Structure-Based Design of a New Scaffold for Cell-Penetrating Peptidic Inhibitors of the Histone Demethylase PHF8.

The histone demethylase PHF8 catalyzes demethylation of mono- and di-methylated Lys9 on histone H3 (H3K9me1/2), and is a transcriptional activator involved in the development and cancer. Affinity and specificity of PHF8 towards H3K9me2 is affected by interaction with both the catalytic domain and a PHD reader domain. The latter specifically recognizes tri-methylated Ly4 on histone H3. A fragment of the histone H3 tail with tri-methylated Lys4 was used as a template for the structure-based design of a cyclic, cell-penetrating peptide that exhibits micromolar binding affinity to PHF8 in biochemical assays. The inhibitor has significantly lower affinity towards KDM2 enzymes (the phylogenetically closest subfamily), and to KDM3 and KDM6 subfamilies. Selectivity is only marginal towards an enzyme from the KDM4 family, which shares histone tail specificity with PHF8. It is a substrate of KDM5B, thus implying that the free N terminus is not part of the KDM5 enzyme substrate recognition machinery. The cyclic peptide's ability to penetrate cells is achieved by incorporation of a sequence derived from HIV Tat. The derived cyclic peptide can be used as a starting compound in the search for potent and selective PHF8 inhibitors.

Correction: A Screen Identifies the Oncogenic Micro-RNA miR-378a-5p as a Negative Regulator of Oncogene-Induced Senescence.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0091034.].

Organ-Specific, Fibroblast-Derived Matrix as a Tool for Studying Breast Cancer Metastasis.

During the metastatic process, breast cancer cells must come into contact with the extra-cellular matrix (ECM) at every step. The ECM provides both structural support and biochemical cues, and cell-ECM interactions can lead to changes in drug response. Here, we used fibroblast-derived ECM (FDM) to perform high throughput drug screening of 4T1 breast cancer cells on metastatic organ ECM (lung), and we see that drug response differs from treatment on plastic. The FDMs that we can produce from different organs are abundant in and contains a complex mixture of ECM proteins. We also show differences in ECM composition between the primary site and secondary organ sites. Furthermore, we show that global kinase signalling of 4T1 cells on the ECM is relatively unchanged between organs, while changes in signalling compared to plastic are significant. Our study highlights the importance of context when testing drug response in vitro, showing that consideration of the ECM is critically important.

A high-throughput screen identifies the long non-coding RNA DRAIC as a regulator of autophagy.

Autophagy is a conserved degradation process that occurs in all eukaryotic cells and its dysfunction has been associated with various diseases including cancer. While a number of large-scale attempts have recently identified new molecular players in autophagy regulation, including proteins and microRNAs, little is known regarding the function of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the regulation of this process. To identify new long non-coding RNAs with functional implications in autophagy, we performed a high-throughput RNAi screen targeting more than 600 lncRNA transcripts and monitored their effects on autophagy in MCF-7 cells. We identified 63 lncRNAs that affected GFP-LC3B puncta numbers significantly. We validated the strongest hit, the lncRNA DRAIC previously shown to impact cell proliferation, and revealed a novel role for this lncRNA in the regulation of autophagic flux. Interestingly, we find DRAIC's pro-proliferative effects to be autophagy-independent. This study serves as a valuable resource for researchers from both the lncRNA and autophagy fields as it advances the current understanding of autophagy regulation by non-coding RNAs.

High-Throughput siRNA Screening Applied to the Ubiquitin-Proteasome System.

The ubiquitin-proteasome system is the major pathway for intracellular protein degradation in eukaryotic cells. Due to the large number of genes dedicated to the ubiquitin-proteasome system, mapping degradation pathways for short lived proteins is a daunting task, in particular in mammalian cells that are not genetically tractable as, for instance, a yeast model system. Here, we describe a method relying on high-throughput cellular imaging of cells transfected with a targeted siRNA library to screen for components involved in degradation of a protein of interest. This method is a rapid and cost-effective tool which is also highly applicable for other studies on gene function.

Single framework recombinant antibody fragments designed for protein chip applications.

