Correction: Aclacinomycin A Sensitizes K562 Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Cells to Imatinib through p38MAPK-Mediated Erythroid Differentiation.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0061939.].

Correction: MPT0B169, a New Antitubulin Agent, Inhibits Bcr-Abl Expression and Induces Mitochondrion-Mediated Apoptosis in Nonresistant and Imatinib-Resistant Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Cells.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0148093.].

MPT0B169, a New Antitubulin Agent, Inhibits Bcr-Abl Expression and Induces Mitochondrion-Mediated Apoptosis in Nonresistant and Imatinib-Resistant Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Cells.

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a clonal disorder of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells that is caused by the Bcr-Abl oncoprotein. Clinical resistance to the Bcr-Abl inhibitor imatinib is a critical problem in treating CML. This study investigated the antitumor effect and mechanism of MPT0B169, a new antitubulin agent, in K562 CML cells and their derived imatinib-resistant cells, IMR2 and IMR3. IMR2 and IMR3 cells showed complete resistance to imatinib-induced growth inhibition and apoptosis. Resistance involved ERK1/2 overactivation and MDR1 overexpression. MPT0B169 inhibited the growth of K562, IMR2, and IMR3 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. MPT0B169 substantially inhibited the mRNA and protein levels of Bcr-Abl, followed by its downstream pathways including Akt, ERK1/2, and STAT3 in these cells. MPT0B169 treatment resulted in a decrease in the polymer form of tubulin according to Western blot analysis. It triggered cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase before apoptosis, which was related to the upregulation of the mitotic marker MPM2 and the cyclin B1 level, and a change in the phosphorylation of Cdk1. MPT0B169 induced apoptosis in nonresistant and imatinib-resistant cells via a mitochondrion-mediated caspase pathway. Further study showed that the agent led to a decrease in the antiapoptotic proteins Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, and Mcl-1 and an increase in the apoptotic protein Bax. Taken together, our results suggest that MPT0B169 might be a promising agent for overcoming imatinib resistance in CML cells.

Aclacinomycin A sensitizes K562 chronic myeloid leukemia cells to imatinib through p38MAPK-mediated erythroid differentiation.

Expression of oncogenic Bcr-Abl inhibits cell differentiation of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Differentiation therapy is considered to be a new strategy for treating this type of leukemia. Aclacinomycin A (ACM) is an antitumor antibiotic. Previous studies have shown that ACM induced erythroid differentiation of CML cells. In this study, we investigate the effect of ACM on the sensitivity of human CML cell line K562 to Bcr-Abl specific inhibitor imatinib (STI571, Gleevec). We first determined the optimal concentration of ACM for erythroid differentiation but not growth inhibition and apoptosis in K562 cells. Then, pretreatment with this optimal concentration of ACM followed by a minimally toxic concentration of imatinib strongly induced growth inhibition and apoptosis compared to that with simultaneous co-treatment, indicating that ACM-induced erythroid differentiation sensitizes K562 cells to imatinib. Sequential treatment with ACM and imatinib induced Bcr-Abl down-regulation, cytochrome c release into the cytosol, and caspase-3 activation, as well as decreased Mcl-1 and Bcl-xL expressions, but did not affect Fas ligand/Fas death receptor and procaspase-8 expressions. ACM/imatinib sequential treatment-induced apoptosis was suppressed by a caspase-9 inhibitor and a caspase-3 inhibitor, indicating that the caspase cascade is involved in this apoptosis. Furthermore, we demonstrated that ACM induced erythroid differentiation through the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. The inhibition of erythroid differentiation by p38MAPK inhibitor SB202190, p38MAPK dominant negative mutant or p38MAPK shRNA knockdown, reduced the ACM/imatinib sequential treatment-mediated growth inhibition and apoptosis. These results suggest that differentiated K562 cells induced by ACM-mediated p38MAPK pathway become more sensitive to imatinib and result in down-regulations of Bcr-Abl and anti-apoptotic proteins, growth inhibition and apoptosis. These results provided a potential management by which ACM might have a crucial impact on increasing sensitivity of CML cells to imatinib in the differentiation therapeutic approaches.

