Antenna Protein Clustering In Vitro Unveiled by Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy.

Antenna protein aggregation is one of the principal mechanisms considered effective in protecting phototrophs against high light damage. Commonly, it is induced, in vitro, by decreasing detergent concentration and pH of a solution of purified antennas; the resulting reduction in fluorescence emission is considered to be representative of non-photochemical quenching in vivo. However, little is known about the actual size and organization of antenna particles formed by this means, and hence the physiological relevance of this experimental approach is questionable. Here, a quasi-single molecule method, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), was applied during in vitro quenching of LHCII trimers from higher plants for a parallel estimation of particle size, fluorescence, and antenna cluster homogeneity in a single measurement. FCS revealed that, below detergent critical micelle concentration, low pH promoted the formation of large protein oligomers of sizes up to micrometers, and therefore is apparently incompatible with thylakoid membranes. In contrast, LHCII clusters formed at high pH were smaller and homogenous, and yet still capable of efficient quenching. The results altogether set the physiological validity limits of in vitro quenching experiments. Our data also support the idea that the small, moderately quenching LHCII oligomers found at high pH could be relevant with respect to non-photochemical quenching in vivo.

ANTP-SmacN7 fusion peptide-induced radiosensitization in A549 cells and its potential mechanisms.

BACKGROUND: Radioresistance in tumors limits the curative effect of the radiotherapy. Mimetic compounds of second mitochondria-derived activator of caspase (Smac) are potential new tumor radiation-sensitizing drugs because they can increase radiation-induced tumor cell apoptosis. Here, we observed the radiosensitization effect of a new Smac mimetic Antennapedia protein (ANTP)-SmacN7 fusion peptide in A549 cells and investigated the underlying mechanisms behind the effects of this protein on tumor cells. METHODS: The ANTP-SmacN7 fusion peptide was synthesized and linked with fluorescein isothiocyanate to observe the protein's ability to penetrate cells. A549 cells were divided into the control, radiation-only, ANTP-SmacN7-only and ANTP-SmacN7 + radiation groups. The cells were exposed to 0, 2, 4 and 6 Gy, with 20 µmol/L of ANTP-SmacN7. The radiation-sensitizing effects of the ANTP-SmacN7 fusion proteins were observed via clonogenic assay. Apoptosis was detected using flow cytometry. A comet assay was used to assess DNA damage. The levels and degrees of cytochrome-c, PARP, H2AX, caspase-8, caspase-3, and caspase-9 activation were detected via western blot assay. The radiation sensitization of the fusion peptide, expression of γ-H2AX and C-PARP were compared after adding the caspase inhibitor, Z-VAD. RESULTS: ANTP-SmacN7 fusion proteins entered the cells and promoted A549 cell radiosensitization. Treatment with ANTP-SmacN7 + radiation significantly reduced the A549 cell clone-forming rate, increased the cytochrome-c, cleaved caspase-8, cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved caspase-9 expression levels, promoted caspase activation, and increased the rate of radiation-induced apoptosis. The ANTP-SmacN7 fusion peptide significantly increased radiation-induced double-stranded DNA rupture in the A549 cells and increased DNA damage. Adding Z-VAD reduced the fusion peptide's proapoptotic effect but not the level of double-stranded DNA breakage. CONCLUSIONS: The ANTP-SmacN7 fusion peptide exerted a remarkable radiosensitization effect on A549 cells. This protein may reduce tumor cell radioresistance by inducing caspase activation and may be a potential new Smac mimetic that can be applied in radiosensitization therapy.

Transcription factor TFIIEß interacts with two exposed positions in helix 2 of the Antennapedia homeodomain to control homeotic function in Drosophila.

