WAF1/CIP1 is induced in p53-mediated G1 arrest and apoptosis

The tumor growth suppressor WAF1/CIP1 was recently shown to be induced by p53 and to be a potent inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases. In the present studies, we sought to determine the relationship between the expression of WAF1/CIP1 and endogenous regulation of p53 function. WAF1/CIP1 protein was first localized to the nucleus of cells containing wild-type p53 and undergoing G1 arrest. WAF1/CIP1 was induced in wild-type p53-containing cells by exposure to DNA damaging agents, but not in mutant p53-containing cells. The induction of WAF1/CIP1 protein occurred in cells undergoing either p53-associated G1 arrest or apoptosis but not in cells induced to arrest in G1 or to undergo apoptosis through p53-independent mechanisms. DNA damage led to increased levels of WAF1/CIP1 in cyclin E-containing complexes and to an associated decrease in cyclin-dependent kinase activity. These results support the idea that WAF1/CIP1 is a critical downstream effector in the p53-specific pathway of growth control in mammalian cells.     

Expression of p53, Bcl-2 and Bax in cisplatin-induced apoptosis in testicular germ cell tumour cell lines

We examined the sensitivity for cisplatin-induced apoptosis in a panel of four testicular germ cell tumour (TGCT) cell lines and monitored the cellular expression of the apoptosis-related proteins p53, Bcl-2 and Bax. Three of four TGCT cell lines (NT2, NCCIT and S2) were hypersensitive for cisplatin-induced apoptosis, while the TGCT cell line 2102 EP appeared to be resistant for cisplatin-induced apoptosis, even at relatively high drug concentrations (12.5 microM). For all four cell lines, the induction of apoptosis by cisplatin correlated with drug sensitivity in the MTT assay. The differences in chemosensitivity and induction of apoptosis could not be attributed to differences in cellular platinum accumulation, DNA platination or platinum-DNA adduct removal. We next analysed the relationship between p53 status and cisplatin-induced up-regulation of p53, and the susceptibility to cisplatin-induced apoptosis. Wild-type p53 containing NT2 and 2102 EP cells showed p53 up-regulation upon drug treatment, and NCCIT (mutant p53) and S2 (no p53 protein) cells did not. Consistently, the increase in wild-type p53 protein in NT2 and 2102 EP cells led to an increase in mRNA level of the p53 downstream gene p21/WAF/CIP, whereas mutant p53-containing NCCIT cells and p53-non-expressing S2 cells could not transactivate this p53-responsive gene. As NT2, NCCIT and S2 were readily triggered into apoptosis, while 2102 EP cells failed to undergo cisplatin-induced apoptosis, our data suggest that the presence of wild-type and/or transactivation-competent p53 might not be an absolute prerequisite for efficient induction of apoptosis in TGCT cell lines. Also endogenous levels of Bcl-2 and Bax expression did not correlate with cisplatin-induced apoptosis. In addition, the endogenous Bcl-2 and Bax expression was not affected by cisplatin treatment. The present study suggests that, at least in our panel of TGCT cell lines, hypersensitivity for cisplatin-induced apoptosis might not be necessarily correlated with the presence of wild-type p53 and is probably not associated with Bcl-2 and Bax expression.     

The ability of human papillomavirus E6 proteins to target p53 for degradation in vivo correlates with their ability to abrogate actinomycin D-induced growth arrest

Functional p53 protein is associated with the ability of cells to arrest in G1 after DNA damage. The E6 protein of cancer-associated human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) binds to p53 and targets its degradation through the ubiquitin pathway. To determine whether the ability of E6 to interact with p53 leads to a disruption of cell cycle control, mutated E6 proteins were tested for p53 binding and p53 degradation targeting in vitro, the ability to reduce intracellular p53 levels in vivo, and the ability to abrogate actinomycin D-induced growth arrest in human keratinocytes. Mutations scattered throughout the amino terminus, either zinc finger or the central region but not the carboxy terminus, severely reduced the ability of E6 to interact with p53. Expression of HPV-16 E6 or mutated E6 proteins that bound and targeted p53 for degradation in vitro sharply reduced the level of intracellular p53 induced by actinomycin D in human keratinocytes. A perfect correlation between the ability of E6 proteins to reduce the level of intracellular p53 and their ability to block actinomycin D-induced cellular growth arrest was observed. These results suggest that interaction with p53 is important for the ability of HPV E6 proteins to circumvent growth arrest.     

