Transcriptional regulation by VENTX (Homo sapiens)
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The VENTX (also known as VENT homeobox or VENTX2) gene is a member of the homeobox family of transcription factors. The ortholog of VENTX was first described in Xenopus where it participates in BMP and Nanog signaling pathways and controls dorsoventral mesoderm patterning (Onichtchouk et al. 1996, Scerbo et al. 2012). The zebrafish ortholog of VENTX is also involved in dorsoventral patterning in the early embryo (Imai et al. 2001). Rodents lack the VENTX ortholog (Zhong and Holland 2011). VENTX is expressed in human blood cells (Moretti et al. 2001) and appears to play an important role in hematopoiesis. The role of VENTX in hematopoiesis was first suggested based on its role in mesoderm patterning in Xenopus and zebrafish (Davidson and Zon 2000). VENTX promotes cell cycle arrest and differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells and/or progenitor cells (Wu, Gao, Ke, Giese and Zhu 2011, Wu et al. 2014). Ventx suppression leads to expansion of hematopoietic stem cells and multi-progenitor cells (Gao et, J. Biol.Chem, 2012). VENTX induces transcription of cell cycle inhibitors TP53 (p53) and p16INK4A and activates tumor suppressor pathways regulated by TP53 and p16INK4A (Wu, Gao, Ke, Hager et al. 2011), as well as macrophage colony stimulating factor receptor (CSF1R) (Wu, Gao, Ke, Giese and Zhu 2011) and inhibits transcription of cyclin D1 (CCND1) (Gao et al. 2010) and Interleukin-6 (IL6) (Wu et al. 2014). Chromatin immunoprecipitation showed that EGR3 transcription factor directly binds to the promoter of IL6 and IL8 genes (Baron VT et al, BJC 2015). While VENTX expression may suppress lymphocytic leukemia (Gao et al. 2010), high levels of VENTX have been reported in acute myeloid leukemia cells, with a positive effect on their proliferation (Rawat et al. 2010). Another homeobox transcription factor that regulates differentiation of hematopoietic stemm cells is DLX4 (Bon et al. 2015). Studies on colon cancer showed that VentX regulates tumor associated macrophages and reverts immune suppression in tumor microenvironment (Le et al. 2018). MEK1 is required for Xenopus Ventx2 asymmetric distribution during blastula cell division. Ventx2 inhibition by MEK1 is required for embryonic cell commitment (Scerbo et al, eLife, 2017). VENTX induces TP53-independent apoptosis in cancer cells (Gao H, Oncotarget, 2016). During Xenopus embryonic development, VENTX ortholog regulates transcription of the sox3 gene (Rogers et al. 2007) as well as the early neuronal gene zic3 (Umair et al. 2018).
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During early G1, cells can enter a quiescent G0 state. In quiescent cells, the evolutionarily conserved DREAM complex, consisting of the pocket protein family member p130 (RBL2), bound to E2F4 or E2F5, and the MuvB complex, represses transcription of cell cycle genes (reviewed by Sadasivam and DeCaprio 2013).
During early G1 phase in actively cycling cells, transcription of cell cycle genes is repressed by another pocket protein family member, p107 (RBL1), which forms a complex with E2F4 (Ferreira et al. 1998, Cobrinik 2005). RB1 tumor suppressor, the product of the retinoblastoma susceptibility gene, is the third member of the pocket protein family. RB1 binds to E2F transcription factors E2F1, E2F2 and E2F3 and inhibits their transcriptional activity, resulting in prevention of G1/S transition (Chellappan et al. 1991, Bagchi et al. 1991, Chittenden et al. 1991, Lees et al. 1993, Hiebert 1993, Wu et al. 2001). Once RB1 is phosphorylated on serine residue S795 by Cyclin D:CDK4/6 complexes, it can no longer associate with and inhibit E2F1-3. Thus, CDK4/6-mediated phosphorylation of RB1 leads to transcriptional activation of E2F1-3 target genes needed for the S phase of the cell cycle (Connell-Crowley et al. 1997). CDK2, in complex with cyclin E, contributes to RB1 inactivation and also activates proteins needed for the initiation of DNA replication (Zhang 2007). Expression of D type cyclins is regulated by extracellular mitogens (Cheng et al. 1998, Depoortere et al. 1998). Catalytic activities of CDK4/6 and CDK2 are controlled by CDK inhibitors of the INK4 family (Serrano et al. 1993, Hannon and Beach 1994, Guan et al. 1994, Guan et al. 1996, Parry et al. 1995) and the Cip/Kip family, respectively.
