Extended exposure to low doses of azacitidine induces differentiation of leukemic stem cells through activation of myeloperoxidase.

Oral azacitidine (oral-Aza) treatment results in longer median overall survival (OS) (24.7 vs. 14.8 months in placebo) in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in remission after intensive chemotherapy. The dosing schedule of oral-Aza (14 days/28-day cycle) allows for low exposure of Aza for an extended duration thereby facilitating a sustained therapeutic effect. However, the underlying mechanisms supporting the clinical impact of oral-Aza in maintenance therapy remain to be fully understood. In this preclinical work, we explore the mechanistic basis of oral-Aza/extended exposure to Aza through in vitro and in vivo modeling. In cell lines, extended exposure to Aza results in sustained DNMT1 loss, leading to durable hypomethylation, and gene expression changes. In mouse models, extended exposure to Aza, preferentially targets immature leukemic cells. In leukemic stem cell (LSC) models, the extended dose of Aza induces differentiation and depletes CD34+CD38- LSC. Mechanistically, LSC differentiation is driven in part by increased myeloperoxidase (MPO) expression. Inhibition of MPO activity either by using an MPO-specific inhibitor or blocking oxidative stress, a known mechanism of MPO, partly reverses the differentiation of LSC. Overall, our preclinical work reveals novel mechanistic insights into oral-Aza and its ability to target LSC.

Schizosaccharomyces pombe Dss1p is a DNA damage checkpoint protein that recruits Rad24p, Cdc25p, and Rae1p to DNA double-strand breaks.

Schizosaccharomyces pombe Dss1p and its homologs function in multiple cellular processes including recombinational repair of DNA and nuclear export of messenger RNA. We found that Tap-tagged Rad24p, a member of the 14-3-3 class of proteins, co-purified Dss1p along with mitotic activator Cdc25p, messenger RNA export/cell cycle factor Rae1p, 19 S proteasomal factors, and recombination protein Rhp51p (a Rad51p homolog). Using chromatin immunoprecipitation, we found that Dss1p recruited Rad24p and Rae1p to the double-strand break (DSB) sites. Furthermore, Cdc25p also recruited to the DSB site, and its recruitment was dependent on Dss1p, Rad24p, and the protein kinase Chk1p. Following DSB, all nuclear Cdc25p was found to be chromatin-associated. We found that Dss1p and Rae1p have a DNA damage checkpoint function, and upon treatment with UV light Deltadss1 cells entered mitosis prematurely with indistinguishable timing from Deltarad24 cells. Taken together, these results suggest that Dss1p plays a critical role in linking repair and checkpoint factors to damaged DNA sites by specifically recruiting Rad24p and Cdc25p to the DSBs. We suggest that the sequestration of Cdc25p to DNA damage sites could provide a mechanism for S. pombe cells to arrest at G(2)/M boundary in response to DNA damage.

Crp79p, like Mex67p, is an auxiliary mRNA export factor in Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

The export of mRNA from the nucleus to the cytoplasm involves interactions of proteins with mRNA and the nuclear pore complex. We isolated Crp79p, a novel mRNA export factor from the same synthetic lethal screen that led to the identification of spMex67p in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Crp79p is a 710-amino-acid-long protein that contains three RNA recognition motif domains in tandem and a distinct C-terminus. Fused to green fluorescent protein (GFP), Crp79p localizes to the cytoplasm. Like Mex67p, Crp79-GFP binds poly(A)(+) RNA in vivo, shuttles between the nucleus and the cytoplasm, and contains a nuclear export activity at the C-terminus that is Crm1p-independent. All of these properties are essential for Crp79p to promote mRNA export. Crp79p import into the nucleus depends on the Ran system. A domain of spMex67p previously identified as having a nuclear export activity can functionally substitute for the nuclear export activity at the C-terminus of Crp79p. Although both Crp79p and spMex67p function to export mRNA, Crp79p does not substitute for all of spMex67p functions and probably is not a functional homologue of spMex67p. We propose that Crp79p is a nonessential mRNA export carrier in S. pombe.

The nuclear export signal of splicing factor Uap56p interacts with nuclear pore-associated protein Rae1p for mRNA export in Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

Mammalian UAP56 or its homolog Sub2p in Saccharomyces cerevisiae are members of the ATP-dependent RNA helicase family and are required for splicing and nuclear export of mRNA. Previously we showed that in Schizosaccharomyces pombe Uap56p is critical for mRNA export. It links the mRNA adapter Mlo3p, a homolog of Yra1p in S. cerevisiae or Aly in mammals, to nuclear pore-associated mRNA export factor Rae1p. In this study we show that, in contrast to S. cerevisiae, Uap56p in S. pombe is not required for pre-mRNA splicing. The putative RNA helicase function of Uap56p is not required for mRNA export. However, the RNA-binding motif of Uap56p is critical for nuclear export of mRNA. Within Uap56p we identified nuclear import and export signals that may allow it to shuttle between the nucleus and the cytoplasm. We found that Uap56p interacts with Rae1p directly via its nuclear export signal, and this interaction is critical for the nuclear export activity of Uap56p as well as for exporting mRNA. RNA binding and the ability to shuttle between the nucleus and cytoplasm are important features of mRNA export carriers such as HIV-Rev. Our results suggest that Uap56p could function similarly as an export carrier of mRNA in S. pombe.

