ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Pregnancy zone protein (PZP) is best known as protease inhibitor and its concentration in human blood plasma increases dramatically during pregnancy. Recent investigation revealed a role of PZP inactivating germ-line mutation in breast cancer predisposition, and therefore we designed a study to evaluate functional involvement of this protein in tumor pathogenesis. METHODS: PZP knockout cells were generated utilizing the CRISPR-Cas9 approach in MCF7 and T47D (breast cancer) cell lines, and colony formation, cell proliferation, and migration assays carried out. TGF-ß and SMAD expression studies were performed using qRT-PCR and Western blot. PZP expression in tumor vs normal tissue was compared using meta-analyses of data records of breast cancer patients (n = 1211) included in the TCGA consortium registry as well as in independent cohorts of hormone receptor-positive (n = 118) and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients (n = 116). RESULTS: We demonstrated that genetic ablation of PZP efficiently inhibits tamoxifen-induced apoptosis and enhances cell proliferation, migration, and colony-forming capacity. We found a significant increase in survival fraction of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated PZP knockout clones compared to wild-type counterpart after tamoxifen treatment (p < 0.05). The PZP knockout significantly promoted breast cancer cell migration (p < 0.01) in vitro. We observed high expression of TGF-ß2 ligand, TGF-ß- receptor 2, and upregulation of phosphorylated regulatory-SMADs (pSMAD2 and pSMAD3) activating the pro-survival function of TGF-ß/SMAD signaling in PZP knockout clones. Meta-analyses of data records of breast cancer patients indicated that low PZP expression is associated with poor overall survival at 6 years (51.7% vs 62.9% in low vs high expressers, respectively; p = 0.026). We also observed a significantly lower PZP mRNA expression in TNBC as compared with hormone receptor-positive tumors (p = 0.019). CONCLUSION: Taken together, our results suggest that genetic ablation of PZP results in tumor progression and low expression of PZP is associated with poor survival of breast cancer patients.
Subject(s)
Breast Neoplasms , Pregnancy Proteins , Signal Transduction , Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms , Breast Neoplasms/genetics , Cell Line, Tumor , Cell Proliferation , Female , Humans , Pregnancy , Pregnancy Proteins/genetics , Receptors, Transforming Growth Factor beta , Smad Proteins , Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms/geneticsABSTRACT
BARD1-BRCA1 complex plays an important role in DNA damage repair, apoptosis, chromatin remodeling, and other important processes required for cell survival. BRCA1 and BARD1 heterodimer possess E3 ligase activity and is involved in genome maintenance, by functioning in surveillance for DNA damage, thereby regulating multiple pathways including tumor suppression. BRCT domains are evolutionary conserved domains present in different proteins such as BRCA1, BARD1, XRCC, and MDC1 regulating damage response and cell-cycle control through protein-protein interactions. Nonetheless, the role of BARD1BRCT in the recruitment of DNA repair mechanism and structural integrity with BRCA1 complex is still implicit. To explicate the role of BARD1BRCT in the DNA repair mechanism, in silico, in vitro, and biophysical approach were applied to characterize BARD1 BRCT wild-type and Arg658Cys and Ile738Val mutants. However, no drastic secondary and tertiary structural changes in the mutant proteins were observed. Thermal and chemical denaturation studies revealed that mutants Arg658Cys and Ile738Val have a decrease in Tm and ∆G than the wild type. In silico studies of BARD1 BRCT (568-777) and mutant protein indicate loss in structural compactness on the Ile738Val mutant. Comparative studies of wild-type and mutants will thus be helpful in understanding the basic role of BARD1BRCT in DNA damage repair.
Subject(s)
Codon , Models, Molecular , Mutant Proteins , Tumor Suppressor Proteins/chemistry , Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases/chemistry , Amino Acid Substitution , Humans , Protein Conformation , Protein Denaturation , Protein Folding , Protein Stability , Spectrum Analysis , Structure-Activity Relationship , Thermodynamics , Tumor Suppressor Proteins/metabolism , Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases/metabolismABSTRACT
ABRAXAS is an integral member of BRCA1-complex, which helps in its recruitment to the DNA damage site. It interacts with BRCA1 via its C-terminal phospho-peptide binding motif while the N-terminal associates with RAP80, and thereby recruits the BRCA1-complex at the site of DNA damage. Nonetheless, how ABRAXAS helps in the structural integrity of BRCA1-complex, and its DNA repair mechanism remains elusive. To elucidate the role of ABRAXAS in the DNA repair process, we characterized the ABRAXAS wild type and Arg361Gln mutant using in silico and in vitro approach. It has been observed that ABRAXAS Arg361Gln mutant is responsible for defective nuclear localization of BRCA1-complex, and hence important for DNA repair function. We found conformational changes in ABRAXAS mutant, which impaired binding to RAP80 and further disturb BRCA1-complex localization. The results presented in this paper will help to understand the cause of BRCA1 mislocalization, and various DNA repair defects that occur due to substitution. Comparative study of ABRAXAS wild type and mutant will provide helpful perspective for inhibitor designing that can potentially recompense the deleterious effect(s) of Arg361Gln mutation, and have therapeutic application.
