Molecular determinants of Akt-induced keratinocyte transformation.

The PI3K/PTEN/Akt signaling pathway has emerged in recent years as a main player in human cancers, increasing proliferation and decreasing apoptosis of transformed cells, and thus becoming a potential target for therapeutic intervention. Our previous data have demonstrated that Akt-mediated signaling is of a key relevance in the mouse skin carcinogenesis system, one of the best-known models of experimental carcinogenesis. Here, we investigated the involvement of several pathways as mediators of Akt-induced increased proliferation and tumorigenesis in keratinocytes. Tumors produced by subcutaneous injection of Akt-transformed keratinocytes showed increased Foxo3a phosphorylation, but no major alterations in p21(Cip1/WAF1), p27(Kip1) or mdm2 expression and/or localization. In contrast, we found increased expression and nuclear localization of DeltaNp63, beta-catenin and Lef1. Concomitantly, we also found increased expression of c-myc and CycD1, targets of the beta-catenin/Tcf pathway. Such increase is associated with increased phosphorylation and stabilization of c-myc protein as well as increased translation of c-myc and CycD1 due to mTOR activation. Using immunohistochemistry approaches in samples of oral dysplasias and human head and neck squamous cell carcinomas, we confirmed that increased Akt activation significantly correlates with increased DeltaNp63 and CycD expression, c-myc phosphorylation and nuclear accumulation of beta-catenin. Collectively, these results demonstrate that Akt is able to transform keratinocytes by specific mechanisms involving transcriptional and post-transcriptional processes.

Inhibition of protein kinase B (PKB) and PKCzeta mediates keratin K10-induced cell cycle arrest.

The intermediate filament cytoskeleton is composed of keratins in all epithelial cells and imparts mechanical integrity to these cells. However, beyond this shared function, the functional significance of the carefully regulated tissue- and differentiation-specific expression of the large keratin family of cytoskeletal proteins remains unclear. We recently demonstrated that expression of keratin K10 or K16 may regulate the phosphorylation of the retinoblastoma protein (pRb), inhibiting (K10) or stimulating (K16) cell proliferation (J. M. Paramio, M. L. Casanova, C. Segrelles, S. Mittnacht, E. B. Lane, and J. L. Jorcano, Mol. Cell. Biol. 19:3086-3094, 1999). Here we show that keratin K10 function as a negative modulator of cell cycle progression involves changes in the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI-3K) signal transduction pathway. Physical interaction of K10 with Akt (protein kinase B [PKB]) and atypical PKCzeta causes sequestration of these kinases within the cytoskeleton and inhibits their intracellular translocation. As a consequence, the expression of K10 impairs the activation of PKB and PKCzeta. We also demonstrate that this inhibition impedes pRb phosphorylation and reduces the expression of cyclins D1 and E. Functional and biochemical data also demonstrate that the interaction between K10 and these kinases involves the non-alpha-helical amino domain of K10 (NTerm). Together, these results suggest new and essential roles for the keratins as modulators of specific signal transduction pathways.

The ink4a/arf tumor suppressors cooperate with p21cip1/waf in the processes of mouse epidermal differentiation, senescence, and carcinogenesis.

In mammalian cells, cell cycle withdrawal is a prerequisite for terminal differentiation. Accordingly, in most tissues, including epidermis, the expression of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors increases during differentiation. However, the actual role of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors is unclear. Different aspects of epidermal growth and differentiation in ink4a(Delta2,3)-null, p21-null, and ink4a(Delta2,3)/p21-doubly deficient mice were studied. Altered differentiation and decreased age-related senescence were found in the epidermis of ink4a(Delta2,3)/p21-null mice and, to a lesser extent, in ink4a(Delta2,3)- and p21-null mice. ink4a(Delta2,3)/p21-null primary keratinocytes underwent cell cycle arrest upon calcium or transforming growth factor-beta treatment, but failed to differentiate. This differentiation deficiency was not observed in p21- or ink4a(Delta2,3)-deficient keratinocytes. Upon infection with a v-Ha-ras-coding retrovirus, wild-type keratinocytes displayed features indicative of premature cell senescence. In p21- or ink4a(Delta2,3)-deficient keratinocytes, only a partial response was observed. ink4a(Delta2,3)/p21-deficient keratinocytes did not display senescent features, but showed increased tumorigenic potential upon injection into nude mice. These results indicate that ink4a/arf and cip1/waf genes cooperate to allow normal keratinocyte differentiation and that the absence of both favors malignant transformation.

Opposite functions for E2F1 and E2F4 in human epidermal keratinocyte differentiation.

