Browsing by Author "Nakshatri, H"

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
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    Constitutive activation of NF-kappaB during progression of breast cancer to hormone-independent growth.
    (American Society for Microbiology, 1997-07) Nakshatri, H; Bhat-Nakshatri, P; Martin, D A; Goulet, R J; Sledge, G W
    Breast cancers often progress from a hormone-dependent, nonmetastatic, antiestrogen-sensitive phenotype to a hormone-independent, antiestrogen- and chemotherapy-resistant phenotype with highly invasive and metastatic growth properties. This progression is usually accompanied by altered function of the estrogen receptor (ER) or outgrowth of ER-negative cancer cells. To understand the molecular mechanisms responsible for metastatic growth of ER-negative breast cancers, the activities of the transcription factor NF-kappaB (which modulates the expression of genes involved in cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, and metastasis) were compared in ER-positive (MCF-7 and T47-D) and ER-negative (MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-435) human breast cancer cell lines. NF-kappaB, which is usually maintained in an inactive state by protein-protein interaction with inhibitor IkappaBs, was found to be constitutively active in ER-negative breast cancer cell lines. Constitutive DNA binding of NF-kappaB was also observed with extracts from ER-negative, poorly differentiated primary breast tumors. Progression of the rat mammary carcinoma cell line RM22-F5 from an ER-positive, nonmalignant phenotype (E phenotype) to an ER-negative, malignant phenotype (F phenotype) was also accompanied by constitutive activation of NF-kappaB. Analysis of individual subunits of NF-kappaB revealed that all ER-negative cell lines, including RM22-F5 cells of F phenotype, contain a unique 37-kDa protein which is antigenically related to the RelA subunit. Cell-type-specific differences in IkappaB alpha, -beta, and -gamma were also observed. In transient-transfection experiments, constitutive activity of an NF-kappaB-dependent promoter was observed in MDA-MB-231 and RM22-F5 cells of F phenotype, and this activity was efficiently repressed by cotransfected ER. Since ER inhibits the constitutive as well as inducible activation function of NF-kappaB in a dose-dependent manner, we propose that breast cancers that lack functional ER overexpress NF-kappaB-regulated genes. Furthermore, since recent data indicate that NF-kappaB protects cells from tumor necrosis factor alpha-, ionizing radiation-, and chemotherapeutic agent daunorubicin-mediated apoptosis, our results provide an explanation for chemotherapeutic resistance in ER-negative breast cancers.
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    Functional role of BK virus tumor antigens in transformation.
    (American Society for Microbiology, 1988-12) Nakshatri, H; Pater, M M; Pater, A
    We have examined the role of the human papovavirus BK virus (BKV) tumor (T) antigen(s) in the maintenance of transformation and have identified the domain of T antigen essential for transformation. BKV-transformed BHK 21 and NIH 3T3 cells expressing antisense T-antigen RNA lose their ability to grow in soft agar, indicating the need for the continued expression of T antigen for the maintenance of the transformed phenotype. Experiments using translation termination linker insertion and deletion mutagenesis of BKV T antigen demonstrate that amino acids 356 to 384 are essential for transformation. Although BKV T antigen shares 100, 95, and 82% amino acid homology with that of simian virus 40 (SV40) for the nuclear localization signal, p53-binding domain, and DNA-binding domain, respectively, the transformation domains of BKV and SV40 T antigens share only 54% homology. Also, BKV T antigen lacks a substantial portion of the ATPase domain of SV40, and our results indicate the dispensability of the remaining portion for transformation by this protein. We suggest that the differences in the amino acids in the identified transformation domains together with the differences in the ATPase domains may account for the differences in the transformation potentials of the two proteins.
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    Mouse retinoic acid receptor alpha 2 isoform is transcribed from a promoter that contains a retinoic acid response element.
    (National Academy of Sciences, 1991-11-15) Leroy, P; Nakshatri, H; Chambon, P
    We have characterized the promoter of the mouse retinoic acid receptor alpha 2 (mRAR-alpha 2) isoform. This promoter contains a retinoic acid response element (RARE) that closely resembles the RARE that is present in the RAR-beta 2 promoter. Moreover, RAR-alpha 2 and RAR-beta 2 proximal promoter sequences are similar to each other and generate transcripts whose respective start sites are located at similar positions. The RAR-alpha 2 RARE consists of two directly repeated 5'-GTTCA-3' motifs to which all three RARs (alpha, beta, and gamma) bind in vitro.
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    Multiple parameters determine the specificity of transcriptional response by nuclear receptors HNF-4, ARP-1, PPAR, RAR and RXR through common response elements.
    (Oxford University Press, 1998-05-15) Nakshatri, H; Bhat-Nakshatri, P
    A number of nuclear receptors, including retinoic acid receptors (RARs), retinoid-X receptors (RXRs), hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 (HNF-4), chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter transcription factor I (COUP-TFI), apolipoprotein regulatory protein 1 (ARP-1) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR), bind to response elements comprised of two core motifs, 5'-RG(G/T)TCA, or a closely related sequence separated by 1 nt (DR1 elements). The potential role of the precise sequence of the core motif as well as the spacer nucleotide in determining specificity and promiscuity of receptor-response element interactions was investigated. We show here that nucleotides at base positions 1, 2 and 4 of the core motif as well as the spacer nucleotide determine the binding preference of HNF-4 and ARP-1 homodimers and RAR:RXR and PPAR:RXR heterodimers. In transfection experiments transcriptional activation by HNF-4 and PPAR:RXR and repression by ARP-1 correlated with the relative in vitro binding affinity provided the element was located within the proper promoter context. Furthermore, promoter context also determined whether an element that binds to HNF-4 and PPAR:RXR with equal affinity functions as an HNF-4 response element or PPAR response element. Thus, apart from the element-specific differences in affinity for the receptors, additional promoter-specific transcription factors that interact with HNF-4 and PPAR:RXR determine the specificity of transcriptional response through DR1-type elements.
