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Replicative senescence of human diploid fibroblasts (HDFs) is largely implemented by the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitors p16(INK4a) and p21(CIP1). Their accumulation results in a loss of CDK2 activity, and cells arrest with the retinoblastoma protein (pRb) in its hypophosphorylated state. It has become standard practice to bypass the effects of p16(INK4a) by overexpressing CDK4 or a variant form that is unable to bind to INK4 proteins. Although CDK4 and CDK6 and their INK4-insensitive variants can extend the life span of HDFs, they also cause a substantial increase in the levels of endogenous p16(INK4a). Here we show that CDK4 and CDK6 can extend the life span of HDFs that have inactivating mutations in both alleles of INK4a or in which INK4a levels are repressed, indicating that overexpression of CDK4/6 is not equivalent to ablation of p16(INK4a). However, catalytically inactive versions of these kinases are unable to extend the replicative life span, suggesting that the impact of ectopic CDK4/6 depends on their ability to phosphorylate as yet unidentified substrates rather than to sequester CDK inhibitors. Since p16(INK4a) deficiency, CDK4 expression, and p53 or p21(CIP1) ablation have additive effects on replicative life span, our results underscore the idea that senescence is an integrated response to diverse signals.

The insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) mitogenic signaling mediates malignant cell survival by many complex and redundant pathways. This study compared the effects of IGF-1R inhibition on viability and apoptosis of two NSCLC cell lines, using three different methods for the impairment of IGF-1R function: (IR3, an anti-IGF-1R antibody; tyrphostin AG1024, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) and IGF-1R-small interfering RNA (siRNA). IGF-1R inhibition led to a decrease of cell survival and induced apoptosis in a manner depending on the approach used for the receptor inhibition. To find an explanation, we analyzed the effects of these treatments on three major antiapoptotic pathways evoked by IGF-1R signaling: IRS-1, Shc and 14.3.3-dependent mitochondrial translocation of Raf-1 kinase (mitRaf). (IR3 downregulated IRS-1 phosphorylation in A549 cells and Shc phosphorylation in U1810 cells. While in A549 cells AG1024 treatment decreased both IRS-1 and Shc phosphorylation, in U1810 cells the IRS-1 phosphorylation was only slightly affected and the Shc phosphorylation drastically downregulated. Neither (IR3 nor AG1024 had any effect on Raf-1 kinase translocation. Irrespective of the cell line, IGF-1R-siRNA treatment induced downregulation of both IRS-1 and Shc phosphorylation coupled with the abrogation of mitRaf. In addition, the IGF-1R-siRNA proved to be the most potent inducer of apoptosis suggesting that more than one antiapoptotic pathway in IGF-1R signaling should be inhibited to effectively induce apoptosis in lung cancer cells.

Single cell analysis allows high resolution investigation of temporal relationships between transition events in G1. It has been suggested that phosphorylation of the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein (pRb) is the molecular mechanism behind passage through the restriction point (R). We performed a detailed single cell study of the temporal relationship between R and pRb phosphorylation in human fibroblasts using time lapse video-microscopy combined with immunocytochemistry. Four principally different criteria for pRb phosphorylation were used, namely (i) phosphorylation of residues Ser795 and Ser780, (ii) degree of pRb-association with the nuclear structure, a property that is closely related with pRb phosphorylation status, (iii) release of the transcription factor E2F-1 from pRb, and (iv) accumulation of cyclin E, which is dependent on phosphorylation of pRb. The analyses of individual cells revealed that passage through R preceded phosphorylation of pRb, which occurs in a gradually increasing proportion of cells in late G1. Our data clearly suggest that pRb phosphorylation is not the molecular mechanism behind the passage through R. The restriction point and phosphorylation of pRb thus seem to represent two separate check point in G1.

The restriction point (R) separates the G1 phase of continuously cycling cells into two functionally different parts. The first part, G1-pm, represents the growth factor dependent post-mitotic interval from mitosis to R, which is of constant length (3-4 h). The second part, G1-ps, represents the growth factor independent, pre-S phase interval of G1 that lasts from R to S and that varies in time from 1 to 10 h. G1-pm cells rapidly exit (within 1 h) from the cell cycle and enter G0 as a response to serum withdrawal. The finding that R occurs at a set time after mitosis indicates that R may be related to the metabolic and/or structural changes that the cell underwent during the previous mitosis. We have recently shown that phosphorylation of the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein (pRb) is not the molecular mechanism behind R, as has been suggested previously. Here, we present an alternative explanation for R. In the present study, we applied a single cell approach using time-lapse analysis, which revealed that upon serum starvation the G1-pm cells rapidly underwent a transient change in cell shape from flat to spherical before exiting to G0. Platelet derived growth factor (PDGF) counteracted this change in shape and also prevented exit to G0 to the same extent. Furthermore epidermal growth factor (EGF) and insulin like growth factor (IGF-1), which only partially counteracted this change, only partially counteracts exit to G0. These data clearly indicate a direct link between change in cell shape and exit to G0 in G1-cells that have not passed R., (2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