Proteins of the retinoblastoma family (pRb, p107, and p130) modulate cell proliferation, a function related to their capacity to control the activity of the E2F transcription factor family. The Rb proteins also control cell differentiation in different tissues. We have recently described their involvement in human epidermal keratinocyte differentiation (Paramio, J. M., Lain, S., Segrelles, C., Lane, E. B. , and Jorcano, J. L. (1998) Oncogene 17, 949-957). Here we show that E2F proteins are also involved in this process. We found that E2F1 and E2F4 are expressed differentially during the in vitro differentiation of human epidermal keratinocytes, with the former uniformly present throughout the process, whereas the second is predominantly expressed at the onset of differentiation. This pattern is also observed in human skin by confocal microscopy. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays and immunoprecipitation experiments demonstrated that the complexes formed by E2F1 and E2F4 and Rb family proteins vary throughout in vitro keratinocyte differentiation. In agreement with this observation, several E2F-responsive genes are differentially regulated during this process. To test the functional implications of these observations, we transfected HaCaT keratinocytes with plasmids coding for E2F1 and E2F4. Transfected cells display opposite in vitro differentiation properties. Although E2F1-transfected cells are unable to differentiate, E2F4-transfected cells show an increased differentiation rate compared with Neo-transfected control cells. Our data demonstrate that the differential and coordinated expression and interaction of E2F and Rb proteins modulate the process of epidermal differentiation and provide clear evidence that members of the E2F family of transcription factors play specific and opposite roles during cell differentiation.

p53 is phosphorylated at the carboxyl terminus and promotes the differentiation of human HaCaT keratinocytes.

The p53 phosphoprotein acts as a tumor-suppressor gene product through the inhibition of cell growth and induction of apoptosis in a transcription-dependent manner. These functions require p53 activation through different biochemical postranslational modifications. Given the relevance of this protein in ultraviolet light-induced carcinogenesis, whose targets are primarily skin keratinocytes, we studied the functions of p53 in epidermal cell differentiation. We selected HaCaT cells, a human keratinocyte cell line bearing point-mutated, transcriptionally inactive, but highly stable p53, which facilitates immunochemical and biochemical analysis. In addition, a reliable in vitro differentiation system has been developed with these cells (Paramio et al. Oncogene 17:949, 1998). We report that during HaCaT differentiation there is a loss of immunoreactivity of p53 against antibodies that specifically recognize epitopes located at the carboxyl terminus of the protein. Because treatment with phosphatase restores this immunoreactivity, we conclude that p53 is phosphorylated at the carboxyl terminus during keratinocyte differentiation. This biochemical modification has been associated with the transcriptional activation of the molecule, and because p53 is involved in differentiation processes in other cell types, we investigated the potential functions of p53 during epidermal differentiation. To this end, we generated HaCaT clones expressing a murine temperature-sensitive p53 (Mp53ts) by transfection because the endogenous p53 is not functional even with phosphorylation. We characterized the expression and effects of the transfected protein in different selected clones. The ultraviolet-light response of these clones was restored, demonstrating the functionality of Mp53ts in these cells. We also observed that, with induction of differentiation, Mp53ts transfected cells differentiate faster than the parental or vector-transfected control cells, demonstrating that p53 promotes epidermal differentiation. The sustained expression of p53 in differentiating cells leads to massive cell death and detachment, a phenomenon that may be similar to epidermal terminal differentiation. In addition, we observed that the expression of p53-dependent genes such as p21waf/cip1 and mdm2 (which are known to participate in epidermal differentiation) increases during HaCaT differentiation, i.e., in a p53-independent manner.

PTEN tumour suppressor is linked to the cell cycle control through the retinoblastoma protein.

The tumour suppressor PTEN, also named MMAC1 or TEP1, is associated with a number of malignancies in human populations. This protein has a dual protein phosphatase activity, being also capable to dephosphorylate phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5 triphosphate. We have studied the mechanism of growth suppression attributable to PTEN. We observed that PTEN overexpression inhibits cell growth in a variety of normal and transformed, human and murine cells. Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation and TUNEL labelling experiments in transiently transfected cells demonstrate that this inhibition is due to a cell cycle arrest rather than induction of apoptosis. Given that PTEN is unable to cause cell growth arrest in retinoblastoma (Rb)-deficient cell lines, we have explored the possible requirement for pRb in the PTEN-induced inhibition of cell proliferation. We found that the co-expression of SV40 antigen, but not a mutant form (which binds exclusively to p53), and cyclin D1/cdk4 are able to overcome the PTEN-mediated growth suppression. In addition, the reintroduction of a functional pRb, but not its relatives p107 or p130, in Rb-deficient cells restores the sensitivity to PTEN-induced arrest. Finally, the hyperphosphorylation of transfected pRb is inhibited by PTEN co-expression and restored by PI-3K co-expression. Accordingly, PTEN gene is mostly expressed, in parallel to Akt, in mid-late G1 phase during cell cycle progression prior to pRb hyperphosphorylation. Finally, we have studied the signal transduction pathways modulated by PTEN expression. We found that PTEN-induced growth arrest can be rescued by the co-expression of active PI-3K and downstream effectors such as Akt or PDK1, and also certain small GTPases such as Rac1 and Cdc42, but not by active Ha-ras, raf or RhoA. Collectively, our data link the tumour suppressor activities of PTEN to the machinery controlling cell cycle through the modulation of signalling molecules whose final target is the functional inactivation of the retinoblastoma gene product.