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    RARs and RXRs: evidence for two autonomous transactivation functions (AF-1 and AF-2) and heterodimerization in vivo.
    (EMBO Press, 1993-06) Nagpal, S; Friant, S; Nakshatri, H; Chambon, P
    We have previously reported that the AB regions of retinoic acid receptors (RARs and RXRs) contain a transcriptional activation function capable of modulating the activity of the ligand-dependent activation function present in the C-terminal DE regions of these receptors. However, we could not demonstrate that these AB regions possess an autonomous activation function similar to the AF-1s found in the AB regions of steroid hormone receptors. Using the mouse CRBPII promoter as a reporter gene, we now report that the AB regions of RAR alpha, beta and gamma, as well as those of RXR alpha and gamma, contain an autonomous, ligand-independent activation function, AF-1, which can efficiently synergize with AF-2s. Moreover, AF-1s account for the ligand-independent, constitutive activation of transcription by RXR alpha and gamma. We also show that RARs and RXRs preferentially heterodimerize in solution in cultured cells in vivo, through the dimerization interface present in their E region, irrespective of the presence of all-trans or 9-cis retinoic acid. Furthermore, our results indicate that homodimeric interactions are not observed in cultured cells in vivo under conditions where heterodimeric interactions readily occur, which is in agreement with previous observations showing the preferential binding of RAR-RXR heterodimers to RA response elements in vitro.
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    Repression of transforming-growth-factor-beta-mediated transcription by nuclear factor kappaB.
    (Portland Press, 2000-06-15) Nagarajan, R P; Chen, F; Li, W; Vig, E; Harrington, M A; Nakshatri, H; Chen, Y
    Activation of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) and activin receptors leads to phosphorylation of Sma- and Mad-related protein 2 (Smad2) and Smad3, which function as transcription factors to regulate gene expression. Smad7 is a regulatory protein which is able to inhibit TGF-beta and activin signalling in a negative-feedback loop, mediated by a direct regulation by Smad3 and Smad4 via a Smad-binding element (SBE) in the Smad7 promoter. Interestingly, we found that the Smad7 promoter was also regulated by nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB), a transcription factor which plays an important role in inflammation and the immune response. Expression of NF-kappaB p65 subunit was able to inhibit the Smad7 promoter activity, and this inhibition could be reversed by co-expression of IkappaB, an inhibitor of NF-kappaB. In addition, the inhibitory activity of p65 was observed in a minimal promoter that contained only the Smad7 SBE and a TATA box, without any consensus NF-kappaB binding site. This inhibitory effect appeared to be common to other TGF-beta- and activin-responsive promoters, since p65 also inhibited the forkhead-activin-signal-transducer-2-mediated activation of a Xenopus Mix.2 promoter, as well as the Smad3-mediated activation of 3TP-lux which contains PMA-responsive elements and a plasminogen-activator-inhibitor-1 promoter. Activation of endogenous NF-kappaB by tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) was also able to inhibit the Smad7 promoter in human embryonic kidney 293 cells. In human hepatoma HepG2 cells, TNF-alpha was able to inhibit TGF-beta- and activin-mediated transcriptional activation. Furthermore, overexpression of the transcription co-activator p300 could abrogate the inhibitory effect of NF-kappaB on the Smad7 promoter. Taken together, these data have indicated a novel mode of crosstalk between the Smad and the NF-kappaB signalling cascades at the transcriptional level by competing for a limiting pool of transcription co-activators.
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    A retinoic acid response element is present in the mouse cellular retinol binding protein I (mCRBPI) promoter.
    (EMBO Press, 1991-08) Smith, W C; Nakshatri, H; Leroy, P; Rees, J; Chambon, P
    Genomic and cDNA sequences for the mouse cellular retinol binding protein I (mCRBPI) are presented. A specific cis-acting element responsible for retinoic acid (RA) inducibility of the mCRBPI promoter was identified and characterized. Deletion mapping of a CRBPI promoter--chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene construct localized this element to a 259 bp restriction fragment located approximately 1 kb upstream from the transcription start-site. A sequence closely resembling the previously characterized RA response element (RARE) of the RA receptor beta 2 (RAR-beta 2) promoter, and consisting of a direct repeat of the motif 5'-GGTCA-3' separated by three nucleotides, was found within this restriction fragment. Mutation of these 5'-GGTCA-3' motifs to GGAGC and GGGGC abolished RA-inducible transcription whereas a mutation to a direct repeat of the GTTCA motif found in the RARE of the RAR-beta 2 promoter resulted in enhanced inducibility. Oligonucleotides containing the direct repeat of the GGTCA motif were able to confer RA-dependent transcriptional enhancement to the herpes simplex thymidine kinase promoter, as well as to bind directly all three retinoic acid receptors (RARs) alpha, beta and gamma, as determined by gel retardation/shift assays. The control of CRBPI gene transcription by RA-RAR complexes interacting with the RARE characterized here may correspond to a feedback mechanism important in regulating retinoid metabolism and action.
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    Tumour necrosis factor and PI3-kinase control oestrogen receptor alpha protein level and its transrepression function
    (Springer Nature, 2004-02-23) Bhat-Nakshatri, P; Campbell, R A; Patel, N M; Newton, T R; King, A J; Marshall, M S; Ali, S; Nakshatri, H