ERK and JNK activation is essential for oncogenic transformation by v-Rel.

v-Rel is the acutely oncogenic member of the NF-κB family of transcription factors. Infection with retroviruses expressing v-Rel rapidly induces fatal lymphomas in birds and transforms primary lymphocytes and fibroblasts in vitro. We have previously shown that AP-1 transcriptional activity contributes to v-Rel-mediated transformation. Although v-Rel increases the expression of these factors, their activity may also be induced through phosphorylation by the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs). The expression of v-Rel results in the strong and sustained activation of the ERK and JNK MAPK pathways. This induction is critical for the v-Rel-transformed phenotype, as suppression of MAPK activity with chemical inhibitors or small interfering RNA severely impairs colony formation of v-Rel-transformed lymphoid cell lines. However, signaling must be maintained within an optimal range in these cells, as strong additional activation of either pathway beyond the levels induced by v-Rel through the expression of constitutively active MAPK proteins attenuates the transformed phenotype. MAPK signaling also has an important role in the initial transformation of primary spleen cells by v-Rel, although distinct requirements for MAPK activity at different stages of v-Rel-mediated transformation were identified. We also show that the ability of v-Rel to induce MAPK signaling more strongly than c-Rel contributes to its greater oncogenicity.

Cell transformation by v-Rel reveals distinct roles of AP-1 family members in Rel/NF-kappaB oncogenesis.

Cell transformation by the v-rel oncogene is mediated by the aberrant expression of genes that are normally tightly regulated by other Rel/NF-kappaB family members. Although a number of genes inappropriately activated or suppressed by v-Rel have been identified, their contributions to the v-Rel transformation process have been poorly characterized. Here, we examine the role of individual AP-1 proteins in v-Rel-mediated transformation. v-Rel-transformed cells exhibit elevated RNA and protein expression of c-Fos, c-Jun and ATF2 and sustained repression of Fra-2. c-Fos and c-Jun are essential in both the initiation and maintenance of v-Rel-mediated transformation, whereas Fra-2 is dispensable. By employing a c-Jun dimerization mutant, we further identified Fos/Jun heterodimers as major contributors to the v-Rel transformation process. The inability of c-Rel to induce the expression of c-Fos and c-Jun contributes to its weaker oncogenic potential relative to v-Rel. Our studies also demonstrate that v-Rel may induce AP-1 members by directly upregulating gene expression (c-fos and ATF2) and by activating pathways that stimulate AP-1 activity. Although elevated expression of ATF2 is also required for v-Rel-mediated transformation, its ectopic overexpression is inhibitory. Investigating the mode of ATF2 regulation revealed a positive feedback mechanism whereby ATF2 induces p38 MAPK phosphorylation to further induce its own activity. In addition, these studies identified Ha-Ras as an effector of v-Rel-mediated transformation and reveal a novel role for ATF2 in the inhibition of the Ras-Raf-MEK-ERK signaling pathway. Overall, these studies reveal distinct and complex roles of AP-1 proteins in Rel/NF-kappaB oncogenesis.

The activation of TC10, a Rho small GTPase, contributes to v-Rel-mediated transformation.

v-Rel is the oncogenic member of the Rel/NF-kappaB family of transcription factors and transforms hematopoietic cells and fibroblasts. Differential display was employed to identify target genes that exhibit altered expression in v-Rel transformed cells. One of the cDNAs identified encodes the chicken ortholog of TC10, a member of the Rho small GTPase family. The expression of TC10 was increased in v-Rel-transformed chicken embryonic fibroblasts (CEFs) 3 to 6-fold relative to control cells at both the RNA and protein levels. An elevated level of active, GTP-bound TC10 was also detected in v-Rel-transformed cells relative to control cells. Expression of a dominant-negative TC10 mutant (TC10T32N) decreased the colony formation potential of v-Rel-transformed cells. Furthermore, overexpression of wild-type TC10 or a gain-of-function mutant (TC10Q76L) greatly enhanced the ability of v-Rel transformed CEFs to form colonies in soft agar. In addition to enhance the transformation potential of v-Rel, the overexpression of wild-type TC10 or the gain-of-function mutant alone enhanced the saturation density of CEFs and was sufficient for their anchorage-independent growth in vitro. These results indicate that elevated TC10 activity contributes to v-Rel-mediated transformation of CEFs and demonstrate for the first time that a Rho factor alone is capable of inducing the in vitro transformation of primary cells.

