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Molecular and Cellular Biology, July 2005, p. 6211-6224, Vol. 25, No. 14
0270-7306/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/MCB.25.14.6211-6224.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Nuclear PTEN-Mediated Growth Suppression Is Independent of Akt Down-Regulation
Juinn-Lin Liu,1
Xiaoyang Sheng,1
Zsuzsanna K. Hortobagyi,1
Zhenyu Mao,1
Gary E. Gallick,2 and
W. K. Alfred Yung1*
Brain Tumor Center, Department of Neuro-Oncology,1
Department of Cancer Biology, U.T. M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, Texas 770302
Received 24 August 2004/
Returned for modification 15 October 2004/
Accepted 25 March 2005

ABSTRACT
The tumor suppressor gene
PTEN is a phosphoinositide phosphatase
that is inactivated by deletion and/or mutation in diverse human
tumors. Wild-type PTEN is expressed both in the cytoplasm and
nucleus in normal cells, with a preferential nuclear localization
in differentiated or resting cells. To elucidate the relationship
between PTEN's subcellular localization and its biologic activities,
we constructed different PTEN mutants that targeted PTEN protein
into different subcellular compartments. Our data show that
the subcellular localization patterns of a PTEN (

PDZB) mutant
versus a G129R phosphatase mutant were indistinguishable from
those of wild-type PTEN. In contrast, the Myr-PTEN mutant demonstrated
an enhanced association with the cell membrane. We found that
nuclear PTEN alone is capable of suppressing anchorage-independent
growth and facilitating G
1 arrest in U251MG cells without inhibiting
Akt activity. Nuclear compartment-specific PTEN-induced growth
suppression is dependent on possessing a functional lipid phosphatase
domain. In addition, the down-regulation of p70S6K could be
mediated, at least in part, through activation of AMP-activated
protein kinase in an Akt-independent fashion. Introduction of
a constitutively active mutant of Akt, Akt-DD, only partially
rescues nuclear PTEN-mediated growth suppression. Our collective
results provide the first direct evidence that PTEN can contribute
to G
1 growth arrest through an Akt-independent signaling pathway.

INTRODUCTION
The tumor suppressor gene
MMAC1/
PTEN (henceforth referred to
as
PTEN) was identified independently by three groups (
39,
41,
65). Deletions in or mutations of
PTEN are frequent occurrences
in high-grade glial, advanced prostate, breast, endometrial,
and kidney tumors, as well as in small-cell lung carcinoma and
melanoma (
6,
63,
74). Germ line mutations of the
PTEN gene have
also been linked to several hamartomatous syndromes, including
Cowden disease, Bannayan-Zonana syndrome (also known as Bannayan-Riley-Ruvalcaba
syndrome), Lhermitte-Duclos disease, Proteus syndrome, and Proteus-like
syndromes.
PTEN encodes a 403-amino-acid protein that is a member
of the protein tyrosine phosphatase family. In addition to its
N-terminal catalytic tyrosine phosphatase domain (IHCXXGXXRS/T),
other domains/motifs have been discovered, including a tensin/auxillin
homology domain overlapping the phosphatase domain (
41,
65),
a calcium-independent C2 domain (
37), two PEST motifs, and a
PDZ (PSD95, Dlg, and ZO1) binding domain (PDZB) at the C terminus
(
2). Although it shares extensive homology with members of the
protein tyrosine phosphatase family, PTEN's primary physiologic
substrates are phosphatidylinositols (PtdIns) phosphorylated
at the D3 position (PtdIns-3,4-P
2 and PtdIns-3,4,5-P
3) (
47),
which are products of phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3K). PTEN
can thus antagonize PI3K-dependent signaling pathways that are
specifically involved in cell growth, apoptosis, transcription/translation,
glucose metabolism, and cell migration. Ectopic expression of
wild-type PTEN in PTEN-null tumor cell lines results either
in G
1 growth arrest, anoikis, or apoptosis, depending on the
cell type (
13,
46,
51,
81), and inhibits important biologic
properties such as development of metastases (
12). In contrast,
PTEN mutants with abrogated phosphatase activity, such as C124S,
G129R, and R130G, lose their tumor suppressing ability. Interestingly,
one mutant, G129E, which is frequently observed in Cowden disease
and in occasional sporadic cancers, lacks lipid phosphatase
activity but retains PTPase activity against the polypeptide
substrate poly (Glu-Tyr) (
18,
51). However, Tamura et al. (
69)
showed that the G129E mutant retained the ability to inhibit
integrin-mediated cell migration, spreading, and tumor cell
invasion, and provided evidence that these properties were due
to dephosphorylation of FAK. Moreover, PTEN was also recently
shown to inhibit cell migration through its C2 domain, independent
of its lipid phosphatase activity (
57). These data suggest that
although lipid phosphatase is critical to many PTEN functions,
PTEN regulates biologic functions that are independent of this
activity.
PTEN is expressed primarily in the cytoplasm of many tumor cells, including thyroid, endocrine, pancreas, and primary cutaneous melanomas (21, 53, 78). In contrast, PTEN is expressed both in the cytoplasm and in the nucleus of normal cells, with a preferential nuclear localization in differentiated or resting cells (15, 21, 36, 53, 78). Nuclear localization of PTEN is increased during neuronal differentiation and is required for the survival of differentiating neuronal cells (35). Similarly, activated PI3K has been shown to translocate to the nucleus (49), and functional PIP3 has also been detected inside the nucleus (70). An increased level of nuclear PTEN is associated with G0-G1 in MCF-7 cells (22), and these authors postulated that nuclear PTEN could be directly involved in regulating cell cycle progression. Thus, nuclear PTEN may have growth-regulatory roles that are distinctive from those of cytoplasmic PTEN. This study examines the relationship between the biologic function and subcellular localization of PTEN, with an emphasis on characterizing nuclear PTEN. Our data show that nuclear PTEN suppresses tumorigenicity in and facilitates the G1 arrest of U251MG glioma cells without down-regulating Akt phosphorylation/activation or cell invasiveness. Growth suppression induced by nuclear PTEN is mediated, at least in part, through down-regulation of p70S6K phosphorylation/activation via activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) in an Akt-independent fashion. In addition, the intact lipid phosphatase domain is indispensable for nuclear PTEN to fully exert its growth-suppressing activities. Collectively, these results suggest that PTEN is biologically functional in the nucleus and mediates growth suppression via signaling mechanisms than differ from those in cytoplasmic PTEN.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Cell culture and transfection.
Mouse astrocytes, NHA (E6/E7/hTERT) and the glioblastoma cell
lines U251MG, LN18, and LN229 were maintained in Dulbecco's
modified Eagle's medium-F-12 (high glucose) medium supplemented
with 10% fetal bovine serum. Plasmids were transfected into
U251MG cells with FuGENE6 (Roche) according to the manufacturer's
protocol.
Plasmid construction.
The pLNCX-PTEN wild type (WT) and mutants were constructed by initially using a PCR strategy for cloning into the BamHI/EcoRI sites of the pBS (SK+) vector and were subsequently subcloned into the NotI/SalI sites of the pLNCX retroviral vector (Clontech). Briefly, PTEN mutants were generated by PCR with DeepVent thermal-stable polymerase (NEB) using 5' primers containing NLS (nuclear localization signals) from the MDV oncogene MEQ (RRKKRK) (43) or a myristoylation signal from the Rasheed sarcoma virus Gag protein (MKGSLTTH) (30). These were used to construct mutants with enhanced nuclear localization or association with the plasma membrane. A
PDZB mutant was created with 3' primers bearing TKV/TVD mutations to disrupt PTEN's binding to PDZ domain-containing proteins. Meanwhile, the pCMV-PTEN (ER) was generated by digesting pBS (KS+)-PTEN (
PDZB) with NcoI (blunt end)/SalI and subcloning it into a pCMV/myc/ER vector (Invitrogen) at SalI (blunt end)/XhoI sites to direct expression to the endoplasmic reticulum.
Indirect immunofluorescence and confocal laser scanning microscopy.
Immunofluorescence staining was performed as described previously (45). Briefly, cells were seeded at a concentration of 2 x 105 cells per well in six-well plates with coverslips inside and left overnight. The following day, media were aspirated and the cells were washed with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) once before being fixed with 3.7% formaldehyde in PBS for 20 min. After another PBS wash, the cells were permeabilized with 0.1% Triton X-100 in PBS for 5 min followed by blocking with 3% bovine serum albumin-0.1% Tween 20-PBS for 1 h. Cells were then incubated with mouse primary antibodies against PTEN (immunoglobulin G [IgG]; BD Bioscience) or PIP2 (IgM; Echelon) for 1 h. After 2 washes with PBS (0.1% Tween 20), the cells were incubated with the secondary antibodies conjugated with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) or Texas Red (Molecular Probes) for 1 h, and the cells were examined and analyzed with an Olympus FluoView (60x objective) confocal laser scanning microscope.
Cell invasion assay.
The invasion of U251MG cells in vitro was measured by passage of the cells through Matrigel-coated transwell inserts (50) in Costar transwells. Briefly, transwell inserts with 8-µm pores were coated with 200 µl of 0.78 mg/ml Matrigel in cold serum-free medium. The cells were trypsinized, and 2 x 105 cells in 700 µl of cell suspension were added in duplicate wells. After 24 h of incubation, the cells that passed through the filter into the lower wells were stained using a hema-3 stain kit (Fisher Scientific) and the cells in 5 fields were counted under a microscope and expressed as a 100% set for vector-transfected U251MG cells that migrated to the lower part of the chamber.
Colony-forming assay.
Anchorage-independent growth was measured by soft agar colony assay to evaluate transforming potential (44). Briefly, this assay was performed in six-well plates with a base of 2 ml of medium containing 1% fetal bovine serum with 0.5% Bacto agar (Difco). Cells were seeded in 2 ml of medium containing 1% fetal bovine serum with 0.35% agar at 1 x 104 or 5 x 104 cells/ml and layered onto the base. The number of colonies was scored under a microscope after 2 weeks.
Flow cytometry cell cycle analysis.
U251MG cells were maintained in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium-F-12 media containing 1% fetal bovine serum for 3 days, trypsinized, and washed with cold PBS twice, followed by fixation with cold 70% ethanol. Flow cytometry cell cycle analysis was performed by the Cancer Cell Biology Core at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
Subcellular fractionations.
Nuclear and cytoplasmic fractions of U251MG-PTEN clones were separated using an NE-PER nuclear and extraction reagent kit according the manufacturer's specifications (Pierce).
Western blotting.
Cells were washed with ice-cold phosphate-buffered saline and lysed in a buffer containing 50 mM HEPES, pH 7.5, 1.5 mM MgCl2, 150 mM NaCl, 1 mM EGTA, 20 mM NaF, 10 mM Na4P2O7 (sodium pyrophosphate), 10% glycerol, 1% Triton X-100, 3 mM benzamidine, 10 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, 1 µM pepstatin, 10 µg/ml aprotinin, 5 mM iodoacetic acid, and 2 µg/ml leupeptin to prepare whole-cell lysates. Lysates were clarified by centrifugation at 14,000 x g for 5 min. Proteins equivalent to 5 x 105 cells per lane were resolved by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and electroblotted to polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membranes (Millipore). The PVDF membranes were then probed with rabbit polyclonal antibodies against Akt, phospho-Akt (S473), phospho-Erk1/2, p70S6K, phospho-p70S6K (T389), mTOR, phospho-mTOR (S2448), phospho-TSC2 (T1462), AMPK, phospho-AMPK (T172), S6, phospho-S6 (S235/236), 4E-BP1, phospho-4E-BP1 (T36/46), GSK3ß, phospho-GSK3ß (S9) (Cell Signaling Technology), TSC1, and TSC2 and with monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against PTEN (Santa Cruz), poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (Oncogene Research Products), hemagglutinin (HA) tag (Cell Signaling Technology), and IgM anti-PIP2 (Echelon). Specific proteins were detected by enhanced chemiluminescence (ECL) (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech) following incubation with horseradish peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibodies.
Statistics.
Statistical analysis was performed using an unpaired (equal variance) t test. Data are presented as means ± standard deviations (SD). Each group was compared with a vector control; a P value of <0.05 is considered significant.

