ATR is a caffeine-sensitive, DNA-activated protein kinase with a substrate specificity distinct from DNA-PK.

ATR is a large, > 300 kDa protein containing a carboxy-terminus kinase domain related to PI-3 kinase, and is homologous to the ATM gene product in human cells and the rad3/MEC1 proteins in yeast. These proteins, together with the DNA-PK, are part of a new family of PI-3 kinase related proteins. All members of this family play important roles in checkpoints which operate to permit cell survival following many forms of DNA damage. We have expressed ATR protein in HEK293 cells and purified the protein to near-homogeneity. We show that pure ATR is a protein kinase which is activated by circular single-stranded, double-stranded or linear DNA. Thus ATR is a new member of a sub-family of PIK related kinases, founded by the DNA-PK, which are activated in the presence of DNA. Unlike DNA-PK, ATR does not appear to require Ku proteins for its activation by DNA. We show directly that, like ATM and DNA-PK, ATR phosphorylates the genome surveillance protein p53 on serine 15, a site which is up-regulated in response to DNA damage. In addition, we find that ATR has a substrate specificity similar to, but unique from, the DNA-PK in vitro, suggesting that these proteins have overlapping but distinct functions in vivo. Finally, we find that the kinase activity of ATR in the presence and absence of DNA is suppressed by caffeine, a compound which is known to induce loss of checkpoint control. Our results are consistent with the notion that ATR plays a role in monitoring DNA structure and phosphorylation of proteins involved in the DNA damage response pathways.

Paradoxical activation of Raf by a novel Raf inhibitor.

BACKGROUND: Raf is a proto-oncogene that is activated in response to growth factors or phorbol esters, and is thought to activate MAP kinase kinase-1 (MKK1) and hence the classical MAP kinase (MAPK) cascade. RESULTS: The compound ZM 336372 is identified as a potent and specific inhibitor of Raf isoforms in vitro. Paradoxically, exposure of cells to ZM 336372 induces > 100-fold activation of c-Raf (measured in the absence of compound), but without triggering any activation of MKK1 or p42 MAPK/ERK2. The ZM 336372-induced activation of c-Raf occurs without any increase in the GTP-loading of Ras and is not prevented by inhibition of the MAPK cascade, protein kinase C or phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase. ZM 336372 does not prevent growth factor or phorbol ester induced activation of MKK1 or p42 MAPK/ERK2, or reverse the phenotype of Ras- or Raf-transformed cell lines. The only other protein kinase inhibited by ZM 336372 out of 20 tested was SAPK2/p38. Although ZM 336372 is structurally unrelated to SB 203580, a potent inhibitor of SAPK2/p38, the mutation of Thr106-->Met made SAPK2/p38 insensitive to ZM 336372 as well as to SB 203580. CONCLUSIONS: Raf appears to suppress its own activation by a novel feedback loop, such that inhibition is always counterbalanced by reactivation. These observations imply that some agonists reported to trigger the cellular activation of c-Raf might actually be inhibitors of this enzyme, and that compounds which inhibit the kinase activity of Raf might not be useful as anticancer drugs. The binding sites for ZM 336372 and SB 203580 on Raf and SAPK2/p38 are likely to overlap.

Effect of SB 203580 on the activity of c-Raf in vitro and in vivo.

The inhibition of SAPK2a/p38 (a mitogen activated protein (MAP) kinase family member) by SB 203580 depends on the presence of threonine at residue 106. Nearly all other protein kinases are insensitive to this drug because a more bulky residue occupies this site (Eyers et al., 1998). Raf is one of the few protein kinases that possesses threonine at this position, and we show that SB 203580 inhibits c-Raf with an IC50 of 2 microM in vitro. However, SB 203580 does not suppress either growth factor or phorbol ester-induced activation of the classical MAP kinase cascade in mammalian cells. One of the reasons for this is that SB 203580 also triggers a remarkable activation of c-Raf in vivo (when measured in the absence of the drug). The SB 203580-induced activation of c-Raf occurs without any increase in the GTP-loading of Ras, is not prevented by inhibitors of the MAPK cascade, protein kinase C or phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase, and is not triggered by the binding of this drug to SAPK2a/p38. The paradoxical activation of c-Raf by SB 203580 (and by another structurally unrelated c-Raf inhibitor) suggests that inhibitors of the kinase activity of c-Raf may not be effective as anti-cancer drugs.

Induction of cell death by stimulation of protein kinase C in human epithelial cells expressing a mutant ras oncogene: a potential therapeutic target.

Ras oncogene activation is a key genetic event in several types of human cancer, making its signal pathways an ideal target for novel therapies. We previously showed that expression of mutant ras sensitizes human thyroid epithelial cells to induction of cell death by treatment with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) and other phorbol esters. We have now investigated further the nature and mechanism of this cell death using both primary and cell line models. The cytotoxic effect of PMA could be blocked by bisindolylmaleimide (GF 109203X), a well-characterized inhibitor of c and n protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms, and by prior down-regulation of PKC, indicating that it is mediated by acute stimulation, rather than down-regulation. Western analysis identified two candidate isoforms--alpha and epsilon--both of which showed PMA-induced subcellular translocation, either or both of which may be necessary for PMA-induced cell death. Immunofluorescence showed that PMA induced a rapid nuclear translocation of p42 MAP kinase of similar magnitude in the presence or absence of mutant ras expression. Cell death exhibited the microscopic features (chromatin condensation, TdT labelling) and DNA fragmentation typical of apoptosis but after a surprising lag (4 days). Taken together with recent models of ras-modulated apoptosis, our data suggest that activation of the MAPK pathway by PMA tips the balance of pro- and anti-apoptotic signals generated by ras in favour of apoptosis. The high frequency of ras mutations in some cancers, such as cancer of the pancreas, which are refractory to conventional chemotherapy, together with the potential for stimulating PKC by cell-permeant pharmacological agents, makes this an attractive therapeutic approach.

Arsenite blocks growth factor induced activation of the MAP kinase cascade, upstream of Ras and downstream of Grb2-Sos.

Pretreatment of cells with 0.5 mM sodium arsenite (but not other activators of stress-activated MAP kinase cascades) prevents the activation of p21Ras and strongly suppresses the activation of c-Raf and the MAP kinase cascade by a variety of growth factors. Arsenite appears to exert its effect by preventing the guanine nucleotide exchange factor mSos from converting Ras to its active GTP-bound state. Exposure to arsenite may be a simple way of assessing whether Ras plays an essential role in mediating activation of the MAP kinase cascade by extracellular signals.