Pathological and Biological Significance of the Specific Glycan, TRA-1-60, on Aggressive Gastric Adenocarcinoma.

The glycans form a unique complex on the surface of cancer cells and play a pivotal role in tumor progression, impacting proliferation, invasion, and metastasis. TRA-1-60 is a glycan that was identified as a critical marker for the establishment of fully reprogrammed inducible pluripotent stem cells. Its expression has been detected in multiple cancer tissues, including embryonal carcinoma, prostate cancer, and pancreatic cancer, but the biological and pathological characterization of TRA-1-60-expressing tumor cells remains unclear within various types of malignancies. Here, we report the biological characteristics of TRA-1-60-expressing gastric cancer cells, especially those with its cell surface expression, and the therapeutic significance of targeting TRA-1-60. The cells with cell membrane expression of TRA-1-60 were mainly observed in the invasive area of patient gastric cancer tissues and correlated with advanced stages of the disease based on histopathological and clinicopathological analyses. In vitro analysis using a scirrhous gastric adenocarcinoma line, HSC-58, which highly expresses TRA-1-60 on its plasma membrane, revealed increased stress-resistant mechanisms, supported by the upregulation of glutathione synthetase and NCF-1 (p47phox) via lipid-ROS regulatory pathways, as detected by RNA-seq analysis followed by oxidative stress gene profiling. Our in vivo therapeutic study using the TRA-1-60-targeting antibody-drug conjugate, namely, Bstrongomab-conjugated monomethyl auristatin E, showed robust efficacy in a mouse model of peritoneal carcinomatosis induced by intraperitoneal xenograft of HSC-58, by markedly reducing massive tumor ascites. Thus, targeting the specific cell surface glycan, TRA-1-60, shows a significant therapeutic impact in advanced-stage gastric cancers.

Tumor-homing peptide and its utility for advanced cancer medicine.

Cell-penetrating peptides, such as antibodies, have gained great attention as tools for the development of specific delivery systems for payloads, which might be applied as non-invasive carriers in vivo. Among these, tumor-homing peptides recently have been studied for use in tumor medicine. Tumor-homing peptides are oligopeptides, usually consisting of 30 or fewer amino acids that are efficiently and specifically incorporated into tumor cells, suggesting their potential use in establishing novel non-invasive tumor imaging systems for diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Here, we briefly introduce the biological characteristics of our tumor-homing peptides, focusing especially on those developed using a random peptide library constructed using mRNA display technology. The advantage of the tumor-homing peptides is their biological safety, given that these molecules do not show significant cytotoxicity against non-neoplastic cells; lack serious antigenicity, which alternatively might evoke unfavorable immune responses and inflammation in vivo; and are rapidly incorporated into target cells/tissues, with rates exceeding those seen for antibodies. Given their small size, tumor-homing peptides also are easy to modify and redesign. Based on these merits, tumor-homing peptides are expected to find wide application in various aspects of tumor medicine, including imaging diagnostics (eg, with dye-conjugated probes for direct visualization of invasive/metastatic tumor lesions in vivo) and therapeutics (eg, using peptide-drug conjugates [PDCs] for tumor targeting). Although further evidence will be required to demonstrate their practical utility, tumor-homing peptides are expected to show great potential as a next-generation bio-tool contributing to precision medicine for cancer patients.

Visualizing the Rapid and Dynamic Elimination of Allogeneic T Cells in Secondary Lymphoid Organs.

