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(Received for publication, April 1, 1996, and in revised form, May 28, 1996)

From the Lombardi Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, D. C. 20007
Retinoids are potent regulators of growth and differentiation and have shown promise as chemotherapeutic agents against selected cancers in particular squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Earlier studies from our laboratory showed that a secreted binding protein for fibroblast growth factors (BP) is expressed at high levels in SCC cell lines and tissue samples. Here we investigate whether retinoids affect BP gene expression in SCC. In six different human SCC cell lines, we found that all-trans-retinoic acid (tRA) down-regulated BP mRNA by 39-89% within 24 h. From this group of cell lines, we selected the ME-180 cell line for more detailed studies of the mechanisms of this regulation. tRA down-regulated BP mRNA in a time- and dose-dependent manner. The effect of tRA was reversible, and BP mRNA returned to control levels within 24 h after removal of tRA. We also measured BP mRNA half-life and performed nuclear run-on experiments to study if tRA down-regulates BP by destabilizing the mRNA and/or by decreasing the rate of transcription. BP mRNA in ME-180 cells is very stable with a half-life of >16 h, and tRA decreased BP mRNA with a half-time of 5 h. Actinomycin D and cycloheximide blocked the tRA effect, suggesting that transcriptional regulation as well as de novo protein synthesis contribute to this post-transcriptional regulation of BP mRNA levels. In addition, tRA decreased the rate of BP gene transcription by 2- to 3-fold within 1 h. We conclude that retinoids down-regulate BP gene expression by post-transcriptional as well as by transcriptional mechanisms.
Retinoids, a group of naturally occurring and synthetic analogues of vitamin A, are potent regulators of normal epithelial differentiation and growth and affect many neoplastic cell systems including several squamous cell carcinoma (SCC)1 cell lines (1, 2, 3, 4). Moreover, retinoids have been shown to suppress carcinogenesis in various epithelial tissues in animal model systems (5, 6, 7, 8, 9) and also to have clinical efficacy as chemotherapeutic agents against selected malignancies and, in particular, against SCCs (10).
The mechanisms by which retinoids suppress carcinogenesis and regulate differentiation and the expression of the transformed phenotype in SCCs have not been elucidated. It is thought that nuclear retinoid receptors act as ligand-activated trans-acting factors that mediate the effects of retinoids on gene expression and thereby alter the growth and differentiation of normal and tumor cells. Most studies have stressed modulation of differentiation, examining markers such as transglutaminase type I, loricrin, involucrin, filaggrin, and keratin K1 (11).
Recently, we found that tRA inhibits in vivo progression of a human SCC model system (ME-180 cells), and we hypothesized that the tRA action was through an inhibition of stromal cell-induced angiogenesis as well as stimulation of tumor apoptosis.2 The mechanism of the anti-angiogenic action of tRA in vivo is not known, but it could be due to the inhibitory effect on endothelial cell proliferation as well as to the production or release of angiogenic factors by tumor cells. Although it has been described that tRA decreased the transcription rate of epidermal growth factor receptor in ME-180 cells (12), classical angiogenic growth factors, such as FGFs, or vascular endothelial cell growth factor or their receptors have not been reported to be down-regulated by retinoids. Another possibility could be that tRA down-regulates auxiliary proteins required for the mechanism of action of angiogenic factors. A potential candidate could be a binding protein for FGFs (BP) that has been shown to positively modulate the activity of FGFs (13), and the present study reports on the regulation of BP gene expression by tRA.
BP is a secreted protein that binds to aFGF and bFGF in a non-covalent reversible manner (14). BP mRNA has been found to be expressed at high levels in SCC from patients and in SCC cell lines of different origin. We showed that expression of BP in a non-tumorigenic human cell line (SW-13), which expresses bFGF, leads to a tumorigenic and angiogenic phenotype of these cells (13). Moreover, expression of BP in these cells obviously solubilizes their endogenous bFGF from its extracellular storage and allows it to reach its receptor suggesting that BP serves as an extracellular carrier molecule for bFGF. Our current results show that BP expression is rapidly reduced by tRA and that both post-transcriptional and transcriptional events combine to regulate BP abundance in tRA-treated SCC cells.
Squamous cell carcinoma cell lines ME-180, FaDu, A431, SCC25, NCI-H596, and SW900 were obtained from the American Type Culture Collection. Cells were cultured in improved minimal essential medium (IMEM) (Biofluids, Inc., Rockville, MD) with 10% fetal bovine serum (Life Technologies, Inc.).