Interferon-alpha induces the growth inhibition of human T-cell leukaemia line Jurkat through p38alpha and p38beta.

Interferon alpha (IFN-alpha) modulates the proliferation of different human tumour cell lines. It has been shown that IFN-alpha induces the growth inhibition of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL). However, its intracellular signalling mechanisms remain unknown. This study found that IFN-alpha inhibited the cell proliferation of human T-ALL cell line Jurkat in a dose- and time-dependent manner. A p38 inhibitor (SB203580), but not an extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 inhibitor (PD98059) or c-Jun N-terminal kinase inhibitor (SP600125), eliminated IFN-alpha inhibition of Jurkat cell proliferation, indicating that p38 pathway is crucial for IFN-alpha-mediated growth inhibition. SB203580 targeted two p38 isoforms, p38alpha and p38beta. The expression of p38alpha and p38beta mRNA in Jurkat cells was examined by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. The kinase activity of p38alpha and p38beta was activated by IFN-alpha in Jurkat cells. To investigate the role of p38alpha and p38beta isoforms in IFN-alpha-mediated growth inhibition, we generated stable clones that overexpressed the dominant-negative p38 isoform, p38alpha(AF) or p38beta(AF), in Jurkat cells. Overexpression of p38alpha(AF) or p38beta(AF) inhibited IFN-alpha-mediated p38 kinase activity and growth inhibition in Jurkat cells. Similarly, down-regulation of either p38alpha or p38beta by isoform-specific small interference RNAs also reduced IFN-alpha-mediated growth inhibition. These results demonstrate that IFN-alpha can regulate growth inhibition of Jurkat cells through p38alpha and p38beta.

Interaction of Hsp70 with p49/STRAP, a serum response factor binding protein.

Members of the Hsp70 protein family must work with other co-chaperones to exert their function. Herein, we identified a new Hsp70 co-chaperone, p49/STRAP, previously shown to interact with serum response factor. We demonstrated that a fraction of p49/STRAP was cytosolic, and that it interacted with the beta-sandwich domain of Hsp70. Although p49/STRAP had little effect on the intrinsic ATPase activity of Hsp70, it reduced the ATP-hydrolytic activity of Hsp70 stimulated by Hsp40, and inhibited the refolding activity of the Hsp70/Hsp40 system. Thus, p49/STRAP can be considered a bona fide co-chaperone of Hsp70.

JAK pathway induction of c-Myc critical to IL-5 stimulation of cell proliferation and inhibition of apoptosis.

Interleukin-5 (IL-5) induction of c-Myc expression is associated with IL-5 inhibition of apoptosis in hematopoietic cells. In this study, TFalpha1 and TFalpha8 cells with stable overexpression of IL-5 receptor alpha (IL-5Ralpha) subunit in TF-1 cells, a human hematopoietic progenitor cell line which expressed low levels of IL-5Ralpha, were used to explored how IL-5 up-regulate c-Myc and the role of c-Myc in IL-5 signaling. First, we demonstrate that IL-5 induced c-Myc RNA and protein expressions, as well as activated Janus kinases (JAK1 and JAK2) and signal transducer and activator of transcription-5b (STAT5b). JAK inhibitor AG490 and c-Myc inhibitor 10058-F4, both, reduced IL-5-mediated cell proliferation in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Both, AG490 and 10058-F4, also reduced IL-5-mediated anti-apoptotic activity. Furthermore, AG490 inhibited IL-5-mediated c-Myc induction and promoter activity. We further examined the role of JAK1 and JAK2 in the induction of c-Myc expression using the CDJAK fusion proteins, which consisted of a CD16 extracellular domain, a CD7 transmembrane domain, and either JAK1 (CDJAK1) or JAK2 (CDJAK2) as intracellular domains. Simultaneous activation of JAK1 and JAK2 by anti-CD16 antibody crosslinking of CDJAK1 and CDJAK2 could induced c-Myc expression and promoter activity; AG490 inhibited CDJAK1 and CDJAK2-mediated effects. These results suggest that IL-5 induces cell proliferation and anti-apoptosis through the JAK/c-Myc pathway, and that JAK1 and JAK2 activation participate in IL-5-induced up-regulation of c-Myc.

