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J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 281, Issue 37, 27356-27366, September 15, 2006
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From the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiochemistry, Charité Campus Benjamin Franklin, Hindenburgdamm 30, 12200 Berlin, Germany
Received for publication, December 19, 2005 , and in revised form, June 8, 2006.
| ABSTRACT |
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-catenin-mediated transcription of Wnt target genes. In this study, we have found that, after transient transfection with Hint1, SW480 and MCF-7 cells undergo apoptosis as analyzed by pro-caspase-3 and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage, M30 CytoDEATH staining, cytochrome c release, and DNA fragmentation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Hint1 is involved in the regulation of apoptotic pathways by inducing an up-regulation of p53 expression coinciding with an up-regulation of the proapoptotic factor Bax and a concomitant down-regulation of the apoptosis inhibitor Bcl-2. Bad and Puma levels remained unchanged. Further analyses revealed that Hint1 is associated with the Bax promoter and is a component of the Tip60 histone acetyltransferase complex and, in this context, appears to be involved in the regulation of Bax expression. Knockdown of Hint1 by short hairpin RNA resulted in down-regulation of p53 and Bax but had no effect on Bcl-2 expression. A mutant Hint1 (H112N) protein defective in enzymatic activity as an AMP-NH2 hydrolase was not impaired in induction of apoptosis, suggesting that the Hint1 pro-apoptotic activity is independent of the Hint1 enzymatic activity. | INTRODUCTION |
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Hint1, the founding member of the Hint branch, originally was identified as a 126-amino-acid protein that inhibits protein kinase C (6). The protein kinase C inhibitory activity, however, was not further confirmed. Because it was found to interact with protein kinase C
in a yeast two-hybrid screen, the protein was named PKCI-1 (protein kinase C-interacting protein-1) (7). Later on, x-ray structural analyses revealed that the protein forms dimers, and the histidine triad motif HXHXHXX, with X being the hydrophobic amino acid, is involved in nucleotide binding and hydrolysis (8-11). Thus the protein was renamed Hint1 (histidine triad nucleotide binding protein-1) (11). In vitro biochemical analyses have identified various nucleotides that bind to Hint1, including Ap4A, Ap3A, ADP, AMP, and AMP-NH2. However, in contrast to Fhit, Hint1 does not hydrolyze diadenosine-polyphosphates or ATP but does hydrolyze ADP and AMP-NH2 (8, 12). These observations suggest that binding of diadenosine-polyphosphates and/or hydrolysis of nucleotides is involved in the physiological activity of Hint1. However, for many years, the cellular function of Hint1 remained obscure.
The observation that Hint1 interacts with the basic helix-loop-helix microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) and the cyclin-dependent kinase 7 (Cdk7) supported a role of Hint1 in transcriptional regulation and growth control (13, 14). Hint1 suppresses the transcriptional activity of MITF and regulates target gene expression in mast cells, including RMCP-6, c-Kit receptor tyrosine kinase, lymphocyte serine protease granzyme B and tryptophan hydroxylase (13, 15). In this respect, it is of interest that binding of the diadenosine-polyphosphate Ap4A to Hint1 modulates the transcriptional activity of MITF in mast cells by disrupting the Hint1·MITF complex, thereby releasing the repressor Hint1 from MITF. In addition, Hint1 has been reported to interact with the product of the ATDC gene and to repress fos transcription (16, 17).
These observations and the structural homology with Fhit suggest that Hint1 might similarly act as a tumor suppressor protein. The first evidence for this function came from studies of mice with the deleted Hint1 gene (18, 19). Heterozygous and homozygous mice were not impaired in embryonic development and appeared to have normal life spans. However, N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine-treated Hint1-/- mice showed higher frequencies of squamous tumors compared with wild-type mice (19). This study now has been extended and revealed that, at the age of 2-3 years, both Hint1+/- and Hint1-/- mice exhibit an increased rate of spontaneous tumor development with comparable tumor incidence and histology (20). Similar to the observations of the previous study, Hint+/- and Hint-/- mice show enhanced susceptibility to tumor induction by 7,12-dimethylbenzanthracene treatment. Interestingly, in some tissues, loss of Hint1 expression was compensated by increased expression of Fhit. From these studies, Hint1 was classified as a haplo-insufficient tumor suppressor in mice (20).