RESULTS
Expression of PTEN mutants targeted to subcellular compartments.
PTEN has been shown to localize to the plasma membrane, cytoplasm,
and nucleus of the cell. To understand the biologic functions
of PTEN in various subcellular compartments, specific mutants
were constructed via PCR in which localization motifs were added
to target PTEN to different subcellular compartments, including
the plasma membrane (targeted by addition of an N-terminal Myr
myristoylation signal), nucleus (through an N-terminal NLS),
and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) (by addition of N- and C-terminal
ER retention motifs). Additionally, a TKV/TVD mutation was introduced
to disrupt PTEN's PDZ binding activity (

PDZB). These constructs
(illustrated in Fig.
1), termed pLNCX (for WT),

PDZB, Myr, Myr
(

PDZB), NLS, NLS (

PDZB), and G129R or pCMV-ER retroviral vectors,
were transfected into PTEN-null U251MG cells via lipofection
(FuGENE6). Localization of the wild-type and mutant gene products
was determined by immunostaining followed by analysis with a
FluoView confocal microscope. Representative staining patterns
are shown in Fig.
2. Differential interference contrast was
used to enhance cellular structure (Fig.
2, bottom pictures
of each construct). Wild-type PTEN was expressed in the plasma
membrane, cytoplasm, and nucleus, consistent with the reported
distribution of PTEN in log-phase cells. In contrast, mutants
with nuclear and endoplasmic reticular targeting domains were
found primarily in the targeted cellular compartment. Interestingly,
the