Northern Analysis of mRNAME-180 cells were grown to
80% confluence on 150-mm tissue culture dishes, washed twice in
serum-free IMEM, and then treated with tRA (Ligand Pharmaceuticals
Inc., San Diego, CA) in serum-free IMEM. Total RNA was isolated with
the RNA STAT-60 method using commercially available reagents and
protocols (Tel-Test Inc., Friendswood, TX). 30 µg of total RNA were
separated by electrophoresis in 1.2% formaldehyde-agarose gel and then
blotted onto nylon membranes (Schleicher & Schuell). The blots were
prehybridized in 6 × SSC (0.9 sodium chlorate, 0.09 sodium citrate, pH 7.0), 0.5% (w/v) SDS, 5 × Denhardt's solution (0.1% (w/v) Ficoll, 0.1% (w/v)
polyvinylpyrrolidone, 0.1% (w/v) bovine serum albumin, 100 µg/ml
sonicated salmon sperm DNA (Life Technologies, Inc.)) for 4 h at
42 °C. Hybridization was carried out overnight at 42 °C in the
same buffer. After hybridization, blots were washed three times with
2 × SSC and 0.1% SDS for 10 min at 42 °C and once with 1 × SSC and 0.1% SDS for 20 min at 65 °C. Autoradiography was
performed using intensifying screens at
70 °C. Blots were stripped
by boiling 2 × for 10 min in 1 × SSC and 0.1% SDS.
Hybridization probes were prepared by random-primed DNA labeling
(Boehringer Mannheim) of purified insert fragments from human BP (13),
human RAR
, and RAR
(Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc.) and human GAPDH
(CLONTECH). The final concentration of the labeled probes was always
greater than 2 × 106 cpm/ml of hybridization
solution. Quantitation of mRNA levels was performed using a
PhosphorImager (Molecular Dynamics).
ME-180 cells were grown to 80%
confluence on 150-mm tissue culture dishes. Cells were treated with
10
5 tRA in serum-free IMEM, and nuclei from
107 cells for each time point were isolated after
incubation in lysis buffer containing 0.5% Nonidet P-40 as described
in Ref. 15. Nuclear run-on experiments were performed with
[
-32P]UTP (Amersham Corp.). Equal amounts of
radioactivity (0.5-1 × 107 cpm) were hybridized to
nitrocellulose filters containing 3 µg of each plasmid. After
hybridization for 4 days at 42 °C, the filters were washed four
times with 2 × saline/sodium/phosphate/EDTA, 0.1% SDS for 5 min
at 25 °C and treated for 30 min at 25 °C in 2 × saline/sodium/phosphate/EDTA containing 20 µg/ml RNase A. The filters
were then washed four times for 30 min in 1 × saline/sodium/phosphate/EDTA, 1% SDS at 65 °C. The amount of
radioactivity present in each slot was determined using a
PhosphorImager after overnight exposure, and autoradiograms were
exposed for 1-3 days with intensifying screens.
To
study regulation of BP gene expression by retinoids in SCC, six human
SCC cell lines were treated with tRA (10
5 )
for 24 h. As demonstrated in the Northern blots in Fig.
1, tRA decreased BP mRNA levels. PhosphorImager
analysis showed that the reduction was by 79, 73, 83, 76, 89, and 39%
in ME-180, FaDU, A431, SCC25, NCI-H596, and SW900 cells, respectively.
The standard error of these experiments was less than 10%
(n = 2-4 experiments/cell line). GAPDH mRNA
remained unaffected by tRA treatment, as judged relative to the total
amount of RNA loaded and was used to standardize the different
mRNAs analyzed. Alternatively,
-actin was used. These data show
that the tRA-induced down-regulation of BP mRNA is a general
phenomenon in human SCC cell lines although the extent appears to
differ.
5 tRA. Total RNA was extracted, and
Northern blot analyses were performed with 30 µg of total RNA/lane as
described under ``Materials and Methods.'' After electrophoresis, the
RNA was transferred to nylon membranes that were first hybridized with
the BP probe, stripped, and then rehybridized with the GAPDH probe.
Bands corresponding to BP mRNA (1.2 kb) and the control gene GAPDH
mRNA (1.3 kb) are indicated. Signal intensities were quantified by
phosphoimaging and normalized to the GAPDH control gene. A
representative Northern blot from two to four separate experiments is
shown in panel A, and the quantitation is in panel
B.