Oncogenic signals trigger transcription of CDKN2A locus tumor suppressor genes: p16INK4A and p14ARF. p16INK4A and p14ARF share exons 2 and 3, but are expressed from different promoters and use different reading frames (Quelle et al. 1995). Therefore, while their mRNAs are homologous and are both translationally inhibited by miR-24 microRNA (Lal et al. 2008, To et al. 2012), they share no similarity at the amino acid sequence level and perform distinct functions in the cell. p16INK4A acts as the inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases CDK4 and CDK6 which phosphorylate and inhibit RB1 protein thereby promoting G1 to S transition and cell cycle progression (Serrano et al. 1993). Increased p16INK4A level leads to hypophosphorylation of RB1, allowing RB1 to inhibit transcription of E2F1, E2F2 and E2F3-target genes that are needed for cell cycle progression, which results in cell cycle arrest in G1 phase. p14-ARF binds and destabilizes MDM2 ubiquitin ligase (Zhang et al. 1998), responsible for ubiquitination and degradation of TP53 (p53) tumor suppressor protein (Wu et al. 1993, Fuchs et al. 1998, Fang et al. 2000). Therefore, increased p14-ARF level leads to increased level of TP53 and increased expression of TP53 target genes, such as p21, which triggers p53-mediated cell cycle arrest and, depending on other factors, may also lead to p53-mediated apoptosis. CDKN2B locus, which encodes an inhibitor of CDK4 and CDK6, p15INK4B, is located in the vicinity of CDKN2A locus, at the chromosome band 9p21. p15INK4B, together with p16INK4A, contributes to senescence of human T-lymphocytes (Erickson et al. 1998) and mouse fibroblasts (Malumbres et al. 2000). SMAD3, activated by TGF-beta-1 signaling, controls senescence in the mouse multistage carcinogenesis model through regulation of MYC and p15INK4B gene expression (Vijayachandra et al. 2003). TGF-beta-induced p15INK4B expression is also important for the senescence of hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines (Senturk et al. 2010).
MAP kinases MAPK1 (ERK2) and MAPK3 (ERK1), which are activated by RAS signaling, phosphorylate ETS1 and ETS2 transcription factors in the nucleus (Yang et al. 1996, Seidel et al. 2002, Foulds et al. 2004, Nelson et al. 2010). Phosphorylated ETS1 and ETS2 are able to bind RAS response elements (RREs) in the CDKN2A locus and stimulate p16INK4A transcription (Ohtani et al. 2004). At the same time, activated ERKs (MAPK1 i.e. ERK2 and MAPK3 i.e. ERK1) phosphorylate ERF, the repressor of ETS2 transcription, which leads to translocation of ERF to the cytosol and increased transcription of ETS2 (Sgouras et al. 1995, Le Gallic et al. 2004). ETS2 can be sequestered and inhibited by binding to ID1, resulting in inhibition of p16INK4A transcription (Ohtani et al. 2004).
Transcription of p14ARF is stimulated by binding of E2F transcription factors (E2F1, E2F2 or E2F3) in complex with SP1 to p14ARF promoter (Parisi et al. 2002).
Oncogenic RAS signaling affects mitochondrial metabolism through an unknown mechanism, leading to increased generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which triggers oxidative stress induced senescence pathway. In addition, increased rate of cell division that is one of the consequences of oncogenic signaling, leads to telomere shortening which acts as another senescence trigger.
While OIS has been studied to considerable detail in cultured cells, establishment of in vivo role of OIS has been difficult due to lack of specific biomarkers and its interconnectedness with other senescence pathways (Baek and Ryeom 2017, reviewed in Sharpless and Sherr 2015).
