RESUMO
Multidomain pro-apoptotic BAX and BAK, once activated, permeabilize mitochondria to trigger apoptosis, whereas anti-apoptotic BCL-2 members preserve mitochondrial integrity. The BH3-only molecules (BH3s) promote apoptosis by either activating BAX-BAK or inactivating anti-apoptotic members. Here, we present biochemical and genetic evidence that NOXA is a bona fide activator BH3. Using combinatorial gain-of-function and loss-of-function approaches in Bid(-/-)Bim(-/-)Puma(-/-)Noxa(-/-) and Bax(-/-)Bak(-/-) cells, we have constructed an interconnected hierarchical model that accommodates and explains how the intricate interplays between the BCL-2 members dictate cellular survival versus death. BID, BIM, PUMA and NOXA directly induce stepwise, bimodal activation of BAX-BAK. BCL-2, BCL-XL and MCL-1 inhibit both modes of BAX-BAK activation by sequestering activator BH3s and 'BH3-exposed' monomers of BAX-BAK, respectively. Furthermore, autoactivation of BAX and BAK can occur independently of activator BH3s through downregulation of BCL-2, BCL-XL and MCL-1. Our studies lay a foundation for targeting the BCL-2 family for treating diseases with dysregulated apoptosis.
Assuntos
Apoptose , Fibroblastos/metabolismo , Modelos Biológicos , Proteínas Proto-Oncogênicas c-bcl-2/metabolismo , Animais , Proteínas Reguladoras de Apoptose/genética , Proteínas Reguladoras de Apoptose/metabolismo , Proteína Agonista de Morte Celular de Domínio Interatuante com BH3/genética , Proteína Agonista de Morte Celular de Domínio Interatuante com BH3/metabolismo , Proteína 11 Semelhante a Bcl-2 , Células Cultivadas , Citocromos c/genética , Citocromos c/metabolismo , Embrião de Mamíferos/citologia , Embrião de Mamíferos/metabolismo , Fibroblastos/citologia , Immunoblotting , Intestino Delgado/citologia , Intestino Delgado/metabolismo , Proteínas de Membrana/genética , Proteínas de Membrana/metabolismo , Camundongos Endogâmicos C57BL , Camundongos Knockout , Mitocôndrias/genética , Mitocôndrias/metabolismo , Proteínas Proto-Oncogênicas/genética , Proteínas Proto-Oncogênicas/metabolismo , Proteínas Proto-Oncogênicas c-bcl-2/genética , Interferência de RNA , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase Via Transcriptase Reversa , Proteínas Supressoras de Tumor/genética , Proteínas Supressoras de Tumor/metabolismo , Proteína Killer-Antagonista Homóloga a bcl-2/genética , Proteína Killer-Antagonista Homóloga a bcl-2/metabolismo , Proteína X Associada a bcl-2/genética , Proteína X Associada a bcl-2/metabolismoRESUMO
The clinical efficacy of tyrosine kinase inhibitors supports the dependence of distinct subsets of cancers on specific driver mutations for survival, a phenomenon called "oncogene addiction." We demonstrate that PUMA and BIM are the key apoptotic effectors of tyrosine kinase inhibitors in breast cancers with amplification of the gene encoding human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) and lung cancers with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutants. The BH3 domain containing proteins BIM and PUMA can directly activate the proapoptotic proteins BAX and BAK to permeabilize mitochondria, leading to caspase activation and apoptosis. We delineated the signal transduction pathways leading to the induction of BIM and PUMA by tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Inhibition of the mitogen-activated or extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase kinase (MEK)-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway caused increased abundance of BIM, whereas antagonizing the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)-AKT pathway triggered nuclear translocation of the FOXO transcription factors, which directly activated the PUMA promoter. In a mouse breast tumor model, the abundance of PUMA and BIM was increased after inactivation of HER2. Moreover, deficiency of Bim or Puma impaired caspase activation and reduced tumor regression caused by inactivation of HER2. Similarly, deficiency of Puma impeded the regression of EGFR(L858R)-driven mouse lung tumors upon inactivation of the EGFR-activating mutant. Overall, our study identified PUMA and BIM as the sentinels that interconnect kinase signaling networks and the mitochondrion-dependent apoptotic program, which offers therapeutic insights for designing novel cell death mechanism-based anticancer strategies.