The suppression of SH3BGRL is important for v-Rel-mediated transformation.

The v-rel oncogene is the most efficient transforming member of the Rel/NF-kappaB family of transcription factors. v-Rel induces avian and mammalian lymphoid cell tumors and transforms chicken embryo fibroblasts in culture by the aberrant regulation of genes under the control of Rel/NF-kappaB proteins. Here we report that the expression of SH3BGRL, a member of the SH3BGR (SH3 domain-binding glutamic acid-rich) family of proteins, is downregulated in v-Rel-expressing fibroblasts, lymphoid cells, and splenic tumor cells. Chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments demonstrated that v-Rel binds to the sh3bgrl promoter in transformed cells. Coexpression of SH3BGRL with v-Rel in primary splenic lymphocytes reduced the number of colonies formed by 76%. Mutations in the predicted SH3-binding domain of SH3BGRL abolished the suppressive effect on v-Rel transformation and resulted in colony numbers comparable to those formed by v-Rel alone. However, mutations in the predicted EVH1-binding domain of SH3BGRL only had a modest effect on suppression of v-Rel transformation. This study provides the first example of a gene that is downregulated in v-Rel-expressing cells that also plays a role in v-Rel transformation.

The chicken RelB transcription factor has transactivation sequences and a tissue-specific expression pattern that are distinct from mammalian RelB.

Rel/NF-kappaB proteins are eukaryotic transcription factors that control the expression of genes involved in a large variety of cellular processes. Rel proteins share a highly conserved DNA-binding/dimerization domain called the Rel Homology (RH) domain. We have constructed and characterized a composite cDNA encoding most of the chicken RelB transcription factor. The predicted chicken RelB protein has a high degree of sequence similarity to other vertebrate RelB proteins within the RH domain, but is much less conserved outside this domain. Chicken RelB does not bind DNA as a homodimer, but forms DNA-binding heterodimers with NF-kappaB p50 or p52. Overexpressed chicken RelB localizes to the nucleus in chicken embryo fibroblasts, and the nonconserved C-terminal sequences of chicken RelB contain a transactivation domain that functions in chicken and mouse fibroblasts. Thus, chicken RelB has functional properties similar to other vertebrate RelB proteins. However, Western blotting of diverse chicken tissues indicates that chicken RelB is more widely expressed than mammalian RelB.

Interferon regulatory factor 4 contributes to transformation of v-Rel-expressing fibroblasts.

The avian homologue of the interferon regulatory factor 4 (IRF-4) and a novel splice variant lacking exon 6, IRF-4DeltaE6, were isolated and characterized. Chicken IRF-4 is expressed in lymphoid organs, less in small intestine, and lungs. IRF-4DeltaE6 mRNA, though less abundant than full-length IRF-4, was detected in lymphoid tissues, with the highest levels observed in thymic cells. IRF-4 is highly expressed in v-Rel-transformed lymphocytes, and the expression of IRF-4 is increased in v-Rel- and c-Rel-transformed fibroblasts relative to control cells. The expression of IRF-4 from retrovirus vectors morphologically transformed primary fibroblasts, increased their saturation density, proliferation, and life span, and promoted their growth in soft agar. IRF-4 and v-Rel cooperated synergistically to transform fibroblasts. The expression of IRF-4 antisense RNA eliminated formation of soft agar colonies by v-Rel and reduced the proliferation of v-Rel-transformed cells. v-Rel-transformed fibroblasts produced interferon 1 (IFN1), which inhibits fibroblast proliferation. Infection of fibroblasts with retroviruses expressing v-Rel resulted in an increase in the mRNA levels of IFN1, the IFN receptor, STAT1, JAK1, and 2',5'-oligo(A) synthetase. The exogenous expression of IRF-4 in v-Rel-transformed fibroblasts decreased the production of IFN1 and suppressed the expression of several genes in the IFN transduction pathway. These results suggest that induction of IRF-4 expression by v-Rel likely facilitates transformation of fibroblasts by decreasing the induction of this antiproliferative pathway.

Binding of steroidogenic acute regulatory protein to synthetic membranes suggests an active molten globule.

Steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR) mediates cholesterol transport from the outer to the inner mitochondrial membrane during steroid biosynthesis. The mechanism of StAR's action is not established. To address mechanistic issues, we assessed the binding of StAR to artificial membranes by fluorescence resonance energy transfer using endogenous StAR tryptophan residues as the donor and dansyl-phosphatidylethanolamine in the bilayer as the acceptor. Mixing StAR with dansyl-labeled vesicles composed of phosphatidylcholine increased the fluorescence intensity of dansyl emission excited at 280 nm by 10-40%. This interaction was dependent on pH, with a maximum at pH 3.0-3.5 and essentially no change above pH 5. Binding experiments at different temperatures and various combinations of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol, cardiolipin, and cholesterol showed that binding involves an electrostatic step and one or more other steps. Although binding prefers a thermodynamically ordered bilayer, the rate-limiting step occurs either when the bilayer is in a fluid state or when there is cholesterol-induced membrane heterogeneity. Experiments with fluorescence and light scattering indicate that StAR binding promotes ordering and aggregation of anionic membranes. The inactive StAR mutant R182L had lower affinity for the membrane, and the partially active mutant L275P had intermediate affinity. Far-UV CD spectroscopy of StAR in PC membranes show more beta-structure than in aqueous buffers, and the presence of cardiolipin or cholesterol in the membrane fosters a molten globule state. Our data suggest that StAR binds to membranes in a partially unfolded molten globule state that is relevant to the activity of the protein.

Mutations in the steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR) in six patients with congenital lipoid adrenal hyperplasia.

Congenital lipoid adrenal hyperplasia (lipoid CAH), the most severe form of CAH, is caused by mutations in the steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR). Lipoid CAH is common among the Japanese, Korean, and Palestinian Arab populations, but is rare elsewhere. We describe six patients with lipoid CAH: four Japanese, one Palestinian, and one Guatemalan Native American. All had classical clinical presentations of normal female external genitalia in both genetic sexes, with severe glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid deficiency presenting in the first month of life. Quite atypically, one patient had small adrenal glands shown by computed tomographic scanning. The StAR genes were characterized in all six patients. Three of the Japanese patients were compound heterozygotes for the common Japanese mutation Q258X in association with three different novel frameshift mutations; the fourth Japanese patient was homozygous for the mutation R182L, which is common among Palestinian patients but has not been described previously in a Japanese patient. Our Palestinian and Native American patients were each homozygous for novel frameshift mutations. Thus we have found five new frameshift mutations, but no new amino acid replacement (missense) mutations. This would be consistent with the view that only a small number of residues in the StAR protein are crucial for biological activity. The tomographic finding of small adrenals in a patient with genetically proven lipoid CAH due to a StAR mutation suggests a substantially broader spectrum of clinical findings in this disease than has been appreciated previously.

N-218 MLN64, a protein with StAR-like steroidogenic activity, is folded and cleaved similarly to StAR.

The steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR) facilitates the movement of cholesterol from the outer to inner mitochondrial membrane in adrenal and gonadal cells, fostering steroid biosynthesis. MLN64 is a 445-amino acid protein of unknown function. When 218 amino-terminal residues of MLN-64 are deleted, the resulting N-218 MLN64 has 37% amino acid identity with StAR and 50% of StAR's steroidogenic activity in transfected cells. Antiserum to StAR cross-reacts with N-218 MLN64, indicating the presence of similar epitopes in both proteins. Western blotting shows that MLN64 is proteolytically cleaved in the placenta to a size indistinguishable from N-218 MLN64. Bacterially expressed N-218 MLN64 exerts StAR-like activity to promote the transfer of cholesterol from the outer to inner mitochondrial membrane in vitro. CD spectroscopy indicates that N-218 MLN64 is largely alpha-helical and minimally affected by changes in ionic strength or the hydrophobic character of the solvent, although glycerol increases the beta-sheet content. However, decreasing pH diminishes structure, causing aggregation. Limited proteolysis at pH 8.0 shows that the C-terminal domain of N-218 MLN64 is accessible to proteolysis whereas the 244-414 domain is resistant, suggesting it is more compactly folded. The presence of a protease-resistant domain and a protease-sensitive carboxy-terminal domain in N-218 MLN64 is similar to the organization of StAR. However, as MLN64 never enters the mitochondria, the protease-resistant domain of MLN64 cannot be a mitochondrial pause-transfer sequence, as has been proposed for StAR. Thus the protease-resistant domain of N-218 MLN64, and by inference the corresponding domain of StAR, may have direct roles in their action to foster the flux of cholesterol from the outer to the inner mitochondrial membrane.