Consistent with a tumor suppressor function, in the human non-small cell lung cancer cell line NCI-H522, a methylation-dependent down-regulation of Hint1 expression was observed and re-introduction of Hint1 resulted in cell growth inhibition and reduced tumorigenicity (21).
In this context, we recently reported that Hint1 interacts with Pontin and Reptin and represses
-catenin transcriptional activity by disrupting the homo- and heteromeric protein interaction between Pontin and Reptin (22). Pontin and Reptin are evolutionary highly conserved proteins that have previously been identified as direct
-catenin and TATA box-binding protein interaction partners antagonistically modulating
-catenin transcriptional activity in the Wnt signaling pathway (23-25). Both proteins are associated with various chromatin remodeling complexes, including Ino80 complexes (26, 27), the Tip60·HAT complex (28, 29), and the BAF53 complex (30). There is clear evidence now that Pontin is involved in tumorigenesis by regulating
-catenin-mediated neoplastic transformation (31). Moreover, it was shown that Pontin is required for c-Myc oncogenic transformation (32, 33).
Reduced or lost expression of tumor suppressor proteins often is associated with impaired induction of apoptosis. Because the tumor suppressor function of Fhit was correlated with a pro-apoptotic function (34-37), we here analyzed whether the Hint1 tumor-suppressing activity is associated with regulation of apoptosis. Expression of Hint1 in MCF-7 and SW480 cells resulted in cytochrome c release, activation of caspase-3, and up-regulation of p53 levels. Moreover, expression of the pro-apoptotic factor Bax was up-regulated, whereas the anti-apoptotic factor Bcl-2 was reduced. No changes in the expression levels of the pro-apoptotic BH3-only proteins Bad and Puma were observed. In addition, we provide evidence that Hint1 together with the Tip60·HAT complex is involved in the regulation of the Bax promoter. Taken together these data clearly provide evidence that Hint1 modulates the apoptotic signaling in cells.
| EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES |
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PlasmidsPlasmids pCS2+Hint1, pCS2+Hint1-myc6, and pQE40-Hint1 were described previously (22). EGFP-tagged Hint1 was generated by amplification of the Hint1 cDNA with the oligonucleotide pairs 5'-CGC GGA TCC ATG GCA GAT GAG ATT GCC-3' (forward) and 5'-CGC GGA TCC TTA ACC AGG AGG CCA ATG CAT-3' (reverse). The PCR product was cloned into BamHI-calf intestinal phosphatase-treated pEGFP-N3 vector (BD Biosciences). The plasmid pEGFP-actin was obtained from Clontech, and pFLAG-CMV10-Tip60 was kindly provided by Dr. M. G. Rosenfeld (29).
Site-directed mutagenesis to generate Hint1-G105A, -S107A, -G105A/S107A, and -H112N was performed using the QuikChangeTM site-directed mutagenesis kit (Stratagene). Mutations were introduced by PCR using the expression plasmid pQE40-Hint1 as the template. The following oligonucleotides were used for site-directed mutagenesis: G105A, 5'-GTG AAT GAA GGT TCA GAT GGT GCA CAG TCT GTC TAT CAC GTT CAT C-3' (forward) and 5'-GAT GAA CGT GAT AGA CAG ACT GTG CAC CAT CTG AAC CTT CAT TCA C-3' (reverse); S107A, 5'-GAA GGT TCA GAT GGT GGA CAG GCT GTC TAT CAC GTT CAT CTC CAT G-3' (forward) and 5'-CAT GGA GAT GAA CGT GAT AGA CAG CCT GTC CAC CAT CTG AAC CTT C-3' (reverse); G105A/S107A, 5'-GTG AAT GAA GGT TCA GAT GGT GCA CAG GCT GTC TAT CAC GTT CAT C-3' (forward) and 5'-GAT GAA CGT GAT AGA CAG CCT GTG CAC CAT CTG AAC CTT CAT TCA C-3'(reverse); H112N, 5'-GGA CAG TCT GTC TAT CAC GTT AAC CTC CAT GTT CTT GGA GGT CGG CAA-3'(forward) and 5'-TTG CCG ACC TCC AAG AAC ATG GAG GTT AAC GTG ATA GAC AGA CTG TCC-3' (reverse). Sequences of the constructs were confirmed by cycle sequencing and subsequent analysis on an ABIPrism 310 genetic analyzer.