WAF1/p21 regulates proliferation, but does not mediate p53-dependent apoptosis in urothelial carcinoma cell lines

The WAF1/p21 gene product is an inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases which can be induced by the tumor suppressor p53 and mediate some of its effects, or function in p53-independent pathways of cell cycle regulation. Although a potential tumor suppressor gene, WAF1/p21 is expressed in bladder cancer. To elucidate the function of p21 in tumor cells we have investigated in urothelial carcinoma cell lines: i) WAF1/p21 mRNA and protein expression, ii) the biological effects of p21 overexpression or down-regulation and (iii) whether p21 can be induced by p53. WAF1/p21 mRNA levels examined in four cell lines were comparable to bladder mucosa. One cell line, HT1376, failed to express p21 protein due to a frame shift mutation. Overexpression of WAF1/p21 cDNA inhibited clone formation in three cell lines, whereas transfection with antisense WAF1 increased clone sizes and numbers. WAF1 sense clones showed diminished cell proliferation compared to the parental cell line. Apoptosis- induced wild-type p53 was not inhibited by overexpression of antisense WAF1/p21. In a cell clone derived from line VMCub1 by stable transfection with wild-type p53 under the control of a metallothionein promotor, p21 was induced along with p53 upon activation of the promoter with zinc chloride. This induction was accompanied by a decrease in cell proliferation but by little apoptosis. These data suggest that p21 inhibits proliferation in a p53-dependent or independent manner but does not mediate p53-induced apoptosis in urothelial carcinoma cells.     

Resistance to Fas-mediated apoptosis: activation of caspase 3 is regulated by cell cycle regulator p21WAF1 and IAP gene family ILP

The death receptor Fas transduces apoptotic death signaling mediated by caspases. In the present study, human hepatoma HepG2 cells showed the Fas-mediated apoptosis mediated by caspase, especially caspase 3, only in the presence of actinomycin D. Interestingly, cytosolic proteins extracted from intact HepG2 cells induced caspase 3 inactivation. Our results reveal that this inactivation was triggered by the direct inhibition of activated caspase 3 by IAP gene family ILP. In addition, a 53 kDa protein was co-immunoprecipitated with anti-human caspase 3 antibody from intact HepG2 cells. This protein was a complex-protein of procaspase 3 and the cell cycle regulator p21WAF1 (p21). P21 bound to only procaspase 3, but not to activated caspase 3. We also demonstrate that p21 protein-loaded HepG2 cells resist to Fas-mediated apoptosis even in the presence of actinomycin D. Here we report that caspase 3 inactivation for the resistance to Fas-mediated apoptosis is induced by a procaspase 3/p21 complex formation and direct inhibition of activated caspase 3 by ILP.     

The geranylgeranyltransferase-I inhibitor GGTI-298 arrests human tumor cells in G0/G1 and induces p21(WAF1/CIP1/SDI1) in a p53-independent manner

