1. Piwil2 Inhibits Keratin 8 Degradation through Promoting p38-Induced Phosphorylation To Resist Fas-Mediated Apoptosis
- Author
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Yuan Chen, Lianfang Zhao, Yunqiang Liu, Siyuan Jiang, Yilu Lu, Dachang Tao, Meiling Wang, Huaqin Sun, Sizhong Zhang, and Yongxin Ma
- Subjects
p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases ,Apoptosis ,Biology ,p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ,Serine ,Humans ,fas Receptor ,Phosphorylation ,STAT3 ,Molecular Biology ,Inhibitor of apoptosis domain ,Binding Sites ,Keratin-8 ,Articles ,Hep G2 Cells ,Cell Biology ,Cell biology ,Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ,Gene Knockdown Techniques ,Argonaute Proteins ,Keratin 8 ,Cancer research ,biology.protein ,Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 ,Signal transduction ,HeLa Cells ,Signal Transduction ,Proto-oncogene tyrosine-protein kinase Src - Abstract
The piwi-like 2 (piwil2) gene is widely expressed in tumors and protects cells from apoptosis induced by a variety of stress stimuli. However, the role of Piwil2 in Fas-mediated apoptosis remains unknown. Here, we present evidence that Piwil2 inhibits Fas-mediated apoptosis. By a bacterial two-hybrid screening, we identify a new Piwil2-interacting partner, keratin 8 (K8), a major intermediate filament protein protecting the cell from Fas-mediated apoptosis. Our results show that Piwil2 binds to K8 and p38 through its PIWI domain and forms a Piwil2/K8/P38 triple protein-protein complex. Thus, Piwil2 increases the phosphorylation level of K8 Ser-73 and then inhibits ubiquitin-mediated degradation of K8. As a result, the knockdown of Piwil2 increases the Fas protein level at the membrane. In addition to our previous finding that Piwil2 inhibits the expression of p53 through the Src/STAT3 pathway, here we demonstrate that Piwil2 represses p53 phosphorylation through p38. Our present study indicates that Piwil2 plays a role in Fas-mediated apoptosis for the first time and also can affect p53 phosphorylation in tumor cells, revealing a novel mechanism of Piwil2 in apoptosis, and supports that Piwil2 plays an active role in tumorigenesis.
- Published
- 2014