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Molecular and Cellular Biology, March 2000, p. 2014-2022, Vol. 20, No. 6
Friedrich Miescher Institute, Basel,
Switzerland
Received 21 July 1999/Returned for modification 20 September
1999/Accepted 22 December 1999
Expression of genes of the plasminogen activator (PA) system
declines at the G0/G1-S-phase boundary of the
cell cycle. We found that overexpression of E2F1-3, which acts mainly
in late G1, inhibits promoter activity and endogenous
expression of the urokinase-type PA (uPA) and PA inhibitor 1 (PAI-1)
genes. This effect is dose dependent and conserved in evolution.
Mutation analysis indicated that both the DNA-binding and
transactivation domains of E2F1 are necessary for this regulation.
Interestingly, an E2F1 mutant lacking the pRB-binding region strongly
repressed the uPA and PAI-1 promoters. An E2F-mediated negative effect
was also observed in pRB and p107/p130 knockout cell lines. This is the
first report that E2F can act as a repressor independently of pocket
proteins. Mutation of AP-1 elements in the uPA promoter abrogated
E2F-mediated transcriptional inhibition, suggesting the involvement of
AP-1 in this regulation. Results shown here identify E2F as an
important component of transcriptional control of the PA system and
thus provide new insights into mechanisms of cellular proliferation.
Extracellular proteolysis,
especially that mediated by the plasminogen activator (PA) system,
plays an important role in various physiological and pathological
processes, such as angiogenesis, wound healing, inflammation, and tumor
metastasis (1, 27). PAs, urokinase-type PA (uPA) and
tissue-type PA (tPA), are secreted serine proteases that convert the
ubiquitous zymogen plasminogen to plasmin. This trypsin-like protease
degrades a wide range of substrates, including various extracellular
matrix proteins, such as fibronectin, vitronectin, and fibrin. Of the
two PAs, uPA is considered to be engaged more in cell-associated
proteolysis due to the presence of a cell surface-associated uPA
receptor (uPAR). The activities of both uPA and tPA are negatively
regulated by the binding of PA inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) and PAI-2, which are
members of the serine protease inhibitor superfamily. Interestingly,
both uPA and PAI-1 are highly expressed in various metastatic tumors, suggesting that controlled proteolysis is important for metastasis (1).
The PA system may also have a significant role in cell cycle
progression, where cells undergo detachment from neighboring cells and
the extracellular matrix. It has been reported that PAI-1 and uPA mRNAs
are rapidly induced soon after exposure of growth-arrested cells to
serum-containing medium and that this expression declines prior to DNA
synthesis in the G1-to-S transition phase (21, 55,
66). This pattern of expression appears also in the second cell
cycle of synchronized cells, suggesting that the regulation is cell
cycle dependent. Induction of the transcription of these genes in
early-to-mid-G1 phase is thought to be mediated through
AP-1- and c-myc-responsive elements present in their promoters (33, 55). However, the suppression mechanism acting on the transcription of these genes in late G1 has not been elucidated.
One of the key regulators of cell cycle events at the boundary of the
G0/G1 and S phases is the E2F transcription
factor (38, 63). This factor regulates the transcription of
several genes required for DNA replication and cell cycle progression
(23, 35, 49). E2F acts as a transcription activator or
repressor, depending on the promoter context. Active E2F is a
heterodimer of an E2F family member (E2F1-6) and a DP family member
(DP1 or DP2) (65). The E2F protein is composed of
functionally distinct domains responsible for binding to DNA,
dimerization with a DP partner, and transactivation. The latter domain
contains sites for interaction with a pocket-binding protein (pRB,
p107, or p130) and other cofactors such as CBP (CREB-binding protein)
(61), MDM2 (40), and TRRAP
(transformation-transcription domain-associated protein)
(41). Binding of a pocket protein to E2F suppresses its
transactivation activity (14, 51) or converts it to an active repressor (24, 67) that exerts its inhibitory effect partly by recruiting histone deacetylase (9) or by
interaction with general transcription factors (64). E2F6
shares homology with other E2F family members in the DNA-binding and
dimerization domains but lacks transactivation and pocket
protein-binding domains. Thus, it acts as a negative regulator
countering the activity of other E2F members (19, 60).
