Tumor suppression by resistant maltodextrin, Fibersol-2.

Resistant maltodextrin Fibersol-2 is a soluble and fermentable dietary fiber that is Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) in the United States. We tested whether Fibersol-2 contains anti-tumor activity. Human colorectal cancer cell line, HCT116, and its isogenic cells were treated with FIbersol-2. Tumor growth and tumorigenesis were studied in vitro and in vivo. Apoptotic pathway and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were investigated. We discovered that Fibersol-2 significantly inhibits tumor growth of HCT116 cells by inducing apoptosis. Fibersol-2 strongly induces mitochondrial ROS and Bax-dependent cleavage of caspase 3 and 9, which is shown by isogenic HCT116 variants. Fibersol-2 induces phosphorylation of Akt, mTOR in parental HCT116 cells, but not in HCT116 deficient for Bax or p53. It prevents growth of tumor xenograft without any apparent signs of toxicity in vivo. These results identify Fibersol-2 as a mechanism-based dietary supplement agent that could prevent colorectal cancer development.

Distinct DNA damage determines differential phosphorylation of Chk2.

Checkpoint kinase 2 (Chk2) has been implicated in DNA damage signaling. By using BJ human fibroblasts, HCT116 colorectal cancer cells and HeLa cervical cancer cells, we further detailed phosphorylation kinetics of Chk2 under treatment with neocarcinostatin (NCS) or doxorubicin (Dox). After NCS treatment, phosphorylation of Chk2 Thr68 occurs in 3 min, followed by phosphorylation of Ser19 and Ser33/35. In ATM deficient fibroblasts, NCS does not induce phosphorylation of NBS1 Ser343 and Chk2 Ser19 and Ser33/35, however Chk2 Thr68 is still phosphorylated, indicating that ATM is essential for phosphorylation of these residues when treated with NCS. By using Chk2-deficient HCT116 cells re-expressing phospho-mutant Chk2 (T68A), we found that inhibition of Thr68 phosphorylation enhances Ser19 phosphorylation in NCS treated cells. Interestingly, in contrast to NCS, Dox does not induce Ser33/35 phosphorylation in HeLa and HCT116 cells. Phosphorylation of Thr68 is sustained until 3 to 4 hours, and phosphorylation of Ser19 occurs 70 to 80 min after Dox treatment. These results demonstrate that Chk2 s involved in the early stages of DNA damage response. Differential phosphorylation kinetics of these residues suggests that DNA damage determines intermolecular and intramolecular interaction of Chk2, which may regulate phosphorylation.

Deregulation of BRCA1 leads to impaired spatiotemporal dynamics of γ-H2AX and DNA damage responses in Huntington's disease.

Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder of mid-life onset characterized by involuntary movements and progressive cognitive decline caused by a CAG repeat expansion in exon 1 of the Huntingtin (Htt) gene. Neuronal DNA damage is one of the major features of neurodegeneration in HD, but it is not known how it arises or relates to the triplet repeat expansion mutation in the Htt gene. Herein, we found that imbalanced levels of non-phosphorylated and phosphorylated BRCA1 contribute to the DNA damage response in HD. Notably, nuclear foci of γ-H2AX, the molecular component that recruits various DNA damage repair factors to damage sites including BRCA1, were deregulated when DNA was damaged in HD cell lines. BRCA1 specifically interacted with γ-H2AX via the BRCT domain, and this association was reduced in HD. BRCA1 overexpression restored γ-H2AX level in the nucleus of HD cells, while BRCA1 knockdown reduced the spatiotemporal propagation of γ-H2AX foci to the nucleoplasm. The deregulation of BRCA1 correlated with an abnormal nuclear distribution of γ-H2AX in striatal neurons of HD transgenic (R6/2) mice and BRCA1(+/-) mice. Our data indicate that BRCA1 is required for the efficient focal recruitment of γ-H2AX to the sites of neuronal DNA damage. Taken together, our results show that BRCA1 directly modulates the spatiotemporal dynamics of γ-H2AX upon genotoxic stress and serves as a molecular maker for neuronal DNA damage response in HD.

BRCA1 affects global DNA methylation through regulation of DNMT1.

Global DNA hypomethylation at CpG islands coupled with local hypermethylation is a hallmark for breast cancer, yet the mechanism underlying this change remains elusive. In this study, we showed that DNMT1, which encodes a methylation maintenance enzyme, is a transcriptional target of BRCA1. BRCA1 binds to the promoter of the DNMT1 gene through a potential OCT1 site and the binding is required for maintaining a transcriptional active configuration of the promoter in both mouse and human cells. We further demonstrated that impaired function of BRCA1 leads to global DNA hypomethylation, loss of genomic imprinting, and an open chromatin configuration in several types of tissues examined in a BRCA1 mutant mouse model at premaligant stages. BRCA1 deficiency is also associated with significantly increased expression levels of several protooncogenes, including c-Fos, Ha-Ras, and c-Myc, with a higher expression in tumors, while premalignant mammary epithelial cells displayed an intermediate state between tumors and controls. In human clinical samples, reduced expression of BRCA1 correlates with decreased levels of DNMT1, and reduced methylation of CpG islands. Thus, BRCA1 prevents global DNA hypomethylation through positively regulating DNMT1 expression, and this provides one of mechanisms for BRCA1-associated breast cancer formation.