AntibodiesMonoclonal anti-poly(ADP)-ribose polymerase (anti-PARP) (clone C2-10), anti-Bax (clone 6A7), anti-Bcl-2 (clone 7), and anti-p53 (clone Pab122) antibodies were obtained from BD Biosciences. Anti-
-actinin (clone BM-75.2), anti-
-actin (clone AC15), and anti-FLAG-M2 antibodies were purchased from Sigma, the anti-Caspase-3 (catalog number 9662) antibody was from Cell Signaling Technology, and the anti-M30 CytoDEATH antibody was obtained from Roche Applied Science. The polyclonal anti-Hint1 antibody was described previously (22). The anti-Tip60 antibody was purchased from Upstate%20Biotechnology">Upstate Biotechnology. Horseradish peroxidase-labeled anti-mouse and anti-rabbit antibodies were purchased from Dianova. Alexa FluorTM594 goat anti-mouse IgG and Alexa FluorTM594 goat anti-rabbit IgG antibodies were obtained from Molecular Probes.
Establishment of an MCF-7 Cell Line Inducibly Expressing Hint1 Short Hairpin RNA (shRNA)MCF-7 Tet-On cells were transfected with pRNATin-H1.2/Hygro shRNA vector, shRNA-Hint1430/431, or shRNA-Hint1432/433. Generation of these shRNA vectors was described previously (22). Briefly, stable, transfected cells were selected in the presence of 0.5 mg/ml hygromycin B in the culture medium (see "Cell Culture"), and clones were isolated. Knockdown of Hint1 in cells was controlled by Western blotting. After selection, transfected cells were cultured in the presence of 0.2 mg/ml hygromycin B and 0.2 mg/ml G418. For induction of shRNA expression mock-, MCF-7-shRNA-Hint1430/431-, and MCF-7-shRNA-Hint1432/433-transfected cells were cultured with 1 µg/ml doxycycline (BD Biosciences) and lysed after 48 h as described above.
Transient Transfections and Reporter Gene AssaysTransfection of MCF-7 Tet-On cells was performed with LipofectaminePlus (Invitrogen) according to the manufacturer's recommendations. SW480 and MCF-7 cells were Nucleofected® using the Cell Line Nucleofector® Kit V (Amaxa) following the manufacturer's instructions. Hint1 protein levels were analyzed in cell lysates by Western blotting and quantified on a FujiFilm LAS-1000 imager resulting in a 13.24 ± 1.60-fold (n = 4) and 15.38 ± 3.04-fold (n = 4) excess of Hint1 compared with control-transfected cells in SW480 and MCF-7 cells, respectively. Reporter gene assays were performed with luciferase (constant light signal) reporter gene assay and the chemoluminescent
-galactosidase reporter gene assay (Roche Diagnostics). HEK293 cells (5 x 105) were transiently transfected by the calcium phosphate method. Siamois-luciferase (S5) reporter construct (1.0 µg; kindly provided by Dr. David Kimelman, Seattle, WA) and pCH110 (
-galactosidase; 0.1 µg), used to normalize transfection efficiency, were co-transfected with hTCF4 (0.5 µg; kindly provided by Dr. Hans Clevers, Utrecht, The Netherlands) and
-catenin (0.5 µg) expression vectors. The amount of DNA for each transfection was adjusted by the addition of empty pCS2+ vector. Luciferase activity was measured 42 h after transfection in a Lumat LB9507 luminometer (Berthold Technologies). Each value was obtained by double measurement and subsequent normalization of luciferase activities with
-galactosidase activities. Average values of four independent transfection experiments are presented for all reporter gene assays. Transcriptional regulation of p53 was analyzed in reporter gene assays using a p53 luciferase construct kindly provided by Dr. S. Sukomar (The Johns Hopkins University). HEK293 cells were transiently transfected with 0.5 µg of p53luc and 0.1 µg of pCH110, to normalize transfection, and increasing amounts of pCS2+Hint1 or shRNA-Hint1430/431.