In the present work, we investigated the role of the PA system in cell
cycle regulation by examining the control of uPA and PAI-1 gene
expression by the E2F transcription factor. We found that
overexpression of E2F1, E2F2, and E2F3 can repress transcription of the
uPA and PAI-1 genes. We provide evidence that active repression by E2F
is independent of pocket protein partners. We demonstrated the
importance of the AP-1-responsive element in E2F transcriptional regulation of the uPA promoter.
Cell culture.
LLC-PK1 pig epithelial cells, 293 human kidney epithelial cells, mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEF), and U2OS
and SAOS-2 human osteosarcoma cells were cultured in Dulbecco's
modified Eagle's medium (GIBCO-BRL) supplemented with 10% (vol/vol)
fetal calf serum (AMIMED), streptomycin at 0.2 mg/ml, and penicillin at
50 U/ml at 37°C in a humidified CO2 (5%) incubator.
WI-38 human lung fibroblasts were cultured in minimum essential medium
(GIBCO-BRL) supplemented with 15% fetal calf serum.
Plasmids.
The wild-type and mutant E2F1 expression vectors
pRcCMV-E2F1, pRcCMV-E132, pRcCMV-del24, and pRcCMV-del5 have been
previously described (24, 29, 31). The uPA-CAT 5' deletion
constructs were provided by D. von der Ahe (32),
pBL-PAI-1-CAT was from A. Riccio (52), Transient-transfection assays.
LLC-PK1 cells
(0.3 × 106/well) were plated in six-well
(35-mm-diameter) tissue culture plates and transfected by the calcium phosphate precipitation method (Pharmacia Biotech Inc.). Amounts of
transfected DNA are indicated in the figure legends. Cell extracts were
assayed for luciferase activity as described previously (6) using a luminometer (Autolumat LB 953; Berthold) and for CAT activity using a CAT enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit (Boehringer Mannheim).
0270-7306/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Pocket Protein-Independent Repression of
Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator and Plasminogen Activator
Inhibitor 1 Gene Expression by E2F1
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ABSTRACT
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
References
![]()
INTRODUCTION
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
References
![]()
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
References
1452 tPA-CAT
(42) and
1.1 PAI-2-CAT (15) were from R. Medcalf, and the PAI-1-luciferase construct p800 was from D. Loskutoff
(62). AP-1 binding site mutant forms of the uPA promoter
were constructed by site-directed mutagenesis on the basis of a
2.5
uPA chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) reporter plasmid.
tPA(+enh).CAT was constructed by inserting the uPA enhancer fragment
(
1968 to
1870) covering two AP-1 sites but void of Ets and NF
sites immediately upstream of the minimal tPA promoter. CAT reporter
genes for the pig uPA promoter (36) and the mouse uPA
promoter (12) were described previously. The E2F1-responsive
reporter construct p(
3407)19ARF.CAT (53) was provided by
K. D. Robertson, and pRSV-c-Jun was provided by P. Angel
(2). The p3×AP1-tk-Luc construct was described previously (6).
Viruses. Adenovirus (Ad)-cytomegalovirus (CMV), Ad-E2F1, Ad-E2F2, Ad-E2F3, Ad-E2F4, Ad-E2F5, and Ad-DP1 recombinant viruses were provided by J. R. Nevins (16), and viral stocks were created as previously described (57). Titers of viral stocks were determined by a plaque assay on 293 cells and defined as PFU per milliliter. Quiescent or randomly growing WI-38 cells were infected, at an input multiplicity of 1 PFU/cell (except Ad-E2F3 [2 PFU/cell]), by adding viral stocks directly to the culture medium. For analysis, cells were harvested 16 h following infection.
RNA isolation and Northern blot analysis.
