RESUMO
The nucleus contains diverse phase-separated condensates that compartmentalize and concentrate biomolecules with distinct physicochemical properties. Here, we investigated whether condensates concentrate small-molecule cancer therapeutics such that their pharmacodynamic properties are altered. We found that antineoplastic drugs become concentrated in specific protein condensates in vitro and that this occurs through physicochemical properties independent of the drug target. This behavior was also observed in tumor cells, where drug partitioning influenced drug activity. Altering the properties of the condensate was found to affect the concentration and activity of drugs. These results suggest that selective partitioning and concentration of small molecules within condensates contributes to drug pharmacodynamics and that further understanding of this phenomenon may facilitate advances in disease therapy.
Assuntos
Antineoplásicos/farmacologia , Núcleo Celular/metabolismo , Resistencia a Medicamentos Antineoplásicos , Neoplasias/tratamento farmacológico , Neoplasias/metabolismo , Antineoplásicos/uso terapêutico , Proteínas de Ciclo Celular/genética , Proteínas de Ciclo Celular/metabolismo , Homólogo 5 da Proteína Cromobox , Proteínas Cromossômicas não Histona/genética , Proteínas Cromossômicas não Histona/metabolismo , Proteínas de Fluorescência Verde/genética , Proteínas de Fluorescência Verde/metabolismo , Humanos , Subunidade 1 do Complexo Mediador/genética , Subunidade 1 do Complexo Mediador/metabolismo , Proteínas Nucleares/genética , Proteínas Nucleares/metabolismo , Nucleofosmina , Proteínas Recombinantes/genética , Proteínas Recombinantes/metabolismo , Fatores de Processamento de Serina-Arginina/genética , Fatores de Processamento de Serina-Arginina/metabolismo , Fatores de Transcrição/genética , Fatores de Transcrição/metabolismoRESUMO
The carboxy-terminal domain (CTD) of RNA polymerase (Pol) II is composed of a repetition of YSPTSPS heptads and functions as a loading platform for protein complexes that regulate transcription, splicing, and maturation of RNAs. Here, we studied mammalian CTD mutants to analyze the function of tyrosine1 residues in the transcription cycle. Mutation of 3/4 of the tyrosine residues (YFFF mutant) resulted in a massive read-through transcription phenotype in the antisense direction of promoters as well as in the 3' direction several hundred kilobases downstream of genes. The YFFF mutant shows reduced Pol II at promoter-proximal pause sites, a loss of interaction with the Mediator and Integrator complexes, and impaired recruitment of these complexes to chromatin. Consistent with these observations, Pol II loading at enhancers and maturation of snRNAs are altered in the YFFF context genome-wide. We conclude that tyrosine1 residues of the CTD control termination of transcription by Pol II.
Assuntos
RNA Polimerase II/genética , RNA Mensageiro/biossíntese , Terminação da Transcrição Genética/fisiologia , Transcrição Gênica/fisiologia , Tirosina/genética , Linhagem Celular Tumoral , Cromatina/metabolismo , Humanos , Mutação/genética , Regiões Promotoras Genéticas/genética , RNA Polimerase II/metabolismo , RNA Nuclear Pequeno/genéticaRESUMO
The bromodomain protein Brd4 is an epigenetic reader and plays a critical role in the development and maintenance of leukemia. Brd4 binds to acetylated histone tails and activates transcription by recruiting the positive elongation factor P-TEFb. Small molecule inhibitor JQ1 competitively binds the bromodomains of Brd4 and displaces the protein from acetylated histones. However, it remains unclear whether genes targeted by JQ1 are mainly regulated by Brd4 or by other bromodomain proteins such as Brd2 and Brd3. Here, we describe anti-proliferative dominant-negative Brd4 mutants that compete with the function of distinct Brd4 domains. We used these Brd4 mutants to compare the Brd4-specific transcriptome with the transcriptome of JQ1-treated cells. We found that most JQ1-regulated genes are also regulated by dominant-negative Brd4 mutants, including the mutant that competes with the P-TEFb recruitment function of Brd4. Importantly, JQ1 and dominant-negative Brd4 mutants regulated the same set of target genes of c-Myc, a key regulator of the JQ1 response in leukemia cells. Our results suggest that Brd4 mediates most of the anti-cancer effects of JQ1 and that the major function of Brd4 in this process is the recruitment of P-TEFb. In summary, our studies define the molecular targets of JQ1 in more detail.
Assuntos
Azepinas/farmacologia , Perfilação da Expressão Gênica , Genes Dominantes , Mutação/genética , Proteínas Nucleares/genética , Bibliotecas de Moléculas Pequenas/farmacologia , Triazóis/farmacologia , Linhagem Celular Tumoral , Proliferação de Células/efeitos dos fármacos , Regulação da Expressão Gênica/efeitos dos fármacos , Biblioteca Gênica , Humanos , Proteínas Nucleares/química , Domínios Proteicos , Proteínas Proto-Oncogênicas c-myc/metabolismo , Análise de Sequência de RNARESUMO
The carboxy-terminal domain (CTD) of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) consists of heptad repeats with the consensus motif Y1-S2-P3-T4-S5-P6-S7. Dynamic phosphorylation of the CTD coordinates Pol II progression through the transcription cycle. Here, we use genetic and mass spectrometric approaches to directly detect and map phosphosites along the entire CTD. We confirm phosphorylation of CTD residues Y1, S2, T4, S5, and S7 in mammalian and yeast cells. Although specific phosphorylation signatures dominate, adjacent CTD repeats can be differently phosphorylated, leading to a high variation of coexisting phosphosites in mono- and di-heptad CTD repeats. Inhibition of CDK9 kinase specifically reduces S2 phosphorylation levels within the CTD.