We selected ME-180 cells for more detailed studies into the mechanisms
of regulation of BP gene expression. The time course and dose
dependence of tRA-induced down-regulation of BP mRNA in ME-180
cells are shown in Figs. 2 and 3. tRA
(10
5 ) induced an 80% decrease in the
steady-state level of BP mRNA after 24 h (Fig. 2). The maximum
effect was reached 8-12 h after tRA exposure with a half-time of
5 h for this effect and remained constant in the continuous
presence of tRA for another 24 h. As a positive control gene, we
used RAR
(16). As shown in Fig. 2, tRA rapidly induced a 2-fold
increase in the steady-state level of RAR
mRNA. In contrast,
RAR
and RAR
mRNA levels were not modulated by tRA treatment
(data not shown). The decrease of the BP mRNA was dependent on the
concentration of tRA (Fig. 3). An 80% decrease in the steady-state
level of BP mRNA was observed in cells grown for 24 h in the
presence of 10 µ tRA, and we estimate the half-maximal
effective concentration as 200 n tRA. Consistent with
previous reports, we observed no toxicity of tRA (10
5
) on ME-180 cells (12).
mRNA induction by tRA in ME-180 cells. ME-180 cell
monolayers were exposed for the times indicated to 10
5
tRA. BP, RAR
, and GAPDH mRNA expressions were
analyzed by Northern blot analyses as described in the legend to Fig. 1
using 30 µg of total RNA/lane. Membranes were sequentially hybridized
with BP, RAR
, and GAPDH probes. Bands corresponding to BP mRNA
(1.2 kb), RAR
mRNA (3.2 kb), and the control gene GAPDH mRNA
(1.3 kb) are indicated. Signal intensities were quantified by
phosphoimaging and normalized to GAPDH. A representative Northern blot
is shown in panel A, and quantitation of the results
obtained by Northern blot analysis is shown in panel B. The
mean ± S.E. of three separate experiments for BP mRNA
regulation by tRA is shown.
We then studied the reversibility of the tRA effect on BP mRNA
(Fig. 4). ME-180 cells were incubated for 24 h with
tRA (10
5 ), and at 0, 8, 16, and 24 h
after removal of tRA, RNA was isolated. BP mRNA levels increased
from 20 to 71% of control value by 8 h and reached control levels by
24 h after removal of tRA. These data show that tRA-induced
down-modulation of BP mRNA is a reversible phenomenon.
5 tRA. After 24 h,
total RNA was extracted from untreated or tRA-treated cultures. In
parallel flasks, the medium was removed, and cells were washed and
refed with fresh control medium without tRA. After an additional 8, 16, or 24 h following the removal of tRA, total RNA was separated and
probed as indicated in the legend to Fig. 1. Northern blot analyses
were performed with 30 µg of total RNA/lane. Signal intensities were
quantified by phosphoimaging and normalized to GAPDH. A representative
Northern blot is shown in panel A, and quantitative data are
shown in panel B. The mean ± S.E. of three separate
experiments is shown.
Effects of Actinomycin D and Cycloheximide on the Down-regulation of BP mRNA
The tRA-induced decrease in BP mRNA
steady-state levels could be the result of a post-transcriptional or a
transcriptional effect or a combination of both. We first assessed
whether tRA treatment affected the stability of the BP mRNA. For
that, experiments were performed to determine whether the addition of
inhibitors of transcription (actinomycin D) or translation
(cycloheximide) could inhibit the tRA-induced modulation of BP
mRNA. Actinomycin D (5 µg/ml) or cycloheximide (10 µg/ml) was
added without or with tRA (10
5 ), and BP
mRNA levels were determined at various time points (Figs.
5 and 6). As can be seen in Fig. 5, the
BP mRNA level did not change within 16 h after the addition of
actinomycin D. To assure that the concentration of actinomycin D was
sufficient to block transcription, we probed the same blots for two
mRNA species with a relatively short half-life, i.e.
RAR
and RAR
(17). Both mRNA levels were found to decrease
after the actinomycin D treatment (see Fig. 5) as expected after
transcription blockade. Furthermore, these data show that BP mRNA
is relatively stable in ME-180 cells with a half-life of over 16 h. Simultaneous addition of tRA and actinomycin D completely blocked
the effects of tRA (Fig. 5) as did cycloheximide (Fig. 6). This
indicates that transcription as well as new protein synthesis are
necessary for the tRA-induced down-regulation of BP mRNA.