Role and regulation of Rel/NF-kappaB activity in anti-immunoglobulin-induced apoptosis in WEHI-231 B lymphoma cells.

In WEHI-231 cells, anti-immunoglobulin (anti-Ig) treatment leads to both a decrease in the DNA-binding activity of p50/c-Rel/p53 protein complexes and a transient enhancement in the DNA-binding activity of p50 homodimeric complexes. These cells subsequently undergo apoptosis. Because IkappaB-alpha plays a pivotal role in the regulation of Rel/NF-kappaB activity, we have characterized both the nature and kinetics of the expression of IkappaB-alpha following anti-Ig-induced apoptosis in WEHI-231 cells. Anti-Ig treatment of WEHI-231 cells decreased the steady-state level of IkappaB-alpha mRNA, but enhanced the stability of IkappaB-alpha, leading to an accumulation of IkappaB-alpha in both the cytosol and nucleus. Concomitant with the increase in IkappaB-alpha expression there was a gradual decline in the nuclear expression of c-Rel. Because c-Rel plays an important role in the survival of WEHI-231 cells, these results suggest that post-transcriptional regulation of IkappaB-alpha expression might play a role in the anti-Ig-induced apoptosis in WEHI-231 cells.

Evidence that StAR and MLN64 act on the outer mitochondrial membrane as molten globules.

StAR increases the flow of cholesterol from the outer to inner mitochondrial membrane (OMM to IMM), but its mechanism of action remains unclear. MLN64 is a 445 amino acid protein of unknown function that has four N-terminal transmembrane domains and whose C-terminal domain from 218-445 is 37% identical to StAR. N-62 StAR is as active as wild-type StAR, and N-234 MLN64 has 1/3 to 1/2 of StAR's activity. N-62 StAR lacks a mitochondrial leader and is confined to the cytoplasm, indicating that it acts on the OMM. Bacterially expressed N-62 StAR and N-218 MLN64 are active with isolated MA-10 cell mitochondria, indicating the proteins were properly folded. Far-UV CD spectroscopy, unfolding in urea, and fluorescence spectroscopy indicate that StAR undergoes a pH-dependent transition to a molten globule (retained secondary structure, partially lost tertiary structure) and stabilizes in mildly acid conditions. Far-UV CD data indicate that MLN64 undergoes a much less pronounced transition. Western blotting shows that normal human placenta has abundant N-terminally-cleaved 30 kDa MLN64. Partial proteolysis followed by mass spectrometry shows that the C-termini of StAR and MLN64 are sensitive to proteolysis, indicating looser folding. Our model of StAR action is that the protease-resistant domain unfolds slowly during normal mitochondrial entry, keeping StAR in contact with the OMM longer, increasing activity. The transition to the molten globule may be related to interaction with the OMM. These data are consistent with the recent crystallographic structure of N-216 MLN64 in which MLN64 binds cholesterol one molecule at a time, but are not consistent with the suggestion that StAR/MLN64 must reside in the intramembraneous space to transfer cholesterol form the OMM to the IMM.

The active form of the steroidogenic acute regulatory protein, StAR, appears to be a molten globule.

The steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR) increases the movement of cholesterol from the outer to the inner membrane of adrenal and gonadal mitochondria, thus providing the substrate for steroid hormone biosynthesis. Deletion of 62 amino-terminal aa produces a cytoplasmic form of StAR (N-62 StAR) that lacks the mitochondrial leader sequence but retains full activity and appears to act at the outer mitochondrial membrane. At neutral pH the native state of bacterially expressed N-62 StAR protein displays cooperative unfolding under the influence of urea with DeltaGH2O = -4.1 kcal/mol, and it remains correctly folded down to pH 4. Limited proteolysis at different pHs shows that the biologically essential C-terminal region is accessible to solvent, and that the N-terminal domain is compact at pH 8 and partially unfolds below pH 4. Secondary structural analysis of CD curves suggests that the unfolding may coincide with an increase in alpha-helical character at pH 3.5. Fluorescence spectroscopy at pH 3-8 and at 0-6 M urea is consistent with two distinct domains, a compact N-terminal domain containing tryptophans 96 and 147 and a more solvent-accessible C-terminal domain containing tryptophans 241 and 250. These observations suggest that StAR forms a molten globule structure at pH 3.5-4.0. As the mitochondrial proton pump results in an electrochemical gradient, and as StAR must unfold during mitochondrial entry, StAR probably undergoes a similar conformational shift to an extended structure while interacting with the mitochondrial outer membrane, allowing this apparent molten globule form to act as an on/off switch for cholesterol entry into the mitochondria.

Degradation of proto-oncoprotein c-Rel by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway.

The c-rel proto-oncogene product, c-Rel, belongs to the Rel/NF-kappaB transcription factor family, which regulates a large variety of cellular functions. The activation of NF-kappaB involves the degradation of the inhibitor, IkappaB, through the ubiquitin-proteasome (Ub-Pr)-mediated pathway. Here we report that the turnover of c-Rel is also regulated by the Ub-Pr pathway, thus adding another level of complexity to the regulation of NF-kappaB. High molecular weight ubiquitinated c-Rel conjugates are detected in cells and accumulate in cells treated with proteasome inhibitors. In a cell-free in vitro degradation assay, c-Rel is degraded specifically through the Ub-Pr pathway. N-terminally truncated c-Rel is readily degraded, implying the dispensability of N-terminal sequence; in contrast, a series of deletion mutants missing C-terminal sequences display a reduced susceptibility to the degradation. Interestingly, the sequence between residues 118 and 171 of c-Rel, i.e. the region immediately following the c-Rel/v-Rel homology domain, appears to play an important role in mediating ubiquitin conjugation and the subsequent degradation. Together with our previous study showing an elevated tumorigenic potential for C-terminally truncated mutants, our data suggest that the C-terminal domain of c-Rel plays an important role in mediating c-Rel degradation and growth control.

Incorrect folding of steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR) in congenital lipoid adrenal hyperplasia.

Steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR) rapidly stimulates the movement of cholesterol into adrenal and gonadal mitochondria to mediate the acute steroidogenic response; StAR mutations cause potentially lethal congenital lipoid adrenal hyperplasia (lipoid CAH). Bacterially expressed wild-type StAR and four amino acid replacement/deletion mutants that cause lipoid CAH were purified to apparent homogeneity. Sedimentation equilibrium ultracentrifugation showed that all five proteins were monomeric and fit a globular protein model of the correct molecular mass. Circular dichroism (CD) spectra of both the wild-type and mutants showed minima near 208 and 222 nm, confirming the presence of substantial alpha-helical structure. However, subtle differences in the CD signals of the wild-type and mutants in the far-UV and stronger differences in near-UV indicated differences in protein folding. The amide I and II bands in the 1400-1700 cm-1 region of Fourier transform infrared spectra showed that the proteins fell into two groups. The wild-type and a partially active conservative mutant were predominantly alpha-helical with some intramolecular beta-sheet. By contrast, three mutants that lost charged residues retained much of their alpha-helical structure, but also tended to form intermolecular beta-sheets. Urea at 2.0 or 4.0 M had less effect on the CD spectrum of the wild-type than of the mutants, particularly those having lost a charged residue; 50 mM guanidinium hydrochloride did not alter the CD spectrum of the wild-type, but elicited dramatic changes to the secondary structure in all four mutants. Despite this, thermal melting curves of the mutant proteins in 50 mM guanidinium hydrochloride showed surprising stability, even exceeding that of the wild-type protein. These data suggest that the StAR amino acid replacement mutants that cause lipoid CAH are inactive because of fairly gross errors in protein folding, probably due to the loss of salt bridges that stabilize the tertiary structure.

