
[Cancer Research 60, 3522-3531, July 1, 2000]
© 2000 American Association for Cancer Research
Experimental Therapeutics |
Differential Signaling by an Anti-p185HER2 Antibody and Heregulin1
Xiao-Feng Le,
Ratna Vadlamudi,
Amanda McWatters,
Duk Soo Bae,
Gordon B. Mills,
Rakesh Kumar and
Robert C. Bast, Jr.2
Departments of Experimental Therapeutics [X-F. L., R. V., A. M., R. K., R. C. B.] and Molecular Oncology [G. B. M.], Division of Medicine, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University, School of Medicine, Seoul 135-230, Korea [D. S. B.]
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ABSTRACT
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To understand the molecular mechanisms by which
anti-p185HER2 antibody and the ligand heregulin inhibit
tumor growth, we have investigated several signaling proteins and
pathways. We report here that anti-p185HER2 monoclonal
antibody ID5 induced tyrosine phosphorylation of HER2 in SKBr3 breast
cancer cells that overexpress p185HER2. Heregulin ß1
induced phosphorylation of both HER3 and HER2. ID5 produced a greater
association of phospholipase C (PLC)-
1 with HER2 than did heregulin.
Concordantly, ID5, but not heregulin, increased PLC-
1 activity.
However, the G1 cell cycle arrest and induction of
p27Kip1 produced by ID5 were not affected by the inhibition
of PLC-
. ID5 preferentially induced binding of the
Mr 46,000 isoform of SHC to HER2,
whereas heregulin preferentially induced binding of the
Mr 52,00 isoform of SHC to HER3. Heregulin,
but not ID5, induced the p85 subunit of phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase
(PI3-K) to interact with HER3. Heregulin induced sustained activation
of PI3-K signaling, whereas ID5 had only a transient effect. Heregulin,
but not ID5, activated the c-Jun-NH2-terminal kinase
cascade. Pretreatment of SKBr3 cells with ID5 decreased
heregulin-induced association of HER2 with HER3 as well as the
activation of c-Jun-NH2-terminal kinase and PI3-K
activities. Inhibition of the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway
in SKBr3 cells did not affect heregulin-induced G2-M-phase
arrest, apoptosis, and differentiation. Heregulin-induced apoptosis
could be blocked by inhibition of p70s6k, but not by inhibition of
PI3-K. Heregulin-induced differentiation could be eliminated by
inhibition of PI3-K. We conclude that ID5 and heregulin signal via
different pathways, although both agents can inhibit the clonogenic
growth of cells that overexpress HER2.
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INTRODUCTION
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Four receptors have been identified among the human
EGF3
receptor family: (a) HER1 (also called EGFR and erbB1);
(b) HER2 (erbB2); (c) HER3 (erbB3); and
(d) HER4 (erbB4; Refs. 1
and 2
).
Members of this family are characterized by the presence of two
cysteine-rich extracellular domains, a transmembrane domain, and an
intracellular domain with a long COOH-terminal tail that contains
multiple sites for autophosphorylation (1)
. With the
exception of HER3, each of these transmembrane receptors has intrinsic
tyrosine kinase activity. The ligands that activate these receptors all
contain conserved EGF-like domains and are synthesized as transmembrane
precursor molecules (1
, 2)
. Binding of ligands or specific
antibodies to these receptors induces receptor dimerization, including
homodimerization and heterodimerization of multiple members of the HER
family. The receptors autophosphorylate and cross-phosphorylate
specific tyrosine residues in their cytoplasmic tails. These
phosphorylated tyrosines serve to dock SH2 or phosphotyrosine binding
domain-containing signal transduction molecules including GRB2,
SHC, PLC-
, and the p85 subunit of PI3-K (1, 2, 3)
. The
binding and activation of these molecules initiate different
intracellular signal transduction pathways, which ultimately lead to a
variety of cell responses including cell cycle progression,
differentiation, survival, apoptosis, chemotaxis, and cell mobility.
Previous reports, including our own, have demonstrated that
anti-p185HER2 antibodies can inhibit breast and
ovarian cancer growth in vivo and in vitro
(4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
. Anti-p185HER2 antibodies
specifically recognize the p185 HER2 protein and do not react with the
closely related EGF receptor (7)
. Heregulin isoforms can
also inhibit the growth of breast and ovarian cancer cells that
overexpress HER2 (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
. Heregulins belong to a
subfamily of EGF-like growth factors that produce a variety of cellular
responses by activating members of the HER family of receptors
(1
, 2)
. Unlike anti-p185HER2
antibodies, members of the heregulin family cannot bind to HER-2 alone.
Instead, the ligand interacts with homodimers of HER3 or HER4 or with
heterodimers formed from HER2 with HER3 or HER4 (15
, 16)
.
In an attempt to elucidate the mechanisms by which
anti-p185HER2 antibody and heregulin inhibit
tumor growth, we have studied the effect of
anti-p185HER2 monoclonal antibody ID5 and
heregulin ß1 on the SKBr3 breast cancer cell line that expresses
>106 HER2 receptors/cell. Our recent report
indicated that ID5 and heregulin ß1 could exert growth-inhibitory
effects through different mechanisms (17)
. ID5 arrested
the SKBr3 cells in the G1 phase of the cell cycle
associated with the up-regulation of p27Kip1,
down-regulation of cyclin-dependent kinase 2 and cyclin E kinase
activities, and induction of hypophosphorylated Rb protein. In
contrast, heregulin promoted G1 to S-phase
progression but induced accumulation of cells in the
G2-M phase of the cell cycle. Heregulin also
initiated programmed cell death and induced cell differentiation
(17)
.
The variety of ligands, receptors, and effectors is thought to
contribute to the diversification potential of the HER family signaling
network (1
, 2)
. ID5 and heregulin recognize different
members of the HER family and are bound to produce different signaling
and effectors. The biological effects resulting from ID5 and heregulin
treatment as mentioned above are bound to correlate with the different
signaling initiated by ID5 and heregulin. To understand the molecular
mechanisms by which anti-p185HER2 antibody and
heregulin inhibit tumor growth, it is important to investigate the
possible involvement of the signaling proteins and signaling pathways
in ID5 and heregulin treatment. In this report, we did find
significantly different signaling produced by ID5 and heregulin.
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MATERIALS AND METHODS
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Cell Culture.