Basic fibroblast growth factor inhibits p38-mediated cell differentiation and growth inhibition by activin A but not by histone deacetylase inhibitors in CML cells.

The p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38) is involved in multiple cellular functions such as cell proliferation and differentiation. Previously, we found that activin A mediated hemoglobin synthesis and cell growth inhibition through p38, whereas, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) inactivated p38 to antagonize the activin A effects. In this study, we selected three structurally different histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, apicidin, MS275, and sodium butyrate that activate p38, to probe the signal pathway from activin A to p38 in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML)-derived K562 cells. HDAC inhibitors and activin A showed additive p38 phosphorylation. The enhanced phosphorylation of p38 was correlated with increased cell differentiation and decreased cell proliferation. The use of p38 inhibitor SB203580 in conjunction with activin A or with the HDAC inhibitors inhibited cell differentiation and restored cell proliferation, indicating that activin A and the HDAC inhibitors exert their effects through p38 activation. However, bFGF did not affect HDAC inhibitors-induced cell differentiation or growth inhibition. Western blots showed that p38 phosphorylation remained at similar levels with or without bFGF in the presence of HDAC inhibitors. Thus, the HDAC inhibitors activate p38 in a manner different from the activin A pathway. Furthermore, mRNA expressions for activin type I, IB, II, and IIB receptors remained constant in the presence of activin A, bFGF, or both activin A and bFGF. These results indicate that bFGF does not directly act on p38 nor on the mRNA expression levels of activin receptors but inhibit activin A activation of p38 upstream of p38 in K562 cells.

Expression of porcine epidermal growth factor in Pichia pastoris and its biology activity in early-weaned piglets.

Early-weaned piglets often have abnormalities in intestinal morphology and function. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) is critical in the development and in the repair of the gastrointestinal tract in pigs. This study investigated the effects of dietary EGF supplementation on growth performance and small intestinal morphology of early-weaned piglets. The functional domain of porcine EGF (pEGF) was cloned after RT-PCR amplification. The recombinant protein was expression by the Pichia pastoris expression system and the construct pPIC9K-pEGF was transformed into host GS115. The secretary recombinant protein in the supernatants was analyzed by SDS-PAGE. The gel indicated that the extra band at 6 kDa in the transformant, which corresponds to the standard hEGF, were both reactive to anti-pEGF antibody by Western blotting. The expression level of pEGF in the culture supernatant was 870 microg/mL. An animal feeding test was conducted to identify the effects of pEGF supplementation on growth performance and the development of digestive tracts of 14-day weaned piglets. The dietary treatment was a corn-soybean meal basal diet either with or without 1.5 mg/kg recombinant pEGF from the transformant fermentative supernatant. Dietary treatments enhanced the daily gain during 0-7 days postweaning (p < 0.05), but did not affect the performance throughout the entire test period. Dietary supplemental pEGF significantly increased serum IgA levels on day 18 postweaning, and increased the mucosa IgA levels and crypt depth at jejunum on day 28 postweaning (p < 0.05). The experimental results showed that the recombinant pEGF could be secreted by P. pastoris. The trophic effects of pEGF on growth performance, immune response, and small intestine development were determined by feeding recombinant pEGF to early-weaned piglets.

Expression of rumen microbial fibrolytic enzyme genes in probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri.

This study was aimed at evaluating the cloning and expression of three rumen microbial fibrolytic enzyme genes in a strain of Lactobacillus reuteri and investigating the probiotic characteristics of these genetically modified lactobacilli. The Neocallimastix patriciarum xylanase gene xynCDBFV, the Fibrobacter succinogenes beta-glucanase (1,3-1,4-beta-D-glucan 4-glucanohydrolase [EC 3.2.1.73]) gene, and the Piromyces rhizinflata cellulase gene eglA were cloned in a strain of L. reuteri isolated from the gastrointestinal tract of broilers. The enzymes were expressed and secreted under the control of the Lactococcus lactis lacA promoter and its secretion signal. The L. reuteri transformed strains not only acquired the capacity to break down soluble carboxymethyl cellulose, beta-glucan, or xylan but also showed high adhesion efficiency to mucin and mucus and resistance to bile salt and acid.