Latent membrane protein 1 suppresses RASSF1A expression, disrupts microtubule structures and induces chromosomal aberrations in human epithelial cells.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection is closely associated with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and can be detected in early premalignant lesions of nasopharyngeal epithelium. The latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) is an oncoprotein encoded by the EBV and is believed to play a role in transforming premalignant nasopharyngeal epithelial cells into cancer cells. RASSF1A is a tumor-suppressor gene commonly inactivated in many types of human cancer including NPC. In this study, we report a novel function of LMP1, in down-regulating RASSF1A expression in human epithelial cells. Downregulation of RASSF1A expression by LMP1 is dependent on the activation of intracellular signaling of NF-kappaB involving the C-terminal activating regions (CTARs) of LMP1. LMP1 expression also suppresses the transcriptional activity of the RASSF1A core promoter. RASSF1A stabilizes microtubules and regulates mitotic events. Aberrant mitotic spindles and chromosome aberrations are reported phenotypes in RASSF1A inactivated cells. In this study, we observed that LMP1 expression in human epithelial cells could induce aberrant mitotic spindles, disorganized interphase microtubules and aneuploidy. LMP1 expression could also suppress microtubule dynamics as exemplified by tracking movements of the growing tips of microtubules in live cells by transfecting EGFP-tagged EB1 into cells. The aberrant mitotic spindles and interphase microtubule organization induced by LMP1 could be rescued by transfecting RASSF1A expression plasmid into cells. Downregulation of RASSF1A expression by LMP1 may facilitate its role in transformation of premalignant nasopharyngeal epithelial cells into cancer cells.

Molecular cloning and mRNA distribution of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP)/PACAP-related peptide in the lungfish.

In this article, we report the isolation of a full-length cDNA clone encoding pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP)/PACAP-related peptide (PRP) from lungfish Protopterus dolloi. When comparing the deduced amino acid sequences, the lungfish PACAP was found to be highly conserved with other vertebrates; however, the PRP shares only lower levels of sequence identity with known PRP sequences. Consistently in phylogenetic analysis, the lungfish PRP, similar to sturgeon PRP, fails to cluster with other PRPs. In addition to the full-length clone, another cDNA encoding a short precursor that lacks the first 32 amino acids of the PRP was also isolated. Interestingly, similar isoforms were also identified in several nonmammalian vertebrates, and it was suggested that exon skipping of PRP/PACAP transcripts was a mechanism that regulated the expression ratio of PACAP to PRP in nonmammalian vertebrates. By real-time PCR, both long and short PRP/PACAP transcripts were found almost exclusively in the brain, and the short isoform is the more abundant transcript (3.7 times more), indicating that PACAP is the major product produced in lungfish brain. The expression patterns of lungfish and previously studied frog PRP/PACAP suggest that the PRP/PACAP gene in the tetrapod lineage may first express in the central nervous system; in the process of evolution, the functions of these peptides diversified and were later found in other tissues.