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Nuclear inhibitor of protein phosphatase 1 (NIPP1) is a ubiquitously expressed nuclear protein that regulates functions of protein serine/threonine phosphatase-1 in cell proliferation and lineage specification. The role of NIPP1 in tissue homeostasis is not fully understood. This study shows that the selective deletion of NIPP1 in mouse epidermis resulted in epidermal hyperproliferation, a reduced adherence of basal keratinocytes, and a gradual decrease in the stemness of hair follicle stem cells, culminating in hair loss. This complex phenotype was associated with chronic sterile skin inflammation and could be partially rescued by dexamethasone treatment. NIPP1-deficient keratinocytes massively expressed proinflammatory chemokines and immunomodulatory proteins in a cell-autonomous manner. Chemokines subsequently induced the recruitment and activation of immune cells, in particular conventional dendritic cells and Langerhans cells, accounting for the chronic inflammation phenotype. The data identifies NIPP1 as a key regulator of epidermal homeostasis and as a potential target for the treatment of inflammatory skin diseases., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Germ cell proliferation is epigenetically controlled, mainly through DNA methylation and histone modifications. However, the pivotal epigenetic regulators of germ cell self-renewal and differentiation in postnatal testis are still poorly defined. The histone methyltransferase enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) is the catalytic subunit of Polycomb repressive complex 2, represses target genes through trimethylation of histone H3 at Lys-27 (H3K27me3), and interacts (in)directly with both protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) and nuclear inhibitor of PP1 (NIPP1). Here, we report that postnatal, testis-specific ablation of NIPP1 in mice results in loss of EZH2 and reduces H3K27me3 levels. Mechanistically, the NIPP1 deletion abrogated PP1-mediated EZH2 dephosphorylation at two cyclin-dependent kinase sites (Thr-345/487), thereby generating hyperphosphorylated EZH2, which is a substrate for proteolytic degradation. Accordingly, alanine mutation of these residues prolonged the half-life of EZH2 in male germ cells. Our study discloses a key role for the PP1:NIPP1 holoenzyme in stabilizing EZH2 and maintaining the H3K27me3 mark on genes that are important for germ cell development and spermatogenesis., (© 2018 Ferreira et al.)

NIPP1 is one of the major nuclear interactors of protein phosphatase PP1. The deletion of NIPP1 in mice is early embryonic lethal, which has precluded functional studies in adult tissues. Hence, we have generated an inducible NIPP1 knockout model using a tamoxifen-inducible Cre recombinase transgene. The inactivation of the NIPP1 encoding alleles (Ppp1r8) in adult mice occurred very efficiently in testis and resulted in a gradual loss of germ cells, culminating in a Sertoli-cell only phenotype. Before the overt development of this phenotype Ppp1r8 -/- testis showed a decreased proliferation and survival capacity of cells of the spermatogenic lineage. A reduced proliferation was also detected after the tamoxifen-induced removal of NIPP1 from cultured testis slices and isolated germ cells enriched for undifferentiated spermatogonia, hinting at a testis-intrinsic defect. Consistent with the observed phenotype, RNA sequencing identified changes in the transcript levels of cell-cycle and apoptosis regulating genes in NIPP1-depleted testis. We conclude that NIPP1 is essential for mammalian spermatogenesis because it is indispensable for the proliferation and survival of progenitor germ cells, including (un)differentiated spermatogonia.

The Ppp1r8 gene encodes NIPP1, a nuclear interactor of protein phosphatase PP1. The deletion of NIPP1 is embryonic lethal at the gastrulation stage, which has hampered its functional characterization in adult tissues. Here, we describe the effects of a conditional deletion of NIPP1 in mouse liver epithelial cells. Ppp1r8(-/-) livers developed a ductular reaction, that is, bile-duct hyperplasia with associated fibrosis. The increased proliferation of biliary epithelial cells was at least partially due to an expansion of the progenitor cell compartment that was independent of liver injury. Gene-expression analysis confirmed an upregulation of progenitor cell markers in the liver knockout livers but showed no effect on the expression of liver-injury associated regulators of cholangiocyte differentiation markers. Consistent with an inhibitory effect of NIPP1 on progenitor cell proliferation, Ppp1r8(-/-) livers displayed an increased sensitivity to diet-supplemented 3,5-diethoxycarbonyl-1,4-dihydrocollidine, which also causes bile-duct hyperplasia through progenitor cell expansion. In contrast, the liver knockouts responded normally to injuries (partial hepatectomy, single CCl4 administration) that are restored through proliferation of differentiated parenchymal cells. Our data indicate that NIPP1 does not regulate the proliferation of hepatocytes but is a suppressor of biliary epithelial cell proliferation, including progenitor cells, in the adult liver. Stem Cells 2016;34:2256-2262., (© 2016 AlphaMed Press.)

