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Tumor Biology |
Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center [W. G. Y., M. B., A. Z., Y. X.], Departments of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery [W. G. Y., A. Z.] and Biochemistry and Biophysics [W. G. Y., Y. X.], and Program in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology [W. G. Y., Y. X.], School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599-3280, and Department of Functional Genetics, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709 [J. E. B.]
| ABSTRACT |
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| INTRODUCTION |
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ARF binds to and inactivates MDM2, thereby stabilizing p53 (3, 4, 5) . Transcription of the ARF gene can be induced by the ectopic expression of several proliferative oncogenes (6 , 7) , and loss of ARF abrogates the stabilization and induction of p53 by these oncogenic signals, resulting in greatly diminished apoptosis (6 , 7) . Taken together, these findings suggest that ARF may mediate a p53-dependent G1 checkpoint control or apoptosis in response to hyperproliferative oncogenic stimulus.
To date, ARF activity has been primarily ascribed to its ability to stabilize and activate p53, resulting in a G1 cell cycle arrest. Genetic evidence supporting this notion comes from the observations that tumors arising in ARF-deficient mice lack p53 mutation/deletion, that ectopic expression of ARF inhibits S-phase entry in wild-type MEFs but not in fibroblast lines lacking p53 (8) , and that ARF inhibition of cellular transformation requires p53 function (3) . In vivo genetic analysis, however, suggests that ARF has activity unrelated to p53 function. B cells that overexpress myc and lack both ARF and p53 are more resistant to myc-induced apoptosis and proliferate more rapidly than cells lacking either ARF or p53 singly (9) . Furthermore, a p53-independent function of ARF has been recently suggested in promoting cellular senescence and suppressing immortalization (10) . The mechanism(s) of these p53-independent ARF activities remains unexplained. We show here that overexpression of ARF results in a growth inhibition that is associated with a delay in S-phase progression and that the S-phase delay can occur in the absence or presence of p53.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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Cell Cycle and Cell Death Analysis.
For cell growth analysis, U2OS and Saos-2 cells were seeded at 2 x 105 cells/well onto six-well dishes. One day after seeding, cells were infected with control, p16, or ARF adenoviruses for 1 h in McCoys 5A medium containing 2% FBS. Trypsinized cells were stained with 0.4% trypan blue, and viable cells, as determined by trypan blue exclusion, were counted by hemacytometer. For TUNEL, cells were fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde and permeabilized with 0.1% Triton X-100 (Sigma Chemical Co.). DNA ends were labeled with digoxigenin-conjugated dUTP and TdT, which was then detected by fluorescent microscopy after labeling with anti-digoxigenin fluorescein antibody as described by the manufacturer (Oncor).
BrdUrd Labeling.
For BrdUrd indirect immunofluorescence, cells infected with the specified adenovirus 2 days previously were grown in medium containing 20 µM BrdUrd (Calbiochem) for 1 h and then fixed in 70% ethanol. DNA was denatured, and cells were permeabilized in 2N HCl, 0.5% Triton X-100 (Sigma Chemical Co.), neutralized in 0.1 M Na2B4O7 (pH 8.5), and then blocked with 0.5% BSA in PBS. Indirect immunofluorescence was performed using anti-BrdUrd (clone 85-2C8; Neomarkers) at a dilution of 1:50 and affinity purified anti-ARF (1 µg/ml) as described (13)
. Nuclei were stained with DAPI (1 µg/ml) for BrdUrd and/or ARF. For flow analysis, cells were grown in medium containing 10 µM BrdUrd. Trypsinized cells were fixed in 95% ethanol and then incubated in 0.08% pepsin (Sigma Chemical Co.), 0.1 N HCl for 20 min at 37°C to isolate nuclei. DNA was denatured by incubating in 2 N HCl for 20 min at 37°C, followed by neutralization with Na2B4O7 (pH 8.5). Incorporated BrdUrd was stained by indirect immunofluorescence using anti-BrdUrd as above in 10 mM HEPES (pH 7.3), 150 mM NaCl, 4% FBS, and 0.5% Tween 20. DNA was then stained with propidium iodide and analyzed by flow cytometry as described (14)
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Antibodies and Indirect Immunofluorescence.
Affinity purified rabbit polyclonal antihuman ARF antibody and the procedure for indirect immunofluorescence (13)
were described previously. Rabbit polyclonal p16 antibody, mouse monoclonal p21 antibody (clone DCS60.2; Neomarkers), and sheep polyclonal antibody to human p53 (clone Ab-7; Calbiochem) was used for Western blotting. Mouse monoclonal antibodies to human p16 (clone ZJ11; Neomarkers), to human RPA32/SSB (15)
, to BrdUrd, and rhodamine red-, FITC-conjugated goat secondary antibodies (Jackson ImmunoResearch Laboratories) were used for immunofluorescence.
Adenovirus.
The ARF and p16 recombinant adenoviral vectors were generated by Tn7-mediated transposition in Escherichia coli. Briefly, the full-length human ARF and p16 coding sequences were subcloned into the pAdCMV transfer vector cDNAs containing a cytomegalovirus-driven mammalian expression cassette flanked by Tn7R and Tn7L (GenVec, Rockville, MD). These plasmids were used as donors to transpose the mini-Tn7 into an adenoviral genome in which lacZattTn7 replaces the E1 region. The recombinant genomes were purified then transfected into HEK293 cells. All recombinant adenoviruses were purified on CsCl gradients and dialyzed. For viral infection experiments, exponentially growing cells were infected with adenovirus in RPMI 1640 (for U2OS and Saos-2) or DMEM (for NHF and Li-Fraumeni cells) media supplemented with 2% FBS and were incubated for 1 h in a 37°C incubator with 5% CO2. Infected cells were then replaced with fresh medium supplemented with 10% FBS until cell lysis or fixation.
| RESULTS |
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ARF Expression Results in Accumulation of an S-Phase Cell Population in p53-deficient Cells.
To further define the observed cell growth inhibition and cell death induced by ARF, we analyzed the cell cycle distribution of Ad-ARF-infected U2OS and Saos-2, as well as immortalized fibroblasts derived from Li-Fraumeni patients after spontaneous loss of the wild-type p53 allele during in vitro passage (LCS-087) and NHFs selected for expression of a selectable marker (NHF/neo) or the p53-inactivating oncoprotein derived from human papillomavirus type 16 (NHF/E6; Fig. 2
; Ref. 11
). ARF induced a G1 accumulation in U2OS cells 2 days after infection, and fluorescence-activated cell sorting analyses indicated an accumulation 2of a sub-G1 cell population, a characteristic of apoptotic cell death at 4 days after infection. Remarkably, Ad-ARF-infected Saos-2 cells accumulated an S-phase cell population that was first observed at the 2-day time point, consistent with the first notable growth inhibition by cell counting (Fig. 1)
. Likewise an S-phase accumulation of cells was observed in LCS-087 and NHF/E6 cells, both of which lack p53 activity (Fig. 2)
The S-phase accumulation after Ad-ARF infection of Saos-2 cells persisted at 4 and 6 days (6-day time point not shown), suggesting that growth inhibition of ARF-infected Saos-2 cells may be caused, at least in part, by an S-phase arrest or delay. Consistent with the requirement for functional Rb to exert its growth-inhibitory activity, ectopic expression of p16 induced a G1 arrest in U2OS, LCS-087, HNF/neo, and NHF/E6 but not in Saos-2 cells. In addition to p53 deficiency, Saos-2 cells also lack functional p73 (16)
, indicating that the ARF-induced S-phase arrest observed in these cells was independent of p73 as well. There was also an increase of S-phase cells in Ad-ARF-infected NHF/Neo control cells, suggesting that S-phase retarding activity of ARF does not dependent on loss of p53 activity. These data do not exclude the possibility that ARF could have S-phase activity that is p53 dependent in addition to the p53-independent effect observed in Saos-2, Li-Fraumeni, and NHF/E6 cells.
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Given that overexpression of ARF caused an accumulation of cells in S-phase and an increase in the percentage of cells synthesizing DNA but a decrease in total cell number, we wanted to determine whether ARF expression slowed DNA synthesis. Consistent with this notion, we observed that pulse labeling with BrdUrd of cells ectopically expressing ARF stained relatively weaker for BrdUrd than control or p16-expressing cells, as indicated by decreased intensity and longevity of the BrdUrd signal after exposure to the laser causing the excitation (data not shown). To directly test whether ARF impeded DNA synthesis, we compared the relative rate of DNA synthesis in cells infected with Ad-control, Ad-p16, or Ad-ARF viruses by pulse labeling with BrdUrd and then measuring BrdUrd incorporation. Analyses of cells that incorporated BrdUrd revealed that the mean cellular BrdUrd intensity of Ad-ARF-infected Saos-2 cells after BrdUrd pulse labeling for 2, 4, or 6 h was 170, 258, and 263, respectively, significantly lower than similarly labeled control infected (468, 623, and 706) or Ad-p16 infected (427, 572, and 728) Saos-2 cells (Fig. 3B)
. Interestingly, even in U2OS cells where ARF expression resulted primarily in a p53-dependent G1 cell cycle arrest or apoptosis (Figs. 1D
and 2
), the small fraction of cells that escaped into S-phase had significantly lower mean cellular BrdUrd intensity after 2, 4, or 6 h of BrdUrd labeling (109, 152, and 165, respectively) relative to similarly labeled control-infected (407, 589, and 722) or Ad-p16-infected (752, 975, and 1072) cells. The ability of ARF expression to slow BrdUrd incorporation in p53-positive U2OS cells confirms that functional p53 does not inhibit the S-phase activity of ARF and further suggests that the S-phase activity of ARF may be masked by an overwhelming p53-dependent G1 cell cycle arrest or apoptosis in p53-positive cells. As an indicator of the magnitude of the decreased DNA synthesis rate caused by ectopic expression of ARF of Saos-2 cells, the mean BrdUrd intensity of ARF-infected cells labeled for 6 h was lower than that of Ad-p16- or Ad-control-infected cells labeled for 2 h, suggesting that the rate of DNA synthesis was decreased >3-fold. Similar results were obtained in Li-Fraumeni cells, where ARF infection of LCS087 cells resulted in a decrease of mean cellular BrdUrd incorporation by 31%, after either 4 or 6 h BrdUrd pulse labeling relative to control-infected cells (data not shown). These observations suggest that ARF-expressing cells have a slowed rate of DNA synthesis.
ARF Colocalizes with Replication Protein A (RPA32).
To further explore the mechanism by which ARF slowed DNA synthesis, we examined subcellular localization of ARF and other proteins known to be involved in replication of DNA. We and other groups have noted previously that ectopic and endogenous ARF localizes to microscopically visible nuclear components known as nuclear bodies (13
, 17)
. The function of these ARF nuclear bodies remains ill defined, but their relatively large size suggests that additional proteins and possibly chromatin may localize to the bodies. To test whether ARF protein in nuclear bodies was associated with proteins implicated in DNA synthesis, nuclear body formation was induced in U2OS, SJSA, and NHF cells by infection with adenovirus directing expression of p53, mdm2, and ARF. Indirect immunostaining of ARF and the replication protein A (RPA32) revealed that both ARF and RPA32 staining was punctate, and neither protein localized to nucleoli (Fig. 4B)
. The punctate staining of ARF and SSB colocalized, as indicated by yellow color after overlay of ARF and RPA32 staining. In contrast, cells infected with control adenovirus revealed no nuclear bodies, and RPA32 was homogeneously located within the nucleus, whereas endogenous ARF was weakly expressed in nucleoli of SJSA and NHF cells (Fig. 4A)
. U2OS cells do not express detectable ARF, despite retention of the p16-ARF gene attributable to, at least in part, the existence of functional p53. Formation of nuclear bodies altered both ARF and RPA32 localization from nucleoli and homogeneous nuclear, respectively, to nuclear bodies.
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| DISCUSSION |
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To determine the biochemical activity of ARF in the absence of p53 function, we used an adenovirus-mediated ectopic expression system and multiple cell lines lacking p53 activity. Because the cells in our system were immortalized, the possible p53-independent activities of ARF in cellular senescence were not addressed. Our efforts were focused on the effect of overexpression of ARF on cell cycle progression and apoptosis. In three different human cell lines with comprised p53 activity, we uncovered a novel p53-independent function of ARF, i.e., its ability to impede S-phase cell cycle progression that is distinct from its p53-dependent G1 arrest activity. Parallel infection by control adenovirus or adenovirus expressing p16 did not induce an accumulation of S-phase cell population or reduce the rate of DNA synthesis in Saos-2 (Figs. 1
2
3
), Li-Fraumeni cells, or NHF/E6 cells (Fig. 2)
. These results argue against the possibility that observed S-phase delay in Ad-ARF-infected cells is caused by the adenovirus infection per se or by the expression of an adenoviral protein(s). Corroborating a direct role in DNA replication, ARF protein was found to colocalize with Mr 32,000 subunit of human replication protein A (RPA32). RPA is a heterotrimeric single-stranded DNA-binding protein that plays essential roles in many aspects of DNA synthesis, including DNA replication, nucleotide excision repair, and homologous recombination. A number of cellular and viral proteins have been found to affect DNA replication through their interaction or colocalization with RPA (reviewed in Ref. 19
). One such protein is p53, which has been identified to interact with RPA in vitro as well as colocalize with RPA in similar nuclear bodies in vivo. The mechanistic details concerning how ARF-RPA colocalization affects DNA synthesis remains to be determined, but the presence of ARF in proximity to RPA suggests a direct role of ARF in DNA synthesis. It should also be pointed out that the experiment system we have used involves ectopic expression of high levels of ARF protein in cultured cells in vitro. A p53-independent, ARF-mediated S-phase delay at physiological levels of ARF expression has yet to be demonstrated and is thus far only inferred from genetic analyses (9
, 10
, 15)
.
Hence, the biological consequences of ARF expression vary dependent on cellular p53 status: G1 cell cycle arrest or apoptosis in the presence of p53 function, and S-phase retardation when p53 function is inactivated. It should be noted that the S-phase delay seen after ARF expression is not inhibited by p53 and was observed in both p53-positive and p53-negative cells. The exact biochemical mechanism and downstream effectors of the p53-independent S-phase delay of ARF is unclear at present but could conceivably involve MDM2 (and its closely related homologue MDMX) and/or E2F1. Evidence that MDM2 expression in both p53+/+ and p53-/- backgrounds causes development of multinucleated polyploid cells and an increase of tumor formation suggests that MDM2 can function independently of p53. Furthermore, ectopic expression of MDM2 rescued transforming growth factor ß-induced growth arrest in a p53-independent manner. Alternatively, recent evidence that ARF and E2F1 interact suggest that ARF could exert its p53-independent S-phase inhibitory role through E2F1 protein (20) . Elucidating the mechanism underlying this p53-independent function ARF should aid our understanding on the functional connection between p16 and ARF.
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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| FOOTNOTES |
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1 Supported in part by NIH Fellowship KO8-CA72968 (to W. G. Y.) and United States Department of Defense Career Development Award BC980725 (to Y. X.). This study also was supported by a collaborative research grant from GlaxoWellcome and NIH Grants DE13173 (to W. G. Y.) and CA65572 (to Y. X.). ![]()
2 To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at 22-012 Lineberger Cancer Center, Campus Box 7295, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599. Phone: (919) 942-2142; E-mail: yxiong{at}email.unc.edu ![]()
3 The abbreviations used are: MEF, mouse embryo fibroblast; NHF, normal human fibroblast; TUNEL, terminal deoxynucleotide transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling; BrdUrd, 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine; DAPI, 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole dihydrochloride; Rb, retinoblastoma. ![]()
Received 9/ 1/00. Accepted 12/10/01.
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