The human breast cancer cell line SKBr3 (American Type Culture
Collection, Manassas, VA) was grown in complete medium containing RPMI
1640 (Life Technologies, Inc., Grand Island, NY) supplemented with 10%
fetal bovine serum (Sigma, St. Louis, MO), 2 mM
L-glutamine, 100 units/ml penicillin, and 100 µg/ml
streptomycin in humidified air with 5% CO2 at
37°C. For all experiments, cells were detached with 0.25%
trypsin-0.02% EDTA. For cell culture, 2 x 105 exponentially growing cells were plated into
100-mm tissue culture dishes. After culture for 24 h in complete
medium, cells were treated (if applicable) with either the
phosphatidylinositol-PLC-specific inhibitor U73122 (4
µM), the PI3-K inhibitors LY294002 (10 µM)
or wortmannin (2 µM), the ERK1/2 MAP kinase inhibitor
PD98059 (50 µM), the p38 MAP kinase inhibitor SB203580 (2
µM), or the FRAP/mTOR/p70s6k inhibitor rapamycin
(55 nM) in complete medium overnight. Cells were then
treated with ID5 (65 nM) or heregulin ß1 (0.31
nM) in medium with 2% dialyzed fetal bovine serum (Life
Technologies, Inc.) at 37°C for the indicated time intervals.
Preparation and Purification of Anti-HER2 Antibodies.
The anti-HER2 murine monoclonal antibody ID5 was obtained from Applied
BioTechnology/Oncogene Science [Cambridge, MA (18)
].
Hybridoma cells specific for ID5 were used to produce ascites fluid,
and the immunoglobulin was purified as reported previously
(10)
.
Reagents.
Chemical inhibitors U73122, LY294002, and PD98059 were purchased from
BIOMOL Research Laboratories, Inc. (Plymouth Meeting, PA). SB203580,
wortmannin, and rapamycin were obtained from Calbiochem-Novabiochem
Corp. (La Jolla, CA). Recombinant human heregulin ß1 (referred to
hereafter as heregulin) was obtained from NeoMarkers, Inc. (Fremont,
CA). Antibodies reactive with HER2 (for Western blotting) and
p27Kip1 were purchased from Oncogene Research
Products (Cambridge, MA). Antibodies reactive with HER2 (for
immunoprecipitation) were obtained from NeoMarkers, Inc. Antibodies to
HER3 (for Western blotting and immunoprecipitation), SHC, phospho-JNK,
control JNK, and rabbit immunoglobulin conjugated with biotin were
purchased from Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc. (Santa Cruz, CA).
Streptavidin-agarose and antibodies to phosphotyrosine (4G10), PI3-K
p85
ß, and PLC-
1 were obtained from Upstate Biotechnology Inc.
(Lake Placid, NY). Antibody to GRB2 was purchased from Transduction
Laboratories (Lexington, KY). Antibodies to phospho-p38, control p38,
phospho-AKT, control AKT, phospho-p70s6k
(Ser411), and control p70s6k were obtained from
New England BioLabs, Inc. (Beverly, MA). Antibodies to phospho-ERK1/2
and control ERK1/2 were obtained from Promega Corp. (Madison, WI).
Preparation of Total Cell Lysate and Western Immunoblot Analysis.
The procedures for preparation of total protein and Western immunoblot
analysis were performed as described previously (19)
.
Immunoprecipitation.
Aliquots of total cell lysates containing equal amounts of protein in
lysis buffer [137 mM NaCl, 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH
7.4), 5 mM EDTA, 1 mM DTT, 1% NP40, 10%
glycerol, and protease inhibitors] were precleared with 2 µg of
normal mouse or rabbit IgG (Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc.) together
with 20 µl of protein A/G-agarose conjugate. Lysates were then
immunoprecipitated overnight at 4°C with 2 µg each of antibodies
reactive with a mouse anti-HER2 antibody and 20 µl of protein
A/G-agarose conjugate. After washing four times with lysis buffer, the
agarose pellets were boiled in Laemmli SDS loading buffer for 5 min,
and samples were resolved by 610% SDS-PAGE and subjected to Western
blotting. To avoid the problems of indirect association, a
streptavidin-biotin system and a rabbit anti-HER3 antibody were used in
HER3 immunoprecipitation. Rabbit anti-HER3 antibody and protein
A-agarose conjugate were used to immunoprecipitate SHC protein in a
manner similar to that described for immunoprecipitation of HER2.
PI3-K Activity Assay.
A PI3-K activity assay was carried out as described previously
(20)
using immunoprecipitation with an
anti-phosphotyrosine antibody. Briefly, cell lysates (1 mg of protein)
were immunoprecipitated with anti-phosphotyrosine antibody and
subjected to an in vitro kinase reaction in 50 µl of
kinase buffer containing 0.2 mg/ml phosphatidylinositol (Sigma), 20
µCi of [
-32P]ATP, and 20
mM MgCl2. The reaction
products were separated on TLC plates using
chloroform:methanol:ammonium hydroxide:water (86:76:10:14).
JNK Activity Assay.
JNK activity was assayed using a pull-down kinase assay kit for
stress-activated protein kinase/JNK (New England Biolabs, Inc.). Equal
amounts of protein (200 µg) from cells treated with different
reagents were incubated overnight with 2 µg of c-Jun-glutathione
S-transferase fusion beads, washed with lysis buffer three
times, and washed with kinase buffer three times (25
mM Tris, 5 mM
ß-glycerophosphate, 2 mM DTT, 10
mM MgCl2, and 0.1
mM
Na3VO4). Beads were
resuspended in 30 µl of kinase buffer containing 5 µCi of
[
-32P]ATP and incubated for 30 min at
30°C. The reaction was terminated by the addition of SDS buffer, and
beads were separated on 10% SDS-PAGE and analyzed with a
phosphorimager.
PLC-
1 Enzymatic Activity Assay.
Inositol phosphate formation was used to measure PLC-
1 activity
according to a previous report (21)
. Briefly, cells grown
in 6-well plates were labeled for 24 h in
myo-inositol-free RPMI 1640 (Life Technologies, Inc.)
supplemented with myo-[3H]inositol
(1 µCi/ml, 25 mCi/mmol; New England Nuclear). The cells were rinsed
twice with DMEM containing 20 mM HEPES (pH 7.5),
20 mM LiCl, and BSA (1 mg/ml) and incubated in
the same solution at 37°C for 45 min. The cells were stimulated with
ID5 or heregulin at 37°C for 20 min, rinsed twice with PBS, and
treated with ice-cold 5% perchloric acid. Cells were scraped into
Eppendorf tubes, and the cellular debris was pelleted by
centrifugation. The pellets were dissolved in 1 N
NaOH and used for the determination of protein concentration with the
use of BCA solution (Pierce Chemical Co., Rockford, IL). The
supernatants were diluted with water and applied to a Bio-Rad AG1-X2
ion exchange column to separate total inositol phosphates from
inositol. The radioactive eluates from triplicate samples were measured
on a Beta counter (Beckman), and the average number of cpm was
calculated. The 3H radioactivity in total
inositol phosphates was determined per milligram of protein.
