p53 facilitates pRb cleavage in IL-3-deprived cells: novel pro-apoptotic activity of p53

In the interleukin-3 (IL-3)-dependent lymphoid cell line DA-1, functional p53 is required for efficient apoptosis in response to IL-3 withdrawal. Activation of p53 in these cells, by either DNA damage or p53 overexpression, results in a vital growth arrest in the presence of IL-3 and in accelerated apoptosis in its absence. Thus, IL-3 can control the choice between p53-dependent cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis. Here we report that the cross-talk between p53 and IL-3 involves joint control of pRb cleavage and degradation. Depletion of IL-3 results in caspase-mediated pRb cleavage, occurring preferentially within cells which express functional p53. Moreover, pRb can be cleaved efficiently by extracts prepared from DA-1 cells but not from their derivatives which lack p53 function. Inactivation of pRb through expression of the human papillomavirus (HPV) E7 oncogene overrides the effect of IL-3 in a p53-dependent manner. Our data suggest a novel role for p53 in the regulation of cell death and a novel mechanism for the cooperation between p53 and survival factor deprivation. Thus, p53 makes cells permissive to pRb cleavage, probably by controlling the potential activity of a pRb-cleaving caspase, whereas IL-3 withdrawal provides signals that turn on this potential activity and lead to the actual cleavage and subsequent degradation of pRb. Elimination of a presumptive anti-apoptotic effect of pRb may then facilitate conversion of p53-mediated growth arrest into apoptosis.     

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Current therapy for glioma is suboptimal. The transfer of apoptosis genes to tumors constitutes one of the most promising strategies for cancer gene therapy. We have previously shown that massive apoptosis occurs when wild-type p53 or E2F-1 expression is induced in glioma. However, the mechanism of action and the efficiency in inducing apoptosis of these two proteins are not similar. Adenovirus-mediated p53 gene transfer is ineffective in causing apoptosis in glioma cells that retain wild-type p53 genotype or overexpress the p21 protein. The p16/Rb/E2F pathway is the most frequent target of genetic alterations in gliomas, and therefore constitutes a suitable target for gene therapy strategies. However, the transfer of either the p16 or Rb gene to glioma cells results in cytostatic effect. The E2F-1 protein is able to induce generalized apoptosis in gliomas independently of the p53, p16 or Rb status. In addition, p21- or p16-mediated growth arrest did not protect glioma cells from E2F-1-mediated apoptosis. The apoptotic molecule bax is induced in p53-mediated apoptosis, but bax is not induced in E2F-1-mediated apoptosis in glioma cells. Careful selection of patients may be necessary before designing therapeutic strategies using either p53 or E2F-1 as a therapeutic tools for glioma patients.     

Cytotoxic effects of adenovirus-mediated wild-type p53 protein expression in normal and tumor mammary epithelial cells

To evaluate the effects of the wild-type p53 expression in normal and tumor cells, we have constructed a recombinant adenovirus vector (E1 minus) expressing human wild-type p53 cDNA (AdWTp53). Infection of normal and tumor cells of lung and mammary epithelial origin with AdWTp53 resulted in high levels of wild-type p53 expression. Production of p53 protein following infection was dependent on the dose of AdWTp53 with maximum amounts of p53 produced following infection with 50 plaque-forming units/cell. AdWTp53 infection inhibited the growth of all human cell lines studied. However, tumor cells that were null for p53 prior to infection (H-358 and MDA-MB-157) and tumor cells that expressed mutant endogenous p53 protein (MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-453) were more sensitive to AdWTp53 cytotoxicity than cells that contained the wild-type p53 (MCF-7, MCF-10, 184B5, and normal mammary epithelial cells). All cells exhibited WAF1/Cip1 mRNA and protein induction following AdWTp53 infection. AdWTp53-induced cytotoxicity of human tumor cell lines expressing mutant p53 was mediated by apoptosis as revealed by nucleosomal DNA fragmentation analysis. No detectable nucleosomal DNA fragmentation was observed following AdWTp53 infection of human cells expressing wild-type p53. These data suggest that endogenous p53 status is a determinant of AdWTp53-mediated cell killing of human tumor cells.     

p53 is involved in but not required for ionizing radiation-induced caspase-3 activation and apoptosis in human lymphoblast cell lines

