Higher order genomic organization and epigenetic control maintain cellular identity and prevent breast cancer.

Cells establish and sustain structural and functional integrity of the genome to support cellular identity and prevent malignant transformation. In this review, we present a strategic overview of epigenetic regulatory mechanisms including histone modifications and higher order chromatin organization (HCO) that are perturbed in breast cancer onset and progression. Implications for dysfunctions that occur in hormone regulation, cell cycle control, and mitotic bookmarking in breast cancer are considered, with an emphasis on epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and cancer stem cell activities. The architectural organization of regulatory machinery is addressed within the contexts of translating cancer-compromised genomic organization to advances in breast cancer risk assessment, diagnosis, prognosis, and identification of novel therapeutic targets with high specificity and minimal off target effects.

Bicalutamide-induced hypoxia potentiates RUNX2-mediated Bcl-2 expression resulting in apoptosis resistance.

BACKGROUND: We have previously shown that hypoxia selects for more invasive, apoptosis-resistant LNCaP prostate cancer cells, with upregulation of the osteogenic transcription factor RUNX2 and the anti-apoptotic factor Bcl-2 detected in the hypoxia-selected cells. Following this observation, we questioned through what biological mechanism this occurs. METHODS: We examined the effect of hypoxia on RUNX2 expression and the role of RUNX2 in the regulation of Bcl-2 and apoptosis resistance in prostate cancer. RESULTS: Hypoxia increased RUNX2 expression in vitro, and bicalutamide-treated LNCaP tumours in mice (previously shown to have increased tumour hypoxia) exhibited increased RUNX2 expression. In addition, RUNX2-overexpressing LNCaP cells showed increased cell viability, following bicalutamide and docetaxel treatment, which was inhibited by RUNX2 siRNA; a range of assays demonstrated that this was due to resistance to apoptosis. RUNX2 expression was associated with increased Bcl-2 levels, and regulation of Bcl-2 by RUNX2 was confirmed through chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) binding and reporter assays. Moreover, a Q-PCR array identified other apoptosis-associated genes upregulated in the RUNX2-overexpressing LNCaP cells. CONCLUSION: This study establishes a contributing mechanism for progression of prostate cancer cells to a more apoptosis-resistant and thus malignant phenotype, whereby increased expression of RUNX2 modulates the expression of apoptosis-associated factors, specifically Bcl-2.

Targeted inhibition of mitochondrial Hsp90 suppresses localised and metastatic prostate cancer growth in a genetic mouse model of disease.

BACKGROUND: The molecular chaperone heat shock protein-90 (Hsp90) is a promising cancer drug target, but current Hsp90-based therapy has so far shown limited activity in the clinic. METHODS: We tested the efficacy of a novel mitochondrial-targeted, small-molecule Hsp90 inhibitor, Gamitrinib (GA mitochondrial matrix inhibitor), in the Transgenic Adenocarcinoma of the Mouse Prostate (TRAMP) model. The TRAMP mice receiving 3-week or 5-week systemic treatment with Gamitrinib were evaluated for localised or metastatic prostate cancer, prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) or localised inflammation using magnetic resonance imaging, histology and immunohistochemistry. Treatment safety was assessed histologically in organs collected at the end of treatment. The effect of Gamitrinib on mitochondrial dysfunction was studied in RM1 cells isolated from TRAMP tumours. RESULTS: Systemic administration of Gamitrinib to TRAMP mice inhibited the formation of localised prostate tumours of neuroendocrine or adenocarcinoma origin, as well as metastatic prostate cancer to abdominal lymph nodes and liver. The Gamitrinib treatment had no effect on PIN or prostatic inflammation, and caused no significant animal weight loss or organ toxicity. Mechanistically, Gamitrinib triggered acute mitochondrial dysfunction in RM1 cells, with loss of organelle inner membrane potential and release of cytochrome-c in the cytosol. CONCLUSIONS: The Gamitrinib has pre-clinical activity and favourable tolerability in a genetic model of localised and metastatic prostate cancer in immunocompetent mice. Selective targeting of mitochondrial Hsp90 could provide novel molecular therapy for patients with advanced prostate cancer.

Regulation of histone gene expression.

Histone genes are expressed during the S phase of the cell cycle. Control is at multiple levels and is mediated by the integration of regulatory signals in response to cell-cycle progression and the onset of differentiation. Much work has been carried out on the H4 gene promoter, which appears to be organized into a series of distinct regulatory elements. The three-dimensional organization of the promoter and, in particular, its spatial relationship with the nuclear matrix scaffold, may be important factors of transcription regulation.