Total RNA (10 µg), prepared with the acid guanidinium thiocyanate-phenol-chloroform
method (13), was resolved by gel electrophoresis under
denaturing conditions and transferred to a nylon membrane as previously
described (68). rRNA was stained on the filters with
methylene blue (25) to assess RNA loading and transfer. Hybridization was performed as previously described (68).
The cDNA clones for human uPA, human PAI-1, and human uPAR were
provided by F. Asselberg, D. Loskutoff, and E. K. Kruithof,
respectively. The DNA inserts from each plasmid were labeled with
[
-32P] dATP using the random oligonucleotide-primed
reaction (18). The mouse glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate
dehydrogenase (GAPDH) probe was obtained from Ambion. Levels of
specific RNA were measured in a Molecular Dynamics PhosphorImager.
Western blot analysis. Cells from a 10-cm-diameter dish were lysed for 15 min on ice in 800 µl of a lysis buffer consisting of 50 mM Tris (pH 7.5), 250 mM NaCl, 5 mM EDTA, 0.5% NP-40, 50 mM NaF, 1 mM dithiothreitol, aprotinin at 10 µl/ml, and leupeptin at 10 µl/ml. Cell extracts (10 µg of protein) were fractionated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-10% polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, blotted onto polyvinylidene difluoride transfer membranes (Millipore), and analyzed using antibodies against different E2F members. Monoclonal antibodies against E2F2(C-20), E2F3(C-18), E2F4(C-108), and E2F5(C-20) were obtained from Santa Cruz Biotechnology, and a monoclonal antibody against E2F1 was obtained from Upstate Biotechnology. Signals were detected by ECL (Amersham).
Immunofluorescence analysis. WI-38 cells were plated on glass coverslips, starved, and virus infected. Immunofluorescence analysis was performed as previously described (43). The following antibodies were used for detection of E2Fs: rabbit polyclonal anti-E2F1 (C-20) and anti-E2F4 (C-20) antibody (Santa Cruz Biotechnology), followed by Cy3-conjugated donkey anti-rabbit immunoglobulin G antibody (Milan Analytica AG). The nuclei were stained with 4',6'-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI; Roche). The cellular distribution of E2F was examined using a Leica IRBE inverted microscope with a 40 × 1.25 NA lens.
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RESULTS |
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E2F1 inhibits uPA, PAI-1, and PAI-2 promoter activity.
The
effects of E2F1 on different genes of the PA system were analyzed by
transient-cotransfection assays using CAT reporter genes in
LLC-PK1 nontransformed epithelial cells. As shown in Fig.
1A, E2F1 overexpression reduced CAT
expression from the human uPA, PAI-1, and PAI-2 promoters to 30, 10, and 17%, respectively, of the control values. The tPA promoter was not
affected. In contrast, the alternate reading frame (ARF) cell cycle
regulatory gene promoter (53), which we examined as a
positive control for the E2F effect, was strongly enhanced. The
inhibitory effect of the E2F1 expression vector on the PAI-1 promoter
was dose dependent (Fig. 1B). The human, pig, and mouse uPA promoters
were all strongly suppressed by E2F1 overexpression, indicating that
this negative regulation of the uPA gene has been conserved during
evolution (Fig. 1C). Taken together, these data suggest that
downregulation of the uPA, PAI-1, and PAI-2 genes is a
promoter-specific effect of E2F1.
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The DNA-binding and transactivation domains, but not the pRB- and
cyclin A-binding domains, of E2F1 are involved in repression of the uPA
and PAI-1 promoters.
To understand the molecular mechanism of
E2F-mediated inhibition, we examined the effects of different E2F1
mutants on the uPA and PAI-1 promoters in LLC-PK1 cells
(Fig. 2A). Mutation of the DNA-binding
domain (E132), which abolished the DNA-binding activity of E2F1,
completely abrogated the inhibitory effect of E2F1 on both promoters.
