p16 controls epithelial cell growth and suppresses carcinogenesis through mechanisms that do not require RB1 function.

The p16/RB1 tumor suppressor pathway is inactivated in the vast majority, if not all, human cancers. The current paradigm is that p16 and RB1 function in a linear pathway to suppress tumorigenesis; however p16 is preferentially lost in human cancers suggesting that p16 has critical tumor suppressive functions not mediated through RB1. Carcinomas arise from transformed epithelial cells and account for 80% of adult malignancies highlighting the need to understand p16/RB1 pathway function in organ epithelia. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths and is associated with p16/RB1 pathway deregulation. We demonstrate that p16 is upregulated in the lung epithelium after Rb1 ablation in genetically engineered mouse models. In contrast to fibroblasts, loss of RB1 family proteins, p107 or p130, did not result in p16 induction, demonstrating that p16 suppression is a unique RB1 pocket protein function in the lung epithelium in vivo. p16 upregulation did not induce cellular senescence but rather promoted survival of RB1-deficient lung epithelial progenitor cells. Mechanistic studies show that p16 protects RB1-deficient cells from DNA damage. Consequently, additional loss of p16 led to genetic instability and increased susceptibility to cellular immortalization and transformation. Mice with combined RB1/p16-deficient lungs developed lung tumors including aggressive metastatic lung cancers. These studies identify p16 loss as a molecular event that causes genetic instability and directly demonstrate that p16 protects against DNA damage in the absence of RB1 function providing an explanation for why p16 is preferentially targeted in human cancers.

p53 suppresses carcinoma progression by inhibiting mTOR pathway activation.

Genetic alterations in human cancers and murine models indicate that retinoblastoma (Rb) and p53 have critical tumor suppressive functions in retinoblastoma, a tumor of neural origin, and neuroendocrine tumors including small cell lung cancer and medullary thyroid cancer (MTC). Rb inactivation is the initiating lesion in retinoblastoma and current models propose that induction of apoptosis is a key p53 tumor suppressive function. Genetic studies in mice, however, indicate that other undefined p53 tumor suppressive functions are operative in vivo. How p53 loss cooperates with Rb inactivation to promote carcinogenesis is also not fully understood. In the current study, genetically engineered mice were generated to determine the role of Rb and p53 in MTC pathogenesis and test the hypothesis that p53 suppresses carcinogenesis by inhibiting mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling. Conditional Rb ablation resulted in thyroid tumors mimicking human MTC, and additional p53 loss led to rapid tumor progression. p53 suppressed tumorigenesis by inhibiting cell cycle progression, but did not induce apoptosis. On the contrary, p53 loss led to increased apoptosis that had to be overcome for tumor progression. The mTOR activity was markedly increased in p53-deficient tumors and rapamycin treatment suppressed tumor cell growth, identifying mTOR inhibition as a critical p53 tumor suppressive function. Rapamycin treatment did not result in AKT/mitogen-activated protein kinase activation, providing evidence that this feedback mechanism operative in other cancers is not a general response to mTORC1 inhibition. Together, these studies provide mechanistic links between genetic alterations and aberrant signaling pathways critical in carcinogenesis, and identify essential Rb and p53 tumor suppressive functions in vivo.

A CD40 Kozak sequence polymorphism and susceptibility to antibody-mediated autoimmune conditions: the role of CD40 tissue-specific expression.

Previously, we and others have demonstrated the association of a C/T single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), in the Kozak sequence of CD40, with Graves' disease (GD). Here, using an expanded data set of patients, we confirm the association of the CD40 SNP with GD (n=210, P=0.002, odds ratio (OR)=1.8). Subset analysis of patients with persistently elevated thyroid peroxidase (TPO) and/or thyroglobulin (Tg) antibodies (Abs), (TPO/Tg Abs), after treatment (n=126), revealed a significantly stronger association of the SNP with disease (P=5.2 x 10(-5), OR=2.5) than in GD patients who were thyroid antibody-negative. However, the CD40 SNP was not associated with TPO/Tg Abs in healthy individuals. Next, we tested the CD40 SNP for association with Myasthenia Gravis (MG), which, like GD is an antibody-mediated autoimmune condition. Analysis of 81 MG patients found no association of the SNP with disease. Functional studies revealed significant expression of CD40 mRNA and protein in the thyroid (target tissue in GD) but not in skeletal muscle (target tissue in MG). Combined, our genetic and tissue expression data suggest that the CD40 Kozak SNP is specific for thyroid antibody production involved in the etiology of GD. Increased thyroidal expression of CD40 driven by the SNP may contribute to this disease specificity.