Homeoproteins contain the conserved homeodomain (HD) and have an important role determining embryo body plan during development. HDs increase their DNA-binding specificity by interacting with additional cofactors outlining a Hox interactome with a multiplicity of protein-protein interactions. In Drosophila, the first link of functional contact with a general transcription factor (GTF) was found between Antennapedia (Antp) and BIP2 (TFIID complex). Hox proteins also interact with other components of Pol II machinery such as the subunit Med19 from Mediator (MED) complex, TFIIEß and transcription-pausing factor M1BP. All these interactions clearly demonstrate Hox-driven transcriptional regulation, but the precise molecular mechanism remains unclear. In this paper, we focused on the Antp-TFIIEß protein-protein interface to establish the specific contacts as well as its functional role. Using Bimolecular Fluorescence Complementation (BiFC) in cell culture and in vivo we found that TFIIEß interacts with Antp through the HD independently of the YPWM motif and the direct physical interaction is at helix 2, specifically aminoacidic positions I32 and H36 of Antp. We also found, through ectopic assays, that these two positions in helix 2 are crucial for Antp homeotic function in head involution, and thoracic and antenna-to tarsus transformations. Interestingly, overexpression of Antp and TFIIEß in the antennal disc showed that this interaction is required for the antenna-to-tarsus transformation. In conclusion, interaction of Antp with TFIIEß is important for the functional specificity of Antennapedia, and amino acids 32 and 36 in Antp HD helix 2 are key for this interaction. Our results open the possibility to more broadly analyze Antp-TFIIEß interaction on the transcriptional control for the activation and/or repression of target genes in the Hox interactome during Drosophila development.

Internal Motions of Basic Side Chains of the Antennapedia Homeodomain in the Free and DNA-Bound States.

Basic side chains play crucial roles in protein-DNA interactions. In this study, using NMR spectroscopy, we investigated the dynamics of Arg and Lys side chains of the fruit fly Antennapedia homeodomain in the free state and in the complex with target DNA. We measured 15N relaxation for Arg and Lys side chains at two magnetic fields, from which generalized order parameters for the cationic groups were determined. Mobility of the R5 side chain, which makes hydrogen bonds with a thymine base in the DNA minor groove, was greatly dampened. Several Lys and Arg side chains that form intermolecular ion pairs with DNA phosphates were found to retain high mobility with the order parameter being <0.6 in the DNA-bound state. Interestingly, some of the interfacial cationic groups in the complex were more mobile than in the free protein. The retained or enhanced mobility of the Arg and Lys side chains in the complex should mitigate the overall loss of conformational entropy in the protein-DNA association and allow dynamic molecular recognition.

Cell Penetrating Peptide Adsorption on Magnetite and Silica Surfaces: A Computational Investigation.

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) represent one of the most promising materials as they can act as a versatile platform in the field of bionanotechnology for enhanced imaging, diagnosis, and treatment of various diseases. Silica is the most common compound for preparing coated iron oxide NPs since it improves colloidal stability and the binding affinity for various organic molecules. Biomolecules such as cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) might be employed to decorate MNPs, combining their promising physicochemical properties with a cell penetrating ability. In this work, a computational investigation on adsorption of Antennapedia homeodomain-derived penetrating peptide (pAntp) on silica and magnetite (MAG) surfaces is presented. By employing umbrella sampling molecular dynamics, we provided a quantitative estimation of the pAntp-surface adsorption free energy to highlight the influence of surface hydroxylation state on the adsorption mechanism. The interaction between peptide and surface has shown to be mainly driven by electrostatics. In case of MAG surface, also an important contribution of van der Waals (VdW) attraction was observed. Our data suggest that a competitive mechanism between MNPs and cell membrane might partially inhibit the CPP to carry out its membrane penetrating function.

Development of protein mimics for intracellular delivery.

Designing delivery agents for therapeutics is an ongoing challenge. As treatments and desired cargoes become more complex, the need for improved delivery vehicles becomes critical. Excellent delivery vehicles must ensure the stability of the cargo, maintain the cargo's solubility, and promote efficient delivery and release. In order to address these issues, many research groups have looked to nature for design inspiration. Proteins, such as HIV-1 trans-activator of transcription (TAT) and Antennapedia homeodomain protein, are capable of crossing cellular membranes. However, due to the complexities of their structures, they are synthetically challenging to reproduce in the laboratory setting. Being able to incorporate the key features of these proteins that enable cell entry into simpler scaffolds opens up a wide range of opportunities for the development of new delivery reagents with improved performance. This review charts the development of protein mimics based on cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) and how structure-activity relationships (SARs) with these molecules and their protein counterparts ultimately led to the use of polymeric scaffolds. These scaffolds deviate from the normal peptide backbone, allowing for simpler, synthetic procedures to make carriers and tune chemical compositions for application specific needs. Successful design of polymeric protein mimics would allow researchers to further understand the key features in proteins and peptides necessary for efficient delivery and to design the next generation of more efficient delivery reagents.

Synergetic cytotoxic activity toward breast cancer cells enhanced by the combination of Antp-TPR hybrid peptide targeting Hsp90 and Hsp70-targeted peptide.