AP-1 factors play an important role in transformation induced by the v-rel oncogene.

v-rel is the oncogenic member of the Rel/NF-kappaB family of transcription factors. The mechanism by which v-Rel induces transformation of avian lymphoid cells and fibroblasts is not precisely known. However, most models propose that v-rel disrupts the normal transcriptional regulatory network. In this study we evaluated the role of AP-1 family members in v-Rel-mediated transformation. The overexpression of v-Rel, c-Rel, and c-Rel delta resulted in a prolonged elevation of c-fos and c-jun expression and in a sustained repression of fra-2 at both the mRNA and protein levels in fibroblasts and lymphoid cells. Moreover, the transforming abilities of these Rel proteins correlated with their ability to alter the expression of these AP-1 factors. v-Rel exhibited the most pronounced effect, whereas c-Rel, with poor transforming ability, elicited only moderate changes in AP-1 levels. Furthermore, c-Rel delta, which exhibits enhanced transforming potential relative to c-Rel, induced intermediate changes in AP-1 expression. To directly evaluate the role of AP-1 family members in the v-Rel transformation process, a supjun-1 transdominant mutant was used. The supjun-1 mutant functions as a general inhibitor of AP-1 activity by inhibiting AP-1-mediated transactivation and by reducing AP-1 DNA-binding activity. Coinfection or sequential infection of fibroblasts or lymphoid cells with viruses carrying rel oncogenes and supjun-1 resulted in a reduction of the transformation efficiency of the Rel proteins. The expression of supjun-1 inhibited the ability of v-Rel transformed lymphoid cells and fibroblasts to form colonies in soft agar by over 70%. Furthermore, the expression of supjun-1 strongly interfered with the ability of v-Rel to morphologically transform avian fibroblasts. This is the first report showing that v-Rel might execute its oncogenic potential through modulating the activity of early response genes.

Identification of v-Rel oncogene-induced inhibitor of apoptosis by differential display.

The v-Rel oncoprotein is a member of the Rel/NF-kappaB family of transcription factors. v-Rel induces oncogenic transformation and inhibits apoptosis. To identify aberrantly expressed cellular genes in v-Rel transformed cells, gene expression patterns in normal and v-Rel transformed cells were compared by mRNA differential display. Northern blotting analysis with radiolabeled cDNAs from differential display confirmed the reproducible differential expression of 10 transcripts in v-Rel transformed cells. One of the identified genes, termed ch-IAP1, encodes a chicken homolog of the inhibitor-of-apoptosis protein (IAP) family. ch-IAP1 contains N-terminal baculovirus IAP repeats (BIR), the hallmark of IAPs, and has a C-terminal RING finger motif commonly present in the other IAPs. Like other IAPs, ch-IAP1 is expressed predominantly in the cytoplasm of cells. ch-IAP1 is highly expressed in v-Rel transformed fibroblasts, B- and T-cell lines, and spleen cell lines. In contrast, ch-IAP1 expression levels were low in chicken cell lines transformed by several other unrelated tumor viruses. Additionally, ch-IAP1 expression is downregulated in temperature-sensitive (ts) v-Rel transformed spleen cells at the nonpermissive temperature. Overexpression of the full-length ch-IAP1 suppresses mammalian cell apoptosis induced by the interleukin-1-converting enzyme (ICE), a member of the mammalian caspase family of cysteine proteases. Furthermore, expression of exogenous ch-IAP1 inhibits apoptosis of ts v-Rel transformed spleen cells at the nonpermissive temperature.

ch-IAP1, a member of the inhibitor-of-apoptosis protein family, is a mediator of the antiapoptotic activity of the v-Rel oncoprotein.

The oncoprotein v-Rel, a member of the Rel/NF-kappaB family of transcription factors, induces neoplasias and inhibits apoptosis. To identify differentially regulated cellular genes and to evaluate their relevance to transformation and apoptosis in v-Rel-transformed cells, mRNA differential display has been used. One of the recovered cDNAs corresponds to a gene that was highly expressed in v-Rel-transformed fibroblasts. Analysis of the isolated full-length cDNA of a chicken inhibitor-of-apoptosis protein (ch-IAP1) revealed that it encodes a 68-kDa protein that is highly homologous to members of the IAP family, such as human c-LAP1. Like other IAPs, ch-IAP1 contains the N-terminal baculovirus IAP repeats and C-terminal RING finger motifs. Northern blot analysis identified a 3.3-kb ch-IAP1 transcript expressed at relatively high levels in the spleen, thymus, bursa, intestine, and lungs. Expression of v-Rel in fibroblasts, a B-cell line, and spleen cells up-regulated the expression of ch-IAP1. In contrast, ch-IAP1 expression levels were low in chicken cell lines transformed by several other unrelated tumor viruses. ch-IAP1 was expressed predominantly in the cytoplasm of the v-Rel-transformed cells. ch-IAP1 suppressed mammalian cell apoptosis induced by the overexpression of the interleukin-1-converting enzyme. Expression of exogenous ch-IAP1 in temperature-sensitive v-Rel transformed spleen cells inhibited apoptosis of these cells at the nonpermissive temperature. Collectively, these results suggest that ch-IAP1 is induced during the v-Rel-mediated transformation process and functions as a suppressor of apoptosis in v-Rel-transformed cells.

