Histone demethylase JMJD2A regulates Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus replication and is targeted by a viral transcriptional factor.

The switch between the latency and lytic cycles of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is accompanied by specific alterations of histone codes. Recently, comprehensive analysis of histone modifications of KSHV showed the deposition of H3K27me3 across the KSHV genome with two specific regions occupied by the heterochromatin marker H3K9me3. Here, we show that knockdown of JMJD2A, an H3K9me3 demethylase, attenuates viral titers, whereas its overexpression increases KSHV reactivation. JMJD2A is localized in regions of latent viral chromosomes that are deficient in the H3K9me3 mark, indicating that JMJD2A may be responsible for the low level of this mark on viral chromatin. The presence of JMJD2A on the latent genome maintains H3K9 in unmethylated form and signals the readiness of specific sets of viral genes to be reactivated. The demethylase activity of JMJD2A is important for KSHV reactivation, because a demethylase-deficient mutant cannot restore the JMJD2A knockdown phenotype. Interestingly, we found that the KSHV encoded K-bZIP associated with JMJD2A, resulting in the inhibition of demethylase activity of JMJD2A both in vivo and in vitro. Inhibition of JMJD2A by K-bZIP is likely due to a physical interaction which blocks substrate accessibility. A consequence of such an inhibition is increasing global levels of H3K9me3 and gene silencing. Consistently, K-bZIP overexpression resulted in a repression of ∼80% of the ≥2-fold differentially regulated genes compared to results for the uninduced control cells. The consequences of K-bZIP targeting JMJD2A during viral replication will be discussed. To our knowledge, this is the first description of a viral product shown to be a potent inhibitor of a host cellular histone demethylase.

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) encodes a SUMO E3 ligase that is SIM-dependent and SUMO-2/3-specific.

Sumoylation has emerged as a major post-translational modification of cellular proteins, affecting a variety of cellular processes. Viruses have exploited the sumoylation pathway to advance their own replication by evolving several ways to perturb the host sumoylation apparatus. However, there has been no report of virally encoded enzymes directly involved in catalyzing the sumoylation reaction. Here, we report that the K-bZIP protein encoded by Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is a SUMO E3 ligase with specificity toward SUMO2/3. K-bZIP is a nuclear factor that functions to modulate viral gene expression and to prolong the G1 phase, allowing viral transcription and translation to proceed at the early stage of infection. In addition to functioning as a transcriptional factor, we show that K-bZIP carries a SIM (SUMO-interacting motif), which specifically binds to SUMO-2/3 but not SUMO-1. K-bZIP catalyzes its own SUMO modification as well as that of its interacting partners such as the cellular tumor suppressor proteins p53 and Rb, both in vitro and in vivo. This reaction depends on an intact SIM. Sumoylation of p53 leads to its activation and K-bZIP is recruited to several p53 target chromatin sites in a SIM-dependent manner. In addition to the identification of a viral SUMO-2/3 E3 ligase, our results provide additional insights into the mechanisms whereby K-bZIP induces cell cycle arrest.

BRCA1 accumulates in the nucleus in response to hypoxia and TRAIL and enhances TRAIL-induced apoptosis in breast cancer cells.

A major contributing factor to the development of breast cancer is decreased functional expression of breast cancer susceptibility gene 1, BRCA1. Another key contributor to tumorigenesis is hypoxia. Here we show that hypoxia increased the nuclear localization of BRCA1 in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-468 human breast cancer cell lines without changing its steady-state expression level. Nuclear accumulation of BRCA1 was not evident in MCF-12A or HMEC (human mammary epithelial cell) nonmalignant mammary epithelial cells under the same conditions. Hypoxia also increased the cell surface expression of TRAIL on MDA-MB-468 cells. Neutralization of TRAIL precluded the hypoxia-induced accumulation of BRCA1 in the nucleus, whereas exogenously administered TRAIL mimicked the effect. Treatment of MDA-MB-468 cells with TRAIL resulted in a dose- and time-dependent increase in apoptosis. Furthermore, TRAIL-induced apoptosis in HCC1937 cells, which harbor a BRCA1 mutation, increased synergistically when wild-type BRCA1 was reconstituted in the cells, and downregulation of BRCA1 expression in MDA-MB-468 cells reduced the apoptotic response to TRAIL. These data provide a novel link between hypoxia, TRAIL and BRCA1, and suggest that this relationship may be especially relevant to the potential use of TRAIL as a chemotherapeutic agent.

Kruppel-associated box domain-associated protein-1 as a latency regulator for Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus and its modulation by the viral protein kinase.

