Degradation of the cyclin-dependent-kinase inhibitor p27Kip1 is instigated by Jab1

The proliferation of mammalian cells is under strict control, and the cyclin-dependent-kinase inhibitory protein p27Kip1 is an essential participant in this regulation both in vitro and in vivo. Although mutations in p27Kip1 are rarely found in human tumours, reduced expression of the protein correlates well with poor survival among patients with breast or colorectal carcinomas, suggesting that disruption of the p27Kip1 regulatory mechanisms contributes to neoplasia. The abundance of p27Kip1 in the cell is determined either at or after translation, for example as a result of phosphorylation by cyclinE/Cdk2 complexes, degradation by the ubiquitin/proteasome pathway, sequestration by unknown Myc-inducible proteins, binding to cyclinD/Cdk4 complexes, or inactivation by the viral E1A oncoprotein. We have found that a mouse 38K protein (p38) encoded by the Jab1 gene interacts specifically with p27Kip1 and show here that overexpression of p38 in mammalian cells causes the translocation of p27Kip1 from the nucleus to the cytoplasm, decreasing the amount of p27Kip1 in the cell by accelerating its degradation. Ectopic expression of p38 in mouse fibroblasts partially overcomes p27Kip1-mediated arrest in the G1 phase of the cell cycle and markedly reduces their dependence on serum. Our findings indicate that p38 functions as a negative regulator of p27Kip1 by promoting its degradation.     

雷帕霉素的免疫药理学（综述）

雷帕霉素是一种高效低毒的大环内酯类免疫抑制药,它在细胞外的受体为FK506结合蛋白FKBP－12,胞浆内的激酶mTOR是雷帕霉素已知的主要靶体,它是mRNA翻译的启动调控因子,Kipl是一种周期素依赖性激酶的抑制剂,能降低活化的T细胞内G1期的周期素与其依赖性激酶复合物的水平,mTOR对p70 s6k的活性,真核启努因子4E依赖性蛋白合成及Kip1的下调所需调节信号具有诱变作用,它与FKBP12与雷帕霉素复合物的相互作用干扰了它的功能,雷帕霉素因素阻断了Kipl的下调而将细胞阻滞于G1期。     

No T-cell tyrosine protein kinase signalling or calcium mobilization after CD4 association with HIV-1 or HIV-1 gp120.

The T lymphocyte surface protein CD4 is an integral membrane glycoprotein noncovalently associated with the tyrosine protein kinase p56lck. In normal T cells, surface association of CD4 molecules with other CD4 molecules or other T-cell surface proteins, such as the T-cell antigen receptor, stimulates the activity of the p56lck tyrosine kinase, resulting in the phosphorylation of various cellular proteins at tyrosine residues. Thus, the signal transduction in T cells generated through the surface engagement of CD4 is similar to that observed for the class of growth factor receptors possessing endogenous tyrosine kinase activity. As CD4 is also the cellular receptor for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), binding of the virus or gp120 (the virus surface protein responsible for specific CD4+ T-cell association) could mimic the types of immunological interactions that have previously been found to stimulate p56lck and trigger T-cell activation pathways. We have evaluated this possibility and report here that binding of HIV-1 or the virus glycoprotein gp120 to CD4+ human T cells fails to elicit detectable p56lck-dependent tyrosine kinase activation and signalling, alterations in the composition of cellular phosphotyrosine-containing proteins, or changes in intracellular Ca2+ concentration.     

异硫氰酸异丁酯抑制肝癌细胞HepG2生长的效应与机理

为了探究异硫氰酸异丁酯(isobutyl isothiocyanate)对肝癌细胞HepG2的生长抑制效应及其分子机制，该研究通过MTT实验检测化合物对细胞的生长抑制率，计算出IC50值为3.5 μg·mL－1；通过流式细胞技术检测发现0.437 μg·mL－1以上浓度的化合物能诱导HepG2细胞凋亡；通过划痕实验检测发现0.875 μg·mL－1以上浓度的化合物能抑制细胞迁移；进一步通过生物信息学分析表明异硫氰酸异丁酯的靶蛋白可能为巨噬细胞迁移抑制因子(MIF)，且HepG2细胞中MIF表达量高于低敏感株.免疫印迹实验也进一步发现化合物不仅能够抑制蛋白酪氨酸激酶2/信号转导子和转录激活子3(JAK2/STAT3)信号通路的激活，还能下调p53蛋白表达.研究结果表明，异硫氰酸异丁酯可能通过靶向HepG2细胞中的MIF蛋白，影响MIF与其受体CD74相互作用，从而下调p53蛋白表达，阻滞细胞周期的正常进行，诱导细胞凋亡，对肝癌具有特异性的抑癌潜力.     