Allogeneic organ transplants are rejected by the recipient immune system within several days or weeks. However, the rejection process of allogeneic T (allo-T) cells is poorly understood. In this study, using fluorescence-based monitoring and two-photon live imaging in mouse adoptive transfer system, we visualized the fate of allo-T cells in the in vivo environment and showed rapid elimination in secondary lymphoid organs (SLOs). Although i.v. transferred allo-T cells efficiently entered host SLOs, including lymph nodes and the spleen, ∼70% of the cells had disappeared within 24 h. At early time points, allo-T cells robustly migrated in the T cell area, whereas after 8 h, the numbers of arrested cells and cell fragments were dramatically elevated. Apoptotic breakdown of allo-T cells released a large amount of cell debris, which was efficiently phagocytosed and cleared by CD8+ dendritic cells. Rapid elimination of allo-T cells was also observed in nu/nu recipients. Depletion of NK cells abrogated allo-T cell reduction only in a specific combination of donor and recipient genetic backgrounds. In addition, F1 hybrid transfer experiments showed that allo-T cell killing was independent of the missing-self signature typically recognized by NK cells. These suggest the presence of a unique and previously uncharacterized modality of allorecognition by the host immune system. Taken together, our findings reveal an extremely efficient and dynamic process of allogeneic lymphocyte elimination in SLOs, which could not be recapitulated in vitro and is distinct from the rejection of solid organ and bone marrow transplants.

Crumbs3 is a critical factor that regulates invasion and metastasis of colon adenocarcinoma via the specific interaction with FGFR1.

Epithelial cell polarity regulator Crumbs3 (Crb3), a mammalian homolog within the Drosophila Crb gene family, was initially identified as an essential embryonic development factor. It is recently implicated in tumor suppression, though its specific functions are controversial. We here demonstrate that Crb3 strongly promotes tumor invasion and metastasis of human colon adenocarcinoma cells. Crb3 centrality to tumor migration was supported by strong expression at invasive front and metastatic foci of colonic adenocarcinoma of the patient tissues. Accordingly, two different Crb3-knockout (KO) lines, Crb3-KO (Crb3 -/-) DLD-1 and Crb3-KO WiDr from human colonic adenocarcinomas, were generated by the CRISPR-Cas9 system. Crb3-KO DLD-1 cells exhibited loss of cellular mobility in vitro and dramatic suppression of liver metastases in vivo in contrast to the wild type of DLD-1. Unlike DLD-1, Crb3-KO WiDr mobility and metastasis were unaffected, which were similar to wild-type WiDr. Proteome analysis of Crb3-coimmunopreciptated proteins identified different respective fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) isotypes specifically bound to Crb3 isoform a through their intracellular domain. In DLD-1, Crb3 showed membranous localization of FGFR1 leading to its functional activation, whereas Crb3 bound to cytoplasmic FGFR4 in WiDr without FGFR1 expression, leading to cellular growth. Correlative expression between Crb3 and FGFR1 was consistently detected in primary and metastatic colorectal cancer patient tissues. Taking these together, Crb3 critically accelerates cell migration, namely invasion and metastasis of human colon cancers, through specific interaction to FGFR1 on colon cancer cells.

Identification of TRA-1-60-positive cells as a potent refractory population in follicular lymphomas.

Despite receiving rituximab-combined chemotherapy, follicular lymphoma (FL) patients often suffer tumor recurrence and understand that the cause of relapse in FL would thus significantly ameliorate the tumor therapeutics. In the present study, we show that TRA-1-60-expressing cells are a unique population in FL, converge to the conventional stem cell marker Oct3/4 and ALDH1-positive population, and resist current B-lymphoma agents. TRA-1-60 expression was observed in scattered lymphoma cells in FL tissues only as well as in resting B-lymphocytes inside germinal centers. Retrospective comparison between recurrent and cognate primary tissues showed that the number of TRA-1-60-positive cells from rituximab, cyclophosphamide, hydroxydaunorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP)-treated FL had increased relative to primary tissue, a finding corroborated by assays on different rituximab-treated FL cell lines, FL-18 and DOHH2, wherein TRA-positive cell numbers increased over 10-fold compared to the untreated sample. Concordantly, scanty TRA-1-60-positive FL-18 cells implanted s.c. into mice evinced potent tumor-initiating capacity in vivo, where tumors were 12-fold larger in volume (P = 0.0021 < 0.005) and 13-fold heavier in weight (P = 0.0015 < 0.005) compared to those xenografted from TRA-negative cells. To explain these results, gene expression profiling and qPCR analysis indicated that TRA-1-60-positive cells defined a distinct population from that of TRA-negative cells, with upregulation of multiple drug transporters and therapeutic resistance genes. Hence, TRA-1-60-expressing cells in FL are considered to be vigorously intractable against conventional therapeutic agents, which may explain its refractory recurrence.