Regulation of ATM/DNA-PKcs Phosphorylation by BRCA1-Associated BAAT1.

BRCA1 has been implicated in the DNA damage pathway and regulation of genome stability, however, it does not contain intrinsic catalytic activity to repair the DNA lesions. Thus, a potential activity of BRCA1 is to assemble proteins that sense DNA damage and to transduce checkpoint signals to downstream. We have recently isolated a protein termed BAAT1, which binds to BRCA1, ATM, DNA-PKcs, and SMC1. Phosphorylation of ATM/DNA-PKcs is greatly reduced in BAAT1-knockdown cells, suggesting that sensing of DNA lesions mediated by BRCA1/BAAT1 is critical for activation of these kinases.

Physiological and oncogenic Aurora-A pathway.

Aurora family of protein kinases have emerged as crucial factors of, not only mitosis and cytokinesis, but also human carcinogenesis. Among these family members is Aurora-A that is frequently overexpressed in varieties of human cancer. Both in vitro and in vivo studies demonstrated that Aurora-A induces tumorigenesis through genome instability. These studies have further shown that cell signaling cross-talk between Aurora-A and other cellular proteins are essential for fully-transformed phenotypes. This review summarizes recent progress of Aurora-A-associated carcinogenesis.

Role of IFI16 in DNA damage and checkpoint.

IFI16 is a member of the HIN-200 family (hematopoietic interferon-inducible nuclear antigens with 200 amino acid repeat) that contains a DNA binding domain, a transcriptional regulatory domain, DAPIN/PAAD domain associated with interferon (IFN) response and a binding domain for BRCA1, breast cancer tumor suppressor protein. IFI16 has been identified as a target of IFNa and g and is a member of the HIN-200 family. Although series of initial studies have demonstrated a potential activity of IFI16, a physiological role of the protein was largely unknown. A novel insight of the function of IFI16 stemmed from the observation that IFI16 constitutively binds to BRCA1 breast cancer tumor suppressor. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that IFI16 is involved in p53-mediated regulation of cell growth and apoptosis. Immunocytochemical and immunohistological analyses of breast cancer cell lines and specimens revealed that levels of IFI16 are frequently decreased, supporting the notion that loss of IFI16 is closely associated with tumor development. Finally, siRNA-mediated depletion of IFI16 induces levels of NBS1, nijmegen breakage syndrome protein 1, leading to activation of DNA-PK (DNA-dependent kinase), phosphorylation of p53 Ser37 and accumulation of p21WAF1. Localization of IFI16 is determined by the status of BRCA1 protein under conditions of DNA damage, such as ionizing radiation (IR). More recently, it has been shown that levels of IFI16 are increased by oxidative stress. Together, these results illustrate that IFI16 is involved in DNA damage signaling and cell cycle checkpoint.

Loss of p53-regulatory protein IFI16 induces NBS1 leading to activation of p53-mediated checkpoint by phosphorylation of p53 SER37.

Our previous results that IFI16 is involved in p53 transcription activity under conditions of ionizing radiation (IR), and that the protein is frequently lost in human breast cancer cell lines and breast adenocarcinoma tissues suggesting that IFI16 plays a crucial role in controlling cell growth. Here, we show that loss of IFI16 by RNA interference in cell culture causes elevated phosphorylation of p53 Ser37 and accumulated NBS1 (nibrin) and p21WAF1, leading to growth retardation. Consistent with these observations, doxycyclin-induced NBS1 caused accumulation of p21WAF1 and increased phosphorylation of p53 Ser37, leading to cell cycle arrest in G1 phase. Wortmannin treatment was found to decrease p53 Ser37 phosphorylation in NBS-induced cells. These results suggest that loss of IFI16 activates p53 checkpoint through NBS1-DNA-PKcs pathway.

BRCA1 phosphorylation by Aurora-A in the regulation of G2 to M transition.

Aurora-A/BTAK/STK15 localizes to the centrosome in the G(2)-M phase, and its kinase activity regulates the G(2) to M transition of the cell cycle. Previous studies have shown that the BRCA1 breast cancer tumor suppressor also localizes to the centrosome and that BRCA1 inactivation results in loss of the G(2)-M checkpoint. We demonstrate here that Aurora-A physically binds to and phosphorylates BRCA1. Biochemical analysis showed that BRCA1 amino acids 1314-1863 binds to Aurora-A. Site-directed mutagenesis indicated that Ser(308) of BRCA1 is phosphorylated by Aurora-A in vitro. Anti-phospho-specific antibodies against Ser(308) of BRCA1 demonstrated that Ser(308) is phosphorylated in vivo. Phosphorylation of Ser(308) increased in the early M phase when Aurora-A activity also increases; these effects could be abolished by ionizing radiation. Consistent with these observations, acute loss of Aurora-A by small interfering RNA resulted in reduced phosphorylation of BRCA1 Ser(308), and transient infection of adenovirus Aurora-A increased Ser(308) phosphorylation. Mutation of a single phosphorylation site of BRCA1 (S308N), when expressed in BRCA1-deficient mouse embryo fibroblasts, decreased the number of cells in the M phase to a degree similar to that with wild type BRCA1-mediated G(2) arrest induced by DNA damage. We propose that BRCA1 phosphorylation by Aurora-A plays a role in G(2) to M transition of cell cycle.