The synovial sarcoma translocation t(X;18)(p11.2; q11.2) results in the fusion of the SYT gene on chromosome 18 to exon 5 of either SSX1 or SSX2 genes on chromosome X. We recently reported that the SSX4 gene is also involved in such a translocation. In the present investigation we cloned and sequenced the full-length cDNA of SYT/SSX1, SYT/SSX2 and SYT/SSX4 from synovial sarcoma tissues. We isolated a novel fusion transcript type variant involving the fusion of SYT with exon 6 of the SSX4 gene (SYT/SSX4v). The SYT/SSX4 and SYT/SSX2 open reading frame also differed from previously reported SYT/SSX sequences by an in-frame addition of 93bp exon located in the junction between exon 7 and 8 of the SYT. This exon is identical to that reported for the murine SYT but has not been previously found in the human transcript. Two SYT transcripts, with and without the 93 bp exon, were co-expressed in mouse NIH3T3 cells, human malignant cells and human testis tissue, but not in human normal fibroblasts. Stable transfection of an SYT/SSX4 expression vector into human and murine cell lines correlated with a down-regulation of SYT transcripts. This was also observed in a synovial sarcoma tumor expressing SYT/SSX4. This suggests that the SYT/SSX fusion gene may regulate SYT expression from the normal allele and as such alter the normal function of SYT.

The two distinct proteins encoded by the CDKN2A locus are specified by translating the common second exon in alternative reading frames. The product of the alpha transcript, p16(INK4a), is a recognized tumour suppressor that induces a G1 cell cycle arrest by inhibiting the phosphorylation of the retinoblastoma protein by the cyclin-dependent kinases, CDK4 and CDK6. In contrast, the product of the human CDKN2A beta transcript, p14(ARF), activates a p53 response manifest in elevated levels of MDM2 and p21(CIP1) and cell cycle arrest in both G1 and G2/M. As a consequence, p14(ARF)-induced cell cycle arrest is p53 dependent and can be abrogated by the co-expression of human papilloma virus E6 protein. p14(ARF) acts by binding directly to MDM2, resulting in the stabilization of both p53 and MDM2. Conversely, p53 negatively regulates p14(ARF) expression and there is an inverse correlation between p14(ARF) expression and p53 function in human tumour cell lines. However, p14(ARF) expression is not involved in the response to DNA damage. These results place p14(ARF) in an independent pathway upstream of p53 and imply that CDKN2A encodes two proteins that are involved in tumour suppression.

After a limited number of population doublings (PDs), cultures of normal mammalian diploid cells undergo an irreversible growth arrest known as replicative senescence [1]. As well as contributing to cellular ageing, senescence is viewed as an important mechanism of tumour suppression by preventing the emergence of immortal cell clones [2-4]. Senescent cells have a number of characteristics that distinguish them from cycling or quiescent cells including elevated levels of two cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) inhibitors, p16INK4a and p21CIP1 [5-11]. Here, we demonstrate that both of these Cdk inhibitors, as well as other members of their protein families (the INK4 and CIP/KIP families, respectively [12]), induce several facets of the senescent phenotype when ectopically expressed in young human diploid fibroblasts. These include a reduced proliferative capacity, an altered size and shape, the presence of underphosphorylated retinoblastoma protein (pRb), increased expression of plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1) and the appearance of senescence-associated beta-galactosidase (SA-beta-gal) activity [2,3,13-15]. A 20 amino acid peptide from p16INK4a that inhibits Cdks active in the G1 phase of the cell cycle [16] produces similar effects in a dose-dependent manner suggesting that, in primary fibroblasts, inhibition of G1-specific Cdk activity is sufficient to induce phenotypic changes that normally occur at the end of their finite lifespan.

Sister chromatids in early mitotic cells are held together mainly by interactions between centromeres. The separation of sister chromatids at the transition between the metaphase and the anaphase stages of mitosis depends on the anaphase-promoting complex (APC), a 20S ubiquitin-ligase complex that targets proteins for destruction. A subunit of the APC, called APC-alpha in Xenopus (and whose homologs are APC-1, Cut4, BIME, and Tsg24), has recently been identified and shown to be required for entry into anaphase. We now show that the mammalian APC-alpha homolog, Tsg24, is a centromere-associated protein. While this protein is detected only during the prophase to the anaphase stages of mitosis in Chinese hamster cells, it is constitutively associated with the centromeres in murine cells. We show that there are two forms of this protein in mammalian cells, a soluble form associated with other components of the APC and a centromere-bound form. We also show that both the Tsg24 protein and the Cdc27 protein, another APC component, are bound to isolated mitotic chromosomes. These results therefore support a model in which the APC by ubiquitination of a centromere protein regulates the sister chromatid separation process.

The analysis of genes expressed in a restricted temporal and spatial manner during spermatogenesis has given insights into different gene-regulatory mechanisms active in germ cells. However, very few genes have so far been described that are predominantly active in spermatogonia and the early meiotic cell types of testis. To isolate a battery of such genes, more than 100 different mRNA molecules were isolated from a mouse prepubertal testicular cDNA library, and their expression patterns in different tissues analyzed. Thirty mRNAs, 26 of them previously not described in the literature, were found to be predominantly expressed in mouse testis. A detailed analysis of their expression patterns identified a number of mRNA molecules differentially expressed in testicular cell types, including both germ cells and somatic cell types. Characterization of these mRNAs also revealed five distinct temporal phases of gene expression during prepubertal germ cell development. Three different genes, mainly active in the spermatogonial and the early meiotic cell types of testis, were isolated and will be used to characterize further stage-specific gene expression during germ cell differentiation.