Modulation of cell proliferation by cytokeratins K10 and K16.

The members of the large keratin family of cytoskeletal proteins are expressed in a carefully regulated tissue- and differentiation-specific manner. Although these proteins are thought to be involved in imparting mechanical integrity to epithelial cells, the functional significance of their complex differential expression is still unclear. Here we provide new data suggesting that the expression of particular keratins may influence cell proliferation. Specifically, we demonstrate that the ectopic expression of K10 inhibits the proliferation of human keratinocytes in culture, while K16 expression appears to promote the proliferation of these cells. Other keratins, such as K13 or K14, do not significantly alter this parameter. K10-induced inhibition is reversed by the coexpression of K16 but not that of K14. These results are coherent with the observed expression pattern of these proteins in the epidermis: basal, proliferative keratinocytes express K14; when they terminally differentiate, keratinocytes switch off K14 and start K10 expression, whereas in response to hyperproliferative stimuli, K16 replaces K10. The characteristics of this process indicate that K10 and K16 act on the retinoblastoma (Rb) pathway, as (i) K10-induced inhibition is hampered by cotransfection with viral oncoproteins which interfere with pRb but not with p53; (ii) K10-mediated cell growth arrest is rescued by the coexpression of specific cyclins, cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs), or cyclin-CDK complexes; (iii) K10-induced inhibition does not take place in Rb-deficient cells but is restored in these cells by cotransfection with pRb or p107 but not p130; (iv) K16 efficiently rescues the cell growth arrest induced by pRb in HaCaT cells but not that induced by p107 or p130; and (v) pRb phosphorylation and cyclin D1 expression are reduced in K10-transfected cells and increased in K16-transfected cells. Finally, using K10 deletion mutants, we map this inhibitory function to the nonhelical terminal domains of K10, hypervariable regions in which keratin-specific functions are thought to reside, and demonstrate that the presence of one of these domains is sufficient to promote cell growth arrest.

Differential expression and functionally co-operative roles for the retinoblastoma family of proteins in epidermal differentiation.

Terminal differentiation requires cell cycle withdrawal, suggesting the involvement of negative cell cycle controllers in the process. We have analysed the involvement of the retinoblastoma family of proteins (pRb, p107 and p130) in epidermal proliferation and differentiation. These proteins play key roles as inhibitors of cell cycle progression and are involved in muscle and neuron differentiation. We found that during in vitro differentiation of human HaCaT keratinocytes, pRb, p107 and p130 are sequentially expressed, in contrast to the co-expression observed during cell cycle progression in the same cells. Immunofluorescence studies on skin sections revealed the presence of pRb and p107 in basal and suprabasal cell layers, whilst p130 is restricted to cells already committed to differentiation in the suprabasal compartments. To explore the functional significance of the differential expression of these proteins, transfection experiments were performed in HaCaT keratinocytes. We observed that the forced over-expression of pRb, p107 or p130 individually did not induce differentiation of the transfected cells. However, the co-transfection of pRb and p107 induced the expression of early differentiation markers (keratin k10) and triple transfectants pRb+p107+p130 expressed markers representative of later stages of epidermal differentiation (involucrin). Finally, we observed that these three proteins repress keratinocyte proliferation, although to a different extent (p107>pRb> or =p130). These results indicate that the members of the pRb family play specific, yet coordinated roles during epidermal differentiation, and that the ordered progression along the different stages of this process results from the effects of different combinations of these proteins.

Autolytic processing of a phosphorothioate diester bond.

A small satellite RNA of tobacco ringspot virus replicates in tissues infected with tobacco ringspot virus and accumulates in virus capsids, forming virus-like particles. Previous research showed that multimeric forms of this satellite RNA have tandem repeats of the "monomeric" satellite RNA sequence of 359 or 360 nucleotide residues. The multimeric RNAs undergo autolytic processing at a specific CpA phosphodiester bond, the junction, to generate the monomeric RNA. We substituted phosphorothioate diester bonds for various sets of phosphodiester bonds, in dimeric and truncated forms of the satellite RNA. The degree of reduction in autolytic cleavage varied both with the sites of substitution and the size of the RNA molecules. Analyses of a product of the autolysis reaction suggest that one phosphorothioate diester bond most strongly interferes with processing, the one introduced at the CpA junction during its synthesis from adenosine-5'-0-(1-thiotriphosphate). However, extensive introduction of phosphorothioate diester bonds elsewhere in the molecule also decreased processing, possibly by altering conformation.