PTEN Regulates PI(3,4)P2 Signaling Downstream of Class I PI3K.

The PI3K signaling pathway regulates cell growth and movement and is heavily mutated in cancer. Class I PI3Ks synthesize the lipid messenger PI(3,4,5)P3. PI(3,4,5)P3 can be dephosphorylated by 3- or 5-phosphatases, the latter producing PI(3,4)P2. The PTEN tumor suppressor is thought to function primarily as a PI(3,4,5)P3 3-phosphatase, limiting activation of this pathway. Here we show that PTEN also functions as a PI(3,4)P2 3-phosphatase, both in vitro and in vivo. PTEN is a major PI(3,4)P2 phosphatase in Mcf10a cytosol, and loss of PTEN and INPP4B, a known PI(3,4)P2 4-phosphatase, leads to synergistic accumulation of PI(3,4)P2, which correlated with increased invadopodia in epidermal growth factor (EGF)-stimulated cells. PTEN deletion increased PI(3,4)P2 levels in a mouse model of prostate cancer, and it inversely correlated with PI(3,4)P2 levels across several EGF-stimulated prostate and breast cancer lines. These results point to a role for PI(3,4)P2 in the phenotype caused by loss-of-function mutations or deletions in PTEN.

Perturbations of PIP3 signalling trigger a global remodelling of mRNA landscape and reveal a transcriptional feedback loop.

PIP3 is synthesized by the Class I PI3Ks and regulates complex cell responses, such as growth and migration. Signals that drive long-term reshaping of cell phenotypes are difficult to resolve because of complex feedback networks that operate over extended times. PIP3-dependent modulation of mRNA accumulation is clearly important in this process but is poorly understood. We have quantified the genome-wide mRNA-landscape of non-transformed, breast epithelium-derived MCF10a cells and its response to acute regulation by EGF, in the presence or absence of a PI3Kα inhibitor, compare it to chronic activation of PI3K signalling by cancer-relevant mutations (isogenic cells expressing an oncomutant PI3Kα allele or lacking the PIP3-phosphatase/tumour-suppressor, PTEN). Our results show that whilst many mRNAs are changed by long-term genetic perturbation of PIP3 signalling ('butterfly effect'), a much smaller number do so in a coherent fashion with the different PIP3 perturbations. This suggests a subset of more directly regulated mRNAs. We show that mRNAs respond differently to given aspects of PIP3 regulation. Some PIP3-sensitive mRNAs encode PI3K pathway components, thus suggesting a transcriptional feedback loop. We identify the transcription factor binding motifs SRF and PRDM1 as important regulators of PIP3-sensitive mRNAs involved in cell movement.

Quantification of PtdInsP3 molecular species in cells and tissues by mass spectrometry.

Class I phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K) isoforms generate the intracellular signaling lipid, phosphatidylinositol(3,4,5)trisphosphate (PtdIns(3,4,5)P(3)). PtdIns(3,4,5)P(3) regulates major aspects of cellular behavior, and the use of both genetic and pharmacological intervention has revealed important isoform-specific roles for PI3Ks in health and disease. Despite this interest, current methods for measuring PtdIns(3,4,5)P(3) have major limitations, including insensitivity, reliance on radiolabeling, low throughput and an inability to resolve different fatty-acyl species. We introduce a methodology based on phosphate methylation coupled to high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) to solve many of these problems and describe an integrated approach to quantify PtdIns(3,4,5)P(3) and related phosphoinositides (regio-isomers of PtdInsP and PtdInsP(2) are not resolved). This methodology can be used to quantify multiple fatty-acyl species of PtdIns(3,4,5)P(3) in unstimulated mouse and human cells (≥10(5)) or tissues (≥0.1 mg) and their increase upon appropriate stimulation.

Lysophospholipids stimulate prostate cancer cell migration via TRPV2 channel activation.

