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Genetics, Vol. 170, 161-171, May 2005, Copyright © 2005
doi:10.1534/genetics.104.036343
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,12
* Exelixis, South San Francisco, California 94083
Oncology Drug Discovery, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute, Princeton, New Jersey 08543
Applied Genomics, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute, Princeton, New Jersey 08543
2 Corresponding author: Genentech, 1 DNA Way, Bldg. 11, MS215, South San Francisco, CA 94080.
E-mail: mbelvin{at}gene.com
| ABSTRACT |
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One way to model tumor cells is to functionally inactivate the RB1 gene. In addition to being mutated in retinoblastomas, where it was initially discovered, RB1 is mutated in many other cancers including prostate (KUBOTA et al. 1995), bladder (MIYAMOTO et al. 1995), parathyroid (CRYNS et al. 1994), and 90% of small cell lung cancers (SCLCs) (MINNA et al. 2002). RB1 is also functionally inactivated in tumors that do not harbor mutations in the RB1 locus itself, but do carry mutations that target the pathway through the loss of cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) inhibitors or overexpression of Cyclin D1 or Cdk4 (reviewed in SHERR and MCCORMICK 2002). Additionally, the transforming activities of DNA tumor virus oncoproteins are mediated via their interaction with RB1 (HELT and GALLOWAY 2003).
The RB1 protein acts as a critical regulator of G1/S phase progression by binding to members of the E2F family of transcription factors (DYSON 1998; NEVINS 2001). E2F-RB1 complexes prevent entry into S phase by actively repressing transcription through the recruitment of histone deacetylases and other chromatin modifiers to E2F-responsive promoters (HARBOUR and DEAN 2000; OGAWA et al. 2002). Progression from G1 through S phase occurs when RB1 is inactivated through phosphorylation by the Cdk complexes Cyclin D/Cdk4 or Cyclin D/Cdk6 and Cyclin E/Cdk2 (LUNDBERG and WEINBERG 1998). Phosphorylation relieves transcriptional repression and allows E2F-dependent transcription of target genes required for S phase progression, such as Cyclin E (MORRIS et al. 2000) as well as enzymes required for DNA synthesis and metabolism (STEVAUX and DYSON 2002). In addition to its effects on cell proliferation, loss of RB1 predisposes cells to apoptosis through the actions of E2F on p53 (reviewed in CHAU and WANG 2003), thereby creating a selective pressure for tumors to accumulate mutations in p53.
Components of the RB1 pathway are being investigated as potential anticancer targets. These include the upstream kinases, Cdk2, Cdk4, and Cdk6, and the downstream effector of retinoblastoma (Rb), E2F (MCLAUGHLIN et al. 2003; VERMEULEN et al. 2003). These targeted approaches could lead to therapies with an improved profile of efficacy vs. toxicity compared to conventional treatment. It would also be of interest to identify novel targets involved in RB1 biology, especially those necessary for the viability of cells mutant for RB1. We therefore carried out a synthetic lethal screen in Drosophila to look for RB1-interacting genes.
Like its mammalian counterpart, Drosophila Rbf (CG7413) binds to E2F1 and regulates E2F target gene expression (DU et al. 1996; DU and DYSON 1999; DATAR et al. 2000; DICK and DYSON 2003) and is regulated by the Cdk complexes Cyclin D/Cdk4 and Cyclin E/Cdc2c (XIN et al. 2002), indicating that the function of RB1 is conserved between Drosophila and mammals.
