Targeting the acute promyelocytic leukemia-associated fusion proteins PML/RARα and PLZF/RARα with interfering peptides.

In acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), hematopoietic differentiation is blocked and immature blasts accumulate in the bone marrow and blood. APL is associated with chromosomal aberrations, including t(15;17) and t(11;17). For these two translocations, the retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARα) is fused to the promyelocytic leukemia (PML) gene or the promyelocytic zinc finger (PLZF) gene, respectively. Both fusion proteins lead to the formation of a high-molecular-weight complex. High-molecular-weight complexes are caused by the "coiled-coil" domain of PML or the BTB/POZ domain of PLZF. PML/RARα without the "coiled-coil" fails to block differentiation and mediates an all-trans retinoic acid-response. Similarly, mutations in the BTB/POZ domain disrupt the high-molecular-weight complex, abolishing the leukemic potential of PLZF/RARα. Specific interfering polypeptides were used to target the oligomerization domain of PML/RARα or PLZF/RARα. PML/RARα and PLZF/RARα were analyzed for the ability to form high-molecular-weight complexes, the protein stability and the potential to induce a leukemic phenotype in the presence of the interfering peptides. Expression of these interfering peptides resulted in a reduced replating efficiency and overcame the differentiation block induced by PML/RARα and PLZF/RARα in murine hematopoietic stem cells. This expression also destabilized the PLZF/RARα-induced high-molecular-weight complex formation and caused the degradation of the fusion protein. Targeting fusion proteins through interfering peptides is a promising approach to further elucidate the biology of leukemia.

The nitrogen interaction network in Synechococcus WH5701, a cyanobacterium with two PipX and two P(II)-like proteins.

Nitrogen regulation involves the formation of different types of protein complexes between signal transducers and their transcriptional or metabolic targets. In oxygenic phototrophs, the signal integrator P(II) activates the enzyme N-acetyl-l-glutamate kinase (NAGK) by complex formation. P(II) also interacts with PipX, a protein with a tudor-like domain that mediates contacts with P(II) and with the transcriptional regulator NtcA, to which it binds to increase its activity. Here, we use a combination of in silico, yeast two-hybrid and in vitro approaches to investigate the nitrogen regulation network of Synechococcus WH5701, a marine cyanobacterium with two P(II) (GlnB_A and GlnB_B) and two PipX (PipX_I and PipX_II) proteins. Our results indicate that GlnB_A is functionally equivalent to the canonical P(II) protein from Synechococcus elongatus. GlnB_A interacted with PipX and NAGK proteins and stimulated NAGK activity, counteracting arginine inhibition. GlnB_B had only a slight stimulatory effect on NAGK activity, but its potential to bind effectors and form heterotrimers in Synechococcus WH5701 indicates additional regulatory functions. PipX_II, and less evidently PipX_I, specifically interacted with GlnB_A and NtcA, supporting a role for both Synechococcus WH5701 PipX proteins in partner swapping with GlnB_A and NtcA.

N-acetyl-L-glutamate kinase (NAGK) from oxygenic phototrophs: P(II) signal transduction across domains of life reveals novel insights in NAGK control.

N-Acetyl-L-glutamate kinase (NAGK) catalyzes the first committed step in arginine biosynthesis in organisms that perform the cyclic pathway of ornithine synthesis. In eukaryotic and bacterial oxygenic phototrophs, the activity of NAGK is controlled by the P(II) signal transduction protein. Recent X-ray analysis of NAGK-P(II) complexes from a higher plant (Arabidopsis thaliana) and a cyanobacterium (Synechococcus elongatus) revealed that despite several differences, the overall structure of the complex is highly similar. The present study analyzes the functional conservation of P(II)-mediated NAGK regulation in plants and cyanobacteria to distinguish between universal properties and those that are specific for the different phylogenetic lineages. This study shows that plant and cyanobacterial P(II) proteins can mutually regulate the NAGK enzymes across the domains of life, implying a high selective pressure to conserve P(II)-NAGK interaction over more than 1.2 billion years of separate evolution. The non-conserved C-terminus of S. elongatus NAGK was identified as an element, which strongly enhances arginine inhibition and is responsible for most of the differences between S. elongatus and A. thaliana NAGK with respect to arginine sensitivity. Both P(II) proteins relieve arginine inhibition of NAGK, and in both lineages, P(II)-mediated relief from arginine inhibition is antagonized by 2-oxoglutarate. Together, these properties highlight the conserved role of P(II) as a signal integrator of the C/N balance sensed as 2-oxoglutarate to regulate arginine synthesis in oxygenic phototrophs.