This indicates that DNA binding is essential for E2F1 suppression of
these promoters. A deletion in the amino-terminal CycA-cdk2 binding
domain (del24) did not affect E2F-mediated inhibition, which excludes
the involvement of the CycA-cdk2 complex in this process. Deletion of
the transactivation domain (
TA) of E2F1 abolished its inhibitory
effect. Interestingly, an E2F1 mutant defective in pRB binding (del5)
also exhibited strong inhibitory activity on the uPA and PAI-1
promoters. Taken together, these results indicate that the
transactivation domain is essential for the E2F1 inhibitory effect,
possibly through interaction with transcription coactivator proteins
other than pRB. This suggests a novel mechanism for E2F-mediated
repression which is pocket protein independent.
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TA) or DNA binding-deficient (E132)
E2F1 mutant. The
TA mutation interfered with the negative effect of
wild-type E2F1 on both the uPA and PAI-1 promoters. In contrast, the
E132 mutation did not overcome the negative regulation by wild-type
E2F1 (Fig. 2B). These results suggest that E2F1 must bind to the uPA
and PAI-1 promoters to exert its inhibitory effect.
Pocket protein family members are not involved in the negative
regulation of the uPA and PAI-1 promoter by E2F1.
Although it was
shown previously that transcriptional repression mediated by E2F
involves its association with a pocket protein partner (14, 51,
67), the above mutation analysis suggests a new mechanism for the
negative regulation of the uPA and PAI-1 promoters by E2F1 that is
independent of pRB. To test this hypothesis, we examined the effect of
E2F1 overexpression on the PAI-1 promoter in cells lacking functional
pRB or p107 and p130. As shown in Fig.
3A, PAI-1 promoter activity in
pRB-deficient MEF cells was reduced by E2F1 overexpression as strongly
as in wild-type MEF cells. Likewise, overexpression of E2F1 in
p107/p130 double-knockout MEF cells suppressed PAI-1 promoter activity.
Similar results were obtained for the uPA promoter (data not shown).
Negative regulation by E2F overexpression in MEF cells was specific for the PAI-1 and uPA promoters. The control ARF gene promoter was highly
induced by E2F overexpression in these cells (data not shown). Both
knockout cell lines, however, still carry at least one active pocket
protein. To exclude the possibility that one of the remaining pocket
proteins functionally replaces deleted pocket proteins, we transfected
p107/p130 (
/
) MEF with an E2F1 mutant that is incapable of pRB
binding. This mutant suppressed uPA and PAI-1 promoter activity to an
extent similar to that of wild-type E2F1 (Fig. 3B). Taken together,
these results support the hypothesis that E2F1-mediated inhibition of
the PAI-1 and uPA promoters does not require pRB, p107, or p130.
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Differential ability of E2F family members to regulate uPA, PAI-1,
and uPAR gene expression.
The E2F family has six members, which
can be divided into three subgroups, E2F1-3, E2F4/5, and E2F6, based on
structural and functional features. The members of subgroup E2F1-3
share a conserved amino-terminal domain containing binding sites for
cyclin A-cdk2 (31) and Sp1 (30), which are absent
in subgroups E2F4/5 and E2F6. E2F1-3 proteins bind preferentially to
pRB and have very low affinity for p107 and p130 (37). These
two members of the pocket protein family bind mainly to the carboxy
terminus of E2F4 and E2F5 (56). E2F6 lacks the
transactivation domain and acts as a negative regulator competing with
other E2F members (19, 60). To compare the abilities of E2F
family members to regulate genes of the PA system, we used recombinant
Ad-based vectors expressing different E2F proteins. These proteins were
overexpressed together with DP1, which is a binding partner of E2F, in
nontransformed, low-passage WI-38 human primary fibroblasts.
Coexpression of DP1 is known to enhance the level of E2F activity,
especially of E2F3, E2F4, and E2F5 (16). Starved WI-38
primary cells expressed high levels of the corresponding proteins after
Ad infection (Fig. 4A) and thus provide
an appropriate platform for studying transcriptional regulation of
E2F-targeted genes. Immunostaining analysis showed that E2F proteins
were efficiently expressed and translocated to the nucleus after
infection of serum-starved cells (Fig. 4B).