Preparation of Cell Lysate and Western Blot Analysis Hint1-transfected cells were lysed 72 h after transfection, and 50 µg of total protein was analyzed by SDS-PAGE and subsequent Western blotting as described previously (38). For immunodetection, antibodies were diluted in TST (anti-Bax, 1 µg/ml; anti-Bcl-2, 0.5 µg/ml; anti-PARP, 1:2000; anti-p53, 1 µg/ml; anti-Hint1 (
-21), 1:1000; and anti-
-actinin, 1:1000). Anti-
-actin antibody was diluted 1:5000. For quantification of chemoluminescence signals, membranes were scanned with a Fuji-Film LAS-1000 system and analyzed with the Aida Image Gauge, version 3.2, software.
Expression of Hint1-His6 Mutants and Enzyme Activity AssaysTo obtain recombinant mutant Hint1-His6 proteins, Escherichia coli strain XL1 blue was transformed with the plasmids pQE40-Hint1-G105A, -S107A, -G105A/S107A, and -H112N, and expression was induced with 1.0 mM isopropyl 1-thio-
-D-galactopyranoside. After 1 h at 37°C, bacteria were harvested by centrifugation, and the pellets were resuspended in lysis equilibration wash buffer (50 mM NaH2PO4, 300 mM NaCl, pH 8.0) containing CompleteTM protease inhibitor mixture (Roche Diagnostics). Cells were lysed by sonication, and insoluble material was removed by centrifugation at 24,000 x g for 30 min at 4 °C. The Hint1-His6 fusion proteins were purified by affinity chromatography on Protino® Ni-TED matrix (Macherey-Nagel) following the manufacturer's instructions.
High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis was performed to measure the enzymatic activity of the wild-type and mutant Hint1-His6 fusion proteins. AMP-NH2 (100 µM), as substrate, was incubated in the presence or absence of fusion proteins (100 ng) in 50 mM Hepes, pH 5.5, and 1 mM MgCl2 at 37 °C for 30 min in a total volume of 200 µl. The reaction was stopped by shock-freezing in liquid nitrogen. After centrifugation on an Ultrafree-MC (cutoff 5 kDa) (Millipore), the assay solution was injected onto a reverse phase HPLC column (C-18 Nucleosil-100-3, 125 x 4 mm, Macherey-Nagel) equilibrated in buffer A (10 mM KH2PO4, 2 mM tetrabutylammoniumbromide, 3% (v/v) acetonitrile, pH 5.0) at a flow rate of 1 ml/min. After a 4-min washing step, the educt and product of the reaction were eluted with an 8-min gradient to 100% buffer B (10 mM KH2PO4, 2 mM tetrabutylammoniumbromide, 30% (v/v) acetonitrile, pH 7.5). Reaction products were identified by retention times obtained from standard substances (AMP-NH2, AMP).
To verify the dimeric structure of the recombinant Hint1-His6 proteins, gel filtration chromatography was performed on a
kta purifier system using a Superdex® 75HR 10/30 column (Amersham Biosciences). The proteins were eluted with gel filtration buffer (300 mM NaCl, 5 mM MgCl2 20 mM imidazole, pH 8.0) and monitored at 280 nm. Lysozyme (14 kDa) and carbonic anhydrase (29 kDa) were used as molecular mass standards.
Immunofluorescence MicroscopyCells were grown for 24 h on glass coverslides and subsequently transfected with 2.0 µgof pEGFP-Hint1 with LipofectaminePlus (Invitrogen) according to the manufacturer's recommendations. After 72 h, the cells were washed with PBS and fixed in ice-cold methanol for 10 min at -20 °C. Subsequently, the cells were gently washed in PBS again, blocked with 0.1% (v/v) goat serum in PBS for 30 min at room temperature, and incubated with mouse anti-M30 CytoDEATH (1:100) for a further 30 min at room temperature. After three washes with PBS, the cells were incubated with Alexa FluorTM594 goat anti-mouse IgG (1:1000) for 30 min. To stain the nuclei, the cells were treated with 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (0.1 µg/ml) for 5 min at room temperature. Coverslides were mounted with ProTaqs Mount Fluor (Biocyc GmbH and Co. KG). Analysis and photography were performed on a confocal laser-scanning microscope (LSM 510 META, Zeiss, Jena, Germany) with a Plan-Neofluar objective (40x/1.3 oil) at excitation wavelengths of 543 nm (anti-M30 CytoDEATH), 488 nm (EGFP), and 405 nm (4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole), respectively. Details on the microscope setup can be obtained upon request. The figures were prepared with Adobe Photoshop CS2 software without any adjustments.
