Ras induces p21Cip1/Waf1 cyclin kinase inhibitor transcriptionally through Sp1-binding sites.

p21Cip1/Waf1 cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor (p21) is inducible by Raf and mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MAPKK), but the level of regulation is unknown. We show here by conditional and transient Ras-expression models that Ras induces p21. Induction of p21 in conditionally Ras-expressing cells is posttranscriptional utilizing mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. Transient, high-level Ras-expression induces transcriptional activation of p21 mediated by a GC-rich region in p21 promoter -83-54 bp relative to the transcription initiation site containing binding sites for Sp1-family transcription factors. Mutation of either Sp1-binding site 2 or 4 in this region decreases the magnitude of induction of promoter activity by Ras, but only the simultaneous mutation of both sites abolishes fully the induction. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays using an oligonucleotide corresponding to Sp1-binding site 2 indicate that both Sp1 and Sp3 transcription factors bind to this region. The results demonstrate that the central cytosolic growth regulator Ras is a potent transcriptional and posttranscriptional inducer of the nuclear growth inhibitor p21.

Hepatocyte growth factor releases mink epithelial cells from transforming growth factor beta1-induced growth arrest by restoring Cdk6 expression and cyclin E-associated Cdk2 activity.

Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) potently suppresses Mv1Lu mink epithelial cell growth, whereas hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) counteracts TGF-beta-mediated growth inhibition and induces Mv1Lu cell proliferation (J. Taipale and J. Keski-Oja, J. Biol. Chem. 271:4342-4348, 1996). By addressing the cell cycle regulatory mechanisms involved in HGF-mediated release of Mv1Lu cells from TGF-beta inhibition, we show that increased DNA replication is accompanied by phosphorylation of the retinoblastoma protein and alternative regulation of cyclin-Cdk-inhibitor complexes. While TGF-beta treatment decreased the expression of Cdk6, this effect was counteracted by HGF, followed by partial restoration of cyclin D2-associated kinase activity. Notably, HGF failed to prevent TGF-beta induction of p15 and its association with Cdk6. However, HGF reversed the TGF-beta-mediated decrease in Cdk6-associated p27 and cyclin D2-associated Cdk6, suggesting that HGF modifies the TGF-beta response at the level of G1 cyclin complex formation. Counteraction of TGF-beta regulation of Cdk6 by HGF may in turn affect the association of p27 with Cdk2-cyclin E complexes. Though HGF did not differentially regulate the total levels of p27 in TGF-beta-treated cells, p27 immunodepletion experiments suggested that upon treatment with both growth factors, less p27 is associated with Cdk2-cyclin E complexes, in parallel with restoration of the active form of Cdk2 and the associated kinase activity. The results demonstrate that HGF intercepts TGF-beta cell cycle regulation at multiple points, affecting both G1 and G1-S cyclin kinase activities.

Cloning and characterization of p10, an alternatively spliced form of p15 cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor.

We have cloned an alternatively spliced form of cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor p15 from human placenta. The alternative splice arises from an alternative 5' donor site in intron 1. An in-frame stop codon within the new exon, called exon 1beta, leads to translation of a Mr 10,000 protein identical to the NH2 terminus of p15 but contains a novel, basic COOH terminus. The alternatively spliced form, termed here as p10, is ubiquitously expressed in normal and tumor cell lines as shown by Northern hybridization and reverse transcription-PCR. Transforming growth factor beta1 induces the expression of p10 similarly to p15 in human HaCaT keratinocytes. Expression and analysis of p15 and epitope-tagged p10 in cells by immunohistochemistry showed similar localization of both to the cytoplasm and nucleus in mink epithelial cells and cytoplasmic localization in mouse fibroblasts. Analysis of the effects of p10 and p15 on cell growth indicated that both were transiently growth inhibitory in Mv1Lu and NIH 3T3 cells, but their stable expression did not significantly reduce the number of cell colonies. In contrast to p15, CDK4 and CDK6 did not coimmunoprecipitate p10 in transient expression assays in COS-7 cells. Furthermore, overexpression of p10 together with p15 in COS-7 cells did not interfere with the complex formation of p15 with CDK4 or CDK6. Thus, in the absence of detectable CDK binding, p10 is transiently able to restrain cell cycling, indicating that the alternative splicing of the CDK inhibitors presents further complexity in their regulation and functions.

p53 transactivation and protein accumulation are independently regulated by UV light in different phases of the cell cycle.

DNA damage-induced activation of the p53 tumor suppressor gene is suggested to be central in the cellular damage response pathway. In this study, we analyzed the responses of p53 to UVC radiation in synchronized mouse fibroblasts in terms of p53 accumulation, transcriptional activation, and sequence-specific DNA-binding activity. UVC was found to induce accumulation of p53 cell cycle dependently in G1/S- and S-phase cells but not in G0 or G1 cells. In contrast, p53 transcriptional activity and its target genes, p21 and GADD45, were stimulated by UVC in G0 and G1 cells in the absence of detectable p53 protein. The accumulation of p53 and increased p21 and GADD45 expression were replication dependent in S-phase cells. Interestingly, sequence-specific p53 DNA-binding activity was stimulated also replication independently in S phase, though the effect was not conveyed to stimulation of p53 target genes, suggesting that additional events are required for p53-stimulated gene expression. The results show that opposed to the cell cycle dependence of p53 accumulation, the UVC-mediated transactivation by p53 is independent of the cell cycle phase and protein stabilization.