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The
2 kb enhancer of the uPA promoter is critical for
E2F1-mediated inhibition.
To gain insight into the molecular
mechanism of negative E2F regulation, we characterized the uPA
promoter. Regulation of this promoter by various signals has been
extensively studied by our group and others (reviewed in reference
7). A 5' deletion analysis of the uPA promoter
showed that the
2.5-kb construct responded negatively to E2F1,
whereas the
1.7-kb construct responded positively (Fig.
5A).
This suggests that the region
between
2.5 and
1.7 kb contains a site(s) responsible for the E2F1
negative effect and that the uPA promoter can respond positively to E2F under certain conditions when the negative regulatory site(s) is
absent.
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2.5 to
1.7 kb of the uPA promoter contains a
well-characterized enhancer that is a composite of
cis-acting elements for the AP-1, Ets, and NF
B factors
(Fig. 5B). The enhancer is highly conserved among humans, pigs, and
mice (48), and the importance of this site for uPA gene
regulation has been confirmed for all three organisms (for a review,
see reference 7). To determine whether the same
enhancer is involved in E2F1-mediated negative regulation of the
promoter, we introduced mutations into AP-1 sites. Mutation of the
major AP-1 site immediately 3' of the Ets site reduced basal template
activity and, at the same time, abrogated the E2F1 inhibitory effect
(Fig. 5C). Mutation of another downstream AP-1 site also reduced both
basal template activity and E2F1-mediated inhibition. The double mutant
with changes at both AP-1-binding sites also completely abrogated E2F1 repression. These results suggest that the two AP-1 sites are cooperatively involved in transcription suppression. Mutation of the
NF
B site within the uPA enhancer reduced enhancer activity by 30%
but did not change the E2F1 inhibitory effect. Thus, this enhancer
element is not the target of E2F1 negative regulation (data not shown).
To see whether E2F-mediated repression of transcription via the AP-1
sites is promoter independent, we examined these AP-1 sites in the
background of the tPA promoter, which by itself is insensitive to E2F1.
Insertion of the uPA enhancer covering the two AP-1 sites but void of
Ets and NF
B sites upstream of the tPA promoter enhanced basal
template activity and, at the same time, rendered the promoter
susceptible to E2F1 negative regulation (Fig. 5D). In accordance with
this, overexpression of c-Jun, which is part of the AP-1 complex,
upregulated a wild-type uPA promoter which was suppressed dose
dependently by E2F1 (Fig. 5E).
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DISCUSSION |
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In the present work, we demonstrated that E2F1 specifically inhibits the uPA and PAI-1 promoters and also reduces endogenous mRNA levels of these genes, as well as that of uPAR. This effect was dose dependent, conserved in evolution, and not cell type specific. Our findings are in accord with a previous report that transcription of these genes declines during the G0/G1-to-S-phase transition (8, 55, 66), when E2F1 and E2F3 levels are increased (38). Therefore, we propose that E2F plays a role in inhibiting expression of these genes during the G1-S-phase transition of the cell cycle.
As to how E2F suppresses uPA and PAI-1 gene expression, an obvious possibility is that involving pRB. Depending on the promoter context, E2F in association with a pocket protein partner has been shown to bind to E2F recognition elements in the promoter and actively suppress transcription. This mechanism is operative under certain conditions, as on the B-myb (34), E2F1 (28), cyclin A (26), and cyclin E (9) promoters. However, this mechanism for negative regulation appears unlikely in our studies. E2F1 mutants lacking the pRB-binding domain still exerted a suppressing effect on the uPA and PAI-1 promoters (Fig. 2). Wild-type E2F1, as well as a pRB binding-defective mutant, also strongly inhibited the transcription of these genes in MEF cells lacking the pRB gene or the p107/p130 genes (Fig. 3). In particular, the pRB-E2F4, p107-E2F4, and p130-E2F4 complexes have so far been implicated in transcriptional repression (39, 44). However, in our studies, E2F1, E2F2, and E2F3 but not E2F4 and E2F5, inhibited expression of the uPA and PAI-1 genes. These data provide strong evidence that E2F can act as a transcription repressor independently of interaction with pocket protein partners. E2F6 has also been shown to be a negative regulator in a pocket protein-independent manner. However, this protein lacks a transactivation domain and acts by countering the activity of other E2F family members (19, 60).
