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The transcription factor C/EBPα is required for granulocytic differentiation of normal myeloid progenitors and is frequently inactivated in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells. Ectopic expression of C/EBPα in AML cells suppresses proliferation and induces differentiation suggesting that restoring C/EBPα expression/activity in AML cells could be therapeutically useful. Unfortunately, current approaches of gene or protein delivery in leukemic cells are unsatisfactory. However, "drug repurposing" is becoming a very attractive strategy to identify potential new uses for existing drugs. In this study, we assessed the biological effects of candidate C/EBPα-mimetics identified by interrogation of the Connectivity Map database. We found that amantadine, an antiviral and anti-Parkinson agent, induced a monocyte-macrophage-like differentiation of HL60, U937, Kasumi-1 myeloid leukemia cell lines, as indicated by morphology and differentiation antigen expression, when used in combination with suboptimal concentration of all trans retinoic acid (ATRA) or Vit D3. The effect of amantadine depends, in part, on increased activity of the vitamin D receptor (VDR), since it induced VDR expression and amantadine-dependent monocyte-macrophage differentiation of HL60 cells was blocked by expression of dominant-negative VDR. These results reveal a new function for amantadine and support the concept that screening of the Connectivity Map database can identify small molecules that mimic the effect of transcription factors required for myelo-monocytic differentiation.

Most triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) exhibit gene expression patterns associated with epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a feature that correlates with a propensity for metastatic spread. Overexpression of the EMT regulator Slug is detected in basal and mesenchymal-type TNBCs and is associated with reduced E-cadherin expression and aggressive disease. The effects of Slug depend, in part, on the interaction of its N-terminal SNAG repressor domain with the chromatin-modifying protein lysine demethylase 1 (LSD1); thus, we investigated whether tranylcypromine [also known as trans-2-phenylcyclopropylamine hydrochloride (PCPA) or Parnate], an inhibitor of LSD1 that blocks its interaction with Slug, suppresses the migration, invasion, and metastatic spread of TNBC cell lines. We show here that PCPA treatment induces the expression of E-cadherin and other epithelial markers and markedly suppresses migration and invasion of TNBC cell lines MDA-MB-231 and BT-549. These effects were phenocopied by Slug or LSD1 silencing. In two models of orthotopic breast cancer, PCPA treatment reduced local tumor growth and the number of lung metastases. In mice injected directly in the blood circulation with MDA-MB-231 cells, PCPA treatment or Slug silencing markedly inhibited bone metastases but had no effect on lung infiltration. Thus, blocking Slug activity may suppress the metastatic spread of TNBC and, perhaps, specifically inhibit homing/colonization to the bone., (Copyright © 2014 Neoplasia Press, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The process of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) which is required for cancer cell invasion is regulated by a family of E-box-binding transcription repressors, which include Snail (SNAIL1) and Slug (SNAI2). Snail appears to repress the expression of the EMT marker E-cadherin by epigenetic mechanisms dependent on the interaction of its N-terminal SNAG domain with chromatin-modifying proteins including lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1/KDM1A). We assessed whether blocking Snail/Slug-LSD1 interaction by treatment with Parnate, an enzymatic inhibitor of LSD1, or TAT-SNAG, a cell-permeable peptide corresponding to the SNAG domain of Slug, suppresses the motility and invasiveness of cancer cells of different origin and genetic background. We show here that either treatment blocked Slug-dependent repression of the E-cadherin promoter and inhibited the motility and invasion of tumor cell lines without any effect on their proliferation. These effects correlated with induction of epithelial and repression of mesenchymal markers and were phenocopied by LSD1 or Slug downregulation. Parnate treatment also inhibited bone marrow homing/engraftment of Slug-expressing K562 cells. Together, these studies support the concept that targeting Snail/Slug-dependent transcription repression complexes may lead to the development of novel drugs selectively inhibiting the invasive potential of cancer cells.

The p53 gene is rarely mutated in neuroblastoma, but codon 72 polymorphism that modulates its proapoptotic activity might influence cancer risk and clinical outcome. We investigated whether this polymorphism affects neuroblastoma risk and disease outcome and assessed the biologic effects of the p53-72R and p53-72P isoforms in p53-null cells. Comparison of 288 healthy subjects and 286 neuroblastoma patients revealed that the p53-72 polymorphism had no significant impact on the risk of developing neuroblastoma; however, patients with the Pro/Pro genotype had a shorter survival than those with the Arg/Arg or the Arg/Pro genotypes even in the stage 3 and 4 subgroup without MYCN amplification. By Cox regression analysis, the p53 Pro/Pro genotype seems to be an independent marker of poor prognosis (hazard ratio = 2.74; 95% confidence interval = 1.14-6.55, P = .014) together with clinical stage, MYCN status, and age at diagnosis. In vitro, p53-72P was less effective than p53-72R in inducing apoptosis and inhibiting survival of p53-null LAN-1 cells treated with etoposide, topotecan, or ionizing radiation but not taxol. By contrast, p53-72P was more effective in promoting p21-dependent accelerated senescence, alone or in the presence of etoposide. Thus, the p53-72 Pro/Pro genotype might be a marker of poor outcome independent of MYCN amplification, possibly improving risk stratification. Moreover, the lower apoptosis and the enhanced accelerated senescence by the p53-72P isoform in response to DNA damage suggest that patients with neuroblastoma with the p53-72 Pro/Pro genotype may benefit from therapeutic protocols that do not rely only on cytotoxic drugs that function, in part, through p53 activation.

