Quantification of a Non-conventional Protein Secretion: The Low-Molecular-Weight FGF-2 Example.

Quantification of secreted factors is most often measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), Western Blot, or more recently with antibody arrays. However, some of these, like low-molecular-weight fibroblast growth factor-2 (LMW FGF-2; the 18 kDa form), exemplify a set of secreted but almost non-diffusible molecular actors. It has been proposed that phosphorylated FGF-2 is secreted via a non-vesicular mechanism and that heparan sulfate proteoglycans function as extracellular reservoir but also as actors for its secretion. Heparan sulfate is a linear sulfated polysaccharide present on proteoglycans found in the extracellular matrix or anchored in the plasma membrane (syndecan). Moreover the LMW FGF-2 secretion appears to be activated upon FGF-1 treatment. In order to estimate quantification of such factor export across the plasma membrane, technical approaches are presented (evaluation of LMW FGF-2: (1) secretion, (2) extracellular matrix reservoir, and (3) secretion modulation by surrounding factors) and the importance of such procedures in the comprehension of the biology of these growth factors is underlined.

Api5 contributes to E2F1 control of the G1/S cell cycle phase transition.

BACKGROUND: The E2f transcription factor family has a pivotal role in controlling the cell fate in general, and in particular cancer development, by regulating the expression of several genes required for S phase entry and progression through the cell cycle. It has become clear that the transcriptional activation of at least one member of the family, E2F1, can also induce apoptosis. An appropriate balance of positive and negative regulators appears to be necessary to modulate E2F1 transcriptional activity, and thus cell fate. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this report, we show that Api5, already known as a regulator of E2F1 induced-apoptosis, is required for the E2F1 transcriptional activation of G1/S transition genes, and consequently, for cell cycle progression and cell proliferation. Api5 appears to be a cell cycle regulated protein. Removal of Api5 reduces cyclin E, cyclin A, cyclin D1 and Cdk2 levels, causing G1 cell cycle arrest and cell cycle delay. Luciferase assays established that Api5 directly regulates the expression of several G1/S genes under E2F1 control. Using protein/protein and protein/DNA immunoprecipitation studies, we demonstrate that Api5, even if not physically interacting with E2F1, contributes positively to E2F1 transcriptional activity by increasing E2F1 binding to its target promoters, through an indirect mechanism. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: The results described here support the pivotal role of cell cycle related proteins, that like E2F1, may act as tumor suppressors or as proto-oncogenes during cancer development, depending on the behavior of their positive and negative regulators. According to our findings, Api5 contributes to E2F1 transcriptional activation of cell cycle-associated genes by facilitating E2F1 recruitment onto its target promoters and thus E2F1 target gene transcription.

E2F1 activates p53 transcription through its distal site and participates in apoptosis induction in HPV-positive cells.

The p53 tumor suppressor protein, one of the most extensively studied proteins, plays a pivotal role in cellular checkpoints that respond to DNA damage to prevent tumorigenesis. However, the transcriptional control of the p53 gene has not been fully characterized. We report that the transcription factor E2F1 binds only to the E2F1 distal site of the p53 promoter in the human papillomavirus positive carcinoma HeLa cell line. Moreover, we showed that etoposide, a DNA damaging agent, activates p53 transcription through the E2F1 pathway. This increase correlates with apoptosis induction as disruption of this pathway led to reduced apoptosis stimulation by the DNA damaging agent.

VEGF-A mRNA processing, stability and translation: a paradigm for intricate regulation of gene expression at the post-transcriptional level.

Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A (VEGF-A) is a potent secreted mitogen crucial for physiological and pathological angiogenesis. Post-transcriptional regulation of VEGF-A occurs at multiple levels. Firstly, alternative splicing gives rise to different transcript variants encoding diverse isoforms that exhibit distinct biological properties with regard to receptor binding and extra-cellular localization. Secondly, VEGF-A mRNA stability is regulated by effectors such as hypoxia or growth factors through the binding of stabilizing and destabilizing proteins at AU-rich elements located in the 3'-untranslated region. Thirdly, translation of VEGF-A mRNA is a controlled process involving alternative initiation codons, internal ribosome entry sites (IRESs), an upstream open reading frame (uORF), miRNA targeting and a riboswitch in the 3' untranslated region. These different levels of regulation cooperate for the crucial fine-tuning of the expression of VEGF-A variants. This review will be focused on our current knowledge of the complex post-transcriptional regulatory switches that modulate the cellular VEGF-A level, a paradigmatic model of post-transcriptional regulation.