Bax, Bcl-2, Bad, Puma, and p53 ExpressionTotal RNA and protein were isolated from Hint1- and mock-transfected SW480, MCF-7, and MCF-7 Tet-On cells with the NucleoSpin®RNA II kit or NucleoSpin®RNA/protein (Macherey-Nagel). Semiquantitative PCR was performed with the OneStep reverse transcription (RT)-PCR kit (Qiagen) according to the manufacturer's instructions (95 °C, 20 s; 60 °C, 20 s; 72 °C, 60 s). For human Bax, Bcl-2, p53, and
-actin, the following oligonucleotide pairs were used: Bax (forward, 5'-GGC CCA CCA GCT CTG AGC AGA-3' and reverse, 5'-GCC ACG TGG GCG TCC CAA AGT-3'); Bcl-2 (forward, 5'-GTG GAG GAG CTC TTC AGG GAC-3' and reverse, 5'-AGG CAC CCA GGG TGA TGC AAG-3'); Bad (forward, 5'-CAG TGA CCT TCG CTC CAC ATC-3' and reverse, 5'-CAT TTG GTA GTG AGC ACG GC-3'); Puma (forward, 5'-GAG ATG GAG CCC AAT TAG GTG-3' and reverse, 5'-ATG CTG AGT CCA TCA GCC GTC-3'); p53 (forward, 5'-AAG GAT GCC CAG GCT GGG AAG-3' and reverse, 5'-CGC GGA TCC TCA GTC TGA GTC AGG CCC TTC-3'); and
-actin (forward, 5'-TCC TGG GCA TGG AGT CCT GTG-3' and reverse, 5'-CGC CTA GAA GCA TTT GCG GTG-3'). After 20, 25, 30, and 35 cycles, the samples were removed from the PCR reactions and analyzed by agarose gel electrophoresis. Quantification and data analysis was performed on a FujiFilm LAS-1000 imager with the Image Gauge, version 3.2, software. Bax, Bcl-2, and p53 mRNA levels were always normalized using
-actin or
-actinin as the reference. Mean values obtained from RT-PCRs performed with RNAs from three independent preparations are presented.
Cytochrome c ReleaseCytochrome c release was assayed with the Cytochrome c Release Apoptosis assay kit (Calbiochem) according to the manufacturer's recommendations.