Cell Cycle Analysis.
Cell cycle distribution was analyzed by flow cytometry. Cells treated
with antibodies or heregulin for 24 or 72 h were trypsinized,
washed once with PBS, and fixed overnight in 70% ethanol. Fixed cells
were centrifuged at 300 x g for 10 min and
washed with PBS. Cell pellets were resuspended in PBS containing 50
µg/ml RNase A and 50 µg/ml propidium iodide and incubated for 20
min at 37°C with gentle shaking. Stained cells were filtered through
nylon mesh (41 µM) and analyzed on a Coulter
XL-MCL flow cytometer (Coulter Corporation, Miami, FL) for relative DNA
content based on red fluorescence levels. Doublets and cell debris were
excluded from the DNA histograms. The percentages of the
sub-G1 cell population were determined based on
the relative DNA content. The percentages of cells in different cell
cycle compartments were determined using the MULTICYCLE software
program (Phoenix Flow Systems, San Diego, CA).
Oil Red O Staining.
A modified Oil Red O in propylene glycol method was used to visualize
neutral lipids as reported previously (12)
. Briefly, SKBr3
cells were cytospun to slides after different treatments and fixed in
6% paraformaldehyde in PBS. After dehydrating in absolute propylene
glycol for 5 min, the slides were stained with 0.5% Oil Red O in
propylene glycol for 1 h. The cells were then differentiated in
85% propylene glycol for 2 min, rinsed in distilled water,
counterstained with Harris hematoxylin for 2 min, washed in PBS, and
mounted in glycerin.
 |
RESULTS
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Tyrosine Phosphorylation and Interaction of HER2 and HER3 after ID5
and Heregulin Treatment.
Previous studies have indicated that a number of anti-HER2 antibodies
and heregulin can suppress the tumor growth of HER2-overexpressing
breast and ovarian cancer cells in vitro and in
vivo (4, 5, 6, 7)
. Our previous data have also demonstrated
that ID5 and heregulin both can inhibit the anchorage-dependent and
anchorage-independent growth of SKBr3 cells (8, 9, 10)
. Our
recent data indicated, however, that ID5 and heregulin could exert
their growth-inhibitory effects through different mechanism
(17)
. To further explore the mechanisms used by ID5 and
heregulin to inhibit the growth of breast cancer cells that overexpress
HER2, we have studied signal transduction after treatment with the
antibody or ligand.
Tyrosine phosphorylation of HER2 and HER3 was measured after treatment
with ID5 or heregulin. Our preliminary data indicated that HER2
phosphorylation could be detected as early as 5 min after treatment
with ID5 or heregulin. The phosphorylation peaked at 20 min and lasted
for at least 2 h (data not shown). SKBr3 cells were therefore
treated with ID5, heregulin, or medium for 20 min, and cell lysates
were immunoprecipitated with either murine anti-HER2 or rabbit
anti-HER3 antibodies as detailed in "Materials and Methods." The
immunoprecipitates were then analyzed by Western blotting with an
anti-phosphotyrosine antibody. As shown in Fig. 1
, ID5 markedly increased tyrosine phosphorylation of HER2 with a
concomitant decrease in basal HER3 phosphorylation. In contrast,
heregulin induced a marked increase in HER3 phosphorylation with a
modest increase in HER2 phosphorylation. These studies also permitted
evaluation of the interaction between HER2 and HER3. In untreated SKBr3
cells, HER3 could be coimmunoprecipitated with HER2 (Fig. 2A
, Lane 1). Treatment with ID5 induced intense tyrosine
phosphorylation of HER2 but did not recruit additional HER3 to the HER2
when compared with the untreated control [1.2 versus 1
(Fig. 2A
, Lane 2)]. In contrast, heregulin treatment
induced weak HER2 tyrosine phosphorylation but resulted in much greater
association of HER3 with HER2 [2.3 versus 1 (Fig. 2A
,
Lane 3)]. Importantly, pretreatment of SKBr3 cells with ID5
decreased the association of HER2 with HER3 from 2.8- to 1.5-fold (Fig. 2A
, Lane 4). These results indicate that ID5, which binds
HER2 but not HER3 (21)
, induced HER2 but not HER3 tyrosine
phosphorylation and did not significantly increase HER2-HER3
association in SKBr3 cells. Heregulin, which binds HER3 and HER4
(15
, 16)
, markedly increased HER3 tyrosine phosphorylation
and HER2-HER3 association with a modest HER2 tyrosine phosphorylation.

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Fig. 1. ID5-induced and heregulin-induced association of signaling
proteins with HER2 and HER3. SKBr3 cells were treated with ID5 (65
nM), heregulin (0.3 nM), or medium alone for 20
min at 37°C and lysed in immunoprecipitation buffer as described in
"Materials and Methods." Anti-HER2 (left) and
anti-HER3 (right) immunoprecipitates were resolved by
10% SDS-PAGE and transferred to a polyvinylidene difluoride membrane.
Filters were cut horizontally into strips of appropriate ranges for
detecting associated signaling proteins and blotted with the indicated
antibodies. Finally, the blots were reprobed with anti-HER2 or
anti-HER3 antibody to reveal the levels of HER2 or HER3
immunoprecipitated. This experiment is representative of three
independent experiments.
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Fig. 2. Interaction of HER2 and HER3 receptors and tyrosine
phosphorylation of SHC isoforms. SKBr3 cells were treated and total
lysates were prepared as described in Fig. 1
. In A,
anti-HER2 immunoprecipitates were resolved by 6% SDS-PAGE. Filters
were first blotted with anti-HER3 antibody and then stripped and
reprobed with anti-phosphotyrosine antibody and anti-HER2 antibody. In
B, total lysates were resolved by 8% SDS-PAGE, and
Western blotting was performed with a polyclonal anti-SHC antibody. In
C, immunoprecipitation with anti-SHC antibody and
Western blotting with a mouse anti-phosphotyrosine antibody were
performed as described in "Materials and Methods."
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GRB2 and SHC Association with HER2 and HER3.