MAP3K5 phosphorylates and activates MAP2K3 (MKK3) and MAP2K6 (MKK6) (Ichijo et al. 1997, Takekawa et al. 2005), which act as p38 MAPK kinases, as well as MAP2K4 (SEK1) (Ichijo et al. 1997, Matsuura et al. 2002), which, together with MAP2K7 (MKK7), acts as a JNK kinase.
MKK3 and MKK6 phosphorylate and activate p38 MAPK alpha (MAPK14) and beta (MAPK11) (Raingeaud et al. 1996), enabling p38 MAPKs to phosphorylate and activate MAPKAPK2 (MK2) and MAPKAPK3 (MK3) (Ben-Levy et al. 1995, Clifton et al. 1996, McLaughlin et al. 1996, Sithanandam et al. 1996, Meng et al. 2002, Lukas et al. 2004, White et al. 2007), as well as MAPKAPK5 (PRAK) (New et al. 1998 and 2003, Sun et al. 2007).
Phosphorylation of JNKs (MAPK8, MAPK9 and MAPK10) by MAP3K5-activated MAP2K4 (Deacon and Blank 1997, Fleming et al. 2000) allows JNKs to migrate to the nucleus (Mizukami et al. 1997) where they phosphorylate JUN. Phosphorylated JUN binds FOS phosphorylated by ERK1 or ERK2, downstream of activated RAS (Okazaki and Sagata 1995, Murphy et al. 2002), forming the activated protein 1 (AP-1) complex (FOS:JUN heterodimer) (Glover and Harrison 1995, Ainbinder et al. 1997).
Activation of p38 MAPKs and JNKs downstream of MAP3K5 (ASK1) ultimately converges on transcriptional regulation of CDKN2A locus. In dividing cells, nucleosomes bound to the CDKN2A locus are trimethylated on lysine residue 28 of histone H3 (HIST1H3A) by the Polycomb repressor complex 2 (PRC2), creating the H3K27Me3 (Me3K-28-HIST1H3A) mark (Bracken et al. 2007, Kotake et al. 2007). The expression of Polycomb constituents of PRC2 (Kuzmichev et al. 2002) - EZH2, EED and SUZ12 - and thereby formation of the PRC2, is positively regulated in growing cells by E2F1, E2F2 and E2F3 (Weinmann et al. 2001, Bracken et al. 2003). H3K27Me3 mark serves as a docking site for the Polycomb repressor complex 1 (PRC1) that contains BMI1 (PCGF4) and is therefore named PRC1.4, leading to the repression of transcription of p16INK4A and p14ARF from the CDKN2A locus, where PCR1.4 mediated repression of p14ARF transcription in humans may be context dependent (Voncken et al. 2005, Dietrich et al. 2007, Agherbi et al. 2009, Gao et al. 2012). MAPKAPK2 and MAPKAPK3, activated downstream of the MAP3K5-p38 MAPK cascade, phosphorylate BMI1 of the PRC1.4 complex, leading to dissociation of PRC1.4 complex from the CDKN2A locus and upregulation of p14ARF transcription (Voncken et al. 2005). AP-1 transcription factor, formed as a result of MAP3K5-JNK signaling, as well as RAS signaling, binds the promoter of KDM6B (JMJD3) gene and stimulates KDM6B expression. KDM6B is a histone demethylase that removes H3K27Me3 mark i.e. demethylates lysine K28 of HIST1H3A, thereby preventing PRC1.4 binding to the CDKN2A locus and allowing transcription of p16INK4A (Agger et al. 2009, Barradas et al. 2009, Lin et al. 2012).
p16INK4A inhibits phosphorylation-mediated inactivation of RB family members by CDK4 and CDK6, leading to cell cycle arrest (Serrano et al. 1993). p14ARF inhibits MDM2-mediated degradation of TP53 (p53) (Zhang et al. 1998), which also contributes to cell cycle arrest in cells undergoing oxidative stress. In addition, phosphorylation of TP53 by MAPKAPK5 (PRAK) activated downstream of MAP3K5-p38 MAPK signaling, activates TP53 and contributes to cellular senescence (Sun et al. 2007).