Crumbs3 regulates the expression of glycosphingolipids on the plasma membrane to promote colon cancer cell migration.

The cell polarity regulator Crumbs3 (Crb3) promotes colon cancer cell migration and metastasis. However, the underlying mechanism of cancer cell migration regulated by Crb3 has not been fully elucidated. Here, we demonstrated that Crb3 is associated with cell migration by regulating glycosphingolipid (GSL) expression in human colon cancer cells. Crb3-knockout (KO) cells showed a remarkable increase in ganglioside GM3 (GM3) on the cell surface. Reduced migration by Crb3-KO cells was restored by forced expression of both Crb3 and Neuraminidase3 (Neu3). Immunofluorescent staining revealed that most Crb3 is colocalized with the recycling endosome marker Rab11. These findings show that Crb3 may promote colon cancer cell migration by regulating the expression of GSLs on the cell surface.

Peptide-based tumor inhibitor encoding mitochondrial p14(ARF) is highly efficacious to diverse tumors.

p14(ARF) is one of the major tumor suppressors conventionally identified both as the mdm2-binding molecule restoring p53 function in the nucleus, and as a nucleophosmin-binding partner inside the nucleolous to stabilize ribosomal RNA. However, its recently reported mitochondrial localization has pointed to novel properties as a tumor suppressor. At the same time, functional peptides are gaining much attention in nanomedicine for their in vivo utility as non-invasive biologics. We previously reported the p14(ARF) -specific peptide that restored the sensitivity to gefitinib on the gefitinib-resistant lung cancer cells. Based on the information of this prototype peptide, here we generated the more powerful anti-tumor peptide "r9-CatB-p14 MIS," which comprises the minimal inhibitory sequence of the mitochondrial targeting p14(ARF) protein in combination with the proteolytic cleavage site for cathepsin B, which is activated in various tumor cells, fused with the nine-polyarginine-domain for cell penetration, and demonstrated its novel action of regulating mitochondrial function in accordance with localization of endogenous p14(ARF) . The p14 MIS peptide showed a potent tumor inhibiton in vitro and in vivo against not only lung cancer cells but also tumor cells of diverse lineages, via modulating mitochondrial membrane potential, with minimal cytotoxicity to non-neoplastic cells and tissues. Hence, this mitochondrially targeted p14 peptide agent provides a novel basis for non-invasive peptide-based antitumor therapeutics.

Wnt signalling regulates paxillin ubiquitination essential for mesodermal cell motility.

Gastrulation movements are critical for establishing the three germ layers and the architecture of vertebrate embryos. During Xenopus laevis gastrulation, mesodermal tissue migrates on the blastocoel roof and elongates along the antero-posterior axis. During this process, cells in the dorsal mesoderm are polarized and intercalate with each other, which is defined as convergent extension and is known to be regulated by the non-canonical Wnt pathway. Here, we show that paxillin plays an essential role in this process. Paxillin is a focal-adhesion associated protein implicated in the regulation of actin cytoskeletal organization and cell motility, but its role in Xenopus embryogenesis has not yet been clarified. We demonstrate that the Wnt pathway controls the ubiquitination and stability of paxillin, and that this regulatory mechanism is essential for convergent extension movements. We identified a RING finger protein XRNF185, which physically binds to paxillin and the proteasome. XRNF185 destabilizes paxillin at focal adhesions and promotes mesodermal cell migration during convergent extension. We propose a mechanism to regulate gastrulation movements that involves paxillin ubiquitination and stability controlled by Wnt signalling.

