Therapeutic window for melanoma treatment provided by selective effects of the proteasome on Bcl-2 proteins.

Melanoma cells depend on sustained proteasomal function for survival. However, bortezomib, the first proteasome inhibitor in clinical use, is not sufficient to improve the poor prognosis of metastatic melanoma patients. Since the proteasome is also expressed in all normal cell compartments, it is unclear how to enhance the efficacy of bortezomib without exacerbating secondary toxicities. Here, we present pharmacological and genetic analyses of mechanisms of resistance to proteasome inhibition. We focused on Bcl-2, Bcl-x(L) and Mcl-1 as main antiapoptotic factors associated with melanoma progression. Despite an efficient blockage of the proteasome, bortezomib could not counteract the intrinsically high levels of Bcl-2 and Bcl-x(L) in melanoma cells. Moreover, Mcl-1 was only downregulated at late time points after treatment. Based on these results, a combination treatment including (-)-gossypol, an inhibitor of Mcl-1/Bcl-2/Bcl-x(L), was designed and proven effective in vivo. Using a specific RNA interference approach, the survival of bortezomib-treated melanoma cells was found to rely primarily on Mcl-1, and to a lesser extent on Bcl-x(L) (but not on Bcl-2). Importantly, neither Mcl-1 nor Bcl-x(L) inactivation affected the viability of normal melanocytes. This hierarchical requirement of Bcl-2 family members for the maintenance of normal and malignant cells offers a therapeutic window to overcome melanoma chemoresistance in a tumor cell-selective manner.

Cytosol-to-membrane redistribution of Bax and Bcl-X(L) during apoptosis.

Bcl-2, Bcl-X(L), and Bax are members of the Bcl-2 family that play key roles in the regulation of apoptosis. These proteins are believed to be membrane bound and their ability to undergo both homodimerization and heterodimerization has been proposed to regulate apoptosis. Herein we report that in murine thymocytes, Bcl-2 is exclusively membrane-bound, whereas Bax is present predominantly in the cytosol and Bcl-X(L) is present in both soluble and membrane-bound forms. Induction of apoptosis in murine thymocytes by dexamethasone or gamma-irradiation shifts the subcellular locations of Bax and Bcl-X(L) from soluble to membrane-bound forms. A similar shift in the localization of Bax from the cytosol to membranes was observed in HL-60 leukemia cells upon induction of apoptosis by staurosporine. Inhibition of apoptosis with cycloheximide inhibits the movement of Bax and Bcl-X(L) in thymocytes from the cytosol into membranes induced by dexamethasone treatment. These movements may represent an important step in the pathway by which members of this family regulate apoptosis.

Movement of Bax from the cytosol to mitochondria during apoptosis.

Bax, a member of the Bcl-2 protein family, accelerates apoptosis by an unknown mechanism. Bax has been recently reported to be an integral membrane protein associated with organelles or bound to organelles by Bcl-2 or a soluble protein found in the cytosol. To explore Bcl-2 family member localization in living cells, the green fluorescent protein (GFP) was fused to the NH2 termini of Bax, Bcl-2, and Bcl-XL. Confocal microscopy performed on living Cos-7 kidney epithelial cells and L929 fibroblasts revealed that GFP-Bcl-2 and GFP-Bcl-XL had a punctate distribution and colocalized with a mitochondrial marker, whereas GFP-Bax was found diffusely throughout the cytosol. Photobleaching analysis confirmed that GFP-Bax is a soluble protein, in contrast to organelle-bound GFP-Bcl-2. The diffuse localization of GFP-Bax did not change with coexpression of high levels of Bcl-2 or Bcl-XL. However, upon induction of apoptosis, GFP-Bax moved intracellularly to a punctate distribution that partially colocalized with mitochondria. Once initiated, this Bax movement was complete within 30 min, before cellular shrinkage or nuclear condensation. Removal of a COOH-terminal hydrophobic domain from GFP-Bax inhibited redistribution during apoptosis and inhibited the death-promoting activity of both Bax and GFP-Bax. These results demonstrate that in cells undergoing apoptosis, an early, dramatic change occurs in the intracellular localization of Bax, and this redistribution of soluble Bax to organelles appears important for Bax to promote cell death.