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Molecular and Cellular Biology, April 2005, p. 3338-3347, Vol. 25, No. 8
0270-7306/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/MCB.25.8.3338-3347.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Xianghong Zou,1
Asish K. Ghosh,3,
John Varga,3,
Giulio F. Draetta,2 and
Hiroaki Kiyokawa1*
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics,1 Section of Rheumatology, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois,3 European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy2
Received 26 August 2004/ Returned for modification 21 September 2004/ Accepted 3 January 2005
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In normal cells Cdc25A levels are controlled precisely by multilayered mechanisms. While the transcription of the Cdc25A gene is regulated in an E2F-dependent manner (50), the protein levels are controlled more dynamically by ubiquitin-dependent proteasomal degradation. The significance of ubiquitination has been extensively investigated in a variety of biological processes, including cell cycle control (43). Two types of ubiquitin ligase (E3) complexes are known to mediate ubiquitination of Cdc25A: the anaphase-promoting/cyclosome complex (APC) and the Skp-cullin-F-box (SCF) complex (6, 14, 15, 32). The APCCdh1 complex mediates degradation of Cdc25A from the exit of mitosis throughout the G1 phase of the cell cycle. APCCdh1 recognizes specific KEN box sequences of Cdc25A, and Cdc25A KEN mutants are resistant to APC-mediated degradation. At the beginning of the S phase, Emi1 accumulates in an E2F-dependent manner and inhibits APCCdh1 activity, which contributes to up-regulation of Cdc25A during S phase (27, 44). Independently, the SCFß-TrCP complex plays a critical role in Cdc25A degradation during proliferation and also in response to DNA damage (6, 32). The F-box protein ß-TrCP binds to a DSG consensus sequence of Cdc25A in a manner dependent on phosphorylation of Ser82 within the motif (6, 32). Suppression of ß-TrCP1 and ß-TrCP2 by small interfering RNA (siRNA) results in stabilization and accumulation of Cdc25A during S and G2 phases and also eliminates DNA damage-induced Cdc25A degradation. These data suggest that SCFß-TrCP is competent to regulate Cdc25A in both unperturbed S/G2 progression and damage-induced S-phase checkpoint. Cdc25A phosphorylation at multiple serine residues surrounding the DS82G motif is required for recognition by SCFß-TrCP. Ser76 phosphorylation is a prerequisite event for subsequent phosphorylation of Ser82, which is critical for ß-TrCP binding (1, 6, 13). While the checkpoint kinase Chk1 has been demonstrated to phosphorylate Ser76 (32), another undefined kinase(s) appears to be involved in phosphorylation of the "degron" sequence of Cdc25A. Thus, complex signaling pathways seem to converge on the Cdc25A ubiquitination system.
The Smad family proteins mediate the intracellular signal transduction elicited by the transforming growth factor ß (TGF-ß), which plays a critical role in development and tumor suppression (11, 46). Upon ligand association, the type II TGF-ß receptor, TßRII, transphosphorylates and activates interacting type I receptor, TßRI. TßRI phosphorylates receptor Smad (R-Smad) proteins, such as Smad2 and Smad3. Activated R-Smad heterodimerizes with a common shared partner, Smad4, and then translocates into the nucleus, where the complex participates in transcriptional regulation of target genes, by recruitment of coactivator or corepressor proteins. In the present study, we have demonstrated that TGF-ß signals facilitate ß-TrCP-mediated ubiquitination of Cdc25A and identified Smad3 as a rate-limiting factor for this process. Our data suggest that SCFß-TrCP-dependent control of Cdc25A degradation, as well as E2F-mediated repression of Cdc25A transcription (29, 30), is an important target for TGF-ß signaling and a potential tumor-suppressive mechanism.
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Plasmid construction and transfection. Site-directed mutagenesis of cDNAs was performed using the QuikChange kit (Stratagene), followed by verification of the altered sequence at the W. M. Keck Center of Biotechnologies, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Cells were transfected with plasmids, with the use of the Superfect lipofection reagent (Qiagen) according to the manufacturer's instructions.
siRNA. siRNAs were custom synthesized by Dharmacon. The sequence of anti-Smad3 siRNA was 5'-AAUGGUGCGAGAAGGCGGUCAdTdT-3'. The sequences of anti-ß-TrCP1/ß-TrCP2 and anti-Cdh1 siRNAs were described previously (15). Cells were transfected with 200 nM specific siRNAs or randomized cocktails of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) as a control, with the use of the Oligofectamine reagent (Gibco/Life Technologies). At 24 h posttransfection, cells were transfected again with the same RNA preparations to ensure efficient silencing effects.
RT-PCR. Total RNA was isolated from cells with the Trizol reagent (Invitrogen). Total RNA (1 µg) was subjected to reverse transcriptase (RