p27-p16 Chimera: a superior antiproliferative for the prevention of neointimal hyperplasia.

Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors (CDKi's) may be useful to treat hyperproliferative vascular disorders, such as restenosis induced following angioplasty or vein engraftment. We have shown that a novel fusion protein of the CDKi's p27 and p16, named W9, significantly reduces proliferation of human coronary smooth muscle cells in vitro, by blocking cell proliferation without inducing apoptosis. We have now evaluated the efficacy of adenovirus-mediated gene transfer of W9 (AV-W9) in a balloon-injury model, in the carotid arteries of cholesterol-fed rabbits. We observed that intravascular delivery of 2 x 10(11) viral particles of AV-W9 3 days following balloon injury inhibited intimal hyperplasia by 60% compared to a control virus (P > 0.001). PCNA expression in the AV-W9-treated vessels, a marker of injury-induced cell proliferation, was also reduced compared to the control virus-treated vessels. Direct comparison of the efficacy of AV-W9 and AV-p16 and AV-p27 in this model indicated that delivery of either of the parental genes was significantly less effective in inhibiting intimal thickening compared to the AV-W9 treatment. We conclude that combining the activities of multiple cell cycle regulatory proteins greatly increases the potency of cytostatic gene therapy in the treatment of balloon injury-induced intimal hyperplasia and represents a promising potential approach to preventing postangioplasty restenosis.

Novel chimeric p16 and p27 molecules with increased antiproliferative activity for vascular disease gene therapy.

We describe the construction and characterization of a series of novel cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors with increased antiproliferative activity for use in the genetic treatment of hyperproliferative cell disorders, such as angioplasty-induced restenosis. These inhibitors were generated through the fusion of truncated versions of the p27 gene to the full-length p16 gene. Biochemically, the p27-p16 chimeric molecules were of comparable potency to the parental p27 in inhibiting the activities of several cyclin-dependent kinases in vitro. Replication-deficient adenoviruses encoding the parental p16, p27 genes, or their derivatives were created to assess the potency of the novel cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor chimeric molecules to inhibit vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation, which is the seminal event in the restenosis process. One of the p27-p16 chimeric molecules, W9, was observed to be the most potent inhibitor of human primary smooth muscle and endothelial cell proliferation when compared to the p16, p27, p27 derivatives or several alternative p27-p16 chimeric molecules. Overexpression of the W9 chimeric molecule in human coronary artery smooth muscle cells induced human coronary artery smooth muscle cell growth arrest in G1 but did not induce cell apoptosis. Recombinant adenoviral vectors that express this W9 chimeric cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor molecule constitute a novel potent antiproliferative agent for the treatment of restenosis.

Interaction between Cdc37 and Cdk4 in human cells.

Using the yeast two-hybrid system we have identified novel potential Cdk4 interacting proteins. Here we described the interaction of Cdk4 with a human homologue of the yeast Drosophila CDC37 gene products. Cdc37 protein specifically interacts with Cdk4 and Cdk6, but not with Cdc2, Cdk2, Cdk3, Cdk5 and any of a number of cyclins tested. Cdc37 is not an inhibitor nor an activator of the Cdk4/cyclin D1 kinase, while it appears to facilitate complex assembly between Cdk4, and cyclin D1 in vitro. Cdc37 competes with p16 for binding to Cdk4, suggesting that p16 might exert part of its inhibitory function by affecting the formation of Cdk4/cyclin D1 complexes via Cdc37.

Potent activation of phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase by simple phosphotyrosine peptides derived from insulin receptor substrate 1 containing two YMXM motifs for binding SH2 domains.

The phosphotyrosine form of the major substrate for the insulin receptor tyrosine kinase, insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1), associates with and activates the enzyme phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase (PtdIns 3'-kinase). IRS-1 contains nine potential tyrosine phosphorylation sites within YMXM or YXXM sequences known to bind to the two SH2 domains on the 85-kDa regulatory subunit of PtdIns 3'-kinase. We used sequences within IRS-1 as a model for synthesizing phosphotyrosine and nonhydrolyzable phosphonotyrosine peptides containing two YMXM motifs and tested them for their ability to bind to the SH2 domains of PtdIns 3'-kinase and stimulate its activity. We demonstrated for the first time that IRS-1-derived peptides containing two tyrosine phosphorylated YMXM motifs are capable of stimulating PtdIns 3'-kinase activity in the cytosol of 3T3-L1 adipocytes at nanomolar concentrations, similar to that required by purified phosphoryl-IRS-1 [Lamphere, M., Carpenter, C. L., Sheng, Z., Kallen, R. G., & Lienhard, G. E. (1994) Am. J. Physiol. 266 (Endocrinol. Metab. 29), E486-E489] and the extent of activation by these peptides was similar to that seen by maximal stimulation of cells with insulin. In contrast, those phosphotyrosine peptides containing only a single YMXM motif were able to stimulate PtdIns 3'-kinase activity only at concentrations over 10 microM. We conclude from these results that the high-affinity activation of PtdIns 3'-kinase requires the simultaneous binding of two phosphorylated YMXM motifs on IRS-1 to the two SH2 domains of PtdIns 3'-kinase.