The carboxy-terminal transactivation domain was essential for E2F1 suppression of the uPA and PAI-1 promoters (Fig. 2). Several proteins are known to bind to this region and stimulate transactivation activity of E2F, such as MDM2 (40), CBP (CREB-binding protein) (61), and TRRAP (41). The transactivation domain also interacts with the basal transcription machinery by binding TATA box-binding protein (TBP) and transcription factor IIH (TFIIH) (50). It has been proposed that competition between pRB and both TBP and TFIIH for binding to the E2F1 transactivation domain is a mechanism by which pRB can inhibit activation by E2F1 (22). We excluded the possibility that pocket-binding proteins are responsible for E2F-mediated negative regulation of uPA and PAI-1 gene expression. Thus, we speculate that E2F1 binds to an unidentified protein to repress the PAI-1 and uPA promoters.
The inhibition of uPA promoter activity by E2F1 requires the enhancer
element at
2.0 kb. Mutation analysis suggested that two AP-1-binding
sites within this region act cooperatively for high basal promoter
activity and that E2F1 inhibits the promoter by suppressing the
activity of this enhancer. These elements are highly conserved among
humans, mice, and pigs (48). We reported previously that the
AP-1 elements in the enhancer are bound by c-Jun family members
(17). We have shown that upregulation of the uPA promoter by
overexpression of c-Jun could be titrated out by E2F1 overexpression.
Furthermore, we also observed that E2F1 suppressed a reporter gene
containing AP-1 sites of the uPA enhancer (Fig. 5D) or three copies of
the AP-1-binding element from the collagenase promoter (data not
shown). However, the uPA enhancer sequences do not possess E2F1
consensus binding sites. E2F1 regulation via nonconsensus sites in the
promoter has only been shown for the herpes simplex virus thymidine
kinase promoter, where E2F1 can bind to GC-rich elements
(58). Using nuclear extracts from U2OS cells in a gel shift
assay, we were unable to detect changes in patterns of protein binding
to the uPA enhancer upon addition of insect cell-expressed E2F1/DP1
(data not shown). It may have been that E2F1 binding to the uPA
enhancer was not stable enough to be detected in this assay or that
some additional promoter elements were required. The latter, however,
is not likely because the uPA enhancer containing only the two AP-1
sites rendered an otherwise insensitive tPA promoter susceptible to
E2F1 negative regulation when located upstream of this promoter (Fig.
5D). The adapter CBP or its relative p300 is implicated in
transcription activation by AP-1 (4, 5). Since deletion of
the transactivation domain of the E2F1 protein, which binds CBP or p300
(61), abolishes its inhibitory effect on the uPA promoter,
it may be that E2F1 exerts its effect on the uPA promoter by
interacting with CBP and disrupting the ability of CBP to activate
transcription. This is similar to the known mechanism of p53-mediated
repression of AP-1-regulated promoters, which involves recruitment of
p300 or CBP by p53 (3). We propose the model in which E2F
represses uPA gene expression by inactivating the activity of an
enhancer located at
2.0 kb from the transcription initiation site in
a manner which interferes with the interaction between AP-1 proteins bound to the enhancer and the basic transcriptional machinery or
adapter molecules like CBP. Details of this model at the molecular level remain to be elucidated. Characterization of the PAI-1 promoter is currently under way.
