Constitutive control of AKT1 gene expression by JUNB/CJUN in ALK+ anaplastic large-cell lymphoma: a novel crosstalk mechanism.

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive (ALK+) anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (ALCL) is an aggressive T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma characterized by the t(2;5), resulting in the overexpression of nucleophosmin (NPM)-ALK, which is known to activate the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway, resulting in cell cycle and apoptosis deregulation. ALK+ ALCL is also characterized by strong activator protein-1 (AP-1) activity and overexpression of two AP-1 transcription factors, CJUN and JUNB. Here, we hypothesized that a biologic link between AP-1 and AKT kinase may exist, thus contributing to ALCL oncogenesis. We show that JUNB and CJUN bind directly to the AKT1 promoter, inducing AKT1 transcription in ALK+ ALCL. Knockdown of JUNB and CJUN in ALK+ ALCL cell lines downregulated AKT1 mRNA and promoter activity and was associated with lower AKT1 protein expression and activation. We provide evidence that this is a transcriptional control mechanism shared by other cell types even though it may operate in a way that is cell context-specific. In addition, STAT3 (signal transducer and activator of transcription 3)-induced control of AKT1 transcription was functional in ALK+ ALCL and blocking of STAT3 and AP-1 signaling synergistically affected cell proliferation and colony formation. Our findings uncover a novel transcriptional crosstalk mechanism that links AP-1 and AKT kinase, which coordinate uncontrolled cell proliferation and survival in ALK+ ALCL.

Cooperation between p53 and the telomere-protecting shelterin component Pot1a in endometrial carcinogenesis.

Type II endometrial cancer (EMCA) represents only 10% of all EMCAs, but accounts for 40% of EMCA-related mortality. Previous studies of human tumors have shown an association between Type II tumors and damaged telomeres. We hypothesized that the lack of murine Type II EMCA models is due to the extremely long telomeres in laboratory mouse strains. We previously showed that telomerase-null mice with critically short telomeres developed endometrial lesions histologically resembling endometrial intraepithelial carcinoma (EIC), the accepted precursor for Type II EMCA. However, these mice did not develop invasive endometrial adenocarcinoma, and instead succumbed prematurely to multi-organ failure. Here, we modeled critical telomere attrition by conditionally inactivating Pot1a, a component of the shelterin complex that stabilizes telomeres, within endometrial epithelium. Inactivation of Pot1a by itself did not stimulate endometrial carcinogenesis, and did not result in detectable DNA damage or apoptosis in endometrium. However, simultaneous inactivation of Pot1a and p53 resulted in EIC-like lesions by 9 months indistinguishable from those seen in late generation telomerase-null mice. These lesions progressed to invasive endometrial adenocarcinomas as early as 9 months of age with metastatic disease in 100% of the animals by 15 months. These tumors were poorly differentiated endometrial adenocarcinomas with prominent nuclear atypia, resembling human Type II cancers. Furthermore, these tumors were aneuploid with double-stranded DNA breaks and end-to-end telomere fusions and most were tetraploid or near-tetraploid. These studies lend further support to the hypothesis that telomeric instability has a critical role in Type II endometrial carcinogenesis and provides an intriguing in-vivo correlate to recent studies implicating telomere-dependent tetraploidization as an important mechanism in carcinogenesis.

Activation induced by luteinizing hormone of type II protein kinase dependent on cyclic adenosine monophosphate and phosphorylation of soluble proteins in porcine granulosa cells.

The present experiments were designed to study whether exogenous LH could elicit acute cyclic AMP-mediated activation of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase and phosphorylation of cellular protein in intact porcine granulosa cells. Incubation of porcine granulosa cells (from 3 to 5 mm diameter follicles) with 2 microgram luteinizing hormone/ml (LH) caused a significant rise of cellular cyclic AMP content within 2 min of the addition of LH. The increase was dose-dependent and occurred between doses of 0.2 and 2.0 microgram LH/ml. Luteinizing hormone also caused a time- and dose-dependent dissociation of the type II cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase isozyme in porcine granulosa cells. Luteinizing hormone (0.05--2 microgram/ml) significantly dissociated the cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase between 2 and 30 min after stimulation. The protein kinase dissociation was a specific effect of LH and was not elicited by either adrenocorticotrophic hormone or prolactin. During the period of LH-induced protein kinase activation, several soluble granulosa cell proteins, ranging in molecular weights from about 43 000 to 99 000, became phosphorylated in a time-dpeendent and hormone-specific manner. The results suggest that cyclic AMP-mediated activation of granulosa cell type II cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase may be a prerequisite in the short-term molecular action of LH leading to LH-specific phosphorylation of several soluble granulosa cell proteins of an as yet unidentified function.