p53 is a master tumour repressor that participates in vast regulatory networks, including feedback loops involving microRNAs (miRNAs) that regulate p53 and that themselves are direct p53 transcriptional targets. We show here that a group of polycistronic miRNA-like non-coding RNAs derived from small nucleolar RNAs (sno-miRNAs) are transcriptionally repressed by p53 through their host gene, SNHG1. The most abundant of these, sno-miR-28, directly targets the p53-stabilizing gene, TAF9B. Collectively, p53, SNHG1, sno-miR-28 and TAF9B form a regulatory loop which affects p53 stability and downstream p53-regulated pathways. In addition, SNHG1, SNORD28 and sno-miR-28 are all significantly upregulated in breast tumours and the overexpression of sno-miR-28 promotes breast epithelial cell proliferation. This research has broadened our knowledge of the crosstalk between small non-coding RNA pathways and roles of sno-miRNAs in p53 regulation.
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a cancer of the epithelial cells lining the nasopharynx. The incidence of NPC has a distinct geographical distribution, mainly affecting the Chinese population of Southern China. In Malaysia, this cancer is exceptionally prevalent among males. There is a high incidence rate of NPC among the Bidayuh natives in Sarawak, Malaysia. Other than epidemiology reports, there has not been an article describing plausible cancer risk factors contributing to NPC within this native group. Researchers are still trying to understand the reasons the Bidayuh and Southern Chinese are highly susceptible to NPC. This article discusses the risk factors of developing NPC: Epstein-Barr virus infection, genetic predisposition, diet, environmental exposure and tobacco smoking. There is a need to improve the understanding of the role of risk factors to identify new ways to prevent cancer, especially among high-risk groups.
In searching for drugs from natural product scaffolds has gained interest among researchers. In this study, a series of twelve halogenated thiourea (ATX 1-12)via chemical modification of aspirin (a natural product derivative) and evaluated for cytotoxic activity against nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cell lines, HK-1 via MTS-based colorimetric assay. The cytotoxicity studies demonstrated that halogens at meta position of ATX showed promising activity against HK-1 cells (IC50 value ≤15 µM) in comparison to cisplatin, a positive cytotoxic drug (IC50 value =8.9 ± 1.9 µM). ATX 11, bearing iodine at meta position, showed robust cytotoxicity against HK-1 cells with an IC50 value of 4.7 ± 0.7 µM. Molecular docking interactions between ATX 11 and cyclooxygenase-2 demonstrated a robust binding affinity value of -8.1 kcal/mol as compared to aspirin's binding affinity value of -6.4 kcal/mol. The findings represent a promising lead molecule from natural product with excellent cytotoxic activity against NPC cell lines.
Missense mutations in the TP53 tumor-suppressor gene inactivate its antitumorigenic properties and endow the incipient cells with newly acquired oncogenic properties that drive invasion and metastasis. Although the oncogenic effect of mutant p53 transcriptome has been widely acknowledged, the global influence of mutant p53 on cancer cell proteome remains to be fully elucidated. Here, we show that mutant p53 drives the release of invasive extracellular factors (the 'secretome') that facilitates the invasion of lung cancer cell lines. Proteomic characterization of the secretome from mutant p53-inducible H1299 human non-small cell lung cancer cell line discovered that the mutant p53 drives its oncogenic pathways through modulating the gene expression of numerous targets that are subsequently secreted from the cells. Of these genes, alpha-1 antitrypsin (A1AT) was identified as a critical effector of mutant p53 that drives invasion in vitro and in vivo, together with induction of epithelial-mesenchymal transition markers expression. Mutant p53 upregulated A1AT transcriptionally through the involvement with its family member p63. Conditioned medium containing secreted A1AT enhanced cell invasion, while an A1AT-blocking antibody attenuated the mutant p53-driven migration and invasion. Importantly, high A1AT expression correlated with increased tumor stage, elevated p53 staining and shorter overall survival in lung adenocarcinoma patients. Collectively, these findings suggest that A1AT is an indispensable target of mutant p53 with prognostic and therapeutic potential in mutant p53-expressing tumors.
Ankrd11 is a potential chromatin regulator implicated in neural development and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with no known function in the brain. Here, we show that knockdown of Ankrd11 in developing murine or human cortical neural precursors caused decreased proliferation, reduced neurogenesis, and aberrant neuronal positioning. Similar cellular phenotypes and aberrant ASD-like behaviors were observed in Yoda mice carrying a point mutation in the Ankrd11 HDAC-binding domain. Consistent with a role for Ankrd11 in histone acetylation, Ankrd11 was associated with chromatin and colocalized with HDAC3, and expression and histone acetylation of Ankrd11 target genes were altered in Yoda neural precursors. Moreover, the Ankrd11 knockdown-mediated decrease in precursor proliferation was rescued by inhibiting histone acetyltransferase activity or expressing HDAC3. Thus, Ankrd11 is a crucial chromatin regulator that controls histone acetylation and gene expression during neural development, thereby providing a likely explanation for its association with cognitive dysfunction and ASD.
Mutant p53 impacts the expression of numerous genes at the level of transcription to mediate oncogenesis. We identified vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2), the primary functional VEGF receptor that mediates endothelial cell vascularization, as a mutant p53 transcriptional target in multiple breast cancer cell lines. Up-regulation of VEGFR2 mediates the role of mutant p53 in increasing cellular growth in two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) culture conditions. Mutant p53 binds near the VEGFR2 promoter transcriptional start site and plays a role in maintaining an open conformation at that location. Relatedly, mutant p53 interacts with the SWI/SNF complex, which is required for remodeling the VEGFR2 promoter. By both querying individual genes regulated by mutant p53 and performing RNA sequencing, the results indicate that >40% of all mutant p53-regulated gene expression is mediated by SWI/SNF. We surmise that mutant p53 impacts transcription of VEGFR2 as well as myriad other genes by promoter remodeling through interaction with and likely regulation of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex. Therefore, not only might mutant p53-expressing tumors be susceptible to anti VEGF therapies, impacting SWI/SNF tumor suppressor function in mutant p53 tumors may also have therapeutic potential.