Ligand-induced receptor phosphorylation in homodimers and heterodimers
provides phosphotyrosine docking sites for downstream signal
transduction molecules including GRB2, SHC, PLC-
, and the p85
subunit of PI3-K (22)
. To examine the association of the
signal transduction proteins GRB2 and SHC with HER2 and HER3, SKBr3
cells were treated with ID5, heregulin, or medium for 20 min, and cell
lysates were immunoprecipitated by either anti-HER2 or anti-HER3
antibodies. The immunoprecipitates were then analyzed by Western
blotting with anti-GRB2 or anti-SHC antibodies. GRB2
coimmunoprecipitated with HER2 and HER3 in SKBr3 cells (Fig. 1)
. Both
heregulin and ID5 treatment increased GRB2 binding to HER2 and HER3
(Fig. 1)
. Interestingly, association of GRB2 with HER2 was more marked
after ID5 treatment than after heregulin treatment, whereas association
of GRB2 with HER3 was similar in heregulin-treated cells and
ID5-treated cells (Fig. 1)
. Two different isoforms of the SHC protein,
the Mr 52,000 and
Mr 46,000 isoforms, were detected in
SKBr3 cells (Fig. 2B)
. These two isoforms all bound to the
HER2 (Fig. 1)
. ID5 treatment preferentially increased binding of the
Mr 46,000 isoform of SHC to HER2. Only
the Mr 52,000 isoform of SHC was found
to bind HER3 (Fig. 1)
. Both ID5 and heregulin dramatically increased
tyrosine phosphorylation of SHC isoforms (Fig. 2C)
. These
data suggest that both ID5 and heregulin increased the association of
GRB2 and SHC protein with HER2 and HER3 and increased tyrosine
phosphorylation of SHC.
Activation of ERK1/2, p38, and JNK Kinases by ID5 and Heregulin.
GRB2 constitutively binds the SOS guanine nucleotide exchange
proteins through its two SH3 domains (22)
. After binding
directly to phosphorylated HER2 and HER3 receptors, the adaptor protein
SHC can be phosphorylated on tyrosine residues by the receptors. This
phosphorylation recruits additional SH2 proteins to SHC, such as GRB2.
The GRB2-SOS and/or SHC-GRB2-SOS complexes are thought to promote
nucleotide exchange by Ras and subsequently activate signal pathways
through MAP kinases (3
, 22)
. To examine the activation of
ERK1/2, p38, and JNK kinases, SKBr3 cells were treated with ID5 or
heregulin for different intervals (shown in Figs. 3
and 4
). Total cell lysates were obtained and analyzed by Western blotting
with anti-ERK1/2, p38, or JNK antibodies. As illustrated in Fig. 3
, ID5
induced a transient activation of both ERK1/2 and p38 MAP kinase
detected by phospho-ERK1/2 and phospho-p38 antibodies (Fig. 3, A and B)
. Heregulin induced a more prolonged
activation of both ERK1/2 and p38 MAP kinases (Fig. 3)
. Heregulin was
shown to activate the JNK pathway by using phospho-JNK antibody (Fig. 4A)
and a JNK kinase assay (Fig. 4B
, Lane 2).
This activation was sustained for at least 2 h after heregulin
stimulation (Fig. 4A)
. In contrast, ID5 did not increase
phosphorylation or kinase activity of JNK (Fig. 4, A and B
, Lane 3). Furthermore, heregulin-induced JNK
activation was reduced by about 46% in cells that were preincubated
with ID5 for 30 min (Fig. 4B
, Lane 4). These results suggest
that although ID5 and heregulin can both activate ERK1/2 and p38 MAP
kinase signaling pathways, heregulin produces a more prolonged signal.
Heregulin activates the JNK signaling pathway, whereas ID5 does not.

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Fig. 3. Effect of ID5 and heregulin on ERK1/2 and p38 MAP kinase
signaling. Cells were incubated for the indicated time points with ID5
(65 nM), heregulin (0.3 nM), or medium. Total
cell lysates were obtained and then analyzed by Western blotting with
anti-phospho-ERK1/2 or anti-phospho-p38 antibodies. Filters were
stripped and reprobed with anti-ERK1/2 or p38 antibodies as a control.
P, a positive control from total cell lysates of OVCAR3
cells treated with 0.3 M sorbitol for 30 min.
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Fig. 4. Effect of ID5 and heregulin on the JNK MAP kinase
signaling pathway. Cells were incubated for the indicated time points
with ID5 (65 nM), heregulin (0.3 nM), or
medium. In A, total cell lysates were obtained and then
analyzed by Western blotting with anti-phospho-JNK antibody. Filters
were stripped and reprobed with anti-JNK antibody as a control.
P, a positive control from total cell lysates of OVCAR3
cells treated with 0.3 M sorbitol for 30 min. In
B, JNK activity was measured by using a pull-down kinase
assay kit. Cells were treated with diluent (Lane 1),
heregulin (Lane 2), or ID5 (Lane 3) for
20 min. In Lane 4, cells were pretreated with ID5 for 30
min before treatment with heregulin for an additional 20 min.
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PI3-K Association with HER2 and HER3.
PI3-K is a heterodimer consisting of a
Mr 85,000 regulatory component and a
Mr 110,000 catalytic component. The
regulatory subunit possesses one SH3 domain, two SH2 domains,
and one Rho-GAP domain. To examine the association of the regulatory
subunit of PI3-K with HER2 and HER3, SKBr3 cells were treated with ID5,
heregulin, or medium for 20 min, and cell lysates were
immunoprecipitated with either anti-HER2 or anti-HER3 antibodies. The
immunoprecipitates were then analyzed by Western blotting with
anti-PI3-K p85 antibody. Consistent with previous data (23
, 24)
, only trace amounts of the p85 subunit of PI3-K were
associated with HER2 in untreated SKBr3 cells, whereas a significant
amount of the p85 subunit was associated with the HER3 (Fig. 1)
.
Heregulin induced a marked increase in the association of p85 with HER3
(Fig. 1)
. The amount of p85 associated with HER3 in ID5-treated cells
was similar to that in untreated cells, indicating that ID5 treatment
did not recruit p85 to HER3, consistent with a failure of ID5 treatment
to increase tyrosine phosphorylation of HER3. These data suggest that
heregulin increases the association of PI3-K with HER3, whereas ID5
treatment does not.
Activation of PI3-K Signaling Pathways by ID5 and Heregulin.
Binding of the p85 subunit of PI3-K to the tyrosine-phosphorylated HER3
receptor results in PI3-K activation. When PI3-K catalytic activity was
assessed (Fig. 5A)
, cells were treated with ID5 and heregulin for 10 min.
Both ID5 and heregulin increased the production of phosphatidylinositol
3-phosphate, indicating the activation of PI3-K. Both ID5 and heregulin
activated PI3-K (Fig. 5A)
, but ID5-induced PI3-K activation
returned to an undetectable level 30 min after the addition of antibody
(Fig. 5B)
. Heregulin-induced PI3-K activation was sustained
for at least 60 min (data not shown). To assess the effect of
pretreatment with ID5 on heregulin-induced PI3-K activation, SKBr3
cells were treated with ID5 for 30 min and then subjected to heregulin
treatment for an additional 10 min (at this time point, ID5-induced
activation would no longer exist). Fig. 5A
indicated that
pretreatment of ID5 completely blocked subsequent activation of PI3-K
by heregulin (Lane 4).