The physiological role, the mechanisms of activation, as well as the endogenous regulators for the non-selective cationic channel TRPV2 are not known so far. In the present work we report that endogenous lysophospholipids such as lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) and lysophosphatidylinositol (LPI) induce a calcium influx via TRPV2 channel. This activation is dependent on the length of the side-chain and the nature of the lysophospholipid head-group. TRPV2-mediated calcium uptake stimulated by LPC and LPI occurred via Gq/Go-protein and phosphatidylinositol-3,4 kinase (PI3,4K) signalling. We have shown that the mechanism of TRPV2 activation induced by LPC and LPI is due to the TRPV2 channel translocation to the plasma membrane. The activation of TRPV2 channel by LPC and LPI leads to an increase in the cell migration of the prostate cancer cell line PC3. We have demonstrated that TRPV2 is directly involved in both steady-state and lysophospholipid-stimulated cancer cell migration. Thus, for the first time, we have identified one of the natural regulators of TRPV2 channel, one of the mechanisms of TRPV2 activation and regulation, as well as its pathophysiological role in cancer.

PI3-kinase promotes TRPV2 activity independently of channel translocation to the plasma membrane.

Cellular or chemical activators for most transient receptor potential channels of the vanilloid subfamily (TRPV) have been identified in recent years. A remarkable exception to this is TRPV2, for which cellular events leading to channel activation are still a matter of debate. Diverse stimuli such as extreme heat or phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3-kinase) regulated membrane insertion have been shown to promote TRPV2 channel activity. However, some of these results have proved difficult to reproduce and may underlie different gating mechanisms depending on the cell type in which TRPV2 channels are expressed. Here, we show that expression of recombinant TRPV2 can induce cytotoxicity that is directly related to channel activity since it can be prevented by introducing a charge substitution in the pore-forming domain of the channel, or by reducing extracellular calcium. In stably transfected cells, TRPV2 expression results in an outwardly rectifying current that can be recorded at all potentials, and in an increase of resting intracellular calcium concentration that can be partly prevented by serum starvation. Using cytotoxicity as a read-out of channel activity and direct measurements of cell surface expression of TRPV2, we show that inhibition of the PI3-kinase decreases TRPV2 channel activity but does not affect the trafficking of the channel to the plasma membrane. It is concluded that PI3-kinase induces or modulates the activity of recombinant TRPV2 channels; in contrast to the previously proposed mechanism, activation of TRPV2 channels by PI3-kinase is not due to channel translocation to the plasma membrane.

Investigating the effect of arachidonate supplementation on the phosphoinositide content of MCF10a breast epithelial cells.

Phosphoinositides in primary mammalian tissue are highly enriched in a stearoyl/arachidonyl (C38:4) diacylgycerol backbone. However, mammalian cells grown in culture typically contain more diverse molecular species of phosphoinositides, characterised by a reduction in arachidonyl content in the sn-2 position. We have analysed the phosphoinositide species in MCF10a cells grown in culture by mass spectrometry. Under either serum or serum starved conditions the most abundant species of PI, PIP, PIP2 and PIP3 had masses which corresponded to C36:2, C38:4, C38:3, C38:2 and C36:1 diacylglycerol backbones and the relative proportions of each molecular species were broadly similar between each phosphoinositide class (approx. 50%, 25%, 10%, 10% and 10% respectively, for the species listed above). Supplementing the culture medium with BSA-loaded arachidonic acid promoted a rapid increase in the proportion of the C38:4 species in all phosphoinositide classes (from approx. 25%-60% of total species within 24 h), but the total amount of all combined species for each class remained remarkably constant. Stimulation of cells, cultured in either normal or arachidonate-enriched conditions, with 2 ng/ml EGF for 90 s caused substantial activation of Class I PI3K and accumulation of PIP3. Despite the increased proportion of C38:4 PIP3 under the arachidonate-supplemented conditions, the total amount of all combined PIP3 species accumulating in response to EGF was the same, with or without arachidonate supplementation; there were however small but significant preferences for the conversion of some PIP2 species to PIP3, with the polyunsaturated C38:4 and C38:3 species being more favoured over other species. These results suggest the enzymes which interconvert phosphoinositides are able to act on several different molecular species and homoeostatic mechanisms are in place to deliver similar phosphoinositide pool sizes under quite different conditions of arachidonate availability. They also suggest enzymes regulating PIP3 levels downstream of growth factor stimulation (i.e. PI3Ks and PIP3-phosphatases) show some acyl selectivity and further work should be directed at assessing whether different acyl species of PIP3 exhibit differing signalling potential.