The Role of RUNX2 in Osteosarcoma Oncogenesis.

Osteosarcoma is an aggressive but ill-understood cancer of bone that predominantly affects adolescents. Its rarity and biological heterogeneity have limited studies of its molecular basis. In recent years, an important role has emerged for the RUNX2 "platform protein" in osteosarcoma oncogenesis. RUNX proteins are DNA-binding transcription factors that regulate the expression of multiple genes involved in cellular differentiation and cell-cycle progression. RUNX2 is genetically essential for developing bone and osteoblast maturation. Studies of osteosarcoma tumours have revealed that the RUNX2 DNA copy number together with RNA and protein levels are highly elevated in osteosarcoma tumors. The protein is also important for metastatic bone disease of prostate and breast cancers, while RUNX2 may have both tumor suppressive and oncogenic roles in bone morphogenesis. This paper provides a synopsis of the current understanding of the functions of RUNX2 and its potential role in osteosarcoma and suggests directions for future study.

Cells capable of bone production engraft from whole bone marrow transplants in nonablated mice.

Allogeneic and autologous marrow transplants are routinely used to correct a wide variety of diseases. In addition, autologous marrow transplants potentially provide opportune means of delivering genes in transfected, engrafting stem cells. However, relatively little is known about the mechanisms of engraftment in transplant recipients, especially in the nonablated setting and with regard to cells not of hemopoietic origin. In particular, this includes stromal cells and progenitors of the osteoblastic lineage. We have demonstrated for the first time that a whole bone marrow transplant contains cells that engraft and become competent osteoblasts capable of producing bone matrix. This was done at the individual cell level in situ, with significant numbers of donor cells being detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization in whole femoral sections. Engrafted cells were functionally active as osteoblasts producing bone before being encapsulated within the bone lacunae and terminally differentiating into osteocytes. Transplanted cells were also detected as flattened bone lining cells on the periosteal bone surface.

The synthesis of acidic chromosomal proteins during the cell cycle of HeLa S-3 cells. I. The accelerated accumulation of acidic residual nuclear protein before the initiation of DNA replication.

The synthesis and accumulation of acidic proteins in the tightly bound residual nuclear fraction goes on throughout the cell cycle of continuously dividing populations of HeLa S-3 cells; however, during late G(1) there is an increased rate of synthesis and accumulation of these proteins which precedes the onset of DNA synthesis. Unlike that of the histones, whose synthesis is tightly coupled to DNA replication, the synthesis of acidic residual nuclear proteins is insensitive to inhibitors of DNA synthesis. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of acidic residual nuclear proteins shows different profiles during the G(1), S, and G(2) phases of the cell cycle. These results suggest that, in contrast to histones whose synthesis appears to be highly regulated, the acidic residual proteins may have a regulatory function in the control of cell proliferation in continuously dividing mammalian cells.

The synthesis of acidic chromosomal proteins during the cell cycle of HeLa S-3 cells. II. The kinetics of residual protein synthesis and transport.

The kinetics of acidic residual chromosomal protein synthesis and transport were studied throughout the cell cycle in HeLa S-3 cells synchronized by 2 mM thymidine block and selective detachment of mitotic cells. Pulse labeling the cells with leucine-(3)H for 2 min and then "chasing" the radioactive proteins for up to 3 hr showed that the amount of protein synthesized, transported, and retained in the acidic residual chromosomal protein fraction is greater immediately after mitosis and later in G(1) than in the S or G(2) phases of the cell cycle. During S, only 20-25% of the proteins synthesized and transported to the acidic residual chromosomal protein fraction are chased during the first 2 hr after pulse labeling, whereas up to 40% of the material entering the residual nuclear fraction in mitosis, G(1), and G(2) leaves during a 2 hr chase. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic profiles of these proteins, at various times after pulse labeling, reveal that the turnover of individual polypeptides within this fraction has kinetics of synthesis and turnover which are markedly different from one another and undergo stage-specific changes.

Time sequence of nuclear pore formation in phytohemagglutinin-stimulated lymphocytes and in HeLa cells during the cell cycle.