Here, transcriptional regulatory processes that mediate the SASP are annotated. DNA damage triggers ATM-mediated activation of TP53, resulting in the increased level of CDKN1A (p21). CDKN1A-mediated inhibition of CDK2 prevents phosphorylation and inactivation of the Cdh1:APC/C complex, allowing it to ubiquitinate and target for degradation EHMT1 and EHMT2 histone methyltransferases. As EHMT1 and EHMT2 methylate and silence the promoters of IL6 and IL8 genes, degradation of these methyltransferases relieves the inhibition of IL6 and IL8 transcription (Takahashi et al. 2012). In addition, oncogenic RAS signaling activates the CEBPB (C/EBP-beta) transcription factor (Nakajima et al. 1993, Lee et al. 2010), which binds promoters of IL6 and IL8 genes and stimulates their transcription (Kuilman et al. 2008, Lee et al. 2010). CEBPB also stimulates the transcription of CDKN2B (p15-INK4B), reinforcing the cell cycle arrest (Kuilman et al. 2008). CEBPB transcription factor has three isoforms, due to three alternative translation start sites. The CEBPB-1 isoform (C/EBP-beta-1) seems to be exclusively involved in growth arrest and senescence, while the CEBPB-2 (C/EBP-beta-2) isoform may promote cellular proliferation (Atwood and Sealy 2010 and 2011). IL6 signaling stimulates the transcription of CEBPB (Niehof et al. 2001), creating a positive feedback loop (Kuilman et al. 2009, Lee et al. 2010). NF-kappa-B transcription factor is also activated in senescence (Chien et al. 2011) through IL1 signaling (Jimi et al. 1996, Hartupee et al. 2008, Orjalo et al. 2009). NF-kappa-B binds IL6 and IL8 promoters and cooperates with CEBPB transcription factor in the induction of IL6 and IL8 transcription (Matsusaka et al. 1993, Acosta et al. 2008). Besides IL6 and IL8, their receptors are also upregulated in senescence (Kuilman et al. 2008, Acosta et al. 2008) and IL6 and IL8 may be master regulators of the SASP.
IGFBP7 is also an SASP component that is upregulated in response to oncogenic RAS-RAF-MAPK signaling and oxidative stress, as its transcription is directly stimulated by the AP-1 (JUN:FOS) transcription factor. IGFBP7 negatively regulates RAS-RAF (BRAF)-MAPK signaling and is important for the establishment of senescence in melanocytes (Wajapeyee et al. 2008).
Please refer to Young and Narita 2009 for a recent review.
signaling in
response to WNTTranscription of
Cell Cycle GenesTP53 controls transcription of genes involved in both G1 and G2 cell cycle arrest. The most prominent TP53 target involved in G1 arrest is the inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases CDKN1A (p21). CDKN1A is one of the earliest genes induced by TP53 (El-Deiry et al. 1993). CDKN1A binds and inactivates CDK2 in complex with cyclin A (CCNA) or E (CCNE), thus preventing G1/S transition (Harper et al. 1993). Nevertheless, under prolonged stress, the cell destiny may be diverted towards an apoptotic outcome. For instance, in case of an irreversible damage, TP53 can induce transcription of an RNA binding protein PCBP4, which can bind and destabilize CDKN1A mRNA, thus alleviating G1 arrest and directing the affected cell towards G2 arrest and, possibly, apoptosis (Zhu and Chen 2000, Scoumanne et al. 2011). Expression of E2F7 is directly induced by TP53. E2F7 contributes to G1 cell cycle arrest by repressing transcription of E2F1, a transcription factor that promotes expression of many genes needed for G1/S transition (Aksoy et al. 2012, Carvajal et al. 2012). ARID3A is a direct transcriptional target of TP53 (Ma et al. 2003) that may promote G1 arrest by cooperating with TP53 in induction of CDKN1A transcription (Lestari et al. 2012). However, ARID3A may also promote G1/S transition by stimulating transcriptional activity of E2F1 (Suzuki et al. 1998, Peeper et al. 2002).