Recently we have shown that in fibroblasts (NIH 3T3 and Rat-1 cells) inhibition of protein geranylgeranylation leads to a G0/G1 arrest, whereas inhibition of protein farnesylation does not affect cell cycle distribution. Here we demonstrate that in human tumor cells the geranylgeranyltransferase-I (GGTase-I) inhibitor GGTI-298 blocked cells in G0/G1, whereas the farnesyltransferase (FTase) inhibitor FTI-277 showed a differential effect depending on the cell line. FTI-277 accumulated Calu-1 and A-549 lung carcinoma and Colo 357 pancreatic carcinoma cells in G2/M, T-24 bladder carcinoma, and HT-1080 fibrosarcoma cells in G0/G1, but had no effect on cell cycle distribution of pancreatic (Panc-1), breast (SKBr 3 and MDAMB-231), and head and neck (A-253) carcinoma cells. Furthermore, treatment of Calu-1, Panc-1, Colo 357, T-24, A-253, SKBr 3, and MDAMB-231 cells with GGTI-298, but not FTI-277, induced the protein expression levels of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21WAF. HT-1080 and A-549 cells had a high basal level of p21WAF, and GGTI-298 did not further increase these levels. Furthermore, GGTI-298 also induces the accumulation of large amounts of p21WAF mRNA in Calu-1 cells, a cell line that lacks the tumor suppressor gene p53. There was little effect of GGTI-298 on the cellular levels of another cyclin- dependent kinase inhibitor p27KIP as well as cyclin E and cyclin D1. These results demonstrate that GGTase-I inhibitors arrest cells in G0/G1 and induce accumulation of p21WAF in a p53-independent manner and that FTase inhibitors can interfere with cell cycle events by a mechanism that involves neither p21WAF nor p27KIP. The results also point to the potential of GGTase-I inhibitors as agents capable of restoring growth arrest in cells lacking functional p53.     

Abrogation of p53 function affects gadd gene responses to DNA base-damaging agents and starvation

The tumor suppressor p53 is required for induction of its downstream effector genes such as GADD45 and CIP1/WAF1 by ionizing radiation (IR). This response is probably mediated through defined p53 binding sites located in the promoter of CIP1/WAF1 and in the third intron of GADD45. In contrast, the gadd gene stress response to base-damaging agents, such as methylmethane sulfonate (MMS) or UV radiation, or medium depletion (starvation) occurs in all mammalian cells examined to date regardless of p53 status for both GADD45 and also GADD153, which is not IR-responsive in many lines with functional p53. These agents strongly induce the p53 protein and raise the possibility that, although p53 is not required for the typical "gadd" response to these agents, p53 may contribute to these non-IR stress responses. This possibility was confirmed by the finding that disruption of p53 function by transfection with dominant-negative vectors expressing HPV E6, mutant p53, or SV40 T Ag reduced the induction of GADD45 and GADD153 as measured by increases in mRNA and protein levels in human lines with wild-type p53. Similarly, induction of these genes by MMS or UV radiation was consistently stronger in the parental mouse embryo fibroblasts compared to cells derived from mice where both p53 alleles had been deleted. Similar qualitative responses were also seen for CIP1/WAF1. In agreement with reduced induction of p53-regulated genes, the G1 checkpoint activated by MMS or UV radiation was markedly abrogated in p53-wt human MCF-7 breast carcinoma cells by E6 expression. Interestingly, induction of reporter constructs driven by the GADD45 or GADD153 promoters was substantially reduced in human cells transfected with mutant p53 or E6 expression vectors or in cells lacking p53 following treatment with MMS, UV radiation, or starvation. Because neither promoter is inducible by IR, and neither contains a strong p53 binding site, these results indicate that p53 has a synergistic or cooperative role in these non-IR stress responses for both GADD45 and GADD153, and that this role is not mediated through identifiable p53-binding sites.     

Tumor necrosis factor-induced apoptosis stimulates p53 accumulation and p21WAF1 proteolysis in ME-180 cells