To identify novel therapeutic targets in the RB1 pathway, we performed a synthetic lethal genetic screen in Drosophila to identify recessive mutations that result in the loss of cells that lack dRB1 (Rbf), but allow wild-type cells (Rbf+) to survive. The synthetic lethal approach is commonplace in unicellular organisms such as yeast, where synthetic lethality is scored via organismal death. In multicellular organisms, however, synthetic lethality cannot be scored simply by organismal lethality, because desired mutations may cause organismal lethality on their own due to their function in essential tissues or cell types. An additional complication in the case of Rbf is that it itself is required for embryonic survival. To circumvent this issue, we generated mosaic animals that carry clones of Rbf tissue in the eye, whereas the rest of the animal is Rbf+. We then generated overlapping clones of homozygous induced mutations in the eye and screened for potential synthetic lethality by scoring for the absence of clones carrying both the induced mutation and the Rbf mutation. We report the identification of a mutation in a novel highly conserved peptidyl prolyl isomerase that preferentially eliminates Rbf mutant cells.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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Genetic mapping of modifiers:
Only synthetic lethal modifiers that were also homozygous organismal lethal were mapped. Recombination mapping of the synthetic lethal phenotype was conducted using al1 dpov1 b1 pr1 cn1 c1 px1 sp1 for hits on the second chromosome or ru1 h1 th1 st1 cu1 sr1 es ca1 for hits on the third chromosome and selecting for recombinants that retained a FRT. A copy of ey-FLP (EFL2 or EFL3) was crossed in and recombinants were scored for organismal lethality and synthetic lethality (Table 3). The organismal lethal phenotype was further mapped using deficiencies obtained from the Bloomington Stock Center and deficiencies created by Exelixis (PARKS et al. 2004) that span the region identified by the recombination mapping (Table 4). Homozygous lethal transposons residing within interacting deficiencies were assayed for lethality in conjunction with our screen hits. Candidate loci within the mapped regions were analyzed by DNA sequencing.
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Mutation detection of KE1 alleles:
Staggered sequencing primers, spaced at 120- to 150-bp intervals and facing both directions, were designed for all open reading frames and their flanking regions throughout the genomic region of interest: coordinates 2004752620093250 (FlyBase release 4.0). The selected forward and reverse PCR primer pairs were then used to amplify the regions of interest, using genomic DNA prepared from five individual larvae (large larvae in the case of homozygous mutants or the parental mutagenized strain for controls). Using this procedure, we were able to obtain high-quality fragments of genomic DNA up to 10 kb in length, although the usual product length was
7 kb. Products were amplified for 30 cycles using a modified long-range PCR protocol with Takara (Berkeley, CA) LA Taq polymerase, checked on agarose gels, and purified with the Millipore (Bedford, MA) MultiScreen PCR cleanup kit. Purified PCR products were used as templates for sequencing, using the above-designed staggered sequencing primers and primer walking in both directions to obtain full-length sequence. ABI (Columbia, MD) BigDye sequencing reactions were performed according to manufacturer's protocol using 2080 ng PCR product. Reactions were ethanol precipitated and loaded onto an ABI 3700 sequencer. Sequencing traces were uploaded to a Unix workstation, assembled with the PhredPhrap package, and viewed and analyzed with Consed. Of the nine currently annotated open reading frames in this region (FlyBase release 4.0), five were sequenced in entirety: CG3511, CG12252, Nurf-38, CG12252, and CG3522. Additionally, in KE1-2 mutants, we sequenced the entire upstream region of CG3511, through to the adjacent locus of CG12252.
Taqman analysis of transcripts:
Both KE1-1 and KE1-2 were stocked over marked CyO-GFP balancer chromosomes (Table 1). Triplicate groups of 10 third instar larvae negative for GFP were collected from isoFS2R, KE1-1, and KE1-2 animals (Table 1). Total RNA was collected using QIAGEN's (Valencia, CA) RNeasy kit for total RNA isolation from animal tissue. The RNA was reverse transcribed into cDNA [Applied Biosystems (Foster City, CA) Multiscribe reverse transcriptaserandom hexamer primed]. TaqMan primer/probe assays were carried out for 18S ribosomal RNA, CG3511, and the adjacent locus CG3522. Relative quantity values were obtained for each sample compared to a cDNA standard curve. Standard cDNA was created by reverse transcribing total RNA from an isogenic w fly strain (Exelixis strain A5001, BL-6326). TaqMan assays were run on the ABI PRISM 7900HT sequence detection system. Normalized values for the quantity of CG3511 transcript levels were generated by dividing the CG3511 values by the 18S values for each sample.
