Systematic Determination of Human Cyclin Dependent Kinase (CDK)-9 Interactome Identifies Novel Functions in RNA Splicing Mediated by the DEAD Box (DDX)-5/17 RNA Helicases.

Inducible transcriptional elongation is a rapid, stereotypic mechanism for activating immediate early immune defense genes by the epithelium in response to viral pathogens. Here, the recruitment of a multifunctional complex containing the cyclin dependent kinase 9 (CDK9) triggers the process of transcriptional elongation activating resting RNA polymerase engaged with innate immune response (IIR) genes. To identify additional functional activity of the CDK9 complex, we conducted immunoprecipitation (IP) enrichment-stable isotope labeling LC-MS/MS of the CDK9 complex in unstimulated cells and from cells activated by a synthetic dsRNA, polyinosinic/polycytidylic acid [poly (I:C)]. 245 CDK9 interacting proteins were identified with high confidence in the basal state and 20 proteins in four functional classes were validated by IP-SRM-MS. These data identified that CDK9 interacts with DDX 5/17, a family of ATP-dependent RNA helicases, important in alternative RNA splicing of NFAT5, and mH2A1 mRNA two proteins controlling redox signaling. A direct comparison of the basal versus activated state was performed using stable isotope labeling and validated by IP-SRM-MS. Recruited into the CDK9 interactome in response to poly(I:C) stimulation are HSPB1, DNA dependent kinases, and cytoskeletal myosin proteins that exchange with 60S ribosomal structural proteins. An integrated human CDK9 interactome map was developed containing all known human CDK9- interacting proteins. These data were used to develop a probabilistic global map of CDK9-dependent target genes that predicted two functional states controlling distinct cellular functions, one important in immune and stress responses. The CDK9-DDX5/17 complex was shown to be functionally important by shRNA-mediated knockdown, where differential accumulation of alternatively spliced NFAT5 and mH2A1 transcripts and alterations in downstream redox signaling were seen. The requirement of CDK9 for DDX5 recruitment to NFAT5 and mH2A1 chromatin target was further demonstrated using chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP). These data indicate that CDK9 is a dynamic multifunctional enzyme complex mediating not only transcriptional elongation, but also alternative RNA splicing and potentially translational control.

ATM regulates NF-κB-dependent immediate-early genes via RelA Ser 276 phosphorylation coupled to CDK9 promoter recruitment.

Ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM), a member of the phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase-like kinase family, is a master regulator of the double strand DNA break-repair pathway after genotoxic stress. Here, we found ATM serves as an essential regulator of TNF-induced NF-kB pathway. We observed that TNF exposure of cells rapidly induced DNA double strand breaks and activates ATM. TNF-induced ROS promote nuclear IKKγ association with ubiquitin and its complex formation with ATM for nuclear export. Activated cytoplasmic ATM is involved in the selective recruitment of the E3-ubiquitin ligase ß-TrCP to phospho-IκBα proteosomal degradation. Importantly, ATM binds and activates the catalytic subunit of protein kinase A (PKAc), ribosmal S6 kinase that controls RelA Ser 276 phosphorylation. In ATM knockdown cells, TNF-induced RelA Ser 276 phosphorylation is significantly decreased. We further observed decreased binding and recruitment of the transcriptional elongation complex containing cyclin dependent kinase-9 (CDK9; a kinase necessary for triggering transcriptional elongation) to promoters of NF-κB-dependent immediate-early cytokine genes, in ATM knockdown cells. We conclude that ATM is a nuclear damage-response signal modulator of TNF-induced NF-κB activation that plays a key scaffolding role in IκBα degradation and RelA Ser 276 phosphorylation. Our study provides a mechanistic explanation of decreased innate immune response associated with A-T mutation.

Inducible STAT3 NH2 terminal mono-ubiquitination promotes BRD4 complex formation to regulate apoptosis.