Protein Ser/Thr phosphatase-1 (PP1) is a ubiquitous eukaryotic enzyme that controls numerous cellular processes by the dephosphorylation of key regulatory proteins. PP1 is expressed in various cellular compartments but is most abundant in the nucleus. We have examined the determinants for the nuclear localization of enhanced green fluorescent protein-tagged PP1 in COS1 cells. Our studies show that PP1gamma(1) does not contain a functional nuclear localization signal and that its nuclear accumulation does not require Sds22, which has previously been implicated in the nuclear accumulation of PP1 in yeast (Peggie, M. W., MacKelvie, S. H., Bloecher, A., Knatko, E. V., Tatchell, K., and Stark, M. J. R. (2002) J. Cell Sci. 115, 195-206). However, the nuclear targeting of PP1 isoforms was alleviated by the mutation of their binding sites for proteins that interact via an RVXF motif. Moreover, one of the mutants with a cytoplasmic accumulation and decreased affinity for RVXF motifs (PP1gamma(1)-F257A) could be re-targeted to the nucleus by the overexpression of nuclear interactors (NIPP1 (nuclear inhibitor of PP1) and PNUTS (PP1 nuclear targeting subunit)) with a functional RVXF motif. Also, the addition of a synthetic RVXF-containing peptide to permeabilized cells resulted in the loss of nuclear enhanced green fluorescent protein-PP1gamma(1). Finally, NIPP1(-/-) mouse embryos showed a nuclear hyperphosphorylation on threonine, consistent with a role for NIPP1 in the nuclear targeting and/or retention of PP1. Our data suggest that both the nuclear translocation and the nuclear retention of PP1 depend on its binding to interactors with an RVXF motif.

NIPP1 (nuclear inhibitor of protein phosphatase 1) is a ubiquitously expressed nuclear scaffold protein that has been implicated in both transcription and RNA processing. Among its protein ligands are a protein kinase, a protein phosphatase, two splicing factors, and a transcriptional regulator, and the binding of these proteins to NIPP1 is tightly regulated by phosphorylation. To study the function of NIPP1 in vivo, we have used homologous recombination to generate mice that are deficient in NIPP1. NIPP1(-/+) mice developed normally. However, NIPP1(-/-) embryos showed severely retarded growth at embryonic day 6.5 (E6.5) and were resorbed by E8.5. This early embryonic lethality was not associated with increased apoptosis but correlated with impaired cell proliferation. Blastocyst outgrowth experiments and the RNA interference-mediated knockdown of NIPP1 in cultured cells also revealed an essential role for NIPP1 in cell proliferation. In further agreement with this function, no viable NIPP1(-/-) cell lines were obtained by derivation of embryonic stem (ES) cells from blastocysts of NIPP1(-/+) intercrosses or by forced homogenotization of heterozygous ES cells at high concentrations of Geneticin. We conclude that NIPP1 is indispensable for early embryonic development and cell proliferation.

NIPP1 is a ubiquitous nuclear protein that is required for spliceosome assembly. We report here that the phosphothreonine-binding Forkhead-associated domain of NIPP1 interacts with the cell cycle-regulated protein Ser/Thr kinase MELK (maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase). The NIPP1-MELK interaction was critically dependent on the phosphorylaton of Thr-478 of MELK and was increased in lysates from mitotically arrested cells. Recombinant MELK was a potent inhibitor of an early step of spliceosome assembly in nuclear extracts. This splicing defect was also seen with a kinase-dead mutant but was absent after mutation (T478A) of the NIPP1 binding site of MELK, indicating a mediatory role for NIPP1. Our data suggest that MELK has a role in the cell cycle-regulated control of pre-mRNA splicing.

The nuclear protein NIPP1 (nuclear inhibitor of protein Ser/Thr phosphatase-1) interacts with the splicing factors SAP155 and CDC5L and is involved in a late step of spliceosome assembly. In addition, NIPP1 is an interactor of protein phosphatase-1 and a COOH-terminal NIPP1 fragment displays an RNase E like endoribonuclease activity. A yeast two-hybrid screening resulted in the identification of the Polycomb group protein EED (embryonic ectoderm development), an established transcriptional repressor, as a novel NIPP1 interactor. NIPP1 only interacted with full-length EED, whereas two EED interaction domains were mapped to the central and COOH-terminal thirds of NIPP1. The NIPP1-EED interaction was potentiated by the binding of (d)G-rich nucleic acids to the central domain of NIPP1. Nucleic acids also decreased the potency of NIPP1 as an inhibitor of PP1, but they did not prevent the formation of a ternary NIPP1.EED.PP1 complex. EED had no effect on the function of NIPP1 as a splicing factor or as an endoribonuclease. However, similar to EED, NIPP1 acted as a transcriptional repressor of targeted genes and this NIPP1 effect was mediated by the EED interaction domain. Also, the histone deacetylase 2 was present in a complex with NIPP1. Our data are in accordance with a role for NIPP1 as a DNA-targeting protein for EED and associated chromatin-modifying enzymes.