Protein sequence data mining:
Protein sequences related to the CG3511 protein were found by a combination of BLAST and Smith-Waterman pairwise analyses against human sequence databases and all sequence databases from the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Sequences were additionally mined solely on the basis of being predicted to contain the Pfam domain models found in CG3511; sequences containing the prolyl isomerase domain (model PF00160) either alone or following three to four WD domains (model PF0400) were identified and analyzed. Only sequences with Pfam scores >0 and E-values <1 were used in the analyses. All sequences data mined were analyzed against the fly genome to select those with top BLAST scores to CG3511 and not to another fly protein sequence. Those meeting BLAST requirements were termed orthologs. All mined sequences that conserved the PF00400 and PF00160 domain organization met orthology criteria, while none of the PF00160 only sequences did. Sequence alignments were performed using Clustal W and visualized by a tree diagram for multiple sequence alignments or by BOXSHADE for pairwise alignments.
| RESULTS |
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To circumvent the requirement for Rbf during development, we constructed a transgenic Rbf+ screening strain bearing a FLP-FRT rescue transgene to provide wild-type Rbf to all cells and to mark Rbf+ cells in the developing eye with w+ (Figure 1B, Table 1). This transgenic strain is rescued to complete viability and fertility and generates marked viable clones of Rbf, w cells where FLP recombinase is expressed. To generate homozygous clones of newly induced mutations in the F1 progeny, these flies also carried a FRT at the base of one of the autosomal chromosomal arms in cis to a Minute mutation (MFRTs) (Figure 2; LAMBERTSSON 1998) to generate the Rbf screening stocks (Table 1). For the screen, a low frequency of mutations was induced by EMS in w males carrying an autosomal FRT chromosome plus ey-FLP. These flies were then crossed to the transgenic Rbf screening stock females. ey-FLP generates overlapping clones of both Rbf, w (from the screening stock females) and the mutagenized FRT autosome (from males) in the eyes of the F1 progeny, thereby enabling us to screen for recessive synthetic lethal mutations in a single generation. Putative synthetic lethal progeny were identified by the presence of solid red eyes (Rbf, M, w+), indicating that the mutant cells (Rbf, w) are absent. We screened through individual progeny from crosses generating mitotic clones on the second and third autosomes, which constitute
80% of the genome. We screened 342,000 mutagenized chromosomes and initially identified 1585 chromosomes bearing putative synthetic lethal mutations in combination with Rbf (Table 2), for retest and counterscreening in the following generation.
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50% was also observed in homozygous KE1-1 larvae. This reduction in mRNA levels in mutants was specific to CG3511, since transcript levels of adjacent genes were present at normal levels (data not shown). A likely explanation is that the KE1-2 mutant contains an aberration in a distant cis-regulatory element controlling the transcript levels of CG3511. KE1-2 was introduced into our screening and counterscreening strains to test its interactions with Rbf in the eye. Clones homozygous for KE1-2 failed to survive in Rbf but not Rbf+ eyes, confirming that the mutation on the KE1-2 chromosome is sufficient to confer the Rbf synthetic phenotype (data not shown). As with KE1-1, recombination mapping using visible markers demonstrated that the Rbf-dependent synthetic lethality, large larvae phenotype, and organismal lethality of KE1-2 all cosegregated with the region distal to 60C, containing CG3511. Thus, even though we were unable to define the nucleotide changes in KE1-2 mutants, these mapping data suggest that the KE1-2 chromosome contains a lesion that cosegregates with the same narrowly defined region containing CG3511 and that causes a reduction in the levels of this transcript. The most plausible explanation is that the KE1-2 mutant chromosome bears a lesion in a cis-regulatory element in CG3511, and that the observed reduction in transcript levels is sufficient to confer the Rbf-dependent phenotype.