Signal Transducers and Activator of Transcription-3 (STAT3) are latent transcription factors that are regulated by post-translational modifications (PTMs) in response to cellular activation by the IL-6 superfamily of cytokines to regulate cell cycle progression and/or apoptosis. Here we observe that STAT3 is inducibly mono-ubiquitinated and investigate its consequences. Using domain mapping and highly specific selected reaction monitoring-mass spectrometric assays, we identify lysine (K) 97 in its NH2-terminal domain as the major mono-ubiquitin conjugation site. We constructed a mono-ubiquitinated mimic consisting of a deubiquitinase-resistant monomeric ubiquitin fused to the NH2 terminus of STAT3 (ubiquitinated-STAT3 FP). In complex assays of ectopically expressed ubi-STAT3-FP, we observed enhanced complex formation with bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4), a component of the activated positive transcriptional elongation factor (P-TEFb) complex. Chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments in STAT3(+/-) and STAT3(-/-) MEFs showed BRD4 recruitment to STAT3-dependent suppressor of cytokine signaling-3 gene (SOCS3). The effect of a selective small molecule inhibitor of BRD4, JQ1, to inhibit SOCS3 expression demonstrated the functional role of BRD4 for STAT3-dependent transcription. Additionally, ectopic ubiquitinated-STAT3 FP expression upregulated BCL2, BCL2L1, APEX1, SOD2, CCND1 and MYC expression indicating the role of ubiquitinated STAT3 in anti-apoptosis and cellular proliferation. Finally we observed that ubiquitinated-STAT3 FP suppressed TNFα-induced apoptotic cell death, indicating the functional importance of mono-ubiquitinated STAT3 in antiapoptotic gene expression. We conclude that STAT3 mono-ubiquitination is a key trigger in BRD4-dependent antiapoptotic and pro-proliferative gene expression programs. Thus, inhibiting the STAT3 mono-ubiquitination-BRD4 pathway may be a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of STAT3-dependent proliferative diseases.

CDK9-dependent transcriptional elongation in the innate interferon-stimulated gene response to respiratory syncytial virus infection in airway epithelial cells.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a negative-sense single-stranded RNA virus responsible for lower respiratory tract infections. During infection, the presence of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) activates the interferon (IFN) regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) transcription factor, an event triggering expression of immediate early, IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs). We examine the role of transcriptional elongation in control of IRF3-dependent ISG expression. RSV infection induces ISG54, ISG56, and CIG5 gene expression in an IRF3-dependent manner demonstrated by IRF3 small interfering RNA (siRNA) silencing in both A549 epithelial cells and IRF3(-/-) MEFs. ISG expression was mediated by the recruitment of IRF3, CDK9, polymerase II (Pol II), and phospho-Ser(2) carboxy-terminal domain (CTD) Pol II to the IFN-stimulated response element (ISRE) binding sites of the IRF3-dependent ISG promoters in native chromatin. We find that RSV infection enhances the activated fraction of cyclin-dependent kinase 9 (CDK9) by promoting its association with bromodomain 4 (BRD4) and disrupting its association with the inhibitory 7SK small nuclear RNA. The requirement of CDK9 activity for ISG expression was shown by siRNA-mediated silencing of CDK9 and by a selective CDK9 inhibitor in A549 cells. In contrast, RSV-induced beta interferon (IFN-ß) expression is not influenced by CDK9 inhibition. Using transcript-selective quantitative real-time reverse transcription-PCR (Q-RT-PCR) assays for the ISG54 gene, we observed that RSV induces transition from short to fully spliced mRNA transcripts and that this transition is blocked by CDK9 inhibition in both A549 and primary human small airway epithelial cells. These data indicate that transcription elongation plays a major role in RSV-induced ISG expression and is mediated by IRF3-dependent recruitment of activated CDK9. CDK9 activity may be a target for immunomodulation in RSV-induced lung disease.

Inducible tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor-associated factor-1 expression couples the canonical to the non-canonical NF-κB pathway in TNF stimulation.

The NF-κB transcription factor mediates the inflammatory response through distinct (canonical and non-canonical) signaling pathways. The mechanisms controlling utilization of either of these pathways are largely unknown. Here we observe that TNF stimulation induces delayed NF-κB2/p100 processing and investigate the coupling mechanism. TNF stimulation induces TNF-associated factor-1 (TRAF-1) that directly binds NF-κB-inducing kinase (NIK) and stabilizes it from degradation by disrupting its interaction with TRAF2·cIAP2 ubiquitin ligase complex. We show that TRAF1 depletion prevents TNF-induced NIK stabilization and reduces p52 production. To further examine the interactions of TRAF1 and NIK with NF-κB2/p100 processing, we mathematically modeled TRAF1·NIK as a coupling signaling complex and validated computational inference by siRNA knockdown to show non-canonical pathway activation is dependent not only on TRAF1 induction but also NIK stabilization by forming TRAF1·NIK complex. Thus, these integrated computational-experimental studies of TNF-induced TRAF1 expression identified TRAF1·NIK as a central complex linking canonical and non-canonical pathways by disrupting the TRAF2-cIAP2 ubiquitin ligase complex. This feed-forward kinase pathway is essential for the activation of non-canonical pathway.