BACKGROUND: Heat shock protein (Hsp) 90 and Hsp70 are indispensable for cell survival under conditions of stress. They bind to client proteins to assist in protein stabilization, translocation of polypeptides across the cell membrane, and recovery of proteins from aggregates in the cell. Therefore, these proteins have recently emerged as important targets in the treatment of cancer. We previously reported that the newly designed Antp-TPR hybrid peptide targeting Hsp90 induced cytotoxic activity to cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo. METHODS: To further improve the cytotoxic activity of Antp-TPR toward cancer cells, we investigated the effect of a Hsp70-targeted peptide, which was made cell-permeable by adding the polyarginine with a linker sequence, on the cytotoxic activity of Antp-TPR in breast cancer cell lines. RESULTS: It was revealed that Antp-TPR in the presence of a Hsp70-targeted peptide induced effective cytotoxic activity toward breast cancer cells through the descrease of Hsp90 client proteins such as p53, Akt, and cRaf. Moreover, the combined treatment with these peptides did not induce the up-regulation of Hsp70 protein, as determined by western blotting, a promoter assay using a luminometer, and single-cell level imaging with the LV200 system, although a small-molecule inhibitor of Hsp90, 17-allylamino-demethoxygeldanamycin (17-AAG), did induce the up-regulation of this protein. We also found that treatment with Antp-TPR, Hsp70-targeted peptide, or a combination of the two did not induce an increase in the glutathione concentrations in the cancer cells. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that targeting both Hsp90 and Hsp70 with Antp-TPR and Hsp70-targeted peptide is an attractive approach for selective cancer cell killing that might provide potent and selective therapeutic options for the treatment of cancer.

Cellular uptake of the Antennapedia homeodomain polypeptide by macropinocytosis.

Antennapedia homeodomain has been shown to be able to translocate from extracellular space into the cytoplasm of cells in a receptor-independent manner. Its third α-helix domain, designated as "Penetratin", was proposed to be the functional transduction domain that is responsible for the translocation, and it is widely used for intracellular delivery of various exogenous proteins. Although Penetratin has been regarded to be the only element conferring the capacity on its parent polypeptide to penetrate through the plasma membrane, we found that the complete Antennapedia homeodomain exhibits an appreciably higher level of translocation efficiency as compared to Penetratin. Pharmacological analysis demonstrated that macropinocytic endocytosis plays a significant role underlying the process of the homeodomain internalization, and this is consistent with the observation that internalized polypeptide co-localizes with a fluid phase dye. Our results identify macropinocytosis as a major mechanism by which Antennapedia homeodomain obtains the access to the interior of cells, providing a novel perspective in the field of protein translocation and transduction.

Radiation-sensitising effects of antennapedia proteins (ANTP)-SmacN7 on tumour cells.

The objective of this study was to investigate the underlying mechanisms behind the radiation-sensitising effects of the antennapedia proteins (ANTP)-smacN7 fusion protein on tumour cells. ANTP-SmacN7 fusion proteins were synthesised, and the ability of this fusion protein to penetrate cells was observed. Effects of radiation on the expression of X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) were detected by western blotting. The radiation-sensitising effects of ANTP-SmacN7 fusion proteins were observed by a clonogenic assay. The effects of drugs and radiation on tumour cell apoptosis were determined using Annexin V/FITC double staining. Changes in caspase-8, caspase-9 and caspase-3 were detected by western blot before and after ANTP-SmacN7 inhibition of XIAP. The ANTP-SmacN7 fusion protein could enter and accumulate in cells; in vitro XIAP expression of radiation-induced tumour cells was negatively correlated with tumour radiosensitivity. The ANTP-SmacN7 fusion protein promoted tumour cell apoptosis through the activation of caspase3. ANTP-SmacN7 fusion protein may reduce tumour cell radioresistance by inducing caspase3 activation.

Cell penetrating peptides fail to induce an innate immune response in epithelial cells in vitro: implications for continued therapeutic use.

Cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) offer the exciting potential of effectively delivering macromolecules to the cytoplasm of a cell that are otherwise impermeable to the plasma membrane. Although the use of these peptides has so far been well tolerated in clinical trials, it is important to remember that some of these CPPs were originally derived from pathogenic material. We therefore sought to determine if three of the most widely studied CPPs; HIV-TAT, Antennapedia and Transportan, initiated an immune response in epithelial cells. Using conditions where these peptides efficiently delivered a rhodamine tagged BSA cargo to the interior of epithelial cells, we failed to observe an effect on cell viability as determined by MTT assay (P>0.05). Further, CPP-mediated delivery of this protein cargo failed to activate NFκB, which would be indicative of toll-like receptor signalling. Finally, no significant increase in the release of the inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-8 and IL-6 was detected in epithelial cells exposed to CPP complexes for 72 h (P>0.05). Together, these results indicate that these commonly used CPPs are passive carriers that do not initiate epithelial cell-associated 'danger signals' during the process of cytoplasmic delivery of a model protein cargo.