High-throughput proteomics, based on the microarray platform, requires stable, highly functional components that will yield a highly sensitive read-out of low abundance proteins. Although antibodies are the best characterized binding molecules for this purpose, only a fraction of them appear to behave satisfactorily in the chip format. Therefore, high demands need to be placed on their molecular design. In the present study, we have focused on recombinant antibody design based on a single framework for protein chip applications, aiming at defining crucial molecular probe parameters. Our results show that engineered human recombinant scFv antibody fragments that displayed appropriate biophysical properties (molecular [functional] stability in particular) can be generated, making them prime candidates for high-density antibody arrays. In fact, a superior framework that displays both multifaceted adsorption properties and very high functional stability over several months on chips (stored in a dried-out state) was identified. Taken together, designed scFv fragments based on a single molecular scaffold, readily accessible in large phage display libraries, can undoubtedly meet the requirements of probe content in antibody microarrays, particularly for global proteome analysis.

A screen identifies the oncogenic micro-RNA miR-378a-5p as a negative regulator of oncogene-induced senescence.

Oncogene-induced senescence (OIS) can occur in response to hyperactive oncogenic signals and is believed to be a fail-safe mechanism protecting against tumorigenesis. To identify new factors involved in OIS, we performed a screen for microRNAs that can overcome or inhibit OIS in human diploid fibroblasts. This screen led to the identification of miR-378a-5p and in addition several other miRNAs that have previously been shown to play a role in senescence. We show that ectopic expression of miR-378a-5p reduces the expression of several senescence markers, including p16(INK4A) and senescence-associated ß-galactosidase. Moreover, cells with ectopic expression of miR-378a-5p retain proliferative capacity even in the presence of an activated Braf oncogene. Finally, we identified several miR-378a-5p targets in diploid fibroblasts that might explain the mechanism by which the microRNA can delay OIS. We speculate that miR-378a-5p might positively influence tumor formation by delaying OIS, which is consistent with a known pro-oncogenic function of this microRNA.

Histone acetyltransferase PCAF is required for Hedgehog-Gli-dependent transcription and cancer cell proliferation.

The Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway plays an important role in embryonic patterning and development of many tissues and organs as well as in maintaining and repairing mature tissues in adults. Uncontrolled activation of the Hh-Gli pathway has been implicated in developmental abnormalities as well as in several cancers, including brain tumors like medulloblastoma and glioblastoma. Inhibition of aberrant Hh-Gli signaling has, thus, emerged as an attractive approach for anticancer therapy; however, the mechanisms that mediate Hh-Gli signaling in vertebrates remain poorly understood. Here, we show that the histone acetyltransferase PCAF/KAT2B is an important factor of the Hh pathway. Specifically, we show that PCAF depletion impairs Hh activity and reduces expression of Hh target genes. Consequently, PCAF downregulation in medulloblastoma and glioblastoma cells leads to decreased proliferation and increased apoptosis. In addition, we found that PCAF interacts with GLI1, the downstream effector in the Hh-Gli pathway, and that PCAF or GLI1 loss reduces the levels of H3K9 acetylation on Hh target gene promoters. Finally, we observed that PCAF silencing reduces the tumor-forming potential of neural stem cells in vivo. In summary, our study identified the acetyltransferase PCAF as a positive cofactor of the Hh-Gli signaling pathway, leading us to propose PCAF as a candidate therapeutic target for the treatment of patients with medulloblastoma and glioblastoma.

HUWE1 and TRIP12 collaborate in degradation of ubiquitin-fusion proteins and misframed ubiquitin.

In eukaryotic cells an uncleavable ubiquitin moiety conjugated to the N-terminus of a protein signals the degradation of the fusion protein via the proteasome-dependent ubiquitin fusion degradation (UFD) pathway. In yeast the molecular mechanism of the UFD pathway has been well characterized. Recently the human E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase TRIP12 was connected with the UFD pathway, but little is otherwise known about this system in mammalian cells. In the present work, we utilized high-throughput imaging on cells transfected with a targeted siRNA library to identify components involved in degradation of the UFD substrate Ub(G76V)-YFP. The most significant hits from the screen were the E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase HUWE1, as well as PSMD7 and PSMD14 that encode proteasome subunits. Accordingly, knock down of HUWE1 led to an increase in the steady state level and a retarded degradation of the UFD substrate. Knock down of HUWE1 also led to a stabilization of the physiological UFD substrate UBB(+1). Precipitation experiments revealed that HUWE1 is associated with both the Ub(G76V)-YFP substrate and the 26S proteasome, indicating that it functions late in the UFD pathway. Double knock down of HUWE1 and TRIP12 resulted in an additive stabilization of the substrate, suggesting that HUWE1 and TRIP12 function in parallel during UFD. However, even when both HUWE1 and TRIP12 are downregulated, ubiquitylation of the UFD substrate was still apparent, revealing functional redundancy between HUWE1, TRIP12 and yet other ubiquitin-protein ligases.