Homolog of BRCA2-interacting Dss1p and Uap56p link Mlo3p and Rae1p for mRNA export in fission yeast.

The breast cancer tumor suppressor BRCA2-interacting protein, DSS1, and its homologs are critical for DNA recombination in eukaryotic cells. We found that Dss1p, along with Mlo3p and Uap56p, Schizosaccharomyces pombe homologs of two messenger RNA (mRNA) export factors of the NXF-NXT pathway, is required for mRNA export in S. pombe. Previously, we showed that the nuclear pore-associated Rae1p is an essential mRNA export factor in S. pombe. Here, we show that Dss1p and Uap56p function by linking mRNA adapter Mlo3p to Rae1p for targeting mRNA-protein complex (mRNP) to the proteins of the nuclear pore complex (NPC). Dss1p preferentially recruits to genes in vivo and interacts with -FG (phenylalanine glycine) nucleoporins in vivo and in vitro. Thus, Dss1p may function at multiple steps of mRNA export, from mRNP biogenesis to their targeting and translocation through the NPC.

Schizosaccharomyces pombe spPABP, a homologue of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Pab1p, is a non-essential, shuttling protein that facilitates mRNA export.

Poly(A)-binding proteins play important roles in mRNA metabolism in eukaryotic cells. We examined the role of the Schizosaccharomyces pombe homologue of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae poly(A)-binding protein, Pab1p, in cellular growth and mRNA export. In contrast to PAB1, the sppabp gene is not essential for cellular viability. Like the human hPABP1 protein, spPABP is cytoplasmically localized and can shuttle between the nucleus and the cytoplasm. We found that a spPABP-GFP fusion protein expressed from a multicopy plasmid could suppress the growth and mRNA export defect of rae1-16 7 nup184-1 synthetic lethal mutations. However, about 20-25% of cells in the population exhibited a pronounced nuclear accumulation of poly(A)(+) RNA. The same cells also localized the spPABP-GFP fusion to the nucleus, suggesting that the shuttling ability of spPABP is related to its function in mRNA export. When a heterologous nuclear export activity from spMex67p was fused to spPABP-GFP fusion protein, it overcame the nuclear retention but did not increase nuclear mRNA export. We discuss the implications of these observations in relation to how spPABP could function in mRNA export. Published in 2002 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Conserved nuclear export sequences in Schizosaccharomyces pombe Mex67 and human TAP function in mRNA export by direct nuclear pore interactions.

Mex67, the homolog of human TAP, is not an essential mRNA export factor in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Here we show that S. pombe encodes a homolog of the TAP cofactor that we have also named p15, whose function in mRNA export is not essential. We have identified and characterized two distinct nuclear export activities, nuclear export signal (NES) I and NES II, within the region of amino acids 434-509 of Mex67. These residues map within the known NTF2-like fold of TAP (amino acids 371-551). We show that the homologs of these two NESs are present and are functionally conserved in TAP. The NES I, NES II, and NES I + II of TAP and Mex67 directly bind with -phenylalanine-glycine (-FG)-containing sequences of S. pombe Nup159 and Nup98 but not with human p62. Mutants of NES I or NES II of Mex67/TAP that do not bind -FG Nup159 and Nup98 in vitro are unable to mediate nuclear export of a heterologous protein in S. pombe and in HeLa cells. Fused with the RNA recognition motifs (RRMs) of Crp79 and green fluorescent protein (GFP) (RRM-NES-GFP), the NES I and NES II of Mex67 or TAP can suppress the mRNA export defect of the Deltap15 rae1-167 synthetic lethal S. pombe strain, suggesting that the NESs can function in the absence of p15. These novel nuclear export sequences may provide additional routes for delivering Mex67/TAP to the nuclear pore complex.

Elf1p, a member of the ABC class of ATPases, functions as a mRNA export factor in Schizosacchromyces pombe.

Rae1p and Mex67p/Tap are conserved mRNA export factors. We have used synthetic lethal genetic screens in Schizosaccharomyces pombe to identify mutations in genes that are functionally linked to rae1 and mex67 in mRNA export. From these screens, we have isolated mutations in a putative S. pombe homologue of the Candida albicans elf1 gene. The elf1 of S. pombe is not an essential gene. When elf1 mutations are combined with rae1-167 mutation, growth and mRNA export is inhibited in the double mutants. This inhibition can be suppressed by the multicopy expression of mex67 suggesting that Mex67p can substitute for the loss of Elf1p function. Elf1p is a non-membrane member of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) class of ATPase and the GFP-Elf1p fusion localizes to the cytoplasm. Elf1p, expressed and purified from Escherichia coli, binds and hydrolyzes ATP. A mutant Elf1p that carries a glycine to aspartic acid (G731D) mutation within the Walker A domain of the second ATP site retains the ATP binding but loses its ATPase activity in vitro. This mutant protein no longer functions in mRNA export. Taken together, our results show that Elf1p functions as a mRNA export factor along with Rae1p and Mex67p in S. pombe.