Efficient detection of RNA-protein interactions using tethered RNAs.

The diverse localization of transcripts in cells suggests that there are many specific RNA-protein interactions that have yet to be identified. Progress has been limited, however, by the lack of a robust method to detect and isolate the RNA-binding proteins. Here we describe the use of an RNA aptamer, scaffolded to a tRNA, to create an affinity matrix that efficiently pulls down transcript-specific RNA-binding proteins from cell lysates. The addition of the tRNA scaffold to a Streptavidin aptamer (tRSA) increased binding efficiency by ∼ 10-fold. The tRSA system with an attached G-quartet sequence also could efficiently and specifically capture endogenous Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein (FMRP), which recognizes this RNA sequence. An alternative method, using biotinylated RNA, captured FMRP less efficiently than did our tRSA method. Finally we demonstrate the identification of novel RNA-binding proteins that interact with intron2 or 3'-UTR of the polarity protein Crumbs3 transcript. Proteins captured by these RNA sequences attached to the tRNA scaffold were identified by mass spectrometry. GFP-tagged versions of these proteins also showed specific interaction with either the Crb3 intron2 or 3'-UTR. Our tRSA technique should find wide application in mapping the RNA-protein interactome.

Crumbs3 is expressed in oral squamous cell carcinomas and promotes cell migration and proliferation by affecting RhoA activity.

Despite the recent progression of treatments, the 5-year survival rate of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is still poor. One of the most critical factors affecting prognosis is tumor metastasis. Developing novel molecular targeted therapies by analyzing the molecular pathway of OSCC metastasis is an urgent issue. The present study aimed to characterize the expression and function of crumbs3 (Crb3) in OSCC cell migration. Immunohistochemistry and immunoblotting revealed that Crb3 was expressed in tissues from patients with OSCC and OSCC cell lines. The motility of OSCC cell lines was decreased by knockdown of Crb3 without affecting proliferation. However, Crb3-knockout (KO) clones exhibited decreases in both cell migration and proliferation. The expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition markers was not altered in Crb3-KO clones compared with parent cells. A xenograft mouse model of lung metastasis revealed that the metastatic potential of Crb3-KO clones was reduced. As seen with Crb3-KO clones, the motility of OSCC cells was decreased by treatment with inhibitors of RhoA activation. Serum-induced activation of RhoA in OSCC cells was evaluated by comparing the amount of GTP-bound RhoA using affinity matrices, revealing that RhoA activation was decreased in Crb3-KO clones. To the best of our knowledge, the present study was the first to demonstrate that Crb3 was expressed in squamous cell carcinoma tissues and promoted cell migration and proliferation, which was associated with RhoA activation in OSCC cells.

PLOD2 Is Essential to Functional Activation of Integrin ß1 for Invasion/Metastasis in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinomas.

Identifying the specific functional regulator of integrin family molecules in cancer cells is critical because they are directly involved in tumor invasion and metastasis. Here we report high expression of PLOD2 in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) and its critical role as a stabilizer of integrin ß1, enabling integrin ß1 to initiate tumor invasion/metastasis. Integrin ß1 stabilized by PLOD2-mediated hydroxylation was recruited to the plasma membrane, its functional site, and accelerated tumor cell motility, leading to tumor metastasis in vivo, whereas loss of PLOD2 expression abrogated it. In accordance with molecular analysis, examination of oropharyngeal SCC tissues from patients corroborated PLOD2 expression associated with integrin ß1 at the invasive front of tumor nests. PLOD2 is thus implicated as the key regulator of integrin ß1 that prominently regulates tumor invasion and metastasis, and it provides important clues engendering novel therapeutics for these intractable cancers.

Essential role of MARCKS in cortical actin dynamics during gastrulation movements.