The time sequence of nuclear pore frequency changes was determined for phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-stimulated human lymphocytes and for HeLa S-3 cells during the cell cycle. The number of nuclear pores/nucleus was calculated from the experimentally determined values of nuclear pores/micro(2) and the nuclear surface. In the lymphocyte system the number of pores/nucleus approximately doubles during the 48 hr after PHA stimulation. The increase in pore frequency is biphasic and the first increase seems to be related to an increase in the rate of protein synthesis. The second increase in pores/nucleus appears to be correlated with the onset of DNA synthesis. In the HeLa cell system, we could also observe a biphasic change in pore formation. Nuclear pores are formed at the highest rate during the first hour after mitosis. A second increase in the rate of pore formation corresponds in time with an increase in the rate of nuclear acidic protein synthesis shortly before S phase. The total number of nuclear pores in HeLa cells doubles from approximately 2000 in G(1) to approximately 4000 at the end of the cell cycle. The doubling of the nuclear volume and the number of nuclear pores might be correlated to the doubling of DNA content. Another correspondence with the nuclear pore number in S phase is found in the number of simultaneously replicating replication sites. This number may be fortuitous but leads to the rather speculative possibility that the nuclear pore might be the site of initiation and/or replication of DNA as well as the site of nucleocytoplasmic exchange. That is, the nuclear pore complex may have multiple functions.

Nonhistone chromosomal protein synthesis: utilization of preexisting and newly transcribed messenger RNA's.

Treatment of HeLa S(3) cells with actinomycin D during mitosis suppresses the synthesis of several major classes of nonhistone chromosomal proteins during the subsequent period before DNA replication, but allows the synthesis of other species of these proteins. Such results are consistent with the utilization of preexisting, as well as newly transcribed, messenger RNA's for nonhistone chromosomal protein synthesis during the prereplicative phase of the cell cycle.

Nonhistone chromosomal proteins and gene regulation.

Evidence from several model systems suggests that nonhistone chromosomal proteins may regulate gene expression in eukaryotic cells. The data indicate that the synthesis of new species of nonhistone chromosomal proteins as well as modifications of preexisting nonhistone chromosomal proteins are involved in the control of transcription. However, from the vast number of proteins included in this class, it is apparent that, in addition to regulating the transcription of defined genome loci, the nonhistone chromosomal proteins include enzymes that have a general function, proteins that are involved in determining the structure of chromatin, as well as proteins that serve as recognition sites for binding of regulatory macromolecules. The presence of a nucleoplasmic pool of nonhistone chromosomal proteins which may exchange with the chromatin has also been reported (89). While it is clear that the nonhistone chromosomal proteins play a key role in the regulation of gene expression, the exact manner in which they interact with the genome to initiate, modify, or augment the transcription of specific RNA molecules remains to be resolved.

Activation of histone gene transcription by nonhistone chromosomal phosphoproteins.

Hybridization analysis of RNA transcripts from HeLa S3 cell chromatin to histone complementary DNA indicates that a chromosomal phosphoprotein fraction activates transcription of histone messenger RNA sequences in vitro with chromatin from a phase in the cell cycle when histone genes are normally silent.

Histone proteins in HeLa S3 cells are synthesized in a cell cycle stage specific manner.

The synthesis of histone proteins in G1 and S phase HeLa S3 cells was examined by two-dimensional electrophoretic fractionation of nuclear and total cellular proteins. Newly synthesized histones were detected only in S phase cells. Histone messenger RNA sequences, as detected by hybridization with cloned human histone genes, were present in the cytoplasm of S phase but not G1 cells.

Hybridization analysis of histone messenger RNA: association with polyribosomes during the cell cycle.

Hybridization of cell cycle stage-specific polyribosomal RNA's to histone complementary DNA indicates that histone messenger RNA sequences are present on polyribosomes of Hela S3 cells only during the period of DNA replication.

Overlapping and CpG methylation-sensitive protein-DNA interactions at the histone H4 transcriptional cell cycle domain: distinctions between two human H4 gene promoters.