Hypoxia induces vascular endothelial growth factor gene transcription in human osteoblast-like cells through the hypoxia-inducible factor-2alpha.

VEGF is produced by osteoblasts and has been postulated to function as an angiogenic stimulus during normal skeletal development and in fracture repair. In this study, we characterized the molecular mechanisms by which experimental hypoxia increases VEGF mRNA in human MG63 osteoblast-like cells. Exposure of MG63 cells to 1% O(2) for 24 h resulted in a four-fold increase in VEGF mRNA. Immunoblotting of nuclear extracts demonstrated a time-dependent increase in the level of the Hif-2alpha protein, which preceded the rise in VEGF mRNA. To determine the effect of hypoxia on VEGF gene transcription, MG63 cells were transiently transfected with a segment of the VEGF promoter construct fused to luciferase and then exposed to 1% O(2). Hypoxia induced VEGF promoter activity five-fold by 24 h. Forced expression of Hif-2alpha, but not Hif-1alpha, increased both basal and hypoxia induced VEGF promoter activity. By contrast, the ability of the VEGF reporter to respond to hypoxia or recombinant Hif-2alpha was abolished in cells transfected with a VEGF promoter construct containing a mutation in the hypoxia response element. In summary, exposure of osteoblast-like cells to hypoxia induces VEGF expression via induction of Hif-2alpha and transcriptional activation of the VEGF promoter.

Inhibitory effects of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 and 9-cis-retinoic acid on parathyroid hormone-related protein expression by oral cancer cells (HSC-3).

We investigated the effects of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) and 9-cis-retinoic acid (9cRA) on parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) production and its mRNA expression by the human oral squamous carcinoma cell line (HSC-3). The major transcript of PTHrP was 1.5 kb in human HSC-3 cells. In the presence and absence of serum, 1,25(OH)2D3 produced dose-dependent inhibition of PTHrP gene expression and secretion. Significant inhibition by 1,25(OH)2D3 in the presence of serum was observed at 10(-10) M for mRNA expression and 10(-8) M for secretion, whereas under serum-free conditions, 1,25(OH)2D3 significantly suppressed PTHrP mRNA expression at 10(-10) M and secretion at 10(-9) M. Thus the remainder of the experiments were performed under serum-free conditions. After 24 h of incubation, 9cRA decreased dose-dependently PTHrP mRNA expression and PTHrP secretion. Addition of 10(-7) M 1,25(OH)2D3 or 10(-7) M 9cRA to HSC-3 cells significantly suppressed PTHrp transcription within 1 h and the PTHrP secretion within 12 h. Maximal suppression of mRNA expression was maintained for 12-48 h. 9cRA caused a continuous decrease in PTHrP secretion for up to 48 h, whereas the inhibition of secretion by 1,25(OH)2D3 was transient and abolished by 48 h. Neither 1,25(OH)2D3 nor 9cRA altered the stability of PTHrP mRNA. The inhibitory effect of 1,25(OH)2D3 and 9cRA on PTHrP mRNA expression was additive, whereas no additive effect was observed with regard to PTHrP secretion. These results indicate that 1,25(OH)2D3 and 9cRA suppressed PTHrP production and mRNA expression in oral squamous cancer cells, and suggest that transcriptional suppression may act through binding of the heterodimer (vitamin D receptor-retinoid X receptor) to negatively responsive elements of the PTHrP gene.