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Fig. 5. Effect of ID5 and heregulin on the PI3-K signaling
pathways. Cells were incubated for 10 min (A) or for the
indicated time intervals (B-D) with ID5
(65 nM), heregulin (0.3 nM), or medium. In
A, Lane 4, cells were pretreated with ID5
for 30 min at 37°C and then subjected to heregulin treatment for an
additional 10 min. Cell lysates were immunoprecipitated with
anti-phosphotyrosine antibody and subjected to a PI3-K activity assay
as described in "Materials and Methods." In B, the
time course of PI3-K activity has been studied after ID5 treatment. In
C and D, total cell lysates were obtained
and then analyzed by Western blotting with anti-phospho-AKT
(C) or anti-phospho-p70s6k (D)
antibodies. Filters were stripped and reprobed with anti-ERK1/2
(C) or p38 (D) antibodies as a control.
P in C and D denotes a
positive control from total cell lysates of OVCAR3 cells treated with
0.3 M sorbitol for 30 min.
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AKT and p70s6k were also investigated because AKT and p70s6k are
downstream targets of PI3-K. Total SKBr3 cell lysates incubated with
and without ID5 or heregulin were obtained and then analyzed by Western
blotting with anti-AKT and p70s6k antibodies. As shown in Fig. 5C
, ID5 induced a transient activation of AKT. In sharp
contrast, heregulin induced a more prolonged activation of AKT (Fig. 5C)
. Similarly, ID5 induced a transient activation of
p70s6k, whereas heregulin induced sustained activation of p70s6k (Fig. 5D)
. These data indicated that ID5 had only a transient
effect on the PI3-K signaling pathways, whereas heregulin induced
sustained activation of the PI3-K signaling pathways.
PLC-
1 Association with HER2 and HER3.
PLC-
1, a member of the PLC isozyme family, has been shown to be a
physiological substrate for tyrosine phosphorylation by EGF and is
selectively phosphorylated on specific tyrosine residues. To examine
the association of PLC-
1 protein with HER2 and HER3, the
immunoprecipitates (as described in Fig. 1
) were then analyzed by
Western blotting with anti-PLC-
1 antibody. As illustrated in Fig. 1
,
PLC-
1 protein coimmunoprecipitated with HER2 in SKBr3 cells. When
compared with the untreated control, more PLC-
1 was associated with
HER2 in ID5-treated cells (Fig. 1)
. Heregulin treatment resulted in a
decrease in the amount of PLC-
1 associated with HER2 (Fig. 1)
.
Consistent with a previous report (24)
, no PLC-
1
protein was detected in HER3 immunoprecipitates (Fig. 1)
. These data
suggest that changes in tyrosine phosphorylation induced by ID5 recruit
PLC-
1 to HER2. The reason for the decrease in association of
PLC-
1 with HER2 after heregulin treatment is not known.
Activation of PLC-
1 by ID5 and Effect of Blocking PLC-
1
Activity on ID5-induced G1 Cell Cycle Arrest and
p27Kip1 Expression.
From the above-mentioned data, there is an obvious difference in the
recruitment of PLC-
1 protein to HER2 after treatment with ID5 and
with heregulin (Fig. 1)
. To determine the effect of ID5 and heregulin
on PLC-
1 enzymatic activity, inositol phosphate production was
examined as described in "Materials and Methods." As demonstrated
in Fig. 6A
, ID5 increased inositol phosphate production and indicated
increased PLC-
1 enzymatic activity, whereas heregulin did
not.
Based on our studies and those of others (17
, 25, 26, 27, 28)
,
several anti-p185HER2 monoclonal antibodies
induced G1 cell cycle arrest and
p27Kip1 expression in HER2-overexpressing breast
cancer cells. To address the possibility that increased PLC-
1
enzymatic activity might contribute to the G1
arrest and p27Kip1 expression observed after
treatment with ID5, a phosphatidylinositol-PLC-specific inhibitor,
U73122 (29)
, was used to pretreat SKBr3 cells before the
addition of ID5. ID5-induced G1 arrest (Fig. 6B)
and p27Kip1 expression (Fig. 6C)
were not altered by pretreatment with U73122, although
PLC-
1 enzymatic activity was inhibited (Fig. 6D)
. Thus,
PLC-
1 signaling does not appear to be required for ID5-induced
G1 arrest and p27Kip1
expression.
Effect of Blocking PI3-K and MAP Kinase Signaling Pathways on
ID5-induced Cell Cycle G1 Arrest.
We also examined the effect of blocking PI3-K and MAP kinase signaling
pathways on ID5-induced G1 arrest. As described
in "Materials and Methods," cells were pretreated with either the
ERK1/2 MAP kinase-specific inhibitor PD98059, the p38 MAP
kinase-specific inhibitor SB203580, the PI3-K-specific inhibitors
LY294002 or wortmannin, or the p70s6k-specific inhibitor rapamycin.
Cells were then subjected to ID5 treatment for 24 h. Results shown
in Fig. 7
indicated that blocking of the ERK1/2 and p38 MAP kinase signaling
pathways did not alter ID5-induced G1 cell cycle
arrest. Similarly, blocking of the ERK1/2 and p38 MAP kinase signaling
pathways did not alter ID5-induced p27Kip1
expression (Fig. 8A)
. The efficacy of PD98059 and SB203580 has been confirmed
by their ability to inhibit heregulin-induced ERK1/2 (Fig. 8B)
and p38 (Fig. 8C)
activation, respectively.
Blocking of p70s6k signaling with rapamycin resulted in a more profound
G1 arrest. Rapamycin itself caused a sustained
G1 arrest in SKBr3 cells at 1672 h after the
addition of the inhibitor; however, this arrest was increased by the
addition of ID5 (Fig. 7
; data not shown). Interestingly,
inhibition of PI3-K activity by LY294002 and wortmannin caused a marked
but transient G1 arrest (>90%) in SKBr3 cells
1624 h after addition of the inhibitors (data not shown). LY294002 or
wortmannin treatment of SKBr3 cells for 24 h also significantly
increased p27Kip1 expression (data not shown).
Thus, inhibition of the PI3-K signaling mimicked the activity of ID5.
These data suggest that ID5-induced G1 arrest in
SKBr3 cells is not dependent on signaling via MAP kinases.