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) has been linked to the development of Kaposi's sarcoma, a major AIDS-associated malignancy, and to hematologic malignancies, including primary effusion lymphoma and multicentric Castleman's disease. Like other herpesviruses, KSHV is capable of both latent and lytic replication. Understanding the molecular details associated with this transition from latency to lytic replication is key to controlling virus spread and can affect the development of intervention strategies. Here, we report that Kruppel-associated box domain-associated protein-1 (KAP-1)/transcriptional intermediary factor 1beta, a cellular transcriptional repressor that controls chromosomal remodeling, participates in the process of switching viral latency to lytic replication. Knockdown of KAP-1 by small interfering RNA leads to KSHV reactivation mediated by K-Rta, a key transcriptional regulator. In cells harboring latent KSHV, KAP-1 was associated with the majority of viral lytic-gene promoters. K-Rta overexpression induced the viral lytic cycle with concomitant reduction of KAP-1 binding to viral promoters. Association of KAP-1 with heterochromatin was modulated by both sumoylation and phosphorylation. During lytic replication of KSHV, KAP-1 was phosphorylated at Ser(824). Several lines of evidence directly linked the viral protein kinase to this post-translational modification. Additional studies showed that this phosphorylation of KAP-1 produced a decrease in its sumoylation, consequently decreasing the ability of KAP-1 to condense chromatin on viral promoters. In summary, the cellular transcriptional repressor KAP-1 plays a role in regulating KSHV latency, and viral protein kinase modulates the chromatin remodeling function of this repressor.

RNA editing of androgen receptor gene transcripts in prostate cancer cells.

Reactivation of the androgen receptor (AR) signaling pathway represents a critical step in the growth and survival of androgen-independent (AI) prostate cancer (CaP). In this study we show the DU145 and PC3 AI human CaP cell lines respond to androgens and require AR expression for optimal proliferation in vitro. Interestingly, AR gene transcripts in DU145 and PC3 cells harbored a large number of single base pair nucleotide transitions that resulted in missense mutations in selected AR codons. The most notable lesion detected in AR gene transcripts included the oncogenic codon 877T-->A gain-of-function mutation. Surprisingly, AR gene transcript nucleotide transitions were not genome-encoded substitutions, but instead the mutations co-localized to putative A-to-I, U-to-C, C-to-U, and G-to-A RNA editing sites, suggesting the lesions were mediated through RNA editing mechanisms. Higher levels of mRNA encoding the A-to-I RNA editing enzymes ADAR1 and ADARB1 were observed in DU145 and PC3 cells relative to the androgen-responsive LNCaP and 22Rv1 human CaP cell lines, which correlated with higher levels of AR gene transcript A-to-I editing detected in DU145 and PC3 cells. Our results suggest that AR gene transcripts are targeted by different RNA editing enzymes in DU145 and PC3 cells. Thus RNA editing of AR gene transcripts may contribute to the etiology of hormone-refractory phenotypes in advanced stage AI CaP.

Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt signaling enhances nuclear localization and transcriptional activity of BRCA1.

Signaling pathways involved in regulating nuclear-cytoplasmic distribution of BRCA1 have not been previously reported. Here, we provide evidence that heregulin beta1-induced activation of the Akt pathway increases the nuclear content of BRCA1. First, treatment of T47D breast cancer cells with heregulin beta1 results in a two-fold increase in nuclear BRCA1 as assessed by FACS analysis, immunoblotting and immunofluorescence. This heregulin-induced increase in nuclear BRCA1 is blocked by siRNA-mediated down-regulation of Akt. Second, mutation of threonine 509 in BRCA1, the site of Akt phosphorylation, to an alanine, attenuates the ability of heregulin to induce BRCA1 nuclear accumulation. These data suggest that Akt-catalyzed phosphorylation of BRCA1 is required for the heregulin-regulated nuclear concentration of BRCA1. Because most functions ascribed to BRCA1 occur within the nucleus, we postulated that phosphorylation-dependent nuclear accumulation of BRCA1 would result in enhanced nuclear activity, specifically transcriptional activity, of BRCA1. This postulate is affirmed by our observation that the ability of BRCA1 to transactivate GADD45 promoter constructs was enhanced in T47D cells treated with heregulin beta1. Furthermore, the heterologous expression of BRCA1 in HCC1937 human breast cancer cells, which have constitutively active Akt, also induces GADD45 promoter activity, whereas the expression of BRCA1 in which threonine 509 has been mutated to an alanine is able to only minimally induce promoter activity. These findings implicate Akt in upstream events leading to BRCA1 nuclear localization and function.