• CDK inhibitors selectively diminish cell cycle controlled activation of the histone H4 gene promoter by p220NPAT and HiNF-P

      Mitra, Partha; Ghule, Prachi N.; Van der Deen, Margaretha; Medina, Ricardo F.; Xie, Ronglin; Holmes, William F.; Ye, Xin; Nakayama, Keiichi I.; Harper, J. Wade; Stein, Janet L.; et al. (2009-05-27)
      Cell cycle progression into S phase requires the induction of histone gene expression to package newly synthesized DNA as chromatin. Cyclin E stimulation of CDK2 at the Restriction point late in G1 controls both histone gene expression by the p220(NPAT)/HiNF-P pathway and initiation of DNA replication through the pRB/E2F pathway. The three CDK inhibitors (CKIs) p21(CIP1/WAF1), p27(KIP1), and p57(KIP2) attenuate CDK2 activity. Here we find that gamma-irradiation induces p21(CIP1/WAF1) but not the other two CKIs, while reducing histone H4 mRNA levels but not histone H4 gene promoter activation by the p220(NPAT)/HiNF-P complex. We also show that p21(CIP1/WAF1) is less effective than p27(KIP1) and p57(KIP2) in inhibiting the CDK2 dependent phosphorylation of p220(NPAT) at subnuclear foci and transcriptional activation of histone H4 genes. The greater effectiveness of p57(KIP2) in blocking the p220(NPAT)/HiNF-P pathway is attributable in part to its ability to form a specific complex with p220(NPAT) that may suppress CDK2/cyclin E phosphorylation through direct substrate inhibition. We conclude that CKIs selectively control stimulation of the histone H4 gene promoter by the p220(NPAT)/HiNF-P complex.
    • MicroRNA-34c inversely couples the biological functions of the runt-related transcription factor RUNX2 and the tumor suppressor p53 in osteosarcoma

      Van der Deen, Margaretha; Taipaleenmaki, Hanna; Zhang, Ying; Teplyuk, Nadiya M.; Gupta, Anurag; Cinghu, Senthilkumar; Shogren, Kristen; Maran, Avudaiappan; Yaszemski, Michael J.; Ling, Ling; et al. (2013-07-19)
      Osteosarcoma (OS) is a primary bone tumor that is most prevalent during adolescence. RUNX2, which stimulates differentiation and suppresses proliferation of osteoblasts, is deregulated in OS. Here, we define pathological roles of RUNX2 in the etiology of OS and mechanisms by which RUNX2 expression is stimulated. RUNX2 is often highly expressed in human OS biopsies and cell lines. Small interference RNA-mediated depletion of RUNX2 inhibits growth of U2OS OS cells. RUNX2 levels are inversely linked to loss of p53 (which predisposes to OS) in distinct OS cell lines and osteoblasts. RUNX2 protein levels decrease upon stabilization of p53 with the MDM2 inhibitor Nutlin-3. Elevated RUNX2 protein expression is post-transcriptionally regulated and directly linked to diminished expression of several validated RUNX2 targeting microRNAs in human OS cells compared with mesenchymal progenitor cells. The p53-dependent miR-34c is the most significantly down-regulated RUNX2 targeting microRNAs in OS. Exogenous supplementation of miR-34c markedly decreases RUNX2 protein levels, whereas 3'-UTR reporter assays establish RUNX2 as a direct target of miR-34c in OS cells. Importantly, Nutlin-3-mediated stabilization of p53 increases expression of miR-34c and decreases RUNX2. Thus, a novel p53-miR-34c-RUNX2 network controls cell growth of osseous cells and is compromised in OS.