PDZB and G129R phosphatase mutants had patterns of localization
in the cytoplasm and nucleus that were similar to those observed
for wild-type PTEN. This observation suggests that the PDZ binding
domain and functional phosphatase domain are not required for
nuclear localization of PTEN. As expected, Myr-PTEN demonstrated
an increased association with the plasma membrane. However,
a significant amount of the Myr-PTEN mutant was also found in
the nucleus. Interestingly, the addition of an exogenous NLS
completely abolished PTEN's cytoplasmic translocation, as observed
with the NLS and NLS (

PDZB) mutants. To confirm the effects
of mutant PTEN on nuclear localization, immunoblotting of PTEN
was performed following cell fractionation. As shown in Fig.
3, PTEN is detected both in the nucleus and cytoplasm of different
cell lines expressing wild-type PTEN at various degrees, verifying
that the subcellular distribution of PTEN in the nucleus and
cytoplasm is a general physiological phenomenon rather than
an artificial effect as a result of exogenous expression. In
addition, the cell fractionation on PTEN mutants also corroborates
the immunostaining data. As PTEN lacks a canonical NLS domain,
these findings suggest that its nuclear localization is mediated
by other domains in the molecule.
Nuclear PTEN is capable of suppressing anchorage-independent growth.
Several stable transfectants from each PTEN mutant expressing
comparable protein levels to those of human cell lines harboring
wild-type PTEN (
39,
64,
79) were selected for further characterization.
Functional assays were conducted on 3 to 5 clones from each
construct and repeated a minimum of three times. The expression
of PTEN was equivalent in all clones (Fig.
4A). First, a soft
agar colony-forming assay was performed in the presence of 1%
fetal bovine serum to measure anchorage-independent growth as
a marker for the transforming potential of each clone. As shown
in Fig.
4B, PTEN (WT) significantly reduced the soft agar colony-forming
ability relative to vector-transfected controls. Vector-transfected
controls produced numbers of soft agar colonies equivalent to
those produced by nontransfected parental cells (not shown).
PTEN (G129R)-, and PTEN-ER-transfected U251MGcells exhibited
a capacity for anchorage-independent growth similar to that
pLNCX vector-transfected U251MG cells. In contrast,

PDZB-, Myr-,
Myr (

PDZB)-, NLS-, and NLS (

PDZB)-transfected U251MG clones
had a significant (
P < 10
5) reduction (

75% to 95%)
in the number of soft agar colonies. These experiments corroborate
previously published observations showing that a functional
phosphatase domain is required, but a PDZB domain is dispensable,
for PTEN's anchorage-independent growth-suppressing activity
(
19,
34,
72). Interestingly, when PTEN is misdirected into the
ER, its growth-suppressing activity is lessened considerably,
despite the fact that its phosphatase domain remains intact.
However, when PTEN is directed into the nucleus, its growth-suppressing
activity is restored.
Growth suppression induced by nuclear PTEN is mediated by facilitating G1 accumulation.
Wild-type PTEN has been shown to elicit G
1 growth arrest (
18,
46,
58,
85), anoikis (
13,
46), and apoptosis (
46,
76,
77) depending
upon cell type. PTEN-mediated G
1 arrest in glioblastoma cells
has been well documented (
1,
10,
18,
23,
40). We therefore compared
the effects of PTEN mutants on the proliferation of U251MG cells.
The results are displayed in Fig.
5A. NLS-PTEN and NLS-PTEN
(

PDZB) inhibited cell growth in transfected U251MG cells in
the presence of 1% serum as did the PTEN (WT),

PDZB, Myr, and
Myr (

PDZB) clones (Fig.
5A). To further investigate whether
the disruption in cell cycle progression is responsible for
growth suppression, the cell cycle profiles of various PTEN
clones were analyzed using flow cytometry. In the presence of
5% serum, PTEN clones failed to induce significant G
1 arrest
in U251MG cells, an observation that corroborates previous reports
(
18). Conversely, in the presence of 1% serum, G
1 accumulation
was statistically significantly increased (to nearly 20%;
P values of <0.05) in U251MG cells in all PTEN clones except
for G129R and ER mutants (Fig.
5B). These findings were similar
to findings from the soft agar colony-forming assays described
above. Taken together, the results demonstrate that nuclear
PTEN-induced growth suppression is mediated, at least in part,
through enhanced G
1 accumulation.
Nuclear PTEN does not inhibit cell invasion.
Cellular invasiveness is one of the hallmarks of brain tumor
cells. Benign astrocytoma and malignant glioblastoma cells are
notorious for their ability to extensively invade the normal
brain parenchyma surrounding a tumor. To determine the effects
of PTEN localization on invasion, a Matrigel cell invasion assay
was used. Both PTEN (WT) and

PDZB reduced the invasiveness of
U251MG cells by

55% to 60% compared with vector-transfected
U251MG cells (Fig.
6). The expression of the Myr and Myr-

PDZB
forms of PTEN inhibited cell invasion to an even greater degree
(by

75% to 80%), suggesting that the association between PTEN
and the cell membrane enhances its antagonizing effect on PI3K/Akt-mediated
cellular invasiveness. The ER clone had virtually no effect
on cell invasion. Likewise, NLS, NLS (

PDZB), and G129R did not
affect invasion significantly (
P values = 0.172, 0.511, and
0.675, respectively).
Nuclear PTEN leads to p70S6K inactivation without down-regulating Akt.
To determine the mechanism by which nuclear PTEN suppressed
cell growth, Western blotting was used to detect some of the
signaling molecules involved in cell survival and apoptosis
phosphorylation and/or expression, activities that are potentially
regulated by the interplay between PI3K and PTEN. Specifically,
the phosphorylation statuses of Akt, p70S6K, GSK3ß,
S6, and Erk1/2 were determined. The expression of PTEN protein
was also analyzed independently to ensure that its level of
expression remained similar to that of the original clones.
As shown in Fig.
7, Erk1/2 was not down-regulated in any of
the PTEN clones, a finding that is in accord with results from
previous studies (
13,
14,
72,
73). In contrast, as expected,
Akt phosphorylation was markedly reduced in PTEN (WT)-,

PDZB-,
Myr-, and Myr (

PDZB)-transfected U251MG clones. There was, however,
no significant difference in Akt phosphorylation levels among
vector, G129R, ER, NLS, and NLS (