Myristoylated alanine-rich C kinase substrate (MARCKS) is an actin-binding, membrane-associated protein expressed during Xenopus embryogenesis. We analyzed its function in cytoskeletal regulation during gastrulation. Here, we show that blockade of its function impaired morphogenetic movements, including convergent extension. MARCKS was required for control of cell morphology, motility, adhesion, protrusive activity, and cortical actin formation in embryonic cells. We also demonstrate that the noncanonical Wnt pathway promotes the formation of lamellipodia- and filopodia-like protrusions and that MARCKS is necessary for this activity. These findings show that MARCKS regulates the cortical actin formation that is requisite for dynamic morphogenetic movements.

PODXL1 promotes metastasis of the pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma by activating the C5aR/C5a axis from the tumor microenvironment.

Pancreatic invasive ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a representative intractable malignancy under the current cancer therapies, and is considered a scirrhous carcinoma because it develops dense stroma. Both PODXL1, a member of CD34 family molecules, and C5aR, a critical cell motility inducer, have gained recent attention, as their expression was reported to correlate with poor prognosis for patients with diverse origins including PDAC; however, previous studies reported independently on their respective biological significance. Here we demonstrate that PODXL1 is essential for metastasis of PDAC cells through its specific interaction with C5aR. In vitro assay demonstrated that PODXL1 bound to C5aR, which stabilized C5aR protein and recruited it to cancer cell plasma membranes to receive C5a, an inflammatory chemoattractant factor. PODXL1 knockout in PDAC cells abrogated their metastatic property in vivo, emulating the liver metastatic mouse model treated with anti-C5a neutralizing antibody. In molecular studies, PODXL1 triggered EMT on PDAC cells in response to stimulation by C5a, corroborating PODXL1 involvement in PDAC cellular invasive properties via specific interaction with the C5aR/C5a axis. Confirming the molecular assays, histological examination showed coexpression of PODXL1 and C5aR at the invasive front of primary cancer nests as well as in liver metastatic foci of PDAC both in the mouse metastasis model and patient tissues. Hence, the novel direct interaction between PODXL1 and the C5aR/C5a axis may provide a better integrated understanding of PDAC biological characteristics including its tumor microenvironment factors.

Extracellular S100A11 Plays a Critical Role in Spread of the Fibroblast Population in Pancreatic Cancers.

The fertile stroma in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDACs) has been suspected to greatly contribute to PDAC progression. Since the main cell constituents of the stroma are fibroblasts, there is crosstalking(s) between PDAC cells and surrounding fibroblasts in the stroma, which induces a fibroblast proliferation burst. We have reported that several malignant cancer cells including PDAC cells secrete a pronounced level of S100A11, which in turn stimulates proliferation of cancer cells via the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) in an autocrine manner. Owing to the RAGE+ expression in fibroblasts, the extracellular abundant S100A11 will affect adjacent fibroblasts. In this study, we investigated the significance of the paracrine axis of S100A11-RAGE in fibroblasts for their proliferation activity. In in vitro settings, extracellular S100A11 induced upregulation of fibroblast proliferation. Our mechanistic studies revealed that the induction is through RAGE-MyD88-mTOR-p70 S6 kinase upon S100A11 stimulation. The paracrine effect on fibroblasts is linked mainly to triggering growth but not cellular motility. Thus, the identified pathway might become a potential therapeutic target to suppress PDAC progression through preventing PDAC-associated fibroblast proliferation.

Upregulation of Mobility in Pancreatic Cancer Cells by Secreted S100A11 Through Activation of Surrounding Fibroblasts.