BMX acts downstream of PI3K to promote colorectal cancer cell survival and pathway inhibition sensitizes to the BH3 mimetic ABT-737.

Evasion of apoptosis is a hallmark of cancer, and reversing this process by inhibition of survival signaling pathways is a potential therapeutic strategy. Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling can promote cell survival and is upregulated in solid tumor types, including colorectal cancer (CRC), although these effects are context dependent. The role of PI3K in tumorigenesis combined with their amenability to specific inhibition makes them attractive drug targets. However, we observed that inhibition of PI3K in HCT116, DLD-1, and SW620 CRC cells did not induce apoptotic cell death. Moreover, these cells were relatively resistant to the Bcl-2 homology domain 3 (BH3) mimetic ABT-737, which directly targets the Bcl-2 family of apoptosis regulators. To test the hypothesis that PI3K inhibition lowers the apoptotic threshold without causing apoptosis per se, PI3K inhibitors were combined with ABT-737. PI3K inhibition enhanced ABT-737-induced apoptosis by 2.3- to 4.5-fold and reduced expression levels of MCL-1, the resistance biomarker for ABT-737. PI3K inhibition enhanced ABT-737-induced apoptosis a further 1.4- to 2.4-fold in CRC cells with small interfering RNA-depleted MCL-1, indicative of additional sensitizing mechanisms. The observation that ABT-737-induced apoptosis was unaffected by inhibition of PI3K downstream effectors AKT and mTOR, implicated a novel PI3K-dependant pathway. To elucidate this, an RNA interference (RNAi) screen of potential downstream effectors of PI3K signaling was conducted, which demonstrated that knockdown of the TEC kinase BMX sensitized to ABT-737. This suggests that BMX is an antiapoptotic downstream effector of PI3K, independent of AKT.

Lysophosphatidylinositol-acyltransferase-1 (LPIAT1) is required to maintain physiological levels of PtdIns and PtdInsP(2) in the mouse.

We disrupted the gene encoding lysophosphatidylinositol-acyltransferase-1 (LPIAT1) in the mouse with the aim of understanding its role in determining cellular phosphoinositide content. LPIAT1(-/-) mice were born at lower than Mendelian ratios and exhibited a severe developmental brain defect. We compared the phospholipid content of livers and brains from LPIAT1(-/-) and LPIAT1(+/+) littermates by LC-ESI/MS. In accord with previous studies, the most abundant molecular species of each phosphoinositide class (PtdIns, PtdInsP, PtdInsP2 and PtdInsP3) possessed a C38∶4 complement of fatty-acyl esters (C18∶0 and C20∶4 are usually assigned to the sn-1 and sn-2 positions, respectively). LPIAT1(-/-) liver and brain contained relatively less of the C38∶4 species of PtdIns, PtdInsP and PtdInsP2 (dropping from 95-97% to 75-85% of the total species measured for each lipid class) and relatively more of the less abundant species (PtdInsP3 less abundant species were below our quantification levels). The increases in the less abundant PtdIns and PtdInsP2 species did not compensate for the loss in C38∶4 species, resulting in a 26-44% reduction in total PtdIns and PtdInsP2 levels in both brain and liver. LPIAT1(-/-) brain and liver also contained increased levels of C18∶0 lyso-PtdIns (300% and 525% respectively) indicating a defect in the reacylation of this molecule. LPIAT1(-/-) brain additionally contained significantly reduced C38∶4 PC and PE levels (by 47% and 55% respectively), possibly contributing to the phenotype in this organ. The levels of all other molecular species of PC, PE, PS and PA measured in the brain and liver were very similar between LPIAT1(-/-) and LPIAT1(+/+) samples. These results suggest LPIAT1 activity plays a non-redundant role in maintaining physiological levels of PtdIns within an active deacylation/reacylation cycle in mouse tissues. They also suggest that this pathway must act in concert with other, as yet unidentified, mechanisms to achieve the enrichment observed in C38∶4 molecular species of phosphoinositides.