Chromatin Immunoprecipitation (ChIP)ChIP was performed according to the procedure described by Nowak et al. (39) and Weinmann and Farnham (40) with minor modifications. HEK293 cells were cultured as described above and fixed with 2 mM disuccinimidyl-glutarate for 45 min at room temperature. Subsequently, the cells were washed twice with PBS. Chromatin was cross-linked for 10 min at room temperature using 1% (v/v) formaldehyde and washed twice with ice-cold PBS. The cross-linking reaction was stopped by incubation with glycine at a final concentration of 0.125 M for 5 min at room temperature. After incubation with trypsin, the cells were scraped from the cell culture dish and washed twice with PBS. The cell pellet was resuspended in lysis buffer (5 mM Pipes, pH 8.0, 85 mM KCl, and 0.5% (v/v) Nonidet P-40), incubated on ice for 10 min, and homogenized with a Dounce homogenizer. Subsequently, nuclei were pelleted by centrifugation (3500 x g, 5 min, 4 °C) and resuspended in nuclei buffer (50 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.1, 10 mM EDTA, and 1% (w/v) SDS). Nuclei were disrupted by sonication with three 20-s pulses in a UP 50H sonicator (Hielscher Ultraschall Technologie) at a setting of cycle 0.5 and amplitude 30%, yielding genomic DNA fragments with a bulk size of 200-1000 bp. For ChIP, 50 µg of DNA was diluted 4-fold in immunoprecipitation buffer (16.7 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.1, 167 mM NaCl, 1.2 mM EDTA, 1.1% (v/v) Triton X-100, and 0.01% (w/v) SDS). For each immunoprecipitation, the diluted fraction was precleared by the addition of 20 µl of protein A beads (50% slurry of protein A-Sepharose CL4B in nuclei buffer containing 0.1% (w/v) bovine serum albumin and 0.4 mg/ml salmon sperm DNA) for 15 min at 4 °C. After centrifugation (20,800 x g, 5 min, 4 °C), the supernatant was incubated overnight at 4 °C with anti-Hint1 (5 µg, affinity-purified), anti-Tip60 (5 µg), or anti-GFP (5 µg) antibodies. Immune complexes were precipitated by adding 30 µl of blocked protein A-Sepharose CL4B beads for 1 h at 4 °C. Precipitates were serially washed twice (2700 x g, 2 min, 4 °C) with 300 µl of low salt buffer (20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.1, 150 mM NaCl, 0.1% (w/v) SDS, 1% (v/v) Triton X-100, and 2 mM EDTA), high salt buffer (500 mM NaCl, 20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.1, 0.1% (w/v) SDS, 1% (v/v) Triton X-100, and 2 mM EDTA), LiCl buffer (20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.1, 250 mM LiCl, 1% (v/v) Nonidet P-40, 1% (w/v) deoxycholate, and 1 mM EDTA), and twice with 300 µl of TE buffer (10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, and 1 mM EDTA). Chromatin complexes were eluted by incubation for 15 min with 200 µl of elution buffer (1% (w/v) SDS and 0.1 M NaHCO3) under constant agitation. After centrifugation (20,800 x g, 3 min, 4 °C), the supernatant was transferred to a new tube. This step was repeated and both supernatants were combined. All buffers were supplemented with CompleteTM EDTA-free protease inhibitor mixture (Roche Diagnostics). Cross-linking was reversed by an overnight incubation at 65 °C, and DNA was purified as described previously (40). For subsequent PCR analysis, 2 µl of the extracted DNA (50 µl) were used as a template for 30 cycles of amplification. The following primers were used to detect the Bax promoter: forward, 5'-CAT GCC TGT AAT CCC AGC-3'; reverse, 5'-ATG CTT CCA GGC AGG ACG-3'. PCR products were analyzed on a 8% polyacrylamide gel.
Analysis of Apoptosis by Cell Death Detection ELISAPlusTo determine and quantify apoptosis induced by overexpression of Hint1 in SW480 and MCF-7 cells, DNA fragmentation was measured with Cell Death Detection ELISAPlus (Roche Diagnostics). Cell lysates were obtained 48 h after transfection with wild-type or mutant Hint1 constructs, and the ELISA was performed according to the manufacturer's recommendations. The absorbance at A405 was measured using a 96-well plate reader (Spectra Max 340PC).
| RESULTS |
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Bax and Bcl-2 have been implicated as major players in the control of apoptotic pathways in a wide range of different cell types, and p53 was demonstrated to be an upstream inducer of Bax expression (44). To determine whether Hint1 overexpression and the consequential enhanced expression of p53 is associated with a modulation of the apoptosis-related proteins Bax and Bcl-2, Western blot analyses with monoclonal anti-Bax and anti-Bcl-2 antibodies were performed with cell lysates 72 h after transfection. In Hint1-transfected MCF-7 and SW480 cells, an increase in the pro-apoptotic protein Bax (3.46 ± 0.19-fold in MCF-7 cells; 1.96 ± 0.16-fold in SW480 cells) and a decrease in the anti-apoptotic/pro-survival protein Bcl-2 (32.6 ± 2.5% in MCF-7 cells; 45.4 ± 2.3% in SW480 cells) was detectable (Fig. 3, A and B). Consistent with these observations, RT-PCRs performed with RNAs obtained from the same transfected cells that were used for protein isolation revealed an increase in Bax (1.9 ± 0.1-fold and 2.0 ± 0.1-fold in MCF-7 and SW480 cells, respectively) and a decrease of Bcl-2 mRNA levels (0.72 ± 0.08-fold and 0.45 ± 0.1-fold in MCF-7 and SW480 cells, respectively) (Fig. 3, C and D). In contrast, no changes in the RNA levels of the pro-apoptotic BH3-only proteins Bad and Puma were detectable (supplemental Fig. 1).
