. Two potential binding sites for the Notch effector CBF-1 were identified inthe human PTEN promoter sequence. A PTEN promoter luciferase reporter exhibited increasedactivity in the presence of Notch-1 signaling. These data indicate that Notch-1 can participate incross-talk with other signaling pathways such as Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK through the regulation of thePTEN tumor suppressor.