PDZB)-expressing clones. The
activity of Akt was further evaluated and validated by the analysis
of its substrate, GSK3ß. This observation demonstrates
that when PTEN is unable to reach the plasma membrane, its ability
to inhibit Akt phosphorylation is considerably diminished. In
contrast to Akt phosphorylation, the phosphorylation of p70S6K
and its substrate, S6, was significantly down-regulated in U251MG
cells expressing only a nuclear form of PTEN, implying that
nuclear PTEN-mediated p70S6K down-regulation is Akt independent.
These studies further suggest that nuclear PTEN-mediated inactivation
of p70S6K could be at least partly responsible for the increased
G
1 growth arrest seen in cells that express the nuclear form
of PTEN.
An intact lipid phosphatase domain is required for nuclear PTEN-mediated growth suppression.
Since nuclear PTEN suppresses cell growth without down-regulating
Akt, we wanted to determine whether lipid phosphatase activity
is required for PTEN to exert its biologic functions in the
nucleus. To this end, we constructed NLS-PTEN (G129R) and NLS-PTEN
(G129E) mutants and transfected them into U251MG cells by using
the same procedures used for the previously used constructs.
Several stable clones were selected for their exclusive PTEN
expression in the nucleus. To indirectly assess lipid phosphatase
activity, we immunostained cells with PIP2-specific antibodies
and measured the PIP2 signal in the nucleoplasm, excluding nuclear
speckles. This method was chosen because most of the PIP2 in
the nucleus is localized inside the nuclear speckles (spliceosomes)
and is generated by phosphatidylinositol phosphate kinase (
7).
As shown in Fig.
8, PIP2 levels correlate with PTEN's lipid
phosphatase activity using these criteria. We feel that this
is a fairly accurate measure of the effect of PTEN lipid phosphatase
on PIP2 generation. However, using this measure as a quantitative
assay for determining PTEN's lipid phosphatase activity would
be made difficult by virtue of free PIP2 (not protected by proteins)
being washed away during fixation/permeabilization. In the case
of the PTEN-ER clone, the majority of PIP2 is detected in the
ER, since PTEN-ER is restricted in this cellular fraction. As
summarized in Table
1, similar to NLS-PTEN, both the NLS-G129R
and NLS-G129E mutants did not inhibit the same degree of cell
invasiveness shown by transfected U251MG cells. Further, anchorage-independent
growth was not suppressed and G
1 accumulation was not enhanced
in NLS-G129R- and NLS-G129E-transfected U251MG cells, in contrast
to NLS-PTEN cells. These data suggest that even though nuclear
PTEN cannot down-regulate Akt, it still requires a functional
lipid phosphatase domain to exert growth-suppressing activity.
Nuclear PTEN up-regulates AMPK.
The canonical pathway of activation of p70S6K involves a PI3K/Akt/mTOR
signaling cascade. However, p70S6K can also be regulated via
Akt-independent signaling pathways. Our preliminary results
suggested that nuclear PTEN is capable of down-regulating p70S6K
without interfering with Akt activity (Fig.
7). Consequently,
we analyzed the expression and phosphorylation patterns of a
panel of signaling molecules, including mTOR, TSC2 (tuberin),
TSC1 (hamartin), S6, 4E-BP1, GSK3ß, and AMPK to dissect
the mechanisms involved in Akt-independent nuclear PTEN-mediated
p70S6K down-regulation. As shown in Fig.
9, the decreased phosphorylation
of Akt substrates GSK3ß and TSC2 could only be observed
in PTEN (WT) clones; these results corroborate our findings
that Akt is inactivated only by PTEN (WT) and not by nuclear
PTEN. Down-regulation of mTOR and its other substrate, 4E-BP1,
is found in both PTEN (WT) and nuclear PTEN clones, suggesting
that nuclear PTEN-induced down-regulation of p70S6K is most
likely also mediated through inactivation of mTOR. The inactivation
of p70S6K is also consistent with the phosphorylation level
of its substrate, S6. However, TSC2 phosphorylation is not affected
by nuclear PTEN, and the expression level of TSC1 remains constant
by any of the PTEN clones. We therefore examined other signaling
molecules capable of down-regulating mTOR/p70S6K without the
release of Akt-mediated TSC2 inactivation. Interestingly, we
found that AMPK is persistently up-regulated in nuclear PTEN
clones but not in PTEN (WT) clones. AMPK has been shown to activate
TSC2 to bypass Akt-dependent inactivation via phosphorylation
(
11,
27). Thus, the activation of AMPK may, at least in part,
account for nuclear PTEN-induced down-regulation of p70S6K.
It should be noted that there is partial activation of AMPK
in PTEN (WT) clones, since wild-type PTEN is expressed in both
the cytoplasm and nucleus. Although LKB1 has been shown to be
the main activator of AMPK (
25,
62,
80), AMPK can also be phosphorylated
by ATM through Akt-dependent activation of ARK5, an ATM upstream
regulator (
68). Consequently, the phosphorylation of AMPK would
be abridged by PTEN in the cytoplasm through inactivation of
Akt. This likely would contribute to our observation that AMPK
activation is more prominent in nuclear PTEN than in PTEN (WT)
clones. To validate the specificity of nuclear PTEN-mediated
AMPK phosphorylation, we performed the following experiment
using U251MG cells. As shown in Fig.
10, there is very little
phosphorylation of AMPK in U251MG cells that have undergone
serum deprivation (0.1% serum for 3 days), the phosphorylation
is significantly elevated after serum release, which is at least
in part due to Akt-mediated activation of AMPK, as discussed
above. The phosphorylation of AMPK is conspicuously down-regulated
in U251MG cells treated with the PI3K inhibitor LY294002 but