S100A11, a member of the S100 family of proteins, is actively secreted from pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells. However, the role of the extracellular S100A11 in PDAC progression remains unclear. In the present study, we investigated the extracellular role of S100A11 in crosstalking between PDAC cells and surrounding fibroblasts in PDAC progression. An abundant S100A11 secreted from pancreatic cancer cells stimulated neighboring fibroblasts through receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) upon S100A11 binding and was followed by not only an enhanced cancer cell motility in vitro but also an increased number of the PDAC-derived circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in vivo. Mechanistic investigation of RAGE downstream in fibroblasts revealed a novel contribution of a mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase (MAPKKK), tumor progression locus 2 (TPL2), which is required for positive regulation of PDAC cell motility through induction of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2) and its catalyzed production of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), a strong chemoattractive fatty acid. The extracellularly released PGE2 from fibroblasts was required for the rise in cellular migration as well as infiltration of their adjacent PDAC cells in a coculture setting. Taken together, our data reveal a novel role of the secretory S100A11 in PDAC disseminative progression through activation of surrounding fibroblasts triggered by the S100A11-RAGE-TPL2-COX2 pathway. The findings of this study will contribute to the establishment of a novel therapeutic antidote to PDACs that are difficult to treat by regulating cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) through targeting the identified pathway.

Critical role of the MCAM-ETV4 axis triggered by extracellular S100A8/A9 in breast cancer aggressiveness.

Metastatic breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-associated death in women. The progression of this fatal disease is associated with inflammatory responses that promote cancer cell growth and dissemination, eventually leading to a reduction of overall survival. However, the mechanism(s) of the inflammation-boosted cancer progression remains unclear. In this study, we found for the first time that an extracellular cytokine, S100A8/A9, accelerates breast cancer growth and metastasis upon binding to a cell surface receptor, melanoma cell adhesion molecule (MCAM). Our molecular analyses revealed an important role of ETS translocation variant 4 (ETV4), which is significantly activated in the region downstream of MCAM upon S100A8/A9 stimulation, in breast cancer progression in vitro as well as in vivo. The MCAM-mediated activation of ETV4 induced a mobile phenotype called epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in cells, since we found that ETV4 transcriptionally upregulates ZEB1, a strong EMT inducer, at a very high level. In contrast, downregulation of either MCAM or ETV4 repressed EMT, resulting in greatly weakened tumor growth and lung metastasis. Overall, our results revealed that ETV4 is a novel transcription factor regulated by the S100A8/A9-MCAM axis, which leads to EMT through ZEB1 and thereby to metastasis in breast cancer cells. Thus, therapeutic strategies based on our findings might improve patient outcomes.

Stromal mesenchymal stem cells facilitate pancreatic cancer progression by regulating specific secretory molecules through mutual cellular interaction.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is currently one of the most intractable malignancies with a typical scirrhous pattern in histology. Due to its abundant tumor stroma and scant vascularization, chemotherapeutic agents are considered inefficiently permeable to cancer nests, making it highly difficult to cure the patients with PDAC. However, PDAC is also considered to owe its intractability to other critical factors such as cellular interaction between tumor cells and tumor microenvironment as well as architectural barriers, which increases in therapeutic resistance. Here, we report a specific cellular interaction between PDAC cells and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) intermingled in PDAC stroma, which facilitates cancer invasion. Secretory phenotype profiling revealed that production of Amphiregulin (AREG) and MMP-3 were specifically upregulated under the coexistence of BxPC3 cells with human MSCs (approximately four to ten folds in AREG, and twenty to sixty-folds in MMP-3 compared to that of BxPC3 cells alone), whereas MMP-9 expression was decreased (less than one-tenth comparing with that of BxPC3 cells alone). Blockage of AREG production by its specific siRNA removed MSC-mediated driving force of BxPC3 invasiveness. Immunohistochemical analysis of tissue samples obtained both from PDAC patients and PDAC imitating mouse xenografted models revealed that significant coexpression of AREG and its receptor EGFR were detected on the cancer cells at invasive front. These results strongly suggested that cellular interaction between cancer cells and MSCs in the PDAC stroma might be critical to cancer progression, especially in the process of local invasion and the early stage development of metastasis.