A mouse knock-in model exposes sequential proteolytic pathways that regulate p27Kip1 in G1 and S phase

The protein p27Kip1 is an inhibitor of cell division. An increase in p27 causes proliferating cells to exit from the cell cycle, and a decrease in p27 is necessary for quiescent cells to resume division. Abnormally low amounts of p27 are associated with pathological states of excessive cell proliferation, especially cancers. In normal and tumour cells, p27 is regulated primarily at the level of translation and protein turnover. Phosphorylation of p27 on threonine 187 (T187) by cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (Cdk2) is thought to initiate the major pathway for p27 proteolysis. To critically test the importance of this pathway in vivo, we replaced the murine p27 gene with one that encoded alanine instead of threonine at position 187 (p27T187A). Here we show that cells expressing p27T187A were unable to downregulate p27 during the S and G2 phases of the cell cycle, but that this had a surprisingly modest effect on cell proliferation both in vitro and in vivo. Our efforts to explain this unexpected result led to the discovery of a second proteolytic pathway for controlling p27, one that is activated by mitogens and degrades p27 exclusively during G1.     

Phosphorylation of Erp1 by p90rsk is required for cytostatic factor arrest in Xenopus laevis eggs

Until fertilization, the meiotic cell cycle of vertebrate eggs is arrested at metaphase of meiosis II by a cytoplasmic activity termed cytostatic factor (CSF), which causes inhibition of the anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C), a ubiquitin ligase that targets mitotic cyclins-regulatory proteins of meiosis and mitosis-for degradation. Recent studies indicate that Erp1/Emi2, an inhibitor protein for the APC/C, has an essential role in establishing and maintaining CSF arrest, but its relationship to Mos, a mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) kinase kinase that also has an essential role in establishing CSF arrest through activation of p90 ribosomal S6 kinase (p90rsk), is unclear. Here we report that in Xenopus eggs Erp1 is a substrate of p90rsk, and that Mos-dependent phosphorylation of Erp1 by p90rsk at Thr 336, Ser 342 and Ser 344 is crucial for both stabilizing Erp1 and establishing CSF arrest in meiosis II oocytes. Semi-quantitative analysis with CSF-arrested egg extracts reveals that the Mos-dependent phosphorylation of Erp1 enhances, but does not generate, the activity of Erp1 that maintains metaphase arrest. Our results also suggest that Erp1 inhibits cyclin B degradation by binding the APC/C at its carboxy-terminal destruction box, and this binding is also enhanced by the Mos-dependent phosphorylation. Thus, Mos and Erp1 collaboratively establish and maintain metaphase II arrest in Xenopus eggs. The link between Mos and Erp1 provides a molecular explanation for the integral mechanism of CSF arrest in unfertilized vertebrate eggs.     

Glycogen synthase kinase 3 in MLL leukaemia maintenance and targeted therapy

Glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3) is a multifunctional serine/threonine kinase that participates in numerous signalling pathways involved in diverse physiological processes. Several of these pathways are implicated in disease pathogenesis, which has prompted efforts to develop GSK3-specific inhibitors for therapeutic applications. However, before now, there has been no strong rationale for targeting GSK3 in malignancies. Here we report pharmacological, physiological and genetic studies that demonstrate an oncogenic requirement for GSK3 in the maintenance of a specific subtype of poor prognosis human leukaemia, genetically defined by mutations of the MLL proto-oncogene. In contrast to its previously characterized roles in suppression of neoplasia-associated signalling pathways, GSK3 paradoxically supports MLL leukaemia cell proliferation and transformation by a mechanism that ultimately involves destabilization of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27(Kip1). Inhibition of GSK3 in a preclinical murine model of MLL leukaemia provides promising evidence of efficacy and earmarks GSK3 as a candidate cancer drug target.