not with the MEK1 inhibitor PD98059 in the presence of 10% serum.
Conversely, phosphorylation of AMPK is further enhanced in U251MG
cells treated with two known AMPK activators, 5-aminoimidazole-4-carbozamide-1-ß-4
ribofuranoside (
67) and carbonyl cyanide
m-chlorophenylhydrazone
(
71), in the presence of 10% serum.
The Akt constitutively active mutant, Akt-DD, only partially rescues nuclear PTEN-mediated growth suppression.
We postulated that nuclear PTEN is capable of mediating cell
growth suppression without down-regulating Akt, and our observations
have supported our notion. However, to definitely prove our
hypothesis, we cotransfected U251MG cells with pLNCX-NLS-PTEN
and HA-tagged pcDNA3-Akt-DD constructs to see whether the constitutively
active mutant of Akt, Akt-DD, could override nuclear PTEN-mediated
growth suppression. Several stable clones were selected for
further soft agar colony assay and cell cycle analysis in the
presence of 1% serum under the same conditions as the preceding
experiments were performed. As summarized in Table
2, NLS-PTEN
suppresses anchorage-independent growth and enhances G
1 accumulation.
On the other hand, Akt-DD alone significantly increases the
soft agar colony formation and reduces G
1 accumulation. However,
in two clones in which nuclear PTEN and Akt-DD are coexpressed,
nuclear PTEN-mediated growth suppression is only partially rescued
by Akt-DD. Figure
11 shows that nuclear PTEN is still able to
suppress the phosphorylation of S6 to a large extent despite
the presence of Akt-DD. Taken together, in congruence with our
hypothesis, the constitutively active mutant of Akt, Akt-DD,
does not override nuclear PTEN-mediated growth suppression.
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TABLE 2. A constitutively active Akt mutant, Akt-DD, only partially rescues nuclear PTEN-mediated growth suppression
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DISCUSSION
Recent studies have demonstrated that wild-type PTEN is expressed
both in the cytoplasm and nucleus. PTEN is preferentially expressed
in the nuclei of differentiated or resting cells. In addition,
enhanced nuclear PTEN expression is associated with G
0-G
1 in
MCF-7 cells (
22). We also observed a similar cell cycle-dependent
localization of PTEN in NIH 3T3 cells and mouse astrocytes (data
not shown). Current evidence suggests that sequestration of
PTEN in the nucleus may play an important role in regulating
cell cycle progression. However, potential function(s) of nuclear
PTEN signaling in regulating physiological activities have remained
largely undefined. To study such putative biologic functions
of nuclear PTEN, we used the U251MG PTEN-null cell line and
constructed mutants that would be localized to specific cellular
compartments, thus allowing us to compare the signaling pathways
regulated with the biologic effects of PTEN directed to these
compartments. We found that nuclear PTEN alone is capable of
suppressing anchorage-independent growth and facilitating G
1 arrest in U251MG cells in the absence of Akt down-regulation.
In addition, the intact lipid phosphatase domain is necessary
for PTEN to fully exert its growth-suppressing effects in the
nucleus. Our collective results provide the first direct evidence
that nuclear PTEN can contribute to G
1 growth arrest through
an Akt-independent signaling pathway.
The ability of PTEN to regulate the Akt pathway depends both on its phosphatase activity and access to phospholipid substrates. PTEN has been shown to bind to cell membrane phospholipids through a Ca2+-independent C2 domain (37). Because the C2 domain is closely associated with the PTEN phosphatase domain, it may serve to position the catalytic site correctly with respect to its substrates, conferring substrate specificity. Mutagenesis of basic residues within the C2 domain reduced the tumor suppressor activity of PTEN without interfering with its enzymatic activity in vitro (37). Analysis of PTEN-related proteins has led to similar conclusions. PTEN2 (TPTE), a testis-specific PTEN homolog that is localized to the Golgi apparatus, has been recently identified (9, 82). Enzymatic analysis of PTEN2 revealed substrate specificity similar to that of PTEN, with a preference for the dephosphorylation of the phosphatidylinositol 3,5-phosphate phospholipid, a known mediator of vesicular trafficking. However, PTEN2 is not involved in the down-regulation of PI3K/Akt pathways. TPIP
, another PTEN homologue, is restricted in subcellular localization to the ER (75) and also does not inhibit Akt phosphorylation/activation. Analogous to these findings, our results show that the PTEN-ER mutant is defective in suppressing anchorage-independent growth (Fig. 4), cell proliferation (Fig. 5), cell invasion (Fig. 6), and Akt activation (Fig. 7), since its lipid phosphatase activity is confined to the ER (Fig. 8). Together, these findings suggest that differential and/or modified subcellular localization of PTEN family members does not affect their phosphatase activity per se but rather alters their accessibility to substrates.