Molecular mechanism of cytotoxicity induced by Hsp90-targeted Antp-TPR hybrid peptide in glioblastoma cells.

BACKGROUND: Heat-shock protein 90 (Hsp90) is vital to cell survival under conditions of stress, and binds client proteins to assist in protein stabilization, translocation of polypeptides across cell membranes, and recovery of proteins from aggregates. Therefore, Hsp90 has emerged as an important target for the treatment of cancer. We previously reported that novel Antp-TPR hybrid peptide, which can inhibit the interaction of Hsp90 with the TPR2A domain of Hop, induces selective cytotoxic activity to discriminate between normal and cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS: In this study, we investigated the functional cancer-cell killing mechanism of Antp-TPR hybrid peptide in glioblastoma (GB) cell lines. It was demonstrated that Antp-TPR peptide induced effective cytotoxic activity in GB cells through the loss of Hsp90 client proteins such as p53, Akt, CDK4, and cRaf. Antp-TPR also did not induce the up-regulation of Hsp70 and Hsp90 proteins, although a small-molecule inhibitor of Hsp90, 17-AAG, induced the up-regulation of these proteins. It was also found that Antp-TPR peptide increased the endoplasmic reticulum unfolded protein response, and the cytotoxic activity of this hybrid peptide to GB cells in the endoplasmic reticulum stress condition. CONCLUSION: These results show that targeting of Hsp90 by Antp-TPR could be an attractive approach to selective cancer-cell killing because no other Hsp90-targeted compounds show selective cytotoxic activity. Antp-TPR might provide potent and selective therapeutic options for the treatment of cancer.

How do Hox transcription factors find their target genes in the nucleus of living cells?

Homeotic mutations first found in Drosophila led to the identification of Hox genes in all bilateria. These genes are exceptional in that they are arranged in an ordered cluster, in which they are positioned in the same order along the chromosome as they are expressed along the antero-posterior axis to specify the corresponding body regions. They share a highly conserved DNA sequence of 180 bp, the homeobox which encodes the homeodomain, a 60 amino acid polypeptide involved in specific DNA and RNA binding and in protein-protein interactions. The discovery of the homeobox has uncovered for the first time a universal principle of specification of the body plan along the antero-posterior axis. The structure of the homeodomain has been determined by NMR spectroscopy and by X-ray crystallography. However, the mechanism by which the Hox proteins find their target genes in the nucleus of a living cell has been enigmatic. Transcriptome analysis indicates that there are hundreds of target genes to be regulated, both positively and negatively to ensure normal development. In the following, we show by Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS) and single molecule imaging in live salivary gland cells, that the mechanism of recognition is purely stochastic. The homeodomain associates and dissociates rapidly (in the ms range) with chromatin all along the chromosomes. If, however, it associates with a specific binding site in a puffed chromosome region, it remains bound for seconds or minutes to exert its function, by forming a complex with co-activators or co-repressors respectively. These direct measurements solve an old enigma of how Hox transcription factors find their target genes in the nucleus of live cells.

20ns molecular dynamics simulation of the antennapedia homeodomain-DNA complex: water interaction and DNA structure analysis.

Homeodomains are one of the important families of eukaryotic DNA-binding motifs and provide an important model system for studying protein-DNA interactions. The crystal structure and NMR structure of the antennapedia homeodomain-DNA complex and comparison between them is available. Although earlier works have shown that the direct contacts and water mediated contacts are important for the binding and specificity. The detail dynamical structural characteristics of the complex, water mediating interactions in the complex and also the detail study of the free DNA and protein has not done. In the present paper we have reported the results of 20ns MD simulation of this complex with the presence of explicit water and also the 20ns MD simulation of the protein and the DNA separately in explicit water. The results show that the complex remains stable during the last 8ns of the simulation. The part of the protein which is interacting with the DNA has fewer fluctuations than other part of the protein. The pattern of water distribution around the interacting center has a typical pattern for this complex and it is quite different from the free protein and the free DNA. Water molecules penetrate into the interacting center during the simulation. Several water bridges have been identified which is responsible for recognition but not observed in the crystal structure. The recognized DNA sequence (14 mer) has been characterized by helical and step parameters. The correlated motions of the DNA and the protein in the complexed form and the free form has been analyzed.