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If Hint1 is indeed involved in modulation of p53 and expression, silencing of Hint1 by shRNAs should affect p53 RNA and protein levels. To knock down Hint1, shRNAs previously designed and analyzed for their interfering activity were used (22). Vectors expressing shRNA-Hint1 (shRNA-Hint1430/431) or an inactive shRNA (shRNA-Hint1432/433) were stably expressed in MCF-7 Tet-On cells, and the inducible knockdown of Hint1 was verified by immunoblotting. Doxycycline-induced cells transfected with vector or inactive shRNA-Hint1432/433 did not show changes in Hint1 protein expression (Fig. 5A). To investigate the effect of Hint1 knockdown on p53 expression, Western blot and semiquantitative RT-PCR analyses were performed with lysates and RNAs obtained from cells cultured in the presence or absence of doxycycline. Induction of shRNA-Hint1430/431 results in reduced p53 protein levels. In cells transfected with empty vector or non-functional shRNA-Hint1432/433, p53 levels were unchanged (Fig. 5B). Furthermore, p53 mRNA was down-regulated in doxycycline-treated cells expressing shRNA-Hint1430/431, whereas no changes were detectable in cells transfected with empty vector or control shRNA-Hint1432/433 (Fig. 5C). Expression of Bcl-2 was not altered after the addition of doxycycline either at the protein (Fig. 5D) or mRNA (not shown) level. In contrast, knockdown of Hint1 resulted in a strong reduction of Bax protein and mRNA (Fig. 5, D and E).
These observations suggested that Hint1 is directly or indirectly involved in transcriptional regulation of p53 and Bax expression. In this respect, a dose-dependent increase of the luciferase activity was detectable in reporter gene assays with a p53-luciferase construct in Hint1-transfected HEK293 cells. Moreover, co-transfection of shRNA-Hint1430/431 reduced the reporter gene activity (Fig. 6).
Based on the observations that (i) Hint1 binds to Pontin and Reptin (22) and (ii) Pontin and Reptin are components of the Tip60·HAT complex (28), we wanted to know whether Hint1 is associated with the Tip60·HAT complex. HEK293 cells were transiently transfected with FLAG-Tip60 and Hint1-myc6, and immunoprecipitation experiments were performed with the anti-myc (9E10) monoclonal antibody. Indeed FLAG-Tip60 readily co-precipitated, as detected by Western blotting with anti-FLAG-M2 monoclonal antibody. Moreover, in immunoprecipitations with an anti-Tip60 antibody, endogenous Tip60 was found associated with Hint1-myc6 (Fig. 7, A and B).
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Hint1 Triggers Apoptosis Independent of Its Enzymatic ActivityNext, we examined whether the Hint1 enzymatic activity is necessary for the induction of apoptosis. Specific amino acids, suggested to be involved in the enzymatic activity by x-ray structural analysis (48-50), were exchanged by site-directed mutagenesis. To analyze these mutant Hint1 proteins (Hint1-H112N, -G105A, -S107A, and -G105A/S107A) for their enzymatic activity, they were expressed with an N-terminal His6 tag and purified by nickel-nitrilotriacetic acid chromatography. Enzymatic activity was quantified by HPLC using AMP-NH2 as a substrate. In these assays, only Hint1-H112N (mutated in the central histidine residue within the histidine triad) was enzymatically "dead" (supplemental Fig. 2), whereas the other mutated proteins were only partially impaired in their activity (not shown). From x-ray structural analysis, it is known that Hint1 forms dimers (10, 11, 48). To prove that the introduced mutations do not impair dimerization, gel filtration chromatography was performed. Both wild-type and all mutant Hint1 proteins formed dimers in these assays (supplemental Fig. 3).