, and RAR
mRNAs. ME-180 cells were treated for 0, 8, or 16 h in the absence or presence of 10
5
tRA in combination with 5 µg/ml actinomycin D. Total
RNA was isolated and hybridized sequentially with BP, RAR
, RAR
,
and
-actin probes as described in Fig. 1. Bands corresponding to BP
mRNA (1.2 kb), RAR
mRNA (3.2 kb), RAR
mRNA (2.9 kb),
and
-actin mRNA (1.8 kb) are indicated. Northern blot analyses
were performed with 30 µg of total RNA/lane. Signal intensities were
quantified by phosphoimaging and normalized to
-actin. The mean ± S.E. of two separate experiments is shown.
, tRA (BP);
,
actinomycin D (BP);
, tRA + actinomycin D (BP);
, actinomycin D
(RAR
);
, actinomycin D (RAR
).
5 tRA in
combination with 10 µg/ml cycloheximide. Total RNA was isolated and
hybridized to BP and GAPDH probes as described in the legend to Fig. 1.
Northern blot analyses were performed with 30 µg of total RNA/lane.
The mean ± S.E. of two separate experiments is shown.
, tRA;
, cycloheximide;
, tRA + cycloheximide.
To test whether a short time of tRA treatment would be sufficient to
bring about degradation of BP mRNA, ME-180 cells were pretreated
for 4 h with 10
5 tRA and then
actinomycin D was added to further inhibit transcription (Fig.
7). In comparison with tRA treatment alone
(cf. Figs. 2 and 5), the addition of actinomycin D after tRA
pretreatment did not affect the further decline of BP mRNA. This
suggests that short term control of BP mRNA levels by tRA is
predominantly regulated via mRNA stability.
5
tRA for 4 h, and 5 µg/ml actinomycin D was then
added to control and to tRA-treated cells for 0-16 h. One set of the
tRA-treated cells was continued in the absence and one in the presence
of 10
5 tRA. Total RNA was isolated and
hybridized sequentially with BP and GAPDH probes as described in the
legend to Fig. 1. Northern blot analyses were performed with 30 µg of
total RNA/lane. Hybridization data are shown in panel A, and
quantitative data are shown in panel B. Data are plotted
relative to the 4 h tRA treatment as the control value.
,
actinomycin D;
, tRA (4 h) and then actinomycin D;
, tRA (4 h)
and then actinomycin D + tRA.
Effects of tRA on BP Transcription Rates
To determine whether
tRA also affects the rate of transcription of the BP gene, we next
performed nuclear run-on experiments. Nuclei were isolated from ME-180
cells treated with tRA 10
5 for 1, 6, and
24 h, and nascent transcripts were hybridized to filter-bound
plasmid probes as described under ``Materials and Methods.'' As shown
in Fig. 8, tRA caused a decrease in BP transcription
1 h after treatment. In two independent experiments, BP
transcription was down-regulated 2- to 3-fold between 1 and 24 h
of treatment. Normalization to
-actin transcription was used as a
control since it remained unchanged by tRA in ME-180 cells as reported
by others (12). These data show that tRA inhibits BP transcription in
addition to the above effects on mRNA stability.
5 tRA, and nascent RNA was
extended in vitro as described under ``Materials and
Methods.'' Labeled RNAs (107 cpm) were hybridized to nylon
membranes containing 3 µg of BP cDNA cloned into pRc/CMV (13),
-actin was used as an internal control, and pRc/CMV was used as a
background control vector. Panel A shows the hybridization
signal after 1 h of tRA, and panel B shows the
quantitation.
In the embryo, retinoic acid has been implicated as the natural morphogen responsible for pattern formation in developing chick limb buds (18), acting via nuclear hormone receptors of the steroid and thyroid hormone receptor superfamilies. These receptors have been thought to act primarily through direct modulation of gene transcription (19), but additional evidence has also emerged that ligands for these receptors are capable of influencing steady-state mRNA levels through post-transcriptional mechanisms, mainly through mRNA stabilization (20). Glucocorticoids stabilize human growth hormone mRNA (21); estrogens stabilize the low density lipoprotein II and vitellogenin mRNAs (22); and retinoic acid stabilizes the keratin 19 mRNA (23), c-fos mRNA (24), and proteolipid protein mRNA (25). However, there are examples of mRNAs whose stability is decreased by these hormones. Estrogens accelerate the turnover of albumin mRNA in Xenopus liver (26) and estrogen receptor mRNA in human mammary adenocarcinoma cells (27). It has also been reported that glucocorticoids increase the turnover of c-myc mRNA (28) and thymidine kinase (Tk-1) (29). Retinoic acid has been shown to destabilize adipsin mRNA (30), tyrosine aminotransferase mRNA (31), and myeloblastin mRNA (32).