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-mediated apoptotic signaling has been characterized by activation of specific protease or protein kinase cascades that regulate the onset of apoptosis. TNF has also been shown to induce oxidative or genotoxic stress in some cell types, and apoptotic potential may be determined by the cellular response to this stress. To determine the role of genotoxic stress in TNF-mediated apoptosis, we examined cellular accumulation of p53 in TNF-treated ME-180 cells selected for apoptotic sensitivity (ME-180S) or resistance (ME-180R) to TNF. Although TNF was able to activate receptor-mediated signaling in either cell line, p53 accumulation was measurable only in apoptotically sensitive ME-180S cells. TNF-induced changes in p53 levels were detected 1 h after treatment, and peak levels were measurable 4-8 h after TNF exposure. TNF was unable to induce p21WAF1 in either cell line but affected the stability of this protein in apoptotically responsive ME-180S cells. Evidence of p21WAF1 proteolysis was detected by monitoring the appearance of a 16-kDa immunoblottable p21WAF1 fragment, which became detectable 4 h after TNF addition and increased in content before the onset of DNA fragmentation (16-24 h). The kinetics of p21WAF1 proteolysis closely paralleled those of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, suggesting cleavage of p21WAF1 by activation of an apoptotic protease. Pretreatment of ME-180S cells with the apoptotic protease inhibitor YVAD blocked TNF-induced apoptosis and prevented both poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase and p21WAF1 degradation but did not affect p53 induction. These results provide evidence for the early onset of genotoxic stress in cells committed to TNF-mediated apoptosis and for divergence in propagation of this signal in non-responsive cells. In addition, TNF-induced p21WAF1 proteolysis may be mediated by an apoptotic protease and may contribute to the apoptotic process by disrupting p53 signaling, altering cell cycle inhibition, and limiting cellular recovery from genotoxic stress.     

Dexamethasone-mediated protection from drug cytotoxicity: association with p21WAF1/CIP1 protein accumulation?

Dexamethasone (DEX)-mediated inhibition of drug-induced, but not CD95 ligand-induced, apoptosis in malignant glioma cells correlates with wild-type p53 status. Here, we examined mechanisms underlying DEX-mediated protection from apoptosis. DEX did not induce p53 expression in two p53 wild-type cell lines (U87MG, LN-229) and did not alter drug-induced p53 accumulation. Forced expression of temperature-sensitive p53val135 in mutant conformation failed to prevent accumulation of endogenous wild-type p53 but acted in a transdominant negative manner to inhibit p53-mediated, camptothecin-induced p21WAF1/CIP1 expression. p53val135-transfected cells retained responsiveness to DEX at restrictive temperature, suggesting that p53 activity is not required for cytoprotection. Forced expression of wild-type p53val135 abrogated the protective effect of DEX, suggesting redundant cytoprotective effects of DEX and p53. Indeed, DEX induced moderate accumulation of p21WAF1/CIP1 in U87MG, LN-229 and p53 mutant LN-18 cells, but not in p53 mutant LN-308 or T98G cells. LN-18 is also the p53 mutant cell line with the best cytoprotective response to DEX. p21WAF1/CIP1 accumulation occurred in the absence of changes in p21WAF1/CIP1 mRNA expression. Wild-type p53 was not required for this DEX effect since DEX induced p21WAF1/CIP1 accumulation in p53val135-transfected LN-229 cells, too. DEX failed to induce p21WAF1/CIP1 expression or cytoprotection in untransformed rat astrocytes. The same lack of modulation of p21WAF1/CIP1 expression and drug toxicity was observed in p21(+/+), p21(+/-) and p21(-/-) human colon carcinoma cells. Paradoxically, while only p21(+/+) and p21(+/-) mouse embryonic fibroblasts showed enhance p21WAF1/CIP1 levels after exposure to DEX, only p21(-/-) fibroblasts were protected from drug toxicity by DEX. The present study links DEX-mediated protection from cancer chemotherapy to a p53-independent pathway of regulating p21WAF1/CIP1 expression in glioma cells but this effect appears to cell type-specific.     