The c-Myb gene encodes the p75(c-Myb) isoform and less-abundant proteins generated by alternatively spliced transcripts. Among these, the best known is p(c-Mybex9b), which contains 121 additional amino acids between exon 9 and 10, in a domain involved in protein-protein interactions and negative regulation. In hematopoietic cells, expression of p(c-Mybex9b) accounts for 10-15% of total c-Myb; these levels may be biologically relevant because modest changes in c-Myb expression affects proliferation and survival of leukemic cells and lineage choice and frequency of normal hematopoietic progenitors. In this study, we assessed biochemical activities of p(c-Mybex9b) and the consequences of perturbing its expression in K562 and primary chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) progenitor cells. Compared with p75(c-Myb), p(c-Mybex9b) is more stable and more effective in transactivating Myb-regulated promoters. Ectopic expression of p(c-Mybex9b) enhanced proliferation and colony formation and reduced imatinib (IM) sensitivity of K562 cells; conversely, specific downregulation of p(c-Mybex9b) reduced proliferation and colony formation, enhanced IM sensitivity of K562 cells and markedly suppressed colony formation of CML CD34(+) cells, without affecting the levels of p75(c-Myb). Together, these studies indicate that expression of the low-abundance p(c-Mybex9b) isoform has an important role for the overall biological effects of c-Myb in BCR/ABL-transformed cells.

The CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α (C/EBPα) is a transcription factor required for differentiation of myeloid progenitors. In acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells expressing the constitutively active FLT3-ITD receptor tyrosine kinase, MAP kinase-dependent phosphorylation of serine 21 (S21) inhibits the ability of C/EBPα to induce granulocytic differentiation. To assess whether this post-translational modification also modulates the activity of C/EBPα in BCR/ABL-expressing cells, we tested the biological effects of wild-type and mutant C/EBPα mimicking phosphorylated or non-phosphorylatable serine 21 (S21D and S21A, respectively) in K562 cells ectopically expressing tamoxifen-regulated C/EBPα-ER chimeric proteins. We show here that S21D C/EBPα-ER induced terminal granulocytic differentiation of K562 cells almost as well as wild-type C/EBPα-ER, while S21A C/EBPα-ER was less efficient. Furthermore, wild-type C/EBPα suppressed the proliferation and colony formation of K562 cells vigorously, while S21D and S21A C/EBPα mutants had more modest anti-proliferative effects. Both mutants were less effective than wild-type C/EBPα in suppressing endogenous E2F-dependent transactivation and bound less E2F-2 and/or E2F-3 proteins in anti-C/EBPα immunoprecipitates. Together, these findings suggest that mutation of S21 more than its phosphorylation inhibits the anti-proliferative effects of C/EBPα due to reduced interaction with or impaired regulation of the activity of E2F proteins. By contrast, phosphorylation of serine 21 appears to have a modest role in modulating the differentiation-inducing effects of C/EBPα in K562 cells., (Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

The transcription factor C/EBPα is more potent than C/EBPβ in inducing granulocitic differentiation and inhibiting BCR/ABL-expressing cells. We took a "domain swapping" approach to assess biological effects, modulation of gene expression, and binding to C/EBPα-regulated promoters by wild-type and chimeric C/EBPα/C/EBPβ proteins. Wild-type and N-C/EBPα+ C/EBPβ-DBD induced transcription of the granulocyte-colony stimulating factor receptor (G-CSFR) gene, promoted differentiation, and suppressed proliferation of K562 cells vigorously; instead, wild-type C/EBPβ and N-C/EBPβ+C/EBPα-DBD had modest effects, although they bound the G-CSFR promoter like wild-type C/EBPα and N-C/EBPα+C/EBPβ-DBD. Chimeric proteins consisting of the TAD of VP16 and the DBD of C/EBPα or C/EBPβ inhibited proliferation and induced differentiation of K562 cells as effectively as wild-type C/EBPα. Gene expression profiles induced by C/EBPα resembled those modulated by N-C/EBPα+C/EBPβ-DBD, whereas C/EBPβ induced a pattern similar to that of N-C/EBPβ+C/EBPα-DBD. C/EBPα activation induced changes in the expression of more cell cycle- and apoptosis-related genes than the other proteins and enhanced Imatinib-induced apoptosis of K562 cells. Expression of FOXO3a, a novel C/EBPα-regulated gene, was required for apoptosis but not for differentiation induction or proliferation inhibition of K562 cells.

