RESUMO
Desmosomes are intercellular adhesive junctions and attachment sites for the intermediate filament (IF) cytoskeleton, prominent in tissues subject to high levels of mechanical stress such as the epidermis and heart. The obligate desmosomal constituent, plakoglobin (PG), is involved in coupling transmembrane desmosomal components with IFs. PG also contributes to intercellular adhesion through adherens junctions and has additional signaling roles. To date, two mutations in the gene encoding PG, JUP, have been described, and in both instances, patients harboring pathogenic mutations suffered from arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy with or without skin abnormalities. We describe homozygous nonsense mutation, p.S24X, and homozygous splice site mutation, c.468G>A, in the JUP gene that results in skin fragility, diffuse palmoplantar keratoderma, and woolly hair with no symptoms of cardiomyopathy. We show barely detectable levels of PG immunostaining in skin sections from patients harboring these mutations and show that an alternative AUG codon in p.S24X mRNA translates a 42-amino-acid N-terminal truncation. We conclude that PG is required for correct maintenance of skin integrity, and the absence of heart phenotype in patients suggests that aberrant PG expression does not compromise normal human heart development in children. Our findings provide new insight into the distinct roles that PG has in the epidermis and heart.
Assuntos
Cardiomiopatias/genética , Códon sem Sentido/genética , Desmoplaquinas/genética , Coração/crescimento & desenvolvimento , Homozigoto , Sítios de Splice de RNA/genética , Dermatopatias Genéticas/genética , Biópsia , Cardiomiopatias/fisiopatologia , Criança , Pré-Escolar , DNA Complementar/genética , Desmoplaquinas/fisiologia , Feminino , Coração/fisiologia , Humanos , Lactente , Masculino , Técnicas de Amplificação de Ácido Nucleico , Fenótipo , Polimorfismo de Nucleotídeo Único/genética , RNA Mensageiro/genética , Pele/patologia , Pele/ultraestrutura , Dermatopatias Genéticas/fisiopatologia , gama CateninaRESUMO
The E3 ubiqutin ligase, murne double-minute clone 2 (MDM2), promotes the degradation of p53 under normal homeostatic conditions. Several serine residues within the acidic domain of MDM2 are phosphorylated to maintain its activity but become hypo-phosphorylated following DNA damage, leading to inactivation of MDM2 and induction of p53. However, the signalling pathways that mediate these phosphorylation events are not fully understood. Here we show that the oncogenic and cell cycle-regulatory protein kinase, polo-like kinase-1 (PLK1), phosphorylates MDM2 at one of these residues, Ser260, and stimulates MDM2-mediated turnover of p53. These data are consistent with the idea that deregulation of PLK1 during tumourigenesis may help suppress p53 function.
Assuntos
Proteínas de Ciclo Celular/metabolismo , Proteínas Serina-Treonina Quinases/metabolismo , Proteínas Proto-Oncogênicas c-mdm2/metabolismo , Proteínas Proto-Oncogênicas/metabolismo , Serina/metabolismo , Proteína Supressora de Tumor p53/metabolismo , Sítios de Ligação/genética , Western Blotting , Proteínas de Ciclo Celular/genética , Linhagem Celular Tumoral , Células HeLa , Humanos , Imunoprecipitação , Fosforilação , Proteínas Serina-Treonina Quinases/genética , Proteínas Proto-Oncogênicas/genética , Proteínas Proto-Oncogênicas c-mdm2/genética , Transfecção , Proteína Supressora de Tumor p53/genética , Quinase 1 Polo-LikeRESUMO
Mutation of the p53 gene is a common event during tumor pathogenesis. Other mechanisms, such as mdm2 amplification, provide alternative routes through which dysfunction of the p53 pathway is promoted. Here, we address the hypothesis that elevated expression of pim oncogenes might suppress p53 by regulating Mdm2. At a physiological level, we show that endogenous Pim-1 and Pim-2 interact with endogenous Mdm2. Additionally, the Pim kinases phosphorylate Mdm2 in vitro and in cultured cells at Ser(166) and Ser(186), two previously identified targets of other signaling pathways, including Akt. Surprisingly, at high levels of Pim expression, as would occur in tumors, active, but not inactive, Pim-1 or Pim-2 blocks the degradation of both p53 and Mdm2 in a manner that is independent of Mdm2 phosphorylation, leading to increased p53 levels and, proportionately, p53-dependent transactivation. Additionally, Pim-1 induces endogenous ARF, p53, Mdm2, and p21 in primary murine embryo fibroblasts and stimulates senescence-associated beta-galactosidase levels, consistent with the induction of senescence. Immunohistochemical analysis of a cohort of 33 human mantle cell lymphomas shows that elevated expression of Pim-1 occurs in 42% of cases, with elevated Pim-2 occurring in 9% of cases, all of which also express Pim-1. Notably, elevated Pim-1 correlates with elevated Mdm2 in MCL with a p value of 0.003. Taken together, our data are consistent with the idea that Pim normally interacts with the p53 pathway but, when expressed at pathological levels, behaves as a classic dominant oncogene that stimulates a protective response through induction of the p53 pathway.