Active Secretion of Dimerized S100A11 Induced by the Peroxisome in Mesothelioma Cells.

S100A11, a small Ca2+ binding protein, acts extracellularly as a mediator of cancer progression. That raises the question of how a protein that lacks the classical secretory signal is able to be secreted outside cells without being damaged. Some insights into this question have been obtained, and there has been accumulating evidence indicating a pivotal role of a non-classical vesicle-mediated pathway using lysosomes or peroxisomes for the protein secretion. To obtain a more precise insight into the secretory mechanism of S100A11, we first screened representative cancer cells exhibiting significantly active secretion of S100A11. From the results of profiling, we turned our attention to aggressive cancer mesothelioma cells. In mesothelioma cells, we found that abundant dimeric S100A11 was produced selectively in the peroxisome after transportation of monomeric S100A11 through an interaction with PEX14, a peroxisome membrane protein, resulting in peroxisomal secretion of dimerized S100A11. In an extracellular environment in vitro, dimerized S100A11 promoted mesothelial cell invasion indirectly with the help of fibroblast cells. Overall, the results indicate that the peroxisome functions as an essential vesicle for the production of dimerized S100A11 and the subsequent secretion of the protein from mesothelioma cells and that peroxisome-mediated secretion of dimerized S100A11 might play a critical role in mesothelioma progression in a tumor microenvironment.

Detection of RNA-Protein Interactions Using Tethered RNA Affinity Capture.

Recent progress in large-scale nucleic acid analysis technology has revealed the presence of vast numbers of RNA species in cells, and extensive processing. To investigate the functions of these transcripts highly efficient methods are needed to analyze their interactions with RNA-binding proteins (RNBPs), and to understand the binding mechanisms. Many methods have been described to identify RNBPs, but none are wholly satisfactory, in part because RNAs are flexible macromolecules that adopt multiple conformations only some of which might bind to specific proteins. Here we describe a novel in vitro RNA-pull-down assay using tRNA scaffolded Streptavidin Aptamer (tRSA), to identify transcript specific RNA binding protein from mammalian cell lysates. The tRNA scaffold functions to stabilize the structure of the aptamer and the attached RNA, increasing the efficiency of the affinity purification.

Antitumor impact of p14ARF on gefitinib-resistant non-small cell lung cancers.

Activation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) has been observed in many malignant tumors and its constitutive signal transduction facilitates the proliferation of tumors. EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors, such as gefitinib, are widely used as a molecular-targeting agent for the inactivation of EGFR signaling and show considerable therapeutic effect in non-small cell lung cancers harboring activating EGFR mutations. However, prolonged treatment inevitably produces tumors with additional gefitinib-resistant mutations in EGFR, which is a critical issue for current therapeutics. We aimed to characterize the distinct molecular response to gefitinib between the drug-resistant and drug-sensitive lung adenocarcinoma cells in order to learn about therapeutics based on the molecular information. From the quantitative PCR analysis, we found a specific increase in p14(ARF) expression in gefitinib-sensitive lung adenocarcinoma clones, which was absent in gefitinib-resistant clones. Moreover, mitochondria-targeted p14(ARF) triggered the most augmented apoptosis in both clones. We identified the amino acid residues spanning from 38 to 65 as a functional core of mitochondrial p14(ARF) (p14 38-65 a.a.), which reduced the mitochondrial membrane potential and caused caspase-9 activation. The synthesized peptide covering the p14 38-65 a.a. induced growth suppression of the gefitinib-resistant clones without affecting nonneoplastic cells. Notably, transduction of the minimized dose of the p14 38-65 peptide restored the response to gefitinib like that in the sensitive clones. These findings suggest that the region of p14(ARF) 38-65 a.a. is critical in the pharmacologic action of gefitinib against EGFR-mutated lung adenocarcinoma cells and has potential utility in the therapeutics of gefitinib-resistant cancers.