Background: Akt/PKB is a serine/threonine kinase that has attracted much attention because of its central role in regulating cell proliferation, survival, motility and angiogenesis. Activation of Akt in breast cancer portends aggressive tumour behaviour, resistance to hormone-, chemo-, and radiotherapy-induced apoptosis and it is correlated with decreased overall survival. Recent studies have identified novel tumor-specific substrates of Akt that may provide new diagnostic and prognostic markers and serve as therapeutic targets. This study was undertaken to identify pAkt-interacting proteins and to assess their biological roles in breast cancer cells., Results: We confirmed that one of the pAkt interacting proteins is the Elongation Factor EF1alpha. EF1alpha contains a putative Akt phosphorylation site, but is not phosphorylated by pAkt1 or pAkt2, suggesting that it may function as a modulator of pAkt activity. Indeed, downregulation of EF1alpha expression by siRNAs led to markedly decreased expression of pAkt1 and to less extent of pAkt2 and was associated with reduced proliferation, survival and invasion of HCC1937 cells. Proliferation and survival was further reduced by combining EF1alpha siRNAs with specific pAkt inhibitors whereas EF1alpha downregulation slightly attenuated the decreased invasion induced by Akt inhibitors., Conclusion: We show here that EF1alpha is a pAkt-interacting protein which regulates pAkt levels. Since EF1alpha is often overexpressed in breast cancer, the consequences of EF1alpha increased levels for proliferation, survival and invasion will likely depend on the relative concentration of Akt1 and Akt2.

Purpose: MDM2 is a key negative regulator of p53 activity, and a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP309, T>G change; rs 2279744) in its promoter increases the affinity for the transcription factor SP1, enhancing MDM2 expression. We carried out a pilot study to investigate the effect of this polymorphism on development and behavior of neuroblastoma, an extracranial pediatric tumor with unfrequent genetic inactivation of p53., Experimental Design: We genotyped the MDM2-SNP309 alleles of tumor DNA from 239 neuroblastoma patients and peripheral blood DNA from 237 controls. In 40 of 239 neuroblastomas, the MDM2-SNP309 alleles were also genotyped in peripheral blood DNA. Data were analyzed by two-sided Fisher's exact test, log-rank test, and Kaplan-Meier statistics. Where appropriate, data are reported with 95% confidence intervals (CI)., Results: The frequency of both the T/G and G/G genotypes or the G/G or T/G genotype only was higher in neuroblastoma DNA samples than in controls: 60.3% (95% CI, 54.1-66.5) versus 47.3% (95% CI, 40.9-53.6), 30.4% (95% CI, 22.4-37.8) versus 15.0% (95% CI, 9.2-20.7), and 52.0% (95% CI, 45.0-59.9) versus 41.9% (95% CI, 35.3-48.5), respectively; Two-Sided Fisher's Exact Test P values were 0.006, 0.003, and 0.048, respectively; Odds ratios were 1.69 (95% CI, 1.18-2.43), 2.45 (95% CI, 1.37-4.39) and 1.51 (95% CI, 1.02-2.22), respectively. A significant association (P = 0.016) between heterozygous (T/G)/homozygous (G/G) genotypes at SNP309 and advanced clinical stages was also shown. Homozygous/heterozygous SNP309 variant carriers had a shorter 5-year overall survival than patients with the wild-type allele (P = 0.046; log-rank test). A shorter overall survival in patients with heterozygous/homozygous SNP309 was also observed in the subgroups with age at diagnosis >1 year and adrenal primary tumor (P = 0.024 and P = 0.014, respectively)., Conclusions: Data from this pilot study suggest that the MDM2 G/G and T/G-SNP309 alleles are markers of increased predisposition to tumor development and disease aggressiveness in neuroblastoma. However, additional studies with larger patient cohorts are required for a definitive assessment of the clinical relevance of these data.

Chronic phase-to-blast crisis transition in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is associated with differentiation arrest and down-regulation of C/EBPalpha, a transcription factor essential for granulocyte differentiation. Patients with CML in blast crisis (CML-BC) became rapidly resistant to therapy with the breakpoint cluster region-Abelson murine leukemia (BCR/ABL) kinase inhibitor imatinib (STI571) because of mutations in the kinase domain that interfere with drug binding. We show here that the restoration of C/EBPalpha activity in STI571-sensitive or -resistant 32D-BCR/ABL cells induced granulocyte differentiation, inhibited proliferation in vitro and in mice, and suppressed leukemogenesis. Moreover, activation of C/EBPalpha eradicated leukemia in 4 of 10 and in 6 of 7 mice injected with STI571-sensitive or -resistant 32D-BCR/ABL cells, respectively. Differentiation induction and proliferation inhibition were required for optimal suppression of leukemogenesis, as indicated by the effects of p42 C/EBPalpha, which were more potent than those of K298E C/EBPalpha, a mutant defective in DNA binding and transcription activation that failed to induce granulocyte differentiation. Activation of C/EBPalpha in blast cells from 4 patients with CML-BC, including one resistant to STI571 and BMS-354825 and carrying the T315I Abl kinase domain mutation, also induced granulocyte differentiation. Thus, these data indicate that C/EBPalpha has potent antileukemia effects even in cells resistant to ATP-binding competitive tyrosine kinase inhibitors, and they portend the development of anti-leukemia therapies that rely on C/EBPalpha activation.