Among the five E2F family members tested, only subset E2F1-3 had an inhibitory effect on transcription. Given the fact that this group induces S-phase entry into quiescent fibroblasts while E2F4 and E2F5 do so only weakly (16), it could be argued that the transcription repression is due to a change in cell cycle phase. However, infection of WI-38 cells with E2F1-expressing Ad did not shift cells to S phase after 16 h, the time when transcript levels were measured. We obtained the same inhibitory effect in randomly growing cells, which suggests that transcription repression is not caused by a change in cell cycle stage but by direct action of E2F. Indeed, it is not surprising that proteins sharing structural and functional features and classified into one group of the E2F family had the same effect on uPA and PAI-1 gene expression. Common to their protein structure is the amino-terminal cyclin A-cdk2 (31)-binding domain, which is absent in E2F4 and E2F5. However, as we showed in the E2F mutant studies, deletion of the cyclin A-binding domain does not abolish E2F1-mediated transcription inhibition and, thus, this interaction is not important for the negative effect.
Because repression of the uPA and PAI-1 promoters was observed under conditions in which E2F was ectopically expressed, it may be asked whether our observation reflects the physiological situation. Our data do reflect cell cycle events. Transcripts of both uPA and PAI-1 genes decrease in the G1/G0-to-S1 transition phase (21, 55, 66), when the levels of pocket protein-free, and therefore transcriptionally active, E2F1 increase (38, 63). Also, our recent observation supports a role for E2F1 as a negative regulator of the PAI-1 gene in vivo. As active pRB binds E2F1 and reduces the levels of free E2F1, we attempted to sequester active E2F1 from the uPA and PAI-1 promoters and derepress these genes in mutant SAOS2 cells expressing temperature-sensitive pRB (59). As predicted, we found that PAI-1 mRNA was induced in mutant cells by shifting the culture to permissive temperature, while it was not affected in wild-type SAOS2 cells (data not shown). uPA mRNA was not detected in these cells.
The transcription regulation described in this paper concerns a very important event during cell cycle progression. Ordered expression of genes of the PA system may help cells during the cell cycle to go through the process of detachment from or attachment to the extracellular matrix and neighboring cells. We are also aware of the presence of other genes involved in extracellular proteolysis, such as collagenase and stromelysin. Their functions may overlap, to some extent, those of the PA system.
Passage through the cell cycle may not be the only situation in which E2F regulates PAI-1 gene expression. PAI-1 is highly expressed in senescent cells and is a good marker for this cell state (46), although its physiological significance is unclear. Upon serum activation of quiescent fibroblasts, the PAI-1 mRNA level declines in late G1 prior to entry into S phase when cells are in early passages, whereas the PAI-1 mRNA level remains high when cells are in late passages (47). This difference is not attributable to a change in mRNA stability with increasing cell passages. In further independent work, it was shown that the E2F1 protein level is significantly reduced in senescent fibroblasts (20). All such results suggest a causal relationship between high E2F expression and low PAI-1 gene expression. A further situation in which E2F may regulate the PA system is wound healing. The PA system plays an important role in this process (11, 54). Vascular injury induces smooth muscle cells to migrate and proliferate to form a neointima layer inside a vein. This process was pathologically accelerated in PAI-1-deficient mice and could be reduced by intravenous injection of an Ad vector expressing PAI-1 (10). Transfection of a double-stranded DNA oligonucleotide with high-affinity binding sites for E2F, which sequesters E2F from active transcription, inhibited hyperplasia formation after vascular injury of animals (45). Thus, high levels of E2F1 and low levels of PAI-1 are associated with increased vascular neointima. These observations combine to suggest that E2F1 has a function(s) other than its well-established role in G0/S control.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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We thank Michael Berman and Patrick King for critical reading of the manuscript. We are grateful to David Cobrinik and Philip W. Hinds for generously providing us with the MEF and SAOS2 cell lines, respectively, and to those mentioned in the text for various plasmids and viruses. We also thank Ulrich Müller for introducing us to the Ad expression vector system.
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FOOTNOTES |
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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Friedrich Miescher Institute, P.O. Box 2543, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland. Phone: 41-61-6976669. Fax: 41-61-6973976 or 1-815-327-0931. E-mail: nagamine{at}fmi.ch.
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