Notch system is differentially expressed and activated in pituitary adenomas of distinct histotype, tumor cell lines and normal pituitaries.

Pituitary adenomas are among the most frequent intracranial neoplasms and treatment depends on tumor subtype and clinical features. Unfortunately, non responder cases occur, then new molecular targets are needed. Notch system component expression and activation data are scarce in pituitary tumorigenesis, we therefore aimed to characterize Notch system in pituitary tumors of different histotype. In human pituitary adenomas we showed NOTCH1-4 receptors, JAGGED1 ligand and HES1 target gene expression with positive correlations between NOTCH1,2,4 and HES1, and NOTCH3 and JAGGED1 denoting Notch system activation in a subset of tumors. Importantly, NOTCH3 positive cells were higher in corticotropinomas and somatotropinomas compared to non functioning adenomas. In accordance, Notch activation was evidenced in AtT20 tumor corticotropes, with higher levels of NOTCH1-3 active domains, Jagged1 and Hes1 compared to normal pituitary. In the prolactinoma cell lines GH3 and MMQ, in vivo GH3 tumors and normal glands, Notch system activation was lower than in corticotropes. In MMQ cells only the NOTCH2 active domain was increased, whereas NOTCH1 active domain was higher in GH3 tumors. High levels of Jagged1 and Dll1 were found solely in GH3 cells, and Hes1, Hey1 and Hey2 were expressed in a model dependent pattern. Prolactinomas harbored by lacDrd2KO mice expressed high levels of NOTCH1 active domain and reduced Hes1. We show a differential expression of Notch system components in tumoral and normal pituitaries and specific Notch system involvement depending on adenoma histotype, with higher activation in corticotropinomas. These data suggest that targeting Notch pathway may benefit non responder pituitary adenomas.

PKA-chromatin association at stress responsive target genes from Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Gene expression regulation by intracellular stimulus-activated protein kinases is essential for cell adaptation to environmental changes. There are three PKA catalytic subunits in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Tpk1, Tpk2, and Tpk3 and one regulatory subunit: Bcy1. Previously, it has been demonstrated that Tpk1 and Tpk2 are associated with coding regions and promoters of target genes in a carbon source and oxidative stress dependent manner. Here we studied five genes, ALD6, SED1, HSP42, RPS29B, and RPL1B whose expression is regulated by saline stress. We found that PKA catalytic and regulatory subunits are associated with both coding regions and promoters of the analyzed genes in a stress dependent manner. Tpk1 and Tpk2 recruitment was completely abolished in catalytic inactive mutants. BCY1 deletion changed the binding kinetic to chromatin of each Tpk isoform and this strain displayed a deregulated gene expression in response to osmotic stress. In addition, yeast mutants with high PKA activity exhibit sustained association to target genes of chromatin-remodeling complexes such as Snf2-catalytic subunit of the SWI/SNF complex and Arp8-component of INO80 complex, leading to upregulation of gene expression during osmotic stress. Tpk1 accumulation in the nucleus was stimulated upon osmotic stress, while the nuclear localization of Tpk2 and Bcy1 showed no change. We found that each PKA subunit is transported into the nucleus by a different ß-karyopherin pathway. Moreover, ß-karyopherin mutant strains abolished the chromatin association of Tpk1 or Tpk2, suggesting that nuclear localization of PKA catalytic subunits is required for its association to target genes and properly gene expression.