Modulation of cell-cell adherens junctions by surface clustering of the N-cadherin cytoplasmic tail

PURPOSE: Testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs) represent one of the few tumor types that are curable by antineoplastic therapy, probably due to the high sensitivity of this neoplasm to induction of apoptosis by chemotherapeutic agents and/or ionizing radiation. Here, we tested cell susceptibility to radiation-induced apoptosis in a panel of TGCT cell lines and attempted to correlate this with the known potentially relevant molecular determinants (p53 gene status and Bcl-2 family proteins) of apoptosis. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Induction of apoptosis by gamma-radiation was morphologically recognized in NT2, NCCIT, S2, and 2102 EP using Hoechst/PI staining and additionally confirmed by Western blot analysis of PARP cleavage. The p53 gene status was estimated by sequence analysis. Expression of p21/WAF/CIP was determined by Northern blot analysis and immunoblotting was used to monitor p53, Bax, Bcl-2, Bcl-x, and Bak protein levels. In vitro colony formation was studied to establish clonogenic survival curves. RESULTS: NT2 and NCCIT appeared to be susceptible for radiation-induced apoptosis, contrasting 2102 EP and S2 which were highly resistant. Sequence analysis showed that NT2, S2, and 2102 EP are homozygous for wild-type p53 (wtp53), whereas NCCIT contains mutant p53 (mtp53). NT2 and 2102 EP cells showed radiation-induced p53 upregulation, while NCCIT (mtp53) and S2 (no p53 protein) cells did not. Consistently, gamma-radiation-induced DNA damage resulted in a p53-dependent transactivation of the p21/WAF/CIP gene in NT2 and 2102 EP, but not in mtp53-containing NCCIT cells and p53 nonexpressing S2 cells. Constitutive expression of Bax, Bcl-2, Bcl-x, and Bak was not affected by radiation and showed no correlation with cell susceptibility to radiation-induced apoptosis. A discrepancy was found between apoptosis and reproductive death. CONCLUSIONS: The present study revealed that: i) the presence of wtp53 may not be absolutely required for the hypersensitivity for radiation-induced apoptosis in TGCT cell lines, ii) the molecular mechanism underlying the unique radiosensitivity was independent of the expression of Bcl-2 family proteins, and iii) cell susceptibility to apoptosis induction is not sufficiently informative to predict intrinsic radiosensitivity as determined by clonogenic survival.     

Apoptotic death of tumor cells correlates with chemosensitivity, independent of p53 or bcl-2

p53 has been implicated as a determinant of chemosensitivity and radiosensitivity. We measured chemosensitivity of human tumor cell lines (n = 11), with or without wild-type p53, following exposure to clinically useful chemotherapeutic drugs (n = 4). Chemosensitivity and apoptosis induction were correlated independently of p53 status or Bcl-2 protein levels in vitro. Wild-type p53 correlated with chemosensitivity in ovarian carcinoma and some Burkitt's lymphoma cells, but not in leukemia or lung cancer. Bcl-2 levels correlated with chemoresistance only in Burkitt's lymphoma. p53-dependent p21(WAF1/CIP1) induction and cell cycle arrest occurred at sublethal doses of chemotherapy, whereas at lethal doses of chemotherapy apoptotic death was observed, consistent with models proposing a relationship between the level of DNA damage versus survival or death. Loss of apoptosis induction was observed in drug-resistant ML-1 and HL-60 leukemia cells, without changes in p53 or Bcl-2. Targeted loss of p53 protein in H460 lung cancer cells using HPV-16 E6 inhibited the etoposide-induced G1 checkpoint but did not decrease chemosensitivity. Our studies suggest that the simple measurement of apoptosis induction may be a useful predictor of chemosensitivity, at least in vitro, and confirm that p53 status and Bcl-2 expression may be useful predictors of chemosensitivity in certain cell types.     

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.     