c-Jun involvement in vitamin E succinate induced apoptosis of reticuloendotheliosis virus transformed avian lymphoid cells.

Previous studies have shown that treatment of avian reticuloendotheliosis virus-transformed RECC-UTC4-1 (C4-1) lymphoblastoid cells with 10 microg/ml (18.8 microM) of RRR-alpha-tocopheryl succinate (vitamin E succinate, VES) for 3 days induced approximately 50% of the cells to undergo apoptosis. Elevated and prolonged expression of c-jun mRNA and protein was temporally correlated with VES-induced cell death. Data presented in this paper show that the elevated and prolonged expression of c-jun message and protein are not accounted for by enhanced stability, and show the involvement of c-Jun in VES-induced apoptosis in this lymphoblastoid cell type. C4-1 cells infected with a virus carrying a dominant, negatively acting mutant form of c-Jun, supjun-1, exhibited: (i) 71% reduction in VES-induced apoptosis, (ii) a 2.0-2.5-fold decrease in wildtype, endogenous c-Jun expression, and (iii) a 2.4-2.6-fold reduction in AP-1 binding activity. Additionally, cells co-treated with VES plus RRR-alpha-tocopherol, exhibited a 70% reduction in apoptosis, a marked reduction in c-Jun expression and a 1.6-fold reduction in AP-1 binding activity. These studies suggest that c-Jun plays a crucial role in VES-induced apoptosis in C4-1 cells, and add to our understanding of mechanisms of action involved in VES-mediated tumor cell growth inhibition.

Differences in kappaB DNA-binding properties of v-Rel and c-Rel are the result of oncogenic mutations in three distinct functional regions of the Rel protein.

The oncogene v-rel of Reticuloendotheliosis virus, strain T, is derived from an avian c-rel proto-oncogene. c-rel encodes a member of the Rel/NF-kappaB family of transcription factors. The highly oncogenic v-Rel differs from c-Rel which has low transforming potential by the acquisition of numerous mutations. In this manuscript, we demonstrate that the oncogenic mutations in v-Rel directly alter the ability of this protein to bind to DNA. Electrophoretic mobility shift analysis with Rel proteins synthesized in vitro as well as isolated from nuclei of Rel expressing cells showed that three mutation clusters, present in the N-terminus, the center and the C-terminus of v-Rel, altered three different aspects of DNA binding. In contrast, the oncogenic C-terminal deletion of 118 amino acids present in v-Rel had almost no influence on its DNA binding. The N-terminal mutation cluster altered the kappaB DNA-binding specificity of the v-Rel oncoprotein relative to c-Rel. The mutation Met-20-->Thr was found to be principally responsible for this alteration. The second mutation cluster was responsible for increased binding of v-Rel to all the kappaB sites examined presumably because it stabilized v-Rel homodimers. This alteration in DNA binding was mapped to the group of two mutations within the cluster. In contrast, the third mutation cluster in the C-terminus of v-Rel destabilized the binding of v-Rel to all of the kappaB sites examined. This is the first indication that regions outside the Rel Homology Region can participate in the control of binding of the c-Rel protein to DNA. The three mutation clusters examined contributed to the tumorigenic potential of v-Rel with the relative strength decreasing with their position from the N-terminus to the C-terminus. These results suggest that the oncogenic mutations in v-Rel cooperate and enable v-Rel to form nuclear complexes with aberrant DNA-binding properties that may directly alter gene expression and DNA replication resulting in the transformation of the cell.