Transcriptional regulation of vertebrate histone genes during the cell cycle is mediated by several factors interacting with a series of cis-acting elements located in the 5' regions of these genes. The arrangement of these promoter elements is different for each gene. However, most histone H4 gene promoters contain a highly conserved sequence immediately upstream of the TATA box (H4 subtype consensus sequence), and this region in the human H4 gene FO108 is involved in cell cycle control. The sequence-specific interaction of nuclear factor HiNF-D with this key proximal promoter element of the H4-FO108 gene is cell cycle regulated in normal diploid cells (J. Holthuis, T.A. Owen, A.J. van Wijnen, K.L. Wright, A. Ramsey-Ewing, M.B. Kennedy, R. Carter, S.C. Cosenza, K.J. Soprano, J.B. Lian, J.L. Stein, and G.S. Stein, Science, 247:1454-1457, 1990). Here, we show that this region of the H4-FO108 gene represents a composite protein-DNA interaction domain for several distinct sequence-specific DNA-binding activities, including HiNF-D, HiNF-M, and HiNF-P. Factor HiNF-P is similar to H4TF-2, a DNA-binding activity that is not cell cycle regulated and that interacts with the analogous region of the H4 gene H4.A (F. LaBella and N. Heintz, Mol. Cell. Biol. 11:5825-5831, 1991). The H4.A gene fails to interact with factors HiNF-M and HiNF-D owing to two independent sets of specific nucleotide variants, indicating differences in protein-DNA interactions between these H4 genes. Cytosine methylation of a highly conserved CpG dinucleotide interferes with binding of HiNF-P/H4TF-2 to both the H4-FO108 and H4.A promoters, but no effect is observed for either HiNF-M or HiNF-D binding to the H4-FO108 gene. Thus, strong evolutionary conservation of the H4 consensus sequence may be related to combinatorial interactions involving overlapping and interdigitated recognition nucleotides for several proteins, whose activities are regulated independently. Our results also suggest molecular complexity in the transcriptional regulation of distinct human H4 genes.

Changes in the stability of a human H3 histone mRNA during the HeLa cell cycle.

A major component of the regulation of histone protein synthesis during the cell cycle is the modulation of the half-life of histone mRNA. We have uncoupled transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation by using a Drosophila hsp70-human H3 histone fusion gene that produces a marked human H3 histone mRNA upon heat induction. Transcription of this gene can be switched on and off by raising and lowering cell culture temperatures, respectively. HeLa cell lines containing stably integrated copies of the fusion gene were synchronized by double thymidine block. Distinct populations of H3 histone mRNA were produced by heat induction in early S-phase, late S-phase, or G2-phase cells, and the stability of the induced H3 histone mRNA was measured. The H3 histone mRNA induced during early S phase decayed with a half-life of 110 min, whereas the same transcript induced during late S phase had a half-life of 10 to 15 min. The H3 histone mRNA induced in non-S-phase cells is more stable than that induced in late S phase, with a half-life of 40 min. Thus, the stability of histone mRNA is actively regulated throughout the cell cycle. Our results are consistent with an autoregulatory model in which the stability of histone mRNA is determined by the level of free histone protein in the cytoplasm.

Effect of adenovirus infection on expression of human histone genes.

The influence of adenovirus type 2 infection of HeLa cells upon expression of human histone genes was examined as a function of the period of infection. Histone RNA synthesis was assayed after run-off transcription in nuclei isolated from mock-infected cells and after various periods of adenovirus infection. Histone protein synthesis was measured by [3H]leucine labeling of intact cells and fluorography of electrophoretically fractionated nuclear and cytoplasmic proteins. The cellular representation of RNA species complementary to more than 13 different human histone genes was determined by RNA blot analysis of total cellular, nuclear or cytoplasmic RNA by using a series of 32P-labeled cloned human histone genes as hybridization probes and also by analysis of 3H-labeled histone mRNA species synthesized in intact cells. By 18 h after infection, HeLa cell DNA synthesis and all parameters of histone gene expression, including transcription and the nuclear and cytoplasmic concentrations of core and H1 mRNA species, were reduced to less than 5 to 10% of the control values. By contrast, transcription and processing of other cellular mRNA sequences have been shown to continue throughout this period of infection. The early period of adenovirus infection was marked by an inhibition of transcription of histone genes that accompanied the reduction in rate of HeLa cell DNA synthesis. These results suggest that the adenovirus-induced inhibition of histone gene expression is mediated in part at the transcriptional level. However, the persistence of histone mRNA species at concentrations comparable to those of mock-infected control cells during the early phase of the infection, despite a reduction in histone gene transcription and histone protein synthesis, implies that histone gene expression is also regulated post-transcriptionally in adenovirus-infected cells. These results suggest that the tight coupling between histone mRNA concentrations and the rate of cellular DNA synthesis, observed when DNA replication is inhibited by a variety of drugs, is not maintained after adenovirus infection.

runt homology domain transcription factors (Runx, Cbfa, and AML) mediate repression of the bone sialoprotein promoter: evidence for promoter context-dependent activity of Cbfa proteins.