When transfected into SW480 or MCF-7 cells, both wild-type and mutant Hint1 proteins did not differ in their ability to induce apoptosis in a dose-dependent way as measured by a cell death detection ELISAPlus quantifying DNA fragmentation (Fig. 8A). Consistent with these observations, the enzymatically dead Hint1-H112N mutant was able to induce p53 and Bax expression and to down-regulate Bcl-2 expression (Fig. 8, B and C). Interestingly, all mutant Hint1 proteins were also able to suppress TCF/
-catenin-mediated transcription in reporter gene assays (supplemental Fig. 4).
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| DISCUSSION |
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-catenin-mediated transcription by binding to Pontin and Reptin, two
-catenin-associated AAA+ superfamily proteins found in multiple chromatin remodeling complexes (22). Here we extended our studies on the molecular mechanism involved in the tumor suppressor function of Hint1 and provide evidence that Hint1 is involved in apoptosis. Overexpression of Hint1 in MCF-7 and SW480 cells induces apoptosis as shown by PARP cleavage, pro-caspase-3 cleavage resulting in caspase-3 activation, M30 CytoDEATH staining, cytochrome c release, and a DNA fragmentation assay. We did not observe this effect in cells that were transfected with Hint2.3 To further characterize Hint1 involvement in apoptosis, the expression of apoptosis-related proteins, such as p53, Bax, Bcl-2, Bad, and Puma, was analyzed. Consistent with a pro-apoptotic function of Hint1, an up-regulation of p53 and Bax and a down-regulation of Bcl-2 were observed on the protein and RNA level. Bad and Puma mRNA were not changed. In contrast, Fhit was reported not to modulate p53, Bax, and Bcl-2 protein expression levels (35). This either may be explained by the use of different cell lines in our study or suggests that, although highly similar in structure, Hint1 and Fhit differ in the mechanism triggering apoptosis (51). The observed down-regulation of p53 and Bax expression at the RNA and protein level in response to the knockdown of Hint1 by shRNA suggests that normal levels of Hint1 are required for base-line expression of p53 and Bax, and affected Hint1 function may impair apoptosis.
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-catenin transcriptional activity also does not depend on the Hint1 enzymatic activity.
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Note Added in ProofDuring the reviewing process of this manuscript Martin et al. reported that Hint2 acts as an apoptotic sensitizer and is frequently down-regulated in hepatocellular carcinoma. (Martin, J., Magnino, F., Schmidt, K., Piguet, A. C., Lee, J. S., Semela, D., St-Pierre, M. V., Ziemiecki, A., Cassio, D., Brenner, C., Thorgeirsson, S. S., and Dufour, J. F. (2006) Gastroenterology 130, 2179-2188).
| FOOTNOTES |
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The on-line version of this article (available at http://www.jbc.org) contains supplemental Figs. 1-4. ![]()
1 To whom correspondence should be addressed: Institut für Klinische Chemie und Pathobiochemie, Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Hindenburgdamm 30, 12200 Berlin, Germany. Tel.: 49-30-8445-2525; Fax: 49-30-8445-4152; E-mail: otmar.huber{at}charite.de.
2 The abbreviations used are: Hint, histidine triad nucleotide-binding protein; Ap3A, P1,P3-diadenosine-5'-triphosphate; Ap4A, P1,P4-diadenosine-5'-tetraphosphate; AMP-NH2, adenosine-5'-monophosphoramidate; GalT, galactose-1-phosphate uridyltransferase; CAK, Cdk-activating kinase; Cdk7, cyclin-dependent kinase 7; Fhit, fragile histidine triad protein; shRNA, short hairpin RNA; HAT, histone acetyltransferase; MITF, microphthalmia-associated transcription factor; HEK, human embryonic kidney; EGFP, enhanced green fluorescent protein; PARP, poly(ADP)-ribose polymerase; HPLC, high-performance liquid chromatography; PBS, phosphate-buffered saline; RT, reverse transcription; ChIP, chromatin immunoprecipitation; Pipes, 1,4-piperazinediethanesulfonic acid; ELISA, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; TCF, T-cell factor. ![]()
3 C. Wirths, J. Weiske, and O. Huber, unpublished observations. ![]()
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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