Signaling via class IA Phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3K) in human, breast-derived cell lines.

We have addressed the differential roles of class I Phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3K) in human breast-derived MCF10a (and iso-genetic derivatives) and MDA-MB 231 and 468 cells. Class I PI3Ks are heterodimers of p110 catalytic (α, ß, δ and γ) and p50-101 regulatory subunits and make the signaling lipid, phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-trisphosphate (PtdIns(3,4,5)P3) that can activate effectors, eg protein kinase B (PKB), and responses, eg migration. The PtdIns(3,4,5)P3-3-phosphatase and tumour-suppressor, PTEN inhibits this pathway. p110α, but not other p110s, has a number of onco-mutant variants that are commonly found in cancers. mRNA-seq data shows that MCF10a cells express p110ß>>α>δ with undetectable p110γ. Despite this, EGF-stimulated phosphorylation of PKB depended upon p110α-, but not ß- or δ- activity. EGF-stimulated chemokinesis, but not chemotaxis, was also dependent upon p110α, but not ß- or δ- activity. In the presence of single, endogenous alleles of onco-mutant p110α (H1047R or E545K), basal, but not EGF-stimulated, phosphorylation of PKB was increased and the effect of EGF was fully reversed by p110α inhibitors. Cells expressing either onco-mutant displayed higher basal motility and EGF-stimulated chemokinesis.This latter effect was, however, only partially-sensitive to PI3K inhibitors. In PTEN(-/-) cells, basal and EGF-stimulated phosphorylation of PKB was substantially increased, but the p110-dependency was variable between cell types. In MDA-MB 468s phosphorylation of PKB was significantly dependent on p110ß, but not α- or δ- activity; in PTEN(-/-) MCF10a it remained, like the parental cells, p110α-dependent. Surprisingly, loss of PTEN suppressed basal motility and EGF-stimulated chemokinesis. These results indicate that; p110α is required for EGF signaling to PKB and chemokinesis, but not chemotaxis; onco-mutant alleles of p110α augment signaling in the absence of EGF and may increase motility, in part, via acutely modulating PI3K-activity-independent mechanisms. Finally, we demonstrate that there is not a universal mechanism that up-regulates p110ß function in the absence of PTEN.

Pharmacological characterization and molecular determinants of the activation of transient receptor potential V2 channel orthologs by 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate.

Despite its expression in different cell types, transient receptor potential V2 (TRPV2) is still the most cryptic members of the TRPV channel family. 2-Aminoethoxydiphenyl borate (2APB) has been shown to be a common activator of TRPV1, TRPV2, and TRPV3, but 2APB-triggered TRPV2 activation remains to be thoroughly characterized. In this study, we have developed an assay based on cell lines stably expressing mouse TRPV2 channels and intracellular calcium measurements to perform a pharmacological profiling of the channel. Phenyl borate derivatives were found to activate mouse TRPV2 with similar potencies and thus were used to screen a panel of channel blockers. Besides the classic TRP inhibitors ruthenium red (RR) and 1-(beta-[3-(4-methoxyphenyl) propoxy]-4-methoxyphenethyl)-1H-imidazole hydrochloride (SKF96365), two potassium channel blockers, tetraethylammonium (TEA) and 4-aminopyridine, and an inhibitor of capacitative calcium entry, 1-(2-(trifluoromethyl) phenyl) imidazole (TRIM), were found to inhibit TRPV2 activation by 100 microM 2APB. Activation by 300 microM 2APB, however, could only be inhibited by RR and TRIM. Electrophysiological recordings demonstrated that TEA inhibition was use-dependent, suggesting that high concentrations of 2APB might induce a progressive conformational change of the channel. Comparison of TRPV2 orthologs revealed that the human channel was insensitive to 2APB. Analysis of chimeric constructs of mouse and human TRPV2 channels showed that the molecular determinants of 2APB sensitivity could be localized to the intracellular amino and carboxyl domains. Finally, using lentiviral-driven expression, we demonstrate that hTRPV2 exerts a dominant-negative effect on 2APB activation of native rodent TRPV2 channels and thus may provide an interesting tool to investigate cellular functions of TRPV2 channels.