TP53 contributes to the establishment of G2 arrest by inducing transcription of GADD45A and SFN, and by inhibiting transcription of CDC25C. TP53 induces GADD45A transcription in cooperation with chromatin modifying enzymes EP300, PRMT1 and CARM1 (An et al. 2004). GADD45A binds Aurora kinase A (AURKA), inhibiting its catalytic activity and preventing AURKA-mediated G2/M transition (Shao et al. 2006, Sanchez et al. 2010). GADD45A also forms a complex with PCNA. PCNA is involved in both normal and repair DNA synthesis. The effect of GADD45 interaction with PCNA, if any, on S phase progression, G2 arrest and DNA repair is not known (Smith et al. 1994, Hall et al. 1995, Sanchez et al. 2010, Kim et al. 2013). SFN (14-3-3-sigma) is induced by TP53 (Hermeking et al. 1997) and contributes to G2 arrest by binding to the complex of CDK1 and CCNB1 (cyclin B1) and preventing its translocation to the nucleus. Phosphorylation of a number of nuclear proteins by the complex of CDK1 and CCNB1 is needed for G2/M transition (Chan et al. 1999). While promoting G2 arrest, SFN can simultaneously inhibit apoptosis by binding to BAX and preventing its translocation to mitochondria, a step involved in cytochrome C release (Samuel et al. 2001). TP53 binds the promoter of the CDC25C gene in cooperation with the transcriptional repressor E2F4 and represses CDC25C transcription, thus maintaining G2 arrest (St Clair et al. 2004, Benson et al. 2014).
Several direct transcriptional targets of TP53 are involved in cell cycle arrest but their mechanism of action is still unknown. BTG2 is induced by TP53, leading to cessation of cellular proliferation (Rouault et al. 1996, Duriez et al. 2002). BTG2 binds to the CCR4-NOT complex and promotes mRNA deadenylation activity of this complex. Interaction between BTG2 and CCR4-NOT is needed for the antiproliferative activity of BTG2, but the underlying mechanism has not been elucidated (Rouault et al. 1998, Mauxion et al. 2008, Horiuchi et al. 2009, Doidge et al. 2012, Ezzeddine et al. 2012). Two polo-like kinases, PLK2 and PLK3, are direct transcriptional targets of TP53. TP53-mediated induction of PLK2 may be important for prevention of mitotic catastrophe after spindle damage (Burns et al. 2003). PLK2 is involved in the regulation of centrosome duplication through phosphorylation of centrosome-related proteins CENPJ (Chang et al. 2010) and NPM1 (Krause and Hoffmann 2010). PLK2 is frequently transcriptionally silenced through promoter methylation in B-cell malignancies (Syed et al. 2006). Induction of PLK3 transcription by TP53 (Jen and Cheung 2005) may be important for coordination of M phase events through PLK3-mediated nuclear accumulation of CDC25C (Bahassi et al. 2004). RGCC is induced by TP53 and implicated in cell cycle regulation, possibly through its association with PLK1 (Saigusa et al. 2007). PLAGL1 (ZAC1) is a zinc finger protein directly transcriptionally induced by TP53 (Rozenfeld-Granot et al. 2002). PLAGL1 expression is frequently lost in cancer (Varrault et al. 1998) and PLAGL1 has been implicated in both cell cycle arrest and apoptosis (Spengler et al. 1997), but its mechanism of action remains unknown.
The zinc finger transcription factor ZNF385A (HZF) is a direct transcriptional target of TP53 that can form a complex with TP53 and facilitate TP53-mediated induction of CDKN1A and SFN (14-3-3 sigma) transcription (Das et al. 2007).
For a review of the role of TP53 in cell cycle arrest and cell cycle transcriptional targets of TP53, please refer to Riley et al. 2008, Murray-Zmijewski et al. 2008, Bieging et al. 2014, Kruiswijk et al. 2015.
Nonendonucleolytic
RISCmRNA: miR-24 Nonendonucleolytic
RISCAnnotated Interactions
VENTX inhibits transcription of the Interleukin-6 (IL6) gene, thus promoting differentiation of primary monocytes into dendritic cells (Wu et al. 2014). The NFKB complex which competes with VENTX for binding to the IL6 gene promoter (Wu et al. 2014). It is not known whether histone H3K9 dimethylation at the VENTX promoter (Takahashi et al. 2012) is involved in VENTX-mediated transcriptional repression of IL6.
Nonendonucleolytic
RISCmRNA: miR-24 Nonendonucleolytic
RISCmRNA: miR-24 Nonendonucleolytic
RISC