| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
Regular Articles |
The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Departments of Medicine, Pharmacology, and Molecular Genetics, Microbiology and Immunology, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901 [S. A., J-M. Y., T. G. K., P. A. O., W. N. H.], and Kinki University, Nara 631-8505 Japan [R. U., T. O., T. K.]
| ABSTRACT |
|---|
|
|
|---|
| INTRODUCTION |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Cloning and sequencing of eEF-2 kinase (14) suggested that the ATP fold resembled that of bacterial histidine kinases (15 , 16) , raising the possibility that inhibitors of histidine kinases may also block the activity of eEF-2 kinase. Recently, a series of 2-methyl imidazolium derivatives were reported to inhibit the activity of EnvZ, a prokaryotic histidine kinase, and also inhibited the growth of Gram-negative bacteria (17) . To determine whether these compounds also inhibited eEF-2 kinase, we tested 28 2-methyl imidazolium derivatives for inhibition of the enzyme activity and cancer cell growth. We identified NH125 as a potent and relatively specific inhibitor of eEF-2 kinase with marked effects on the viability of several cancer cell lines.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
|---|
|
|
|---|
|
-33P]ATP, donkey antirabbit IgG, and enhanced chemiluminescence Western blot reagents were purchased from Amersham Pharmacia Biotech (Piscataway, NJ). All other enzymes and their substrates were purchased from Calbiochem (San Diego, CA). The anti-eEF-2 and antiphospho-eEF-2 antibodies were purchased from Cell Signaling Technologies (Beverly, MA). All media and cell culture products were purchased from Life Technologies, Inc. (Grand Island, NY). All other chemicals were purchased from Sigma (St. Louis, MO).
Cell Culture.
C6, T98-G, U-138 MG, U-87 MG, A172, A2780, HeLa, PC3, OVCAR-3, and MCF-7 cell lines were obtained from American Type Culture Collection (Manassas, VA). T98G, U87, and U138MG were grown in 10:1, Hams F-10 media:DMEM, supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum, 100 units/ml penicillin, and 100 mg/ml streptomycin. All other cell lines were grown in DMEM supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum, 100 units/ml penicillin, and 100 mg/ml streptomycin. Cell cultures were maintained in a humidified incubator at 37°C with 5% CO2.
Partial Purification of eEF-2 Kinase.
Escherichia coli strain BL21 containing the expression plasmid pGEX-6P were grown overnight at 37°C in 100 ml of Luria Bertani plus 100 µg/ml ampicillin. Two liters of Luria Bertani containing 100 µg/ml ampicillin were inoculated with 100 ml of the overnight culture and incubated at 37°C to an A600 nm of 0.8. IPTG was added to a final concentration of 1.0 mM, and the culture was additionally incubated at 16°C overnight. Cells were harvested by centrifugation at 400 x g for 15 min, resuspended (5 ml/g cell pellet), and incubated on ice for 20 min in BugBuster protein extraction reagent (Novagen, Inc., Madison, WI) containing protease inhibitor mixture III (Calbiochem). All additional steps were carried out at 4°C and as per manufacturers protocol (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech). Briefly, cell lysates were centrifuged at 12,000 x g for 20 min. The supernatants were recovered and applied to glutathione-Sepharose 4B column according to manufacturers protocol. The column was washed three times with 10 bed volumes of 1x PBS and eluted with 10 mM glutathione elution buffer/ml of bed volume. Eluate containing GST-tagged eEF-2 kinase was additionally analyzed by SDS-PAGE and staining with Coomassie brilliant blue. The final kinase preparation had a specific activity of 1.5 pmol phosphate transferred/mg protein/min.
eEF-2 Kinase Assay.