In this report, we show that tRA rapidly down-regulates BP mRNA. This BP mRNA modulation is a general feature since it was observed in six SCC cell lines. The tRA-induced down-regulation of BP mRNA in the ME-180 cell is due to a combined decrease in the stability of its mRNA and of the transcriptional rate of the gene. Our data show that BP mRNA is generally very stable in ME-180 cells. We were not able to precisely determine the half-life of BP mRNA because blockade of transcription by exposure of cells to actinomycin D for longer than 16 h leads to general cytotoxicity. Clearly, the half-life of BP mRNA is longer than 16 h, and we conclude that the early down-regulation of steady-state BP mRNA by tRA is mainly due to increased turnover of the BP mRNA. Actinomycin D and cycloheximide block the effects of tRA when either inhibitor is added simultaneously with tRA. Furthermore, once tRA has been allowed to act for 4 h, the addition of actinomycin D no longer affects the decline of BP mRNA brought about by the initial treatment with tRA. Since parallel addition of actinomycin D and of tRA blocked the down-regulation of BP mRNA, the data also imply that tRA rapidly induces transcription of a gene product that decreases the stability of BP mRNA. The data preclude the alternative possibility that tRA inhibits the expression of a gene product that is required to stabilize a generically unstable BP mRNA. If the latter were the case, one would expect any nonspecific inhibitor of transcription or translation (e.g. actinomycin D and cycloheximide) to accelerate the degradation of BP mRNA due to the reduction of the stabilizing gene product. Reversibility of the tRA effect within 24 h after removal of the drug furthermore indicates that the product induced has a relatively short half-life.
Several studies have provided some insight into the nature of mRNA
decay (33) and have identified structural features that determine
susceptibility to decay, and we wondered whether BP mRNA would
contain any signature sequence that may confer regulatability of RNA
stability. The selectivity of mRNA decay can be best explained by
the action of specific factors, acting in trans, that
recognize unique cis-elements in the mRNA.
Endonucleolytic cuts triggered by interactions between
trans-acting factors and cis-elements result in
rapid mRNA destruction. A specific sequence promoting mRNA
decay (5
-AUUUA-3
) has been identified in the 3
-noncoding regions of
a variety of mRNAs (34). The manner in which this sequence promotes
mRNA decay is unknown although it may be recognized and cleaved by
a specific endonuclease. Recent studies identified functionally
independent determinants within the c-fos transcript that
specifically target this message for rapid decay (24). One of the
determinants is this AU-rich element that is present in the
3
-untranslated region of c-fos mRNA. A second
c-fos instability determinant, which is located in the
protein coding region of the c-fos message, is structurally
unrelated to this element. Interestingly, we found that an AU-rich
element is also present in the 3
-noncoding sequence of human BP
mRNA, and we speculate that this sequence might be regulating
stability.
Our experiments also provide evidence for transcriptional down-regulation of BP in addition to the post-transcriptional effects. We show that the decrease in BP transcription begins very early, 1 h following tRA addition (Fig. 8). From the relatively fast kinetics of tRA-mediated effects on BP gene expression, it is tempting to speculate that the response may be controlled by a direct interaction between a retinoic acid receptor and transcriptional regulatory sequences in the BP gene. However, the fast negative response of the transcription rate to a nuclear receptor ligand does not necessarily imply a direct interaction between receptor and promoter, but it may be in parallel with the negative regulatory mechanism, e.g. described for the interaction between the glucocorticoid receptor and AP1 transcription factors (35). On the other hand, our findings could also be explained by the existence of a negative tRA response element in the BP promoter as shown for other genes (36, 37, 38).
In conclusion, tRA down-regulates BP gene expression in different SCC cell lines, and more detailed studies with a representative cell line show that this down-regulation occurs both at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. Interestingly, the tRA effects on BP mRNA stability are sensitive to actinomycin D and cycloheximide, suggesting that tRA-induced gene transcription and protein synthesis are required for the destabilizing effect on BP mRNA.
To whom correspondence should be addressed: Lombardi Cancer
Center, Research Bldg., Rm. E311, Georgetown University, 3970 Reservoir
Rd. NW, Washington, D. C. 20007. Tel.: 202-687-3672; Fax:
202-687-4821; E-mail: wellstea{at}gunet.georgetown.edu.
We thank Drs. Anna T. Riegel and Mary-Beth Martin (Georgetown University) for their discussions and suggestions. We thank Dr. Adriana Stoica for advice on nuclear run-on experiments (Georgetown University).
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