Quantitation of the dynamic profiles of the innate immune response using multiplex selected reaction monitoring-mass spectrometry.

The innate immune response (IIR) is a coordinated intracellular signaling network activated by the presence of pathogen-associated molecular patterns that limits pathogen spread and induces adaptive immunity. Although the precise temporal activation of the various arms of the IIR is a critical factor in the outcome of a disease, currently there are no quantitative multiplex methods for its measurement. In this study, we investigate the temporal activation pattern of the IIR in response to intracellular double-stranded RNA stimulation using a quantitative 10-plex stable isotope dilution-selected reaction monitoring-MS assay. We were able to observe rapid activation of both NF-κB and IRF3 signaling arms, with IRF3 demonstrating a transient response, whereas NF-κB underwent a delayed secondary amplification phase. Our measurements of the NF-κB-IκBα negative feedback loop indicate that about 20% of IκBα in the unstimulated cell is located within the nucleus and represents a population that is rapidly degraded in response to double-stranded RNA. Later in the time course of stimulation, the nuclear IκBα pool is repopulated first prior to its cytoplasmic accumulation. Examination of the IRF3 pathway components shows that double-stranded RNA induces initial consumption of the RIG-I PRR and the IRF3 kinase (TBK1). Stable isotope dilution-selected reaction monitoring-MS measurements after siRNA-mediated IRF3 or RelA knockdown suggests that a low nuclear threshold of NF-κB is required for inducing target gene expression, and that there is cross-inhibition of the NF-κB and IRF3 signaling arms. Finally, we were able to measure delayed noncanonical NF-κB activation by quantifying the abundance of the processed (52 kDa) NF-κB2 subunit in the nucleus. We conclude that quantitative proteomics measurement of the individual signaling arms of the IIR in response to system perturbations is significantly enabled by stable isotope dilution-selected reaction monitoring-MS-based quantification, and that this technique will reveal novel insights into the dynamics and connectivity of the IIR.

Quantification of activated NF-kappaB/RelA complexes using ssDNA aptamer affinity-stable isotope dilution-selected reaction monitoring-mass spectrometry.

Nuclear Factor-κB (NF-κB) is a family of inducible transcription factors regulated by stimulus-induced protein interactions. In the cytoplasm, the NF-κB member RelA transactivator is inactivated by binding inhibitory IκBs, whereas in its activated state, the serine-phosphorylated protein binds the p300 histone acetyltransferase. Here we describe the isolation of a ssDNA aptamer (termed P028F4) that binds to the activated (IκBα-dissociated) form of RelA with a K(D) of 6.4 × 10(-10), and its application in an enrichment-mass spectrometric quantification assay. ssDNA P028F4 competes with cognate duplex high affinity NF-κB binding sites for RelA binding in vitro, binds activated RelA in eukaryotic nuclei and reduces TNFα-stimulated endogenous NF-κB dependent gene expression. Incorporation of P028F4 as an affinity isolation step enriches for serine 536 phosphorylated and p300 coactivator complexed RelA, simultaneously depleting IκBα·RelA complexes. A stable isotope dilution (SID)-selected reaction monitoring (SRM)- mass spectrometry (MS) assay for RelA was developed that produced a linear response over 1,000 fold dilution range of input protein and had a 200 amol lower limit of quantification. This multiplex SID-SRM-MS RelA assay was used to quantify activated endogenous RelA in cytokine-stimulated eukaryotic cells isolated by single-step P028F4 enrichment. The aptamer-SID-SRM-MS assay quantified the fraction of activated RelA in subcellular extracts, detecting the presence of a cytoplasmic RelA reservoir unresponsive to TNFα stimulation. We conclude that aptamer-SID-SRM-MS is a versatile tool for quantification of activated NF-κB/RelA and its associated complexes in response to pathway activation.