The caspase-3 has been shown to be involved in mediating apoptosis induced by different stimuli. However, it is still unclear whether p53 is required for the ionizing radiation (IR)-induced caspase-3 activation. In the present study, we examined IR-induced apoptosis in three closely related human lymphoblast cell lines that differ in p53 status. Irradiation of TK6 cells (wild-type p53) with 4 Gy gamma-rays resulted in rapid apoptosis, whereas the apoptotic response was delayed and reduced in WTK1 cells (mutant p53) and the TK6 derivative line expressing HPV16 E6 (abrogated p53). The differential apoptotic responses in these cell lines correlated with caspase-3 activation. IR induced an early as well as a late phase of caspase-3 activation in TK6 but only a delayed onset in WTK1 and TK6-E6-5E cells. The early phase of caspase-3 activation coincided with an elevation of p53 and bax protein levels. Pretreatment of all three cell lines with a caspases inhibitor z-VAD-FMK inhibited apoptosis. These results suggest that IR-induced apoptosis is mediated by a mechanism involving the caspase-3 cascade, which is shared by both p53-dependent and -independent pathways. The activation of caspase-3 by IR may thus engage at least two separate mechanisms, one through the regulation of the bcl-2 family members by p53, whereas the other yet-to-be-identified one involves neither p53 nor bax.     

Genetic determinants of p53-induced apoptosis and growth arrest

Previous studies have suggested that expression of p53 in cancer cells can result in either growth arrest or apoptosis. Accordingly, expression of p53 in a series of colorectal cancer cell lines yielded growth arrest in some lines (A-lines) and apoptosis in others (D-lines). To investigate the basis of this difference, we evaluated the role of p21WAF1/Cip1, a known mediator of p53-induced growth arrest. Inactivation of p21 by homologous recombination converted an A-line to a D-line, suggesting that p21 could protect cells from apoptosis. However, examination of p53-induced p21 expression in naturally occurring D-lines and A-lines demonstrated that the induction of p21 could not account for the differential response to p53. Moreover, when a D-line was fused to an A-line, the resulting hybrid cells underwent apoptosis in response to p53, indicating that the apoptosis pathway was dominant over the growth arrest pathway. Therefore, the apoptotic response to p53 in colorectal cancer cells is modulated by at least two factors: p21-mediated growth arrest that can protect cells from apoptosis in A-cells, and trans-acting factors in D-cells that can overcome this protection, resulting in cell death.     

Early growth response-1-dependent apoptosis is mediated by p53

The early growth response-1 (EGR-1) protein is an anti-proliferative signal for certain tumor cells and is required for apoptosis induced by stimuli that elevate intracellular Ca2+. We present evidence that EGR-1 transactivates the promoter of the p53 gene and up-regulates p53 RNA and protein levels. Inhibition of p53 function with dominant-negative p53 mutants abrogates EGR-1-dependent apoptosis. These findings establish a direct functional link between EGR-1 and the p53-mediated cell death pathway and suggest that mutant forms of p53 in tumor cells may provide resistance to the anti-proliferative effects of EGR-1.     

p53-dependent DNA damage-induced apoptosis requires Fas/APO-1-independent activation of CPP32beta

In many cell types, the p53 tumor suppressor protein is required for the induction of apoptosis by DNA-damaging chemotherapy or radiation. Therefore, identification of the molecular determinants of p53-dependent cell death may aid in the design of effective therapies of p53-deficient cancers. We investigated whether p53-dependent apoptosis requires activation of CPP32beta (caspase 3), a cysteine protease that has been found to mediate apoptosis in response to ligation of the Fas molecule or to granzyme B, a component of CTL lytic granules. Irradiation-induced apoptosis was associated with p53-dependent activation of CPP32beta-related proteolysis, and normal thymocytes were protected from irradiation by Acetyl-Asp-Glu-Val-Asp-CHO (Ac-DEVD-CHO), a specific inhibitor of CPP32beta. We next examined whether the Fas system is required for p53-dependent apoptosis and whether stimuli that induce activation of CPP32beta induce apoptosis in p53-deficient cells. Thymocytes or activated T cells from Fas-deficient mice were resistant to apoptosis induced by ligation of Fas or CD3, respectively, but remained normally susceptible to irradiation. Thymocytes from p53-deficient mice, although resistant to DNA damage, remained sensitive to CPP32beta-mediated apoptosis induced by ligation of Fas or CD3, or by exposure to cytotoxic T cells. These results demonstrate that DNA damage-induced apoptosis of T cells requires p53-mediated activation of CPP32beta by a mechanism independent of Fas/FasL interactions and suggest that immunological or molecular methods of activating CPP32beta may be effective at inducing apoptosis in p53-deficient cancers that are resistant to conventional chemotherapy or irradiation.     