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|
Fig. 8. Effect of blocking the MAP kinase signaling pathways on
ID5-induced p27Kip1 expression. In A, cells
were pretreated overnight with either PD98059 (50 µM) or
SB203580 (2 µM). Cells were then washed and treated with
ID5 for 2 h. Total lysates were prepared and analyzed by Western
blotting with an anti-p27Kip1 antibody. In B
and C, cells were pretreated overnight with either
PD98059 (50 µM) or SB203580 (2 µM). Cells
were then washed and treated with heregulin for 20 min. Total lysates
were prepared and analyzed by Western blotting with anti-phospho-ERK1/2
antibody (B) or anti-phospho-p38 antibody
(C).
|
|
Effect of Blocking PI3-K and MAP Kinase Signaling Pathways on
Heregulin-induced Cell Cycle G2-M-phase Arrest.
Heregulin has been shown to inhibit the growth of HER2-overexpressing
breast cancer cells (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
through induction of
G2-M-phase arrest, apoptosis, and cell
differentiation (11, 12, 13
, 17)
. Multiple reports
(30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
including the current study have found that
heregulin activates the MAP kinase and PI3-K signaling pathways. As
shown in Fig. 9
, pretreatment with PD98059 and SB203580 did not alter heregulin-induced
G2-M-phase arrest, whereas pretreatment with
LY294002, wortmannin, or rapamycin impaired heregulin-induced
G2-M-phase arrest. The effect of LY294002,
wortmannin, or rapamycin on G2-M phase could be
due to the ability of these inhibitors to arrest SKBr3 cells in the
G1 phase (Fig. 7
; data not shown). These data
suggest that MAP kinase pathways play no role in heregulin-induced
G2-M-phase arrest.

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|
Fig. 9. Effect of blocking the MAP kinase and PI3-K signaling
pathways on heregulin-induced cell cycle G2-M-phase arrest.
Cells were pretreated overnight with either PD98059 (50
µM), SB203580 (2 µM), LY294002 (10
µM), wortmannin (2 µM), or rapamycin (55
µM). Cells were then washed and treated with heregulin
for 24 h, and cell cycle distribution was analyzed by flow
cytometry as described in "Materials and Methods." *,
P = 0.0015 compared with untreated group;
**, P < 0.05 compared with HRG-treated group; §,
P > 0.05 compared with HRG-treated group.
|
|
Effect of Blocking the PI3-K and MAP Kinase Signaling Pathways on
Heregulin-induced Apoptosis.
To examine the effect of blocking the PI3-K and MAP kinase signaling
pathways on heregulin-induced apoptosis, cells were pretreated with the
individual inhibitors. Cells were then subjected to heregulin treatment
for 72 h. Treatment with either PD98059, SB203580, LY294002,
wortmannin, LY294002 plus PD98059, or LY294002 plus SB203580 did not
block heregulin-induced apoptosis (Fig. 10)
. However, treatment with the p70s6k inhibitor rapamycin completely
prevented heregulin-induced apoptosis, as shown in Fig. 10
. The
efficacy of LY294002 (Fig. 11A)
, wortmannin (Fig. 11B)
, and rapamycin (Fig. 11C)
used in this study has been confirmed by the ability of
these inhibitors to inhibit heregulin-induced AKT (Fig. 11, A and B)
and p70s6k (Fig. 11C)
activation, respectively. These results indicate that a
rapamycin-sensitive signaling pathway is involved in heregulin-induced
apoptosis. Although PI3-K inhibition altered heregulin-induced
G2-M-phase arrest (Fig. 9)
, it did not alter
heregulin-induced apoptosis (Fig. 10)
.

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Fig. 10. Effect of blocking the PI3-K and MAP kinase signaling
pathways on heregulin-induced apoptosis. Cells were pretreated
overnight with PD98059 (50 µM), SB203580 (2
µM), LY294002 (10 µM), wortmannin (2
µM), LY294002 (10 µM) plus PD98059 (50
µM), LY294002 (10 µM) plus SB203580 (2
µM), or rapamycin (55 µM). Cells were then
washed and treated with heregulin for 72 h. Both floating and
attached cells were collected and subjected to flow cytometric
analysis. Sub-G1 fractions representing the apoptotic cell
population were determined based on relative DNA content. *,
P < 0.005 compared with medium-treated
control. **, P = 0.04 compared with
HRG-treated group (n = 4); §,
P > 0.05 compared with HRG-treated group.
|
|

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Fig. 11. The efficacy of the PI3-K inhibitors and the p70s6k
inhibitor. SKBr3 cells were pretreated overnight with either LY294002
(10 µM; a), wortmannin (2 µM;b), or rapamycin (55 µM; c).
Cells were then washed and treated with heregulin for 20 min. Total
lysates were prepared and analyzed by Western blotting with
anti-phospho-AKT antibody (A and B) or
anti-phospho-p70s6k antibody (C).
|
|
Effect of Blocking PI3-K and MAP Kinase Signaling Pathways on
Heregulin-induced Cell Differentiation.
To examine the effect of blocking the MAP kinase and PI3-K signaling
pathways on heregulin-induced differentiation, cells were again
pretreated with the individual inhibitors as described above and then
subjected to heregulin treatment for 72 h. Cell differentiation
was assessed by Oil Red O staining as described in "Materials and
Methods." As shown in Fig. 12
, LY294002 or wortmannin treatment completely abolished
heregulin-induced cell differentiation, whereas PD98059 or SB203580
treatment did not affect this process. Simultaneous inhibition of both
MAP kinase and PI3-K pathways by LY294002 plus PD98059 or LY294002 plus
SB203580 further confirmed that inhibition of PI3-K was sufficient to
block heregulin-induced cell differentiation. Interestingly, rapamycin
itself induced dramatic cell differentiation in SKBr3 cells (Fig. 12)
.
Heregulin plus rapamycin produced a degree of cell differentiation
similar to that observed with rapamycin alone (Fig. 12)
. These results
indicated that the LY294002- and Wortmannin-sensitive PI3-K pathway,
but not the MAP kinase pathways, played an important role in
heregulin-induced differentiation.

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Fig. 12. Effect of blocking the PI3-K and MAP kinase signaling
pathways on heregulin-induced cell differentiation. Cells were
pretreated overnight with either PD98059 (50 µM),
SB203580 (2 µM), LY294002 (10 µM),
wortmannin (2 µM), LY294002 (10 µM) plus
PD98059 (50 µM), LY294002 (10 µM) plus
SB203580 (2 µM), or rapamycin (55 µM).
