Unveiling a VEGF-mimetic peptide sequence in the IQGAP1 protein.

The ability to modulate angiogenesis by chemical tools has several important applications in different scientific fields. With the perspective of finding novel proangiogenic molecules, we searched peptide sequences with a chemical profile similar to that of the QK peptide, a well described VEGF mimetic peptide. We found that residues 1617-1627 of the IQGAP1 protein show molecular features similar to those of the QK peptide sequence. The IQGAP1-derived synthetic peptide was analyzed by NMR spectroscopy and its biological activity was characterized in endothelial cells. These studies showed that this IQGAP1-derived peptide has a biological activity similar to that of VEGF and could be considered as a novel tool for reparative angiogenesis.

MDM2-mediated degradation of p14ARF: a novel mechanism to control ARF levels in cancer cells.

We here show a new relationship between the human p14ARF oncosuppressor and the MDM2 oncoprotein. MDM2 overexpression in various cancer cell lines causes p14ARF reduction inducing its degradation through the proteasome. The effect does not require the ubiquitin ligase activity of MDM2 and preferentially occurs in the cytoplasm. Interestingly, treatment with inhibitors of the PKC (Protein Kinase C) pathway and use of p14ARF phosphorylation mutants indicate that ARF phosphorylation could play a role in MDM2 mediated ARF degradation reinforcing our previous observations that ARF phosphorylation influences its stability and biological activity. Our study uncovers a new potentially important mechanism through which ARF and MDM2 can counterbalance each other during the tumorigenic process.

A regulatory mechanism involving TBP-1/Tat-Binding Protein 1 and Akt/PKB in the control of cell proliferation.

TBP-1 /Tat-Binding Protein 1 (also named Rpt-5, S6a or PSMC3) is a multifunctional protein, originally identified as a regulator of HIV-1-Tat mediated transcription. It is an AAA-ATPase component of the 19S regulative subunit of the proteasome and, as other members of this protein family, fulfils different cellular functions including proteolysis and transcriptional regulation. We and others reported that over expression of TBP-1 diminishes cell proliferation in different cellular contexts with mechanisms yet to be defined. Accordingly, we demonstrated that TBP-1 binds to and stabilizes the p14ARF oncosuppressor increasing its anti-oncogenic functions. However, TBP-1 restrains cell proliferation also in the absence of ARF, raising the question of what are the molecular pathways involved. Herein we demonstrate that stable knock-down of TBP-1 in human immortalized fibroblasts increases cell proliferation, migration and resistance to apoptosis induced by serum deprivation. We observe that TBP-1 silencing causes activation of the Akt/PKB kinase and that in turn TBP-1, itself, is a downstream target of Akt/PKB. Moreover, MDM2, a known Akt target, plays a major role in this regulation. Altogether, our data suggest the existence of a negative feedback loop involving Akt/PKB that might act as a sensor to modulate TBP-1 levels in proliferating cells.

A dominant mutation etiologic for human tricho-dento-osseous syndrome impairs the ability of DLX3 to downregulate ΔNp63α.

The homeodomain transcription factors play crucial roles in many developmental processes ranging from organization of the body plan to differentiation of individual tissues. The homeodomain protein Distal-less-3 (DLX3) has an essential role in epidermal stratification and development of ectodermal appendages, placenta and bones. A four-nucleotide deletion in the human DLX3 gene is etiologic for the human hereditary tricho-dento-osseous (TDO) ectodermal dysplasia, a dominant syndrome characterized by abnormalities in hair, nails, teeth, and bones. We have previously demonstrated that DLX3 gene expression induces degradation of ΔNp63α, a specific product of the TP63 gene, a master regulator of multi-layered epithelia. Here we show that the DLX3(TDO) mutant protein is unable to promote ΔNp63α protein degradation and impairs the expression of cell cycle regulatory proteins and skin differentiation markers. However, we found that in cell expressing equal amounts of mutant and wild-type DLX3, ΔNp63α protein level is efficiently regulated implying that genetic heterozygosity at the DLX3 locus protects TDO patients from developing severe p63-associated skin defects.

Homeodomain protein Dlx3 induces phosphorylation-dependent p63 degradation.

The epidermis is a stratified epithelium which develops depending on the transcription factor p63, a member of the p53 family of transcription factors. p63 is strongly expressed in the innermost basal layer where highly proliferative epithelial cells reside. p63 functions as a molecular switch that initiates epithelial stratification or cell fate determination while regulating proliferation and differentiation of developmentally mature keratinocytes. p63 acts upstream of Dlx3 homeobox gene in a transcriptional regulatory pathway relevant to ectodermal dysplasia. Here we show that Dlx3 triggers p63 protein degradation by a proteasome-dependent pathway. Mutant DeltaNp63alpha in which Threonine397 and Serine383 were replaced with Alanine as well as C-terminal truncated versions of DeltaNp63alpha are resistant to Dlx3-mediated degradation. Transient expression of Dlx3 is associated with Raf1 phosphorylation. Dlx3 is unable to promote p63 degradation in Raf1 depleted MEF cells or upon pharmacological knockdown of Raf1. Our data support a previously unrecognized role for Dlx3 in posttranslational regulation of DeltaNp63alpha protein level, a mechanism that may contribute to reduce the abundance of DeltaNp63alpha during differentiation of stratified epithelia.