SIRT1 undergoes alternative splicing in a novel auto-regulatory loop with p53.

BACKGROUND: The NAD-dependent deacetylase SIRT1 is a nutrient-sensitive coordinator of stress-tolerance, multiple homeostatic processes and healthspan, while p53 is a stress-responsive transcription factor and our paramount tumour suppressor. Thus, SIRT1-mediated inhibition of p53 has been identified as a key node in the common biology of cancer, metabolism, development and ageing. However, precisely how SIRT1 integrates such diverse processes remains to be elucidated. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we report that SIRT1 is alternatively spliced in mammals, generating a novel SIRT1 isoform: SIRT1-ΔExon8. We show that SIRT1-ΔExon8 is expressed widely throughout normal human and mouse tissues, suggesting evolutionary conservation and critical function. Further studies demonstrate that the SIRT1-ΔExon8 isoform retains minimal deacetylase activity and exhibits distinct stress sensitivity, RNA/protein stability, and protein-protein interactions compared to classical SIRT1-Full-Length (SIRT1-FL). We also identify an auto-regulatory loop whereby SIRT1-ΔExon8 can regulate p53, while in reciprocal p53 can influence SIRT1 splice variation. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We characterize the first alternative isoform of SIRT1 and demonstrate its evolutionary conservation in mammalian tissues. The results also reveal a new level of inter-dependency between p53 and SIRT1, two master regulators of multiple phenomena. Thus, previously-attributed SIRT1 functions may in fact be distributed between SIRT1 isoforms, with important implications for SIRT1 functional studies and the current search for SIRT1-activating therapeutics to combat age-related decline.

Influence of tetramerisation on site-specific post-translational modifications of p53: comparison of human and murine p53 tumor suppressor protein.

The tumor suppressor protein p53 is considered the "Guardian of the Genome", crucial for cell cycle control and mutated in over 50% of human cancers. Following cellular stress, post-translational modifications such as phosphorylation and acetylation stabilise and activate p53 for cell cycle arrest, DNA repair, apoptosis or senescence. p53 protein functions as a tetramer and we have shown that loss of tetramerisation and changes at the N-terminus influence the recovery of wild type p53 'status'. To investigate the relationship between tetramerisation and post-translational modifications we examined a range of site-specific modifications in wild type and dimeric mutant (M340Q/L344R) murine p53 expressed in MEFs p53(-/-) and in wild type, monomeric (L344P) and dimeric (M340Q/L344R) human p53 expressed in HCT116 p53(-/-) cells. Using site-specific antibodies we demonstrate that in murine p53, S15 is phosphorylated in a tetramerisation-dependent manner. In contrast, human p53 S15 phosphorylation is not tetramerisation-dependent. Inability to form tetramers in human p53 proteins reduced site-specific N-terminal phosphorylation at S6, S9 and S46 and reduced C-terminal phosphorylation and acetylation at S315 and K382 respectively. In addition, p53 tetramerisation is required for efficient p21 and hdm2 transcription and protein expression and recruitment of p53 to specific promoter regions of p21 and hdm2.

Role of phosphorylation in p53 acetylation and PAb421 epitope recognition in baculoviral and mammalian expressed proteins.

Post-translational modifications, such as phosphorylation and acetylation of the tumour suppressor protein p53, elicit important effects on the function and the stability of the resultant protein. However, as phosphorylation and acetylation are dynamic events subject to complex controls, elucidating the relationships between phosphorylation and acetylation is difficult. In the present study we sought to address this problem by comparing full-length wild-type p53 with full-length p53 proteins mutated at specific phosphorylation targets. Recombinant murine p53 proteins were expressed in insect cells (using the baculoviral expression vector system) and in a mammalian in vitro transcription/translation reticulocyte lysate system. In p53 proteins derived from baculoviral expression vectors, S37A (but not S37D) was found to abrogate phosphorylation at S15. Lysine 382 (K382) is constitutively acetylated and was shown to form part of the epitope recognized by PAb421. Lysine 373 (K373) was only acetylated following substitutions at S315 (S315A or S315D) or at S378 (S378A). Importantly, in baculoviral expressed proteins, PAb421 reactivity was independent of K373 acetylation status, indicating that acetylation at K382 specifically determines the PAb421 epitope.

Restoration of wild-type conformation to full-length and truncated p53 proteins: specific effects of ATP and ADP.

Mutations in the core domain of the tumour suppressor p53 gene occur in over 50% of human cancers and are not present in normal cells hence p53 protein is a prime target for anti-cancer therapy. In full-length p53 protein, mutations have been shown to destabilize protein structure from wild-type to mutant conformation resulting in differential exposure of conformational epitopes PAb1620, PAb240 and PAb246 in murine p53 protein. In recent studies, putative anti-cancer agents have been designed for rescuing wild-type p53 conformation and function. Using full-length and truncated murine p53 proteins derived from the baculoviral system, we analyzed the recovery of PAb246 and PAb1620 epitopes and have identified regions of p53 required for optimal renaturation in vitro to wild-type. The influence of ATP and ADP on the process was also determined. We demonstrate a difference in the dose-dependent effect of ATP and ADP on renaturation of full-length wild-type and monomeric p53 proteins. Putative ATP binding sites were identified at residues 1-67 and 98-303 in conjunction with a putative ADP binding site at residues 98-303 and negative regulation of ATP/ADP binding by the proline-rich region. Improved efficacy and reduced toxicity of anti-cancer therapy may depend upon compounds engineered to rescue hot-spot core mutations in the context of full-length p53.

p53 represses RNA polymerase III transcription by targeting TBP and inhibiting promoter occupancy by TFIIIB.

The tumor suppressor p53 is a transcription factor that controls cellular growth and proliferation. p53 targets include RNA polymerase (pol) III-dependent genes encoding untranslated RNAs such as tRNA and 5S rRNA. These genes are repressed through interaction of p53 with TFIIIB, a TATA-binding protein (TBP)-containing factor. Although many studies have shown that p53 binds to TBP, the significance of this interaction has remained elusive. Here we demonstrate that the TBP-p53 interaction is of functional importance for regulating RNA pol III-transcribed genes. Unlike RNA pol II-dependent promoter repression, overexpressing TBP can reverse inhibition of tRNA gene transcription by p53. p53 does not disrupt the direct interaction between the TFIIIB subunits TBP and Brf1, but prevents the association of Brf1 complexes with TFIIIC2 and RNA pol III. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation assays, we found that TFIIIB occupancy on tRNA genes markedly decreases following p53 induction, whereas binding of TFIIIC2 to these genes is unaffected. Together our results support the idea that p53 represses RNA pol III transcription through direct interactions with TBP, preventing promoter occupancy by TFIIIB.

Several regions of p53 are involved in repression of RNA polymerase III transcription.

The tumour suppressor p53 has been shown to regulate RNA polymerase (pol) III transcription both in vitro and in vivo. We have characterized the regions of p53 that contribute to this effect. Repression of pol III transcription in vivo does not require residues 13-19 near the N-terminus of p53 that are highly conserved through evolution. However, amino acids 22 and 23 in the adjacent transactivation domain do contribute to the inhibition of pol III activity. Deletions within the central DNA-binding core domain (residues 102-292) of p53 can entirely abolish the repression function in these assays, despite the fact that pol III templates contain no recognized p53 binding site. Deletion or substitution within the C-terminal domain of p53 can also compromise its ability to repress pol III activity in vitro and in transfected cells. These observations reveal that repression of pol III transcription is a complex function involving multiple regions of p53 extending throughout much of the protein.