Distinct p53-mediated G1/S checkpoint responses in two NIH3T3 subclone cells following treatment with DNA-damaging agents

N3T3 and P-3T3 cells, originally isolated from a NIH3T3 cell clone on the basis of their negative and positive transformation by v-Abl, v-Src and Bcr-Abl, were previously found to show distinct cyclin activity changes following 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) treatment, which is anti-mitogenic for N-3T3 cells and mitogenic for P-3T3 cells. We have found in this study that, while the G1/S arrest and cell death induced by serum starvation and TPA treatment in N-3T3 cells did not involve p53-mediated checkpoint or apoptosis, N-3T3 and P-3T3 cells evidently responded differently in these aspects of cell cycle regulation to DNA-damaging agents, methylmethane sulfonate (MMS) and gamma-radiation. In N-3T3 cells, DNA damages elicit cell growth arrest at G1/S transition with concomitant accumulation of p53 and p53-inducible Waf1/Cip1 proteins and also signs of apoptosis such as DNA ladder patterns and apoptotic (subgenomic) peak in flow cytograph. Conversely, P-3T3 cells treated with the DNA-damaging agents showed no cell cycle interruption nor accumulation of p53 or Waf1/Cip1. However, both P-3T3 and N-3T3 cells showed the same p53 protein half-life of 40 min or less, the same wild-type p53 DNA sequence and the same co-immunoprecipitable cellular proteins in complexes with p53, suggesting that an alteration in a signal transduction pathway upstream of p53 might account for the evasion of p53-mediated G1 checkpoint in P-3T3 cells.     

Hydrogen peroxide-induced apoptosis mediated by p53 protein in glial cells

It is now generally accepted that massive neuronal death due to oxidative stress is a regular feature of brains in neurodegenerative diseases. However, much less attention has been given to the death of glial cells. In this study, we examined p53-sensitive apoptosis of cells by using human glioblastoma A172 cells and p53-deficient mouse astrocytes. In human A172 cells, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) caused cell death in a time- and concentration-dependent manner, accompanied by nucleosomal DNA fragmentation and chromatin condensation. After treatment with H2O2, p53 protein was highly expressed and protein levels of Bak, p21WAF1/CIP1 and GADD45 were also enhanced. However, the protein levels of Bcl-2 and Bax did not change. On the other hand, primary cultured astrocytes from p53-deficient mouse brain grew faster than wild-type and heterozygous astrocytes. In addition, p53-deficient astrocytes were more resistant to H2O2-induced apoptosis than wild-type and heterozygous astrocytes. These results suggest that glial proliferation and the repair of damaged DNA may be regulated by p53-induced p21WAF1/CIP1 and GADD45, and that glial apoptosis caused by oxidative stress may be mediated by p53-induced Bak.     

Gene therapy for primary and metastatic pancreatic cancer with intraperitoneal retroviral vector bearing the wild-type p53 gene

BACKGROUND: Metastatic pancreatic cancer is uniformly fatal because no effective chemotherapy is available. Mutations in the p53 tumor suppressor gene are found in up to 70% of pancreatic adenocarcinomas. We examined the efficacy of a retroviral vector containing the wild-type p53 gene on metastatic pancreatic cancer in a nude mouse model. METHODS: Bxpc3 human pancreatic cancer cells were transduced with either a retroviral p53 vector or an LXSN empty vector. Cells were examined for incorporation of tritiated thymidine to determine the effect of p53 retroviral transduction on DNA synthesis, and a TACS2 assay for apoptosis was performed. The functional activity of p53 in transduced cells was assessed by Western blot analysis with an antibody to WAF1/p21. In vivo effects of intraperitoneal injections of the p53 vector were examined in a nude mouse model of peritoneal carcinomatosis. RESULTS: Cells treated with the p53 vector exhibited a 59% to 85.5% reduction in cell number compared with the control cells (P < .05). p53-treated cells demonstrated decreased incorporation of tritiated thymidine (12.7% +/- 0.7% vs 17.5% +/- 1.4%; P = .002), increased staining for apoptosis, and increased expression of the WAF1/p21 protein. Treatment of nude mice with the retroviral p53 vector resulted in a significant inhibition of growth of the primary pancreatic tumor, as well as the peritoneal tumor deposits, compared with the LXSN control vector. CONCLUSIONS: Intraperitoneal delivery of a retroviral p53 vector may provide a novel treatment approach for peritoneal carcinomatosis from pancreatic cancer.