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| DISCUSSION |
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Peptidyl prolyl isomerases belong to an extended protein superfamily whose members all catalyze the cis-trans isomerization of proline imidic bonds in polypeptides. The superfamily includes the cyclophilin-like peptidyl prolyl isomerases (Cyp), the FK-506-binding proteins (immunophilin/FKBP), and the parvulin/Pin proteins (SHAW 2002). In addition to sequence and structural divergence, differences in substrates and sensitivity to inhibitors distinguish members within these families (HARRISON and STEIN 1990; HENNIG et al. 1998). Mechanistically, interconversion of x-Pro bond cis-trans conformation can alter protein folding and the conformation of the native state, leading to potential effects on protein function and regulation of serine/threonine phosphorylation events (ANDREOTTI 2003; WEIWAD et al. 2004). PPIases have been shown to play diverse functional roles in the cell and some, like Pin1, have been implicated in cellular transformation and human cancer (BAO et al. 2004; YEH et al. 2004).
There is considerable evidence in the literature to support a mechanistic link between the PPIase Pin1 and its regulation of the cell cycle and apoptosis (LU 2003; URIST and PRIVES 2004). Pin1 alters the conformation of the p53 family members p53 and p73 and is required for them to induce the DNA damage checkpoint in response to genotoxic stress (ZACCHI et al. 2002; ZHENG et al. 2002; URIST and PRIVES 2004). Pin1 has also been shown to interact with Cdc25 and Plk1 and to modulate Cyclin D1 expression levels and activity and Rb phosphorylation (LIOU et al. 2002; SHAW 2002; YOU et al. 2002). In turn, Pin1 itself is a direct target of E2F activity, participating in a positive feedback loop involving cyclin D1/Cdks, E2F, and RB1 (RYO et al. 2002). Loss of Pin1 in mouse embryonic fibroblasts causes cell cycle defects and decreases the levels of cyclinD1 and phosphorylated RB1 (YOU et al. 2002). Similarly, Pin1 knockout mice display a range of proliferative defects, many of which are attributed to its effects on Cyclin D1 (LIOU et al. 2002). Although KIAA0073, the human ortholog of CG3511, has not been studied as extensively as Pin1, it is possible that KIAA0073 and other PPIases aside from Pin1 might also interact with components of the cell cycle and checkpoint pathways, as was previously suggested from the comparatively mild knockout phenotype observed for Pin1 (LIOU et al. 2002).
In summary, we describe a novel conserved gene, CG3511, which when mutated (as in KE1-1) or when its transcript levels are reduced in abundance (as in KE1-2) results in the specific loss of Rbf cells in the Drosophila eye. Future experiments will elucidate how the PPIase protein family may interact with RB1 to regulate cell survival and/or proliferation. KIAA0073 may represent an efficacious and novel anti-cancer drug target whose inhibition might result in the specific death of RB1 mutant cells. Such a synthetic lethal target would have applications in several RB1 pathway-dependent cancers, such as SCLC (SHERR and MCCORMICK 2002), and may represent a unique opportunity for targeted therapeutics.
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |
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| FOOTNOTES |
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3 Present address: Genentech, South San Francisco, CA 94080. ![]()
4 Present address: Department of Biology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467. ![]()
5 Present address: EnVivo Pharmaceuticals, Watertown, MA 02472. ![]()
6 Present address: Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, UCLA School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095. ![]()
7 Present address: DOE Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA 94598. ![]()
8 Present address: Celera Genomics, South San Francisco, CA 94080. ![]()
9 Present address: Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305. ![]()
10 Present address: Pediatrics Department, University of California, UCSF School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA 94143. ![]()
11 Present address: Institute for Genomic Research, Rockville, MD 20850. ![]()
12 Present address: Merck Research Laboratories, Boston, MA 02115. ![]()
13 Present address: Biotech Initiative, Chapel Hill, NC 27516. ![]()
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Communicating editor: R. S. HAWLEY
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