Expression of the bone sialoprotein (BSP) gene, a marker of bone formation, is largely restricted to cells in mineralized tissues. Recent studies have shown that the Cbfa1 (also known as Runx2, AML-3, and PEBP2alphaA) transcription factor supports commitment and differentiation of progenitor cells to hypertrophic chondrocytes and osteoblasts. This study addresses the functional involvement of Cbfa sites in expression of the Gallus BSP gene. Gel mobility shift analyses with nuclear extracts from ROS 17/2.8 osteoblastic cells revealed that multiple Cbfa consensus sequences are functional Cbfa DNA binding sites. Responsiveness of the 1.2-kb Gallus BSP promoter to Cbfa factors Cbfa1, Cbfa2, and Cbfa3 was assayed in osseous and nonosseous cells. Each of the Cbfa factors mediated repression of the wild-type BSP promoter, in contrast to their well known activation of various hematopoietic and skeletal phenotypic genes. Suppression of BSP by Cbfa factors was not observed in BSP promoters in which Cbfa sites were deleted or mutated. Expression of the endogenous BSP gene in Gallus osteoblasts was similarly downregulated by forced expression of Cbfa factors. Our data indicate that Cbfa repression of the BSP promoter does not involve the transducin-like enhancer (TLE) proteins. Neither coexpression of TLE1 or TLE2 nor the absence of the TLE interaction motif of Cbfa1 (amino acids 501 to 513) influenced repressor activity. However, removal of the C terminus of Cbfa1 (amino acids 362 to 513) relieved suppression of the BSP promoter. Our results, together with the evolutionary conservation of the seven Cbfa sites in the Gallus and human BSP promoters, suggest that suppressor activity by Cbfa is of significant physiologic consequence and may contribute to spatiotemporal expression of BSP during bone development.

Multiple Cbfa/AML sites in the rat osteocalcin promoter are required for basal and vitamin D-responsive transcription and contribute to chromatin organization.

Three Cbfa motifs are strategically positioned in the bone-specific rat osteocalcin (rOC) promoter. Sites A and B flank the vitamin D response element in the distal promoter and sites B and C flank a positioned nucleosome in the proximal promoter. The functional significance of each Cbfa element was addressed by mutating individual or multiple Cbfa sites within the context of the -1.1-kb rOC promoter fused to a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene. Promoter activity was assayed following transient transfection and after stable genomic integration in ROS 17/2.8 osteoblastic cell lines. We show that all three Cbfa sites are required for maximal basal expression of the rOC promoter. However, the distal sites A and B each contribute significantly more (P < 0.001) to promoter activity than site C. In a genomic context, sites A and B can largely compensate for a mutation at the proximal site C, and paired mutations involving site A (mAB or mAC) result in a far greater loss of activity than the mBC mutation. Strikingly, mutation of the three Cbfa sites leads to abrogation of responsiveness to vitamin D. Vitamin D-enhanced activity is also not observed when sites A and B are mutated. Significantly, related to these losses in transcriptional activity, mutation of the three Cbfa sites results in altered chromatin structure as reflected by loss of DNase I-hypersensitive sites at the vitamin D response element and over the proximal tissue-specific basal promoter. These findings strongly support a multifunctional role for Cbfa factors in regulating gene expression, not only as simple transcriptional transactivators but also by facilitating modifications in promoter architecture and chromatin organization.

Replication-dependent histone gene expression is related to Cajal body (CB) association but does not require sustained CB contact.

Interactions between Cajal bodies (CBs) and replication-dependent histone loci occur more frequently than for other mRNA-encoding genes, but such interactions are not seen with all alleles at a given time. Because CBs contain factors required for transcriptional regulation and 3' end processing of nonpolyadenylated replication-dependent histone transcripts, we investigated whether interaction with CBs is related to metabolism of these transcripts, known to vary during the cell cycle. Our experiments revealed that a locus containing a cell cycle-independent, replacement histone gene that produces polyadenylated transcripts does not preferentially associate with CBs. Furthermore, modest but significant changes in association levels of CBs with replication-dependent histone loci mimic their cell cycle modulations in transcription and 3' end processing rates. By simultaneously visualizing replication-dependent histone genes and their nuclear transcripts for the first time, we surprisingly find that the vast majority of loci producing detectable RNA foci do not contact CBs. These studies suggest some link between CB association and unusual features of replication-dependent histone gene expression. However, sustained CB contact is not a requirement for their expression, consistent with our observations of U7 snRNP distributions. The modest correlation to gene expression instead may reflect transient gene signaling or the nucleation of small CBs at gene loci.