Subtype-selective induction of wild-type p53 and apoptosis, but not cell cycle arrest, by human somatostatin receptor 3

Somatostatin (SST) exerts direct antiproliferative effects in tumor cells, triggering either growth arrest or apoptosis. The cellular actions of SST are transduced through a family of five distinct somatostatin receptor subtypes (SSTR1-5). Whereas growth inhibition has been reported to follow stimulation of protein tyrosine phosphatase via SSTR2 or inhibition of Ca2+ channels via SSTR5 in heterologous expression systems, the subtype selectivity for signaling apoptosis has not been investigated. The tumor suppressor protein p53 and the protooncogene product c-Myc regulate cell cycle progression (growth factors present) or apoptosis (growth factors absent). The p53-induced G1 arrest requires induction of p21, an inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases, whereas apoptosis requires induction of Bax. c-Myc is capable of abrogating p53-induced G1 arrest by interfering with the inhibitory action of p21 on cyclin-dependent kinases. We have, therefore, investigated the regulation of p53, p21, c-Myc, and Bax and cellular apoptosis in relation to cell cycle progression in CHO-K1 cells stably expressing individual human SSTR1-5. We demonstrate that apoptosis is signaled uniquely through human SSTR3 and is associated with dephosphorylation-dependent conformational change in wild-type (wt) p53 as well as induction of Bax. The induction of wt p53 occurs rapidly and precedes the onset of apoptosis. We show that the increase in wt p53 is not associated with the induction of p21 or c-Myc when octreotide-induced apoptosis becomes evident, suggesting that such apoptosis does not require G1 arrest and is not c-Myc dependent. These findings provide the first evidence for hormonal induction of wt p53-associated apoptosis via G protein-coupled receptor in a subtype-selective manner.     

Expression of wild-type p53 increases etoposide cytotoxicity in M1 myeloid leukemia cells by facilitated G2 to M transition: implications for gene therapy

We have evaluated the role of p53 in the induction of cell death by the DNA topoisomerase II inhibitor etoposide in M1 myeloid leukemia cells. Three different clones of M1 cells were used: S6, which lacks p53; Phe-132, which expresses mutant p53 constitutively; and LTR-13, which expresses mutant protein at 37 degrees C and wild-type p53 at 32 degrees C. As described previously, LTR-13 cells undergo rapid apoptosis upon induction of wild-type p53 at 32 degrees C. Multiparameter flow cytometric analysis showed that etoposide treatment (0.5 microg/ml) of all three cell lines at 37 degrees C is associated with a block in the G2 phase of the cell cycle, whereas the cells preferentially die out of the next S phase. Induction of wild-type p53 in LTR-13 cells is associated with a loss of cells in late S and G2-M phase, and the cells die out of the early S phase. Interestingly, the simultaneous induction of apoptosis by both pathways (wild-type p53 and etoposide) leads to suppression of the etoposide-induced G2 block. To determine the effect of p53 on the G2 to M transition, LTR-13 cells were incubated with etoposide for 24 h at 37 degrees C and then either maintained for an additional 12 h at 37 degrees C or shifted to 32 degrees C to activate wild-type p53. The expression of wild-type p53 resulted in an increase in mitosis-specific phosphorylation, as determined by the MPM-2 antibody as well as the formation of mitotic spindles. This was associated with an important augmentation of the cytotoxic effect of etoposide. In contrast, a similar temperature shift of Phe-132 cells, which express mutant p53, had no effect on either immunostaining with MPM-2 or the cytotoxicity. Taken together, our results indicate that wild-type p53 can override the etoposide-induced G2 block in at least some cell types. These data propose a new role for p53 in the cell death induced by chemotherapeutic agents and may have important implications for gene therapy.