Browsing by Author "Zeef, Leo AH."

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    Genome-wide analysis and proteomic studies reveal APE1/Ref-1 multifunctional role in mammalian cells
    (2009-02) Vascotto, Carlo; Cesaratto, Laura; Zeef, Leo AH.; Deganuto, Marta; D'Ambrosio, Chiara; Scaloni, Andrea; Romanello, Milena; Damante, Giuseppe; Taglialatela, Giulio; Delneri, Daniela; Kelley, Mark R.; Mitra, Sankar; Quadrifoglio, Franco; Tell, Gianluca
    Apurinic apyrimidinic endonuclease/redox effector factor 1 (APE1/Ref-1) protects cells from oxidative stress by acting as a central enzyme in base excision repair pathways of DNA lesions and through its independent activity as a redox transcriptional co-activator. Dysregulation of this protein has been associated with cancer development. At present, contrasting data have been published regarding the biological relevance of the two functions as well as the molecular mechanisms involved. Here, we combined both mRNA expression profiling and proteomic analysis to determine the molecular changes associated with APE1 loss-of-expression induced by siRNA technology. This approach identified a role of APE1 in cell growth, apoptosis, intracellular redox state, mitochondrial function, and cytoskeletal structure. Overall, our data show that APE1 acts as a hub in coordinating different and vital functions in mammalian cells, highlighting the molecular determinants of the multifunctional nature of APE1 protein.
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    Knock-in reconstitution studies reveal an unexpected role of Cys-65 in regulating APE1/Ref-1 subcellular trafficking and function
    (2011-08) Vascotto, Carlo; Bisetto, Elena; Li, Mengxia; Zeef, Leo AH.; D'Ambrosio, Chiara; Domenis, Rossana; Comelli, Marina; Delneri, Daniela; Scaloni, Andrea; Altieri, Fabio; Mavelli, Irene; Quadrifoglio, Franco; Kelley, Mark R.; Tell, Gianluca
    Apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1/redox factor-1 (APE1) protects cells from oxidative stress via the base excision repair pathway and as a redox transcriptional coactivator. It is required for tumor progression/metastasis, and its up-regulation is associated with cancer resistance. Loss of APE1 expression causes cell growth arrest, mitochondrial impairment, apoptosis, and alterations of the intracellular redox state and cytoskeletal structure. A detailed knowledge of the molecular mechanisms regulating its different activities is required to understand the APE1 function associated with cancer development and for targeting this protein in cancer therapy. To dissect these activities, we performed reconstitution experiments by using wild-type and various APE1 mutants. Our results suggest that the redox function is responsible for cell proliferation through the involvement of Cys-65 in mediating APE1 localization within mitochondria. C65S behaves as a loss-of-function mutation by affecting the in vivo folding of the protein and by causing a reduced accumulation in the intermembrane space of mitochondria, where the import protein Mia40 specifically interacts with APE1. Treatment of cells with (E)-3-(2-[5,6-dimethoxy-3-methyl-1,4-benzoquinonyl])-2-nonyl propenoic acid, a specific inhibitor of APE1 redox function through increased Cys-65 oxidation, confirm that Cys-65 controls APE1 subcellular trafficking and provides the basis for a new role for this residue.