The StkP/PhpP signaling couple in Streptococcus pneumoniae: cellular organization and physiological characterization.

In Streptococcus pneumoniae, stkP and phpP, encoding the eukaryotic-type serine-threonine kinase and PP2C phosphatase, respectively, form an operon. PhpP has the features of a so-called "soluble" protein, whereas StkP protein is membrane associated. Here we provide the first genetic and physiological evidence that PhpP and StkP, with antagonist enzymatic activities, constitute a signaling couple. The StkP-PhpP couple signals competence upstream of the competence-specific histidine kinase ComD, receptor for the oligopeptide pheromone "competence stimulating peptide." We show that PhpP activity is essential in a stkP(+) genetic background, suggesting tight control of StkP activity by PhpP. Proteins PhpP and StkP colocalized to the cell membrane subcellular fraction and likely belong to the same complex, as revealed by coimmunoprecipitation in cellular extracts. Specific coimmunoprecipitation of the N-kinase domain of StkP and PhpP recombinant proteins by PhpP-specific antibodies demonstrates direct interaction between these proteins. Consistently, flow cytometry analysis allowed the determination of the cytoplasmic localization of PhpP and of the N-terminal kinase domain of StkP, in contrast to the periplasmic localization of the StkP C-terminal PASTA (penicillin-binding protein and serine-threonine kinase associated) domain. A signaling route involving interplay between serine, threonine, and histidine phosphorylation is thus described for the first time in this human pathogen.

Molecular analysis of two mutants from Lotus japonicus deficient in plastidic glutamine synthetase: functional properties of purified GLN2 enzymes.

Two photorespiratory mutants from Lotus japonicus, namely Ljgln2-1 and Ljgln2-2, deficient in plastidic glutamine synthetase (GLN2), were analysed at the molecular level. Both mutants showed normal levels of Gln2 mRNA, indicating that they were affected post-transcriptionally. Complete sequencing of full-length Gln2 cDNAs revealed the presence of a single point mutation on each mutant, leading to G85R and L278H amino acid replacements, respectively. Different types of experimental approaches, including heterologous expression and complementation tests in Escherichia coli, showed that both GLN2 mutant proteins completely lacked of biosynthetic and transferase enzyme activities. Moreover, it was also shown that while GLN2-1 mutant protein was assembled into a less stable inactive octamer, GLN2-2 mutant protein was unable to acquire a proper quaternary structure and was rapidly degraded. Therefore, the mutations analysed are the first of their type affecting the stability and/or the quaternary structure of the GLN2 enzyme. The kinetic parameters of purified recombinant GLN2 were determined. The enzyme showed positive cooperativity towards ammonium and Mg(2+). Thiol compounds stimulated by twofold the biosynthetic activity but not the transferase activity of recombinant GLN2 and were able to alter the kinetics towards glutamate of the enzyme. Moreover, the biosynthetic activity of recombinant GLN2 was stimulated by more than tenfold by the presence of free Mg(2+).

Inhibition of cell division suppresses heterocyst development in Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120.

When the filamentous cyanobacterium Anabaena PCC 7120 is exposed to combined nitrogen starvation, 5 to 10% of the cells along each filament at semiregular intervals differentiate into heterocysts specialized in nitrogen fixation. Heterocysts are terminally differentiated cells in which the major cell division protein FtsZ is undetectable. In this report, we provide molecular evidence indicating that cell division is necessary for heterocyst development. FtsZ, which is translationally fused to the green fluorescent protein (GFP) as a reporter, is found to form a ring structure at the mid-cell position. SulA from Escherichia coli inhibits the GTPase activity of FtsZ in vitro and prevents the formation of FtsZ rings when expressed in Anabaena PCC 7120. The expression of sulA arrests cell division and suppresses heterocyst differentiation completely. The antibiotic aztreonam, which is targeted to the FtsI protein necessary for septum formation, has similar effects on both cell division and heterocyst differentiation, although in this case, the FtsZ ring is still formed. Therefore, heterocyst differentiation is coupled to cell division but independent of the formation of the FtsZ ring. Consistently, once the inhibitory pressure of cell division is removed, cell division should take place first before heterocyst differentiation resumes at a normal frequency. The arrest of cell division does not affect the accumulation of 2-oxoglutarate, which triggers heterocyst differentiation. Consistently, a nonmetabolizable analogue of 2-oxoglutarate does not rescue the failure of heterocyst differentiation when cell division is blocked. These results suggest that the control of heterocyst differentiation by cell division is independent of the 2-oxoglutarate signal.