Activation of PI 3-kinase in 3T3-L1 adipocytes by association with insulin receptor substrate-1.

Insulin treatment of adipocytes causes the rapid phosphorylation of the insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) on tyrosine. The phosphotyrosine [Tyr(P)] form of IRS-1 then complexes with the enzyme phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase. In this study, we have investigated the effect of this association on PI 3-kinase activity in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Insulin stimulated cytosolic PI 3-kinase activity about sevenfold. This stimulation was maximal after 1 min of exposure of cells to insulin, persisted for at least 1 h, and occurred over the range of insulin concentrations that saturate its receptor. By means of immunoprecipitation of IRS-1, it was shown that virtually all of the enhanced activity was due to PI 3-kinase complexed with IRS-1. Moreover, the purified Tyr(P) form of IRS-1, either isolated from 3T3-L1 adipocytes or obtained by phosphorylation of the recombinant protein with the insulin receptor, markedly stimulated the activity of purified rat liver PI 3-kinase. These results show that the association of Tyr(P) IRS-1 with PI 3-kinase activates the enzyme and thereby can explain the elevation of PI 3,4-bisphosphate and PI 3,4,5-trisphosphate in vivo observed upon treatment of adipocytes with insulin.

Insulin and IGF-I signaling through the insulin receptor substrate 1.

The insulin and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) receptors are tyrosine kinases. Consequently, an approach to investigating signaling pathways from these receptors is to characterize proteins rapidly phosphorylated on tyrosine in response to insulin and IGF-I. In many cell types the most prominent phosphotyrosine (Ptyr) protein, in addition to the receptors themselves, is a protein of approximately 160 kD, now known as the insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1). We have purified IRS-1 from mouse 3T3-L1 adipocytes, obtained the sequences of tryptic peptides, and cloned its cDNA based on this information. Mouse IRS-1 is a protein of 1,231 amino acids. It contains 12 tyrosine residues in sequence contexts typical for tyrosine phosphorylation sites. Six of these begin the sequence motif YMXM and two begin the motif YXXM. Recent studies have shown that the enzyme phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) binds tightly to the activated platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and colony-stimulating factor-1 (CSF-1) receptors, through interaction of the src homology 2 (SH2) domains on the 85 kD subunit of PI 3-kinase with Ptyr in one of these motifs on the receptors. We have found that, upon insulin treatment of 3T3-L1 adipocytes, a portion of the Ptyr form of IRS-1 becomes tightly complexed with PI 3-kinase. Since IRS-1 binds to fusion proteins containing the SH2 domains of PI 3-kinase, association most likely occurs through this domain. The association of IRS-1 with PI 3-kinase activates the enzyme about fivefold.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Components of signaling pathways for insulin and insulin-like growth factor-I in muscle myoblasts and myotubes.

To survey and compare the signaling pathways from the insulin and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) receptors in undifferentiated and differentiated muscle cells, we examined the phosphotyrosine (Ptyr)-containing polypeptides elicited in L6 and Sol8 myoblasts and myotubes by the combination of insulin and IGF-I. These polypeptides were detected by immunoblotting with antibodies against Ptyr. In the L6 myoblasts and myotubes and the Sol8 myoblasts, Ptyr polypeptides of approximately 240, 175, 115, 100, 41, and 37 kilodaltons (kDa) appeared in response to insulin-IGF-I. With the Sol8 myotubes, the 240-, 175-, and 37-kDa Ptyr polypeptides were detected in basal cells, and only the Ptyr content of the 175-kDa one increased in response to insulin-IGF-I. The polypeptides of 175, 41, and 37 kDa were tentatively identified as the insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS1) and extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1 and -2), respectively, by immunoblotting with antibodies specific for these proteins, and the 115- and 100-kDa polypeptides are probably the beta-subunits of the insulin and IGF-I receptors. The amounts of IRS1, ERK1, and ERK2 were roughly the same in the L6 and Sol8 myoblasts and myotubes. Thus, differentiation of the myoblasts to myotubes was not accompanied by the detectable appearance of new insulin-IGF-I-elicited Ptyr polypeptides or marked changes in the amounts of known participants in their signaling pathways.