In this study, we demonstrate that the ability of PTEN to regulate cell invasion can be dissociated from PTEN's disparate functions in the nucleus. Invasiveness is mainly regulated by PI3K/Akt signaling cascades by affecting a variety of signaling pathways, including activating Rac1 and cdc42 GTPases (42), down-regulating the expression of E-cadherin (24) and RhoB (29), increasing matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP-2) (52) and MMP-9 (31) production, or up-regulating the synthesis of MT1-MMP (membrane type 1 MMP), a major activator of MMP-2 (83). Indeed, abrogation of PI3K/Akt signaling pathways by reintroduction of wild-type PTEN into PTEN-null glioma cells invariably reduced their invasiveness (32, 33, 35). While several reports have suggested that in some cell types PTEN may inhibit cell invasion by a mechanism that is independent of its lipid phosphatase activity (20, 69) or its phosphatase domain altogether (48), in U251MG cells, PTEN appears to regulate invasiveness through its lipid phosphatase activity (33). In addition, although p70S6K has been implicated as playing auxiliary roles in cell migration (reviewed in reference 5), it is not directly involved in regulating cell invasion. In the conditions under which invasion was assayed in this study, Akt remained active due to growth factor autocrine loops in U251MG cells. Thus, expression of NLS-PTEN did not reduce cell invasiveness, since Akt was not down-regulated even though p70S6K was inactivated. Taken together, our data suggest that in the cytoplasm PTEN exerts its effects (including anti-invasion) through a PI3K/Akt pathway, but in the nucleus, PTEN exerts additional Akt-independent tumor suppressive effects.
As shown in Fig. 12, Akt is known to directly phosphorylate TSC2 (26, 55), abrogating the suppression of a TSC1/TSC2 complex on an mTOR kinase activator, Rheb (Ras homologue enriched in brain) (60, 66, 84). Activated mTOR restores phosphorylation of the T389 residue in p70S6K by inhibiting PP2A's phosphatase activity (54). Our results demonstrate that nuclear PTEN down-regulates mTOR and p70S6K in an Akt-independent manner. Recent studies have shown that the activation of AMPK by LKB1 or ATP depletion leads to phosphorylation and activation of TSC2, which overrides Akt inhibition (11, 27). Alternatively, the kinase activity of mTOR can also be triggered by PI3K/Akt-independent stimuli, such as nutrients/amino acids, or phosphatidic acid (16). Our observation of activated AMPK in NLS-PTEN clones suggests that this enzyme may play a key role in suppressing mTOR activity but does not exclude the involvement of other Akt-independent signaling pathways. Additionally, p70S6K is a mitogen-activated serine/threonine (S/T) kinase that is required for cell growth and cell cycle progression (reviewed in reference 56). Although mTOR-mediated phosphorylation of the T389 residue has been shown to be essential for p70S6K's kinase activity, the precise mechanisms that result in T389 phosphorylation are not understood. It has been hypothesized that TSC complex-mediated p70S6K inactivation is independent of mTOR (28), and as illustrated in Fig. 12, cdk1/cdc2 down-regulation of T389 phosphorylation has also been shown (61). Although the kinase(s) responsible for T389 phosphorylation have yet to be identified in vivo, mTOR (8), mTOR-related kinase (38), NEK6/7 (4), and even p70S6K itself have been suggested as potential candidates (59). Thus, nuclear PTEN could also inhibit p70S6K phosphorylation through the pathways listed above in addition to the inhibition of mTOR activity that we observed. Finally, whether nuclear PTEN activates AMPK via LKB1, either by depleting the ATP pool or by other pathways, requires further investigation.
The present study and many others show that PTEN is a versatile
tumor suppressor that exhibits biologic properties in addition
to its signature function of down-regulating the PI3K/Akt signaling
cascade through lipid phosphatase activity. Although we have
discovered a novel biologic property of PTEN in the nucleus,
the mechanisms involved in nuclear PTEN-mediated growth suppression
remain to be fully elucidated. PTEN could mediate G
1 arrest
through its interaction with p53, as postulated by Freeman et
al. (
17). However, U251MG harbors mutant p53, making this mechanism
an unlikely scenario in these cells. Another possibility is
that the PTEN may be engaged in growth suppression through inhibition
of MSP58 in the nucleus (F. Furnari, personal communication).
On the other hand, activated PI3K has been shown to translocate
to the nucleus, and functional PIP3 has also been detected inside
the nucleus. Most recently, Ahn et al. (
3) showed that nuclear
PI3K mediates the antiapoptotic activity of nerve growth factor
in the isolated nuclei of PC12 cells. Thus, nuclear PTEN could
potentially regulate novel nuclear PI3K-dependent signaling
pathways that are independent from activation of Akt. Future
studies on nuclear PTEN are likely to reveal new mechanisms
for PI3K-mediated growth regulation.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank Kenne Turner for technical assistance and Joann Aaron
for critical reading and editing of the manuscript. We are also
indebted to T.-J. Liu, Candelaria Gomez-Manzano, Juan Fueyo,
Dimpy Koul, and Maria-Magdalena Georgescu for invaluable input;
to Ken Hess for statistical analysis; to Ken Aldape for the
NHA (E6/E7/hTERT) cell line; to James R. Woodgett for the pcDNA3-Akt-DD
construct; and to Karen Ramirez and Tiffany Lafortune for assistance
in flow cytometry cell cycle analysis.
This study was supported by grants from NCI/NIH (RO1 CA56041 to W.K.A.Y.), Gilliland Foundation (to W.K.A.Y.), University Cancer Foundation/UTMDACC (to J.-L.L.), and Cancer Center Core (CA16672).

FOOTNOTES
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Neuro-Oncology, UT M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Box 431, Houston, TX 77030. Phone: (713) 794-1285. Fax: (713) 794-4999. E-mail:
wyung{at}mdanderson.org.


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Molecular and Cellular Biology, July 2005, p. 6211-6224, Vol. 25, No. 14
0270-7306/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/MCB.25.14.6211-6224.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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