Improved affinity coupling for antibody microarrays: engineering of double-(His)6-tagged single framework recombinant antibody fragments.

Antibody-based microarray is a novel technology with great promise in biomedicine that will provide unique means to perform global proteome analysis. In the process of designing the high-density antibody microarrays required, several critical key issues have been identified that remain to be resolved. In particular, there is a great need for specific and selective approaches enabling non-purified probes to be directly purified, orientated and coupled in a generic one-step procedure directly on the chip. In this study, we report on the successful design of affinity-tagged human recombinant single-chain fragment variable antibody fragments for improved affinity coupling in array applications. By replacing the standard single-histidine (His)(6)-tag with a consecutive double-(His)(6)-tag, the binding to Ni(2+)-nitrilotriacetic acid-coated substrates was significantly improved. Surface plasmon resonance analysis showed a significantly tighter binding with at least a threefold slower dissociation. The improved binding characteristics thus enabled non-purified probes even in the format of crude expression supernatants to be directly applied thereby eliminating the need for any time-consuming pre-purification step(s) prior to the immobilization. While the double-(His)(6)-tag probes were found to be expressed equally well as compared to the single-(His)(6)-tag probes, they displayed better long-term functional on-chip stability. Taken together, the results demonstrate the generic potential of double-(His)(6)-tag recombinant antibodies for the facile fabrication of high-density antibody microarrays.

Microarrays based on affinity-tagged single-chain Fv antibodies: sensitive detection of analyte in complex proteomes.

Protein-based microarrays are among the novel class of rapidly emerging proteomic technologies that will allow us to efficiently perform global proteome analysis. However, the process of designing adequate protein microarrays is a major inherent problem. In this study, we have evaluated a protein microarray platform based on nonpurified affinity-tagged single-chain (sc) Fv antibody fragments to generate proof-of-principle and to demonstrate the specificity and sensitivity of the array design. To this end, we used our human recombinant scFv antibody library genetically constructed around one framework, the n-CoDeR library containing 2 x 10(10) clones, as a source for our probes. The probes were immobilized via engineered C-terminal affinity tags, his- or myc-tags, to either Ni(2+)-coated slides or anti-tag antibody coated substrates. The results showed that highly functional microarrays were generated and that nonpurified scFvs readily could be applied as probes. Specific and sensitive microarrays were obtained, providing a limit of detection in the pM to fM range, using fluorescence as the mode of detection. Further, the results showed that spotting the analyte on top of the arrayed probes, instead of incubating the array with large sample volumes (333 pL vs. 40 microL), could reduce the amount of analyte required 4000 times, from 1200 attomole to 300 zeptomole. Finally, we showed that a highly complex proteome, such as human sera containing several thousand different proteins, could be directly fluorescently labeled and successfully analyzed without compromising the specificity and sensitivity of the antibody microarrays. This is a prerequisite for the design of high-density antibody arrays applied in high-throughput proteomics.

Biocompatibility of surfaces for antibody microarrays: design of macroporous silicon substrates.

Major efforts to develop antibody microarray technology to enable global proteome analysis to be performed in a facile manner are under way. In this process, the design and the properties of the substrate will play crucial roles. In the present study, we have developed novel, highly biocompatible solid supports for microarrays, using adsorbed recombinant human single-framework antibody fragments as probes. Several silicon-based supports, including planar silicon, micro- and macroporous silicon, and nitrocellulose-coated variants thereof, were designed and evaluated in a stepwise procedure. The surfaces were scored based on biocompatibility and probe binding capacity as judged by spot morphology, signal intensities, signal to noise ratios, dynamic range, sensitivity, and reproducibility. A set of five commercially available substrates, selected to represent a set of supports providing different surface and coupling chemistries, was used as reference surfaces. The results showed that several well-performing silicon-based supports could be designed; in particular, a nitrocellulose-coated macroporous variant, MAP3-NC7, received the highest scores. In comparison, MAP3-NC7 displayed properties equal to or better than those of the reference substrates. Taken together, designed surfaces based on silicon can undoubtedly meet the requirements of the next generation of solid supports for antibody microarrays.