Cells were then washed and treated with heregulin for 72 h, and
Oil Red O staining was performed as described in "Materials and
Methods." *, P=0.005 compared with medium-treated
control; **, P < 0.05 compared with HRG-treated group;
§, P > 0.05 compared with HRG-treated group.
|
|
 |
DISCUSSION
|
|---|
Overexpression of the HER2 proto-oncogene is found in 30% of
human breast cancers and 1530% of human ovarian cancers
(38)
. The extent of overexpression correlates inversely
with survival in node-positive breast cancer and advanced ovarian
cancer patients. An adverse prognosis may relate more to increased
invasive potential than to an increased rate of proliferation
(10)
. New data suggest that HER2 may be useful not only as
a prognostic factor but also as a predictive marker for response to
certain cytotoxic drugs, antiestrogens, and
anti-p185HER2 antibodies (39)
.
Experimental studies suggest that anti-p185HER2
antibodies can enhance the efficacy of treatment for women with breast
cancers that overexpress HER2 (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
. Clinical trials
have shown that a humanized anti-p185HER2
antibody, trastuzumab (Herceptin), can produce a 1220% overall
response rate as a single agent in patients whose cancers overexpress
the proto-oncogene. Trastuzumab, in combination with chemotherapy,
significantly enhanced the activity of cytotoxic chemotherapy against
recurrent metastatic breast cancer, as assessed by response rate
(62.0% versus 36.2%) and time to disease progression [8.8
versus 5.5 months (40)
]. The mechanisms by
which the antibody inhibits cancer growth and potentiates chemotherapy
are not clear. Recently, several reports, including our own, have
demonstrated that anti-p185HER2 antibodies can
induce cell cycle G1 arrest by up-regulation of
p27Kip1, hypophosphorylation of the RB protein,
and down-regulation of G1-related cyclins and
cyclin-dependent kinases (17
, 25, 26, 27, 28)
. Inhibition of
anchorage-independent growth is irreversibly determined within 6 h
of antibody treatment (17)
; therefore, early signaling
events are likely to be important.
Whereas anti-p185HER2 antibodies bind to the
receptor alone, no specific ligand has been found that binds only to
HER2. Instead, HER2 appears to be the preferred partner for
heterodimerization with the other three HER members (41)
.
The relative expression of different receptors appears to be an
important determinant of ligand activity. Heregulin can stimulate
anchorage-independent growth of cells that express low levels of HER2
and HER3 but inhibits the growth of cells with high levels of HER2
(42)
. Again, inhibition of clonogenic growth is determined
irreversibly by 24 h after treatment with heregulin
(17)
. In a previous report, we have shown that heregulin
induces G2-M-phase arrest, apoptosis, and
differentiation in SKBr3 cells that overexpress HER2 and also express
low levels of HER3 (17)
. The
anti-p185HER2 antibody ID5 did not exert these
effects. Consequently, signaling through HER2/HER3 with heregulin and
signaling through HER2 alone with antibody appeared to have very
different outcomes. The present study was undertaken to examine the
differences in signaling induced by these two probes in greater depth.
Both heregulin and the anti-p185HER2 antibodies
have been reported to act as agonists to induce tyrosine
phosphorylation of HER2 (5
, 6
, 43)
. In this study, we have
found that ID5 induced tyrosine phosphorylation of HER2 but not HER3 in
SKBr3 cells. In contrast, heregulin induced phosphorylation of both
HER3 and HER2 (Fig. 1)
. Heregulin-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of
HER3 is thought to be mediated by the HER2 kinase because HER3 lacks
intrinsic kinase activity (23
, 44)
. The difference in
tyrosine phosphorylation of HER family receptors undoubtedly
contributes to the difference in subsequent signal transduction.
Tyrosine phosphorylation of HER2 produces docking sites for GRB2 and
PLC-
. As shown in Figs. 1
and 6
, ID5 produced a greater association
of PLC-
1 with phosphorylated HER2 than did heregulin. Moreover, ID5,
but not heregulin, increased PLC-
1 activity. In previous reports,
PLC-
1 has been shown to associate with activated HER2
(45)
, whereas PLC-
1 does not associate with HER3
(24)
. Our data in Fig. 1
confirmed that HER3 did not
interact with PLC-
1. As shown in Fig. 1
, ID5 was able to induce the
association of phosphorylated HER2 with GRB2. Activation of ERK1/2 and
p38 MAP kinase induced by ID5 was transient and weak (Fig. 3)
. We
speculated that ID5 might induce GRB2 to couple to and activate
PLC-
1 because GRB2 has already been reported to associate with
PLC-
1 (46)
. Our data (shown in Fig. 6
) indicated that
ID5 increased PLC-
1 enzymatic activity, which also agreed with the
results of another report showing that several
anti-p185HER2 monoclonal antibodies stimulated
PLC-
1 enzymatic activity in SKBr3 cells (43)
.
We have found that both ID5 and heregulin induced association of SHC
and GRB2 with HER2. However, ID5 preferentially induced binding of the
Mr 46,000 isoform of SHC to HER2,
whereas heregulin preferentially induced binding of the
Mr 52,000 isoform of SHC to HER3 (Fig. 1)
. GRB2 can dock to growth factor receptors by at least two different
mechanisms: (a) directly through the SH2 domain of GRB2; and
(b) indirectly through docking to tyrosine-phosphorylated
SHC, which is already docked to phosphorylated tyrosines in the
receptors through its own SH2 domain (22)
. It has been
reported that GRB2 and SHC are constitutively associated with HER2 and
HER3 receptors (24
, 33)
. Our data suggest that
ID5-dependent SHC signaling may occur mainly via the
Mr 46,000 SHC isoform, whereas
heregulin signaling preferentially uses the
Mr 52,000 SHC isoform. Similarly,
Okada et al. (47)
reported that insulin-induced
signaling in Chinese hamster ovary cells uses only the
Mr 52,000 SHC isoform, whereas
EGF-dependent SHC signaling involves both the
Mr 52,000 and
Mr 46,000 SHC species. Crovello
et al. (48)
also reported that in MDA-MB-468
breast cancer cells, heregulin induced association of only the
Mr 52,000 SHC isoform with HER3.
Heregulin has been shown to activate both the MAP kinase and PI3-K
signaling pathways (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37
, 49)
. The critical role of
PI3-K activity has been well documented in heregulin-induced signaling
pathways (30, 31, 32
, 49)
. Heregulin-induced activation of
PI3-K has been reported to be mainly through HER2-HER3 heterodimers
(36)
. Data presented in Fig. 2A
indicated that
heregulin, but not ID5, induced HER2-HER3 association in SKBr3 cells.
ID5 was capable of interrupting heregulin-induced HER3-HER2 interaction
(Fig. 2A)
. ID5 also inhibited heregulin-induced JNK kinase
activity (Fig. 3B)
and PI3-K activity (Fig. 5A)
.
These findings were supported by reports that heregulin binding to HER3
and HER4 was inhibited with a HER2 monoclonal antibody
(50)
and that a monoclonal antibody to HER2 inhibited the
ability of heregulin to activate PI3-K-dependent AKT in the MCF-7 cells
(49)
. Heregulin, but not ID5, was found to induce
association of the p85 of PI3-K with HER3 (Fig. 1)
. Sustained
activation of PI3-K signaling was induced by heregulin, whereas ID5 had
only a transient effect (Fig. 5B)
. Our observations are
consistent with previous reports that HER3, but not HER2, associates
with the p85 subunit of PI3-K and initiates signal transduction through
the PI3-K pathway (23
, 24
, 48)
. ID5 did not generate
tyrosine phosphorylation of HER3 and HER2-HER3 heterodimers (Figs. 1
and 2
A). Thus, ID5 would be unable to activate PI3-K
signaling. The transient activation of PI3-K signaling observed by ID5
(Fig. 5)
likely derived from other than PI3-K signaling such as Ras-MAP
kinase pathways.
PI3-K signaling can modulate G1 cell cycle
progression. PTEN, a tumor suppressor that possesses intrinsic
phosphatase activity, was shown to increase
p27Kip1 expression, decrease
G1 cyclin-dependent kinase activities, and block
cell cycle progression in G1 phase
(51)
. Inhibition of PI3-K by LY294002 or wortmannin led to
up-regulation of p27Kip1 and a transient
G1 arrest in SKBr3 cells (data not shown). Thus,
inhibition of PI3-K, to some extent, mimicked the effect of
anti-p185HER2 antibody in SKBr3 cells. Indeed,
ID5 activated only HER2 and produced little, if any, signal to the
PI3-K pathway as shown in Figs. 1
and 5
. Furthermore, ID5 was able to
suppress heregulin-induced PI3-K activation (Fig. 5A)
. In
contrast, heregulin produced strong and sustained PI3-K signaling
through HER2-HER3 heterodimerization and association of HER3 with p85
(Figs. 1
and 5)
. As presented in Fig. 9
, heregulin induced
G2-M-phase cell cycle arrest in SKBr3 cells,
rather than G1 arrest.
It is known that Ras functions as a molecular switch for reentry into
the cell cycle at the border between G0 and
G1 by transducing extracellular growth stimuli
into early G1 mitogenic signals. Inactivation of
Ras function with dominant negative Ras mutant and farnesyl-protein
transferase inhibitor prevents down-regulation of
p27Kip1 (52
, 53)
, leads to failure
of MAP kinase to phosphorylate p27Kip1 [the
phosphorylated p27Kip1 cannot bind to and inhibit
cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (54)
], and down-regulates
cyclin D1 expression (55)
. On the other hand, sustained
activation of Ras function will promote
G1-S-phase progression (52, 53, 54, 55)
.
ID5, which induces G1 arrest in SKBr3 cells,
generated only transient signaling through the Ras-MAP pathway (Figs. 3
and 4)
. Heregulin, which induces G2-M-phase
arrest, generated more prolonged or sustained signals via Ras-MAP
pathways (Figs. 3
and 4)
. Daly et al. (30)
reported that the inhibition of p38 MAP kinase at a late stage (day
23) could prevent heregulin-induced apoptosis, whereas our data
(presented in Fig. 10
) showed that inhibition of p38 MAP kinase did not
prevent heregulin-induced apoptosis. No effect on heregulin-induced
apoptosis of SKBr3 cells was observed when p38 MAP kinase inhibitor was
added on day 2 or day 3 in addition to the initiation of culture (data
not shown). Also, Daly et al. (30)
showed that
the PI3-K inhibitor LY294002 inhibited heregulin-induced apoptosis,
whereas our data in Fig. 11
indicated that neither LY294002 nor
wortmannin prevents heregulin-induced apoptosis. At present, we do not
have an explanation for the different outcome of the two studies.
Apparently, the biological effect and the underlying signal
transduction of heregulin vary remarkably among different cell types.
In support of this contention, in AU565 human breast cancer cells,
sustained activation of the ERK1/2 pathway is both essential and
sufficient for heregulin-induced differentiation (32)
. In
T-47D human breast cancer cells, ERK1/2 activation is critical to
heregulin-induced cell cycle G1 to S-phase
progression, whereas the PI3-K pathway plays a minor role
(34)
. In SKBr3 human breast cancer cells, ERK1/2 has been
shown to play a limited role in heregulin-induced cell cycle arrest
(Ref. 30
and this report). Differences in signaling
between cell types may reflect different HER receptor profiles
(36)
.
In a previous report, we have demonstrated that heregulin inhibits the
growth of SKBr3 cells through induction of
G2-M-phase arrest, apoptosis, and cell
differentiation (17)
. Data in Figs. 9
, 10
, and 12
of this
study showed that heregulin-induced G2-M-phase
cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, and differentiation could not be affected
by inhibition of MAP kinase. Heregulin-induced apoptosis could be
blocked by inhibition of p70s6k, but not by inhibition of PI3-K.
Heregulin-induced differentiation could be eliminated by inhibition of
PI3-K. These results suggest that the three events
(G2-M-phase cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, and
cell differentiation) induced by heregulin in SKBr3 cells use different
signaling pathways.
 |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
|
|---|
We thank Karen Ramirez at the Flow Cytometry Core Laboratory
(Smith Research Building) of the University of Texas M. D. Anderson
Cancer Center (Houston, TX) for expert assistance with flow cytometry
analysis.
 |
FOOTNOTES
|
|---|
The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked advertisement in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
1 Supported in part by Grants CA39930 (to
R. C. B.), CA65746 (to R. K.), and CA80066 (to R. K.) from the
National Cancer Institute, Department of Health and Human Sciences. 
2 To whom requests for reprints should be
addressed, at Division of Medicine, Box 92, The University of Texas
M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, TX
77030. Phone: (713) 792-7770; Fax: (713) 794-1807; E-mail: rbast{at}notes.mdacc.tmc.edu 
3 The abbreviations used are: EGF, epidermal
growth factor; PI3-K, phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase; JNK,
c-Jun-NH2-terminal kinase; MAP, mitogen-activated protein;
PLC, phospholipase C; SH2, Src homology 2; ERK, extracellular
signal-regulated kinase; GRB2, growth factor receptor-bound protein 2;
SOS, son-of-sevenless; HRG, heregulin; FRAP,
FuBp12-rapamycin-associated protein; mTOR, mammalian target of
rapamycin. 
Received 12/ 8/99.
Accepted 4/27/00.
 |
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