Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) is necessary for the epithelial-mesenchymal transition in mammary epithelial cells.

Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID), which functions in antibody diversification, is also expressed in a variety of germ and somatic cells. Evidence that AID promotes DNA demethylation in epigenetic reprogramming phenomena, and that it is induced by inflammatory signals, led us to investigate its role in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a critical process in normal morphogenesis and tumor metastasis. We find that expression of AID is induced by inflammatory signals that induce the EMT in nontransformed mammary epithelial cells and in ZR75.1 breast cancer cells. shRNA-mediated knockdown of AID blocks induction of the EMT and prevents cells from acquiring invasive properties. Knockdown of AID suppresses expression of several key EMT transcriptional regulators and is associated with increased methylation of CpG islands proximal to the promoters of these genes; furthermore, the DNA demethylating agent 5 aza-2'deoxycytidine (5-Aza-dC) antagonizes the effects of AID knockdown on the expression of EMT factors. We conclude that AID is necessary for the EMT in this breast cancer cell model and in nontransformed mammary epithelial cells. Our results suggest that AID may act near the apex of a hierarchy of regulatory steps that drive the EMT, and are consistent with this effect being mediated by cytosine demethylation. This evidence links our findings to other reports of a role for AID in epigenetic reprogramming and control of gene expression.

Ligand binding promotes CDK-dependent phosphorylation of ER-alpha on hinge serine 294 but inhibits ligand-independent phosphorylation of serine 305.

Phosphorylation of estrogen receptor-α (ERα) is critical for its transcription factor activity and may determine its predictive and therapeutic value as a biomarker for ERα-positive breast cancers. Recent attention has turned to the poorly understood ERα hinge domain, as phosphorylation at serine 305 (Ser305) associates with poor clinical outcome and endocrine resistance. We show that phosphorylation of a neighboring hinge domain site, Ser294, analyzed by multiple reaction monitoring mass spectrometry of ERα immunoprecipitates from human breast cancer cells is robustly phosphorylated exclusively by ligand (estradiol and tamoxifen) activation of ERα and not by growth factor stimulation (EGF, insulin, heregulin-ß). In a reciprocal fashion, Ser305 phosphorylation is induced by growth factors but not ligand activation of ERα. Phosphorylation at Ser294 and Ser305 is suppressed upon co-stimulation by EGF and ligand, respectively, unlike the N-terminal (AF-1) domain Ser118 and Ser167 sites of ERα where phosphorylation is enhanced by ligand and growth factor co-stimulation. Inhibition of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK) by roscovitine or SNS-032 suppresses ligand-activated Ser294 phosphorylation without affecting Ser118 or Ser104/Ser106 phosphorylation. Likewise, cell-free studies using recombinant ERα and specific cyclin-CDK complexes suggest that Ser294 phosphorylation is primarily induced by the transcription-regulating and cell-cycle-independent kinase CDK7. Thus, CDK-dependent phosphorylation at Ser294 differentiates ligand-dependent from ligand-independent activation of Ser305 phosphorylation, showing that hinge domain phosphorylation patterns uniquely inform on the various ERα activation mechanisms thought to underlie the biologic and clinical diversity of hormone-dependent breast cancers.

IK1 channel activity contributes to cisplatin sensitivity of human epidermoid cancer cells.

Cisplatin, a platinum-based drug, is an important weapon against many types of cancer. It induces apoptosis by forming adducts with DNA, although many aspects of its mechanism of action remain to be clarified. Previously, we found a role for the volume-sensitive, outwardly rectifying Cl(-) channel in cisplatin-induced apoptosis. To investigate the possibility that cation channels also have a role in the cellular response to cisplatin, we examined the activity of cation channels in cisplatin-sensitive KB-3-1 (KB) epidermoid cancer cells by the whole cell patch-clamp method. A cation channel in KB cells, activated by hypotonic stress, was identified as the Ca2+-activated, intermediate-conductance K+ (IK1) channel on the basis of its requirement for intracellular Ca2+, its blockage by the blockers clotrimazole and triarylmethane-34, and its suppression by a dominant-negative construct. Activity of this channel was not observed in KCP-4 cells, a cisplatin-resistant cell line derived from KB cells, and its molecular expression, observed by semiquantitative RT-PCR and immunostaining, appeared much reduced. Cell volume measurements confirmed a physiological role for the IK1 channel as a component of the volume-regulatory machinery in KB cells. A possible role of the IK1 channel in cisplatin-induced apoptosis was investigated. It was found that clotrimazole and triarylmethane-34 inhibited a cisplatin-induced decrease in cell viability and increase in caspase-3/7 activity, whereas 1-ethyl-2-benzimidazolinone, an activator of the channel, had the opposite effect. Thus IK1 channel activity appears to mediate, at least in part, the response of KB cells to cisplatin treatment.

Impaired activity of volume-sensitive Cl- channel is involved in cisplatin resistance of cancer cells.

The platinum-based drug cisplatin is a widely used anticancer drug which acts by causing the induction of apoptosis. However, resistance to the drug is a major problem. In this study we show that the KCP-4 human epidermoid cancer cell line, which serves as a model of acquired resistance to cisplatin, has virtually no volume-sensitive, outwardly rectifying (VSOR) chloride channel activity. The VSOR chloride channel's molecular identity has not yet been determined, and semi-quantitative RT-PCR experiments in this study suggested that the channel corresponds to none of three candidate genes. However, because it is known that the channel current plays an essential role in apoptosis, we hypothesized that lack of the current contributes to cisplatin resistance in these cells and that its restoration would reduce resistance. To test this hypothesis, we attempted to restore VSOR chloride current in KCP-4 cells. It was found that treatment with trichostatin A (TSA), a histone deacetylase inhibitor, caused VSOR chloride channel function to be partially restored. Treatment of the cells with both TSA and cisplatin resulted in an increase in caspase-3 activity at 24 h and a decrease in cell viability at 48 h. These effects were blocked by simultaneous treatment of the cells with a VSOR chloride channel blocker. These results indicate that restoration of the channel's functional expression by TSA treatment leads to a decrease in the cisplatin resistance of KCP-4 cells. We thus conclude that impaired activity of the VSOR chloride channel is involved in the cisplatin resistance of KCP-4 cancer cells.

Down-regulation of volume-sensitive Cl- channels by CFTR is mediated by the second nucleotide-binding domain.

Transient expression of wild-type human cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) in HEK293T cells resulted in a profound decrease in the amplitude of volume-sensitive outwardly rectifying Cl- channel (VSOR) current without changing the single-channel amplitude. This effect was not mimicked by expression of the DeltaF508 mutant of CFTR, which did not reach the plasma membrane. The VSOR regulation by CFTR was not affected by G551D mutation at first nucleotide-binding domain (NBD1), which is known to impair CFTR interaction with the outwardly rectifying chloride channel, ORCC, epithelial amiloride-sensitive Na-channel, ENaC, and renal potassium channel, ROMK2. The CFTR-VSOR interaction was insensitive to the deletion mutation, DeltaTRL, which is known to impair CFTR-PDZ domain binding. In contrast, the G1349D mutant, which impairs ATP binding at NBD2, effectively abolished the down-regulatory effect of CFTR. Furthermore, the K1250M mutation at the Walker A motif and the D1370N mutation at the Walker B motif, both known to impair ATP hydrolysis at NBD2, completely abolished the VSOR regulation by CFTR. Thus, we conclude that an ATP-hydrolysable conformation of NBD2 is essential for the regulation of the VSOR by the CFTR protein, and that VSOR is a first channel regulated by CFTR through its NBD2.