Distinct behaviour of the homeodomain derived cell penetrating peptide penetratin in interaction with different phospholipids.

BACKGROUND: Penetratin is a protein transduction domain derived from the homeoprotein Antennapedia. Thereby it is currently used as a cell penetrating peptide to introduce diverse molecules into eukaryotic cells, and it could also be involved in the cellular export of transcription factors. Moreover, it has been shown that it is able to act as an antimicrobial agent. The mechanisms involved in all these processes are quite controversial. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this article, we report spectroscopic, calorimetric and biochemical data on the penetratin interaction with three different phospholipids: phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) to mimic respectively the outer and the inner leaflets of the eukaryotic plasma membrane and phosphatidylglycerol (PG) to mimic the bacterial membrane. We demonstrate that with PC, penetratin is able to form vesicle aggregates with no major change in membrane fluidity and presents no well defined secondary structure organization. With PE, penetratin aggregates vesicles, increases membrane rigidity and acquires an α-helical structure. With PG membranes, penetratin does not aggregate vesicles but decreases membrane fluidity and acquires a structure with both α-helical and ß-sheet contributions. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These data from membrane models suggest that the different penetratin actions in eukaryotic cells (membrane translocation during export and import) and on prokaryotes may result from different peptide and lipid structural arrangements. The data suggest that, for eukaryotic cell penetration, penetratin does not acquire classical secondary structure but requires a different conformation compared to that in solution.

Disordered tails of homeodomains facilitate DNA recognition by providing a trade-off between folding and specific binding.

DNA binding specificity of homeodomain transcription factors is critically affected by disordered N-terminal tails (N-tails) that undergo a disorder-to-order transition upon interacting with DNA. The mechanism of the binding process and the molecular basis of selectivity are largely unknown. The coupling between folding and DNA binding of Antp and NK-2 homeodomains was investigated by coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations using the native protein-DNA complex. The disordered N-tails were found to decrease the stability of the free proteins by competing with the native intramolecular interactions and increasing the radius of gyration of the homeodomain cores. In the presence of DNA, however, the N-tails increase the stability of the homeodomains by reducing the coupling between folding and DNA binding. Detailed studies on Antp demonstrate that the N-tail anchors the homeodomain to DNA and accelerates formation of specific interactions all along the protein-DNA interface. The tidal electrostatic forces between the N-tail and DNA induce faster and tighter binding of the homeodomain core to the DNA; this mechanism conforms to a fly-casting mechanism. In agreement with experiments, the N-tail of Antp also improves the binding affinity for DNA, with a major contribution by the released waters. These results imply that varying the degree of folding upon binding and thereby modulating the size of the buried surface-disordered N-tails of homeodomains can fine-tune the binding strength for specific DNA sequences. Overall, both the kinetics and thermodynamics of specific DNA binding by homeodomains can be improved by N-tails using a mechanism that is inherent in their disordered state.

A PCR survey of Hox genes in the myzostomid Myzostoma cirriferum.

Using degenerate primers, we were able to identify seven Hox genes for the myzostomid Myzostoma cirriferum. The recovered fragments belong to anterior class (Mci_lab, Mci_pb), central class (Mci_Dfd, Mci_Lox5, Mci_Antp, Mci_Lox4), and posterior class (Mci_Post2) paralog groups. Orthology assignment was verified by phylogenetic analyses and presence of diagnostic regions in the homeodomain as well as flanking regions. The presence of Lox5, Lox4, and Post2 supports the inclusion of Myzostomida within Lophotrochozoa. We found signature residues within flanking regions of Lox5, which are also found in annelids, but not in Platyhelminthes. As such the available Hox genes data of myzostomids support an annelid relationship.

Protein evolution of ANTP and PRD homeobox genes.

BACKGROUND: Although homeobox genes have been the subject of many studies, little is known about the main amino acid changes that occurred early in the evolution of genes belonging to different classes. RESULTS: In this study, we report a method for the fast and efficient retrieval of sequences belonging to the ANTP (HOXL and NKL) and PRD classes. Furthermore, we look for diagnostic amino acid residues that can be used to distinguish HOXL, NKL and PRD genes. CONCLUSION: The reported protein features will facilitate the robust classification of homeobox genes from newly sequenced bilaterian genomes. Nevertheless, in non-bilaterian genomes our findings must be cautiously applied. In principle, as long as a good manually curated data set is available the approach here described can be applied to non-bilaterian organisms as well. Our results help focus experimental studies onto investigating the biochemical functions of key homeodomain residues in different gene classes.

Internalization via Antennapedia protein transduction domain of an scFv antibody toward c-Myc protein.

We constructed a single-chain variable fragment miniantibody (G11-scFv) directed toward the transactivation domain of c-Myc, which is fused with the internalization domain Int of Antennapedia at its carboxyl terminus (a cargo-carrier construct). In ELISA experiments, an EC(50) for binding saturation was achieved at concentrations of G11-scFv-Int(-) of approximately 10(-8) M. Internalization of a fluoresceinated Fl-G11-scFv-Int(+) construct was observed in intact human cultured cells with confocal microscopy. After 5 h of incubation in medium containing 1 microM Fl-G11-scFv-Int(+) or Fl-G11-scFv-Int(-), fluorescence intensity was determined in individual cells, both for cytoplasmic and nuclear compartments: concentration levels of Fl-G11-scFv-Int(+), relative to the extracellular culture medium concentration, were 4-5 times higher in the cytoplasm, 7-8 times higher in the nucleus, and 10 times higher in the nucleoli. In the same experimental conditions, the Fl-G11-scFv-Int(-) construct was 3-4 times more concentrated outside of the cells than inside. Cell membranes kept their integrity after 5 h of incubation. The antiproliferative activity of our miniantibody was studied on HCT116 cells. Incubation with 4 microM G11-scFv-Int(+) for 4 days induced very significant statistical and biological growth inhibition, whereas Int alone was completely inactive. Miniantibodies capable of penetrating cell membranes dramatically broaden the potential for innovative therapeutic agents and attack of new targets.

Targeting antiapoptotic Bcl-2 family members with cell-permeable BH3 peptides induces apoptosis signaling and death in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cells.

Head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) are frequently characterized by chemotherapy and radiation resistance, and by overexpression of Bcl-XL, an antiapoptotic member of the Bcl-2 protein family. In this report we examined whether cell-permeable peptides derived from the BH3 domains of proapoptotic Bax, Bad, or Bak could be used to target Bcl-XL and/or Bcl-2 in HNSCC cells, and induce apoptotic death in these cells. To render the peptides cell permeable, Antennapedia (Ant) or polyarginine (R8) peptide transduction domains were fused to the amino termini. Fluorescence microscopy of peptide-treated HNSCC cells revealed that the BH3 peptides colocalized with mitochondria, the site of Bcl-XL and Bcl-2 expression. By contrast, a mutant peptide (BaxE BH3) which cannot bind Bcl-XL or Bcl-2 was diffusely localized throughout the cytoplasm. Treatment of three HNSCC cell lines (1483, UM-22A, UM-22B) with the wild-type BH3 peptides resulted in loss of viability and induction of apoptosis, as assessed by MTS assays and annexin V staining. In general, Ant-conjugated peptides were more potent than R8-conjugated peptides, and Bad BH3 peptide was typically more potent than Bax BH3 or Bak BH3. Treatment of purified HNSCC mitochondria with BH3 peptides resulted in robust release of cytochrome c. Thus, the relative apoptosis resistance of HNSCC cells is not due to a deficit in this step of the intrinsic, mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis pathway. We conclude that cell-permeable BH3 peptides can be used to target Bcl-XL and/or Bcl-2 in HNSCC, and targeting of these proteins may have therapeutic value in the treatment of this disease.

A unique Extradenticle recruitment mode in the Drosophila Hox protein Ultrabithorax.

Hox transcription factors are essential for shaping body morphology in development and evolution. The control of Hox protein activity in part arises from interaction with the PBC class of partners, pre-B cell transcription factor (Pbx) proteins in vertebrates and Extradenticle (Exd) in Drosophila. Characterized interactions occur through a single mode, involving a short hexapeptide motif in the Hox protein. This apparent uniqueness in Hox-PBC interaction provides little mechanistic insight in how the same cofactors endow Hox proteins with specific and diverse activities. Here, we identify in the Drosophila Ultrabithorax (Ubx) protein a short motif responsible for an alternative mode of Exd recruitment. Together with previous reports, this finding highlights that the Hox protein Ubx has multiple ways to interact with the Exd cofactor and suggests that flexibility in Hox-PBC contacts contributes to specify and diversify Hox protein function.