eEF-2 kinase activity was measured by two methods: (a) a filter-based assay; and (b) by immunoblotting using antiphospho-eEF2 antibody. For both of these, reactions were carried out in 20 µl of total volume containing 50 mM HEPES (pH 7.5), 10 mM MgCl2, 1.5 mM CaCl2, 100 µg/ml calmodulin, 2 µM His-tagged eEF-2 and 400 nM GST-eEF-2 kinase, and ATP mixture [50 µM ATP with 1µCi (
-33P)ATP]. The kinase mixture without ATP was prepared on ice and then preincubated for 15 min at room temperature. Kinase reactions were started by adding ATP and allowed to progress at 30°C for 30 min. For the filter-based assay, the reaction was terminated by adding 20 µl of cold 1.5% phosphoric acid, and 5 µl of the reaction were applied to P81 Whatman phosphocellulose paper. The paper was washed three times in 500 ml of 0.5% phosphoric acid and once with 200 ml of acetone. The paper was then air-dried and immersed in 10 ml of scintillation mixture. Radioactivity was counted using a Beckton-Dickinson liquid scintillation counter (Model LS-6000). For immunoblotting, the reactions were stopped by addition of 20 µl of 3x Lamelli buffer [190 mM Tris (pH 6.8), 6% SDS, 30% glycerol, 15% 2-mercaptoethanol, and 0.003% bromphenol blue dye]. Samples were boiled for 5 min and resolved by 7% SDS-PAGE and processed for Western blotting as described below. Conditions for both assays were chosen to ensure linearity of the reaction with respect to time of incubation and concentration of enzyme.
Assays for CaMK II, PKA, and PKC.
CaMK-II activity was measured according to the manufacturers instruction (Calbiochem) with minor modifications. The reaction mixture contained in a total volume of 20 µl of 50 mM HEPES (pH 7.5), 10 mM MgCl2, 1.5 mM CaCl2, 100 µg/ml calmodulin, 10 µM autocamtide, 5 ng of purified rat brain CaMK-II, and ATP [50 µM ATP with 1µCi (
-33P)ATP]. The reaction was initiated by adding ATP and allowed to progress at 30°C for 2 min. The reaction product was measured as described above for the filter-based assay of eEF-2 kinase.
The activity of PKA was measured in a total assay volume of 20 µl containing 25 mM MES (pH 6.7), 5.5 mM magnesium acetate, 0.5 mg/ml histone H1, 20 ng of purified PKA catalytic subunit, ATP [50 µM ATP with 2µCi (
-33P) ATP]. The reaction was initiated by adding ATP and allowed to progress at 30°C for 5 min. The reaction product was measured as described above for the filter-based assay of eEF-2 kinase.
The activity of PKC assay was measured as per manufacturers (Calbiochem) protocol. The assay mixture (20 µl) consisted of 20 mM Tris (pH 7.5), 5mM MgCl2, 1 mM EGTA, 200 µM selectide, 2.5 ng of purified PKC catalytic subunit, and ATP [100 µM ATP with 2µCi (
-33P)ATP]. The reaction was initiated by adding ATP and allowed to progress at 30°C for 10 min. The reaction product was measured as described above for the filter-based assay of eEF-2 kinase.
Preparation of Cell Homogenates for Detection of Cellular eEF-2 and Phospho-eEF-2.
Cell monolayers were washed twice in PBS (pH 7.4), scraped into 15-ml conical tubes, and centrifuged at 1000 x g at 4°C for 5 min. Cell extracts were prepared by homogenizing cell pellets in ice-cold homogenization buffer [25 mM HEPES (pH 7.4), 100 mM sodium chloride, 20 mM Na PPI, 2 mM EDTA, 0.1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, 10 µg/ml leupeptin, 2 µg/ml pepstatin A, and 0.1 mM sodium orthovanadate] using a Dounce Homogenizer. The homogenates were centrifuged at 15,000 x g for 30 min. at 4°C. The protein concentration of the supernatants was determined according to the method of Bradford using a Bio-Rad protein assay kit (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Richmond, CA).
Western Blot Analysis.
Fifty µg of protein or 20 µl of the in vitro eEF-2 phosphorylation reaction (described above) were resolved by 7% SDS-PAGE and transferred to nitrocellulose membranes. Membranes were blocked with 5% nonfat dry milk in PBS/Tween-20 (0.05%), followed by incubation with antiphospho-eEF-2 antibody (1:500 dilution in 10% milk/PBS-T) or anti-eEF2 antibody (1:1000 dilution). The detection was performed using horseradish peroxidase-labeled secondary antibodies and enhanced chemiluminescence detection reagent. Blots were scanned by Hewlett Packard Scan Jet and intensity of protein bands were quantified by Quantity One software (Bio-Rad Laboratories).
Cellular Viability Assay.
The viability of cells was measured using an MTT assay. Briefly, 5 x 104 cells were plated in 96-well plates and exposed to various concentrations of drug for 4872 h. The formazan product formed after 4 h incubation with MTT was dissolved in 100% DMSO and read at 550 nM using a Dynatech Microplate Reader MR5000.
Generation of Stable Cell Lines Expressing Different Levels of eEF-2 Kinase.
The preparation of T98G eEF-2 kinase transfectants was described previously (13)
. Briefly, T98G human glioblastoma cells were transfected with a pSTAR vector expressing a full-length eEF-2 kinase cDNA. Transfectants were selected in 500 µg/ml G418, and resistant colonies were expanded and maintained in 200 µg/ml G418. The cell lines were analyzed for the expression of eEF-2K by Western blotting.
Flow Cytometry.
The effect of NH125 on the cell cycle distribution was analyzed by measuring the DNA content of C6 cells in presence or absence of various concentrations of drug. Briefly, the cells were treated for 18 h, harvested by trypsinization, washed with PBS, and fixed by dropwise addition of cold 70% ethanol for 30 min on ice. Approximately 1 x 106 cells were washed and resuspended in 1 ml of PBS containing 0.1 mg/ml RNase A and 5 µg/ml propidium iodide. The cells were stained with propidium iodide for 30 min at room temperature. Fluorescence intensities were determined by quantitative flow cytometry, and profiles were generated on a Coulter Epics FACScan Analyzer.
| RESULTS |
|---|
|
|
|---|
The structures of NH1 compounds are shown in Fig. 1
. Among the compounds tested, only NH1 2 series inhibited eEF-2 kinase (Fig. 2, A and B)
. NH125 was the most potent derivative, with an IC50 of 60 nM (Fig. 2, C and D)
.
|
Effect of NH125 on eEF-2 Kinase in Intact Cells.
We next determined the effect of NH125 on the phosphorylation of eEF-2 in whole cells. C6 glioma cells were treated with various concentrations of NH125 for 12 h, then cellular extracts were prepared and analyzed by Western blot using antiphospho-eEF-2 antibody. As shown in Fig. 3
, NH125 decreased the cellular content of phospho-eEF-2 without affecting total content eEF-2 content.
|
|
|
|
| DISCUSSION |
|---|
|
|
|---|
The benzyl imidazolium series was selected for investigation because of their activity against EnvZ, a prokaryotic histidine kinase (17) . We initially suspected that histidine kinase inhibitors might be active against eEF-2 kinase because of potential structural similarities in the ATP folds of the enzymes that were predicted based on analyses of amino acid sequence (14, 15, 16) . However, a recent study (21) of the crystal structure of a similar enzyme, ChaK, revealed that the structural features of the ATP-fold may more likely resemble conventional protein kinases.
Nonetheless, our studies of the benzyl imdiazolium series uncovered a potent and relatively specific inhibitor of eEF-2 kinase. The structure activity analysis of these data suggested that the presence of a benzyl ring at position N3 of the imidazolium ring is critical for inhibitory activity because the NHI-1 and NHI-3 series, which lack the benzyl group, did not inhibit kinase activity. The length of the alkyl chain attached to the N1 imidazolium nitrogen did not give a clear correlation with the activity of the compounds. However, it appears that an optimal chain length is required because compounds with longer than C16H33 chain (NHI26, NHI27, and NHI28) do not inhibit eEF-2 kinase effectively.
NH125 appears to be one of the most potent inhibitors of eEF-2 kinase yet to be described. For example, Gschwendt et al. (22) described the activity of rottlerin, a natural product purified from Mallotus phillippinensis, as having an IC50 of 2.5 µM against eEF-2 kinase but had similar potency against PKC. Cho et al. (23) described a series of 1,3 selenazine derivatives as specific inhibitors of eEF-2 kinase with IC50 of 0.3 µM. NH125 is more potent against eEF-2 kinase than against PKC, PKA, or CaMK-II. We chose to study three kinases (PKC, PKA, and CaMKII) that represent the two major classes of serine/threonine protein kinases and play important roles in cell growth. Also, CaMK II was chosen to rule out an effect of the inhibitor on CaM as opposed to a direct effect on the kinase.
Several lines of evidence suggest that NH125 targets eEF-2 kinase in cancer cells and that the effects on cell viability are likely related to this activity. First, derivatives that lacked significant activity against the kinase had no effects on cell viability (data not shown). Second, NH125 decreased the phosphorylation of eEF-2 when incubated with intact cells (Fig. 3)
. Third, overexpression of the target enzyme decreased the activity of the drug (Fig. 4)
.
In conclusion, we identified a potent and relatively specific inhibitor of eEF-2 kinase with significant activity against several human cancer cell lines. Future studies designed to determine the activity of this and other derivatives in vivo would allow us to define whether eEF-2 kinase is a viable target for future drug development.
| FOOTNOTES |
|---|
1 Supported by United States Public Health Service Grants CA43888 and CA72720. ![]()
2 To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, 195 Little Albany Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901. Phone: (732) 235-8064; Fax: (732) 235-8094; E-mail: haitwn{at}umdnj.edu ![]()
3 The abbreviations used are: eEF-2, elongation factor 2; GST, glutathione S-transferase; IPTG, isopropyl ß-D thiogalactoside; PKA, protein kinase A; PKC, protein kinase C; CaMK-II, calmodulin-dependent kinase II; MTT, [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide]. ![]()
Received 1/17/03. Revised 7/ 2/03. Accepted 7/30/03.
| REFERENCES |
|---|
|
|
|---|
-Kinases: a new class of protein kinases with a novel catalytic domain. Curr. Biol., 9: R43-R45, 1999.
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
W. N. Hait, S. Jin, and J.-M. Yang A Matter of Life or Death (or Both): Understanding Autophagy in Cancer. Clin. Cancer Res., April 1, 2006; 12(7): 1961 - 1965. [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
H. Wu, J.-M. Yang, S. Jin, H. Zhang, and W. N. Hait Elongation factor-2 kinase regulates autophagy in human glioblastoma cells. Cancer Res., March 15, 2006; 66(6): 3015 - 3023. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. Arora, J.-M. Yang, and W. N. Hait Identification of the Ubiquitin-Proteasome Pathway in the Regulation of the Stability of Eukaryotic Elongation Factor-2 Kinase Cancer Res., May 1, 2005; 65(9): 3806 - 3810. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
Y. Nobukuni, K. Kohno, and K. Miyagawa Gene Trap Mutagenesis-based Forward Genetic Approach Reveals That the Tumor Suppressor OVCA1 Is a Component of the Biosynthetic Pathway of Diphthamide on Elongation Factor 2 J. Biol. Chem., March 18, 2005; 280(11): 10572 - 10577. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. Arora, J.-M. Yang, R. Utsumi, T. Okamoto, T. Kitayama, and W. N. Hait P-Glycoprotein Mediates Resistance to Histidine Kinase Inhibitors Mol. Pharmacol., September 1, 2004; 66(3): 460 - 467. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| Cancer Research | Clinical Cancer Research |
| Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention | Molecular Cancer Therapeutics |
| Molecular Cancer Research | Cancer Prevention Research |
| Cancer Prevention Journals Portal | Cancer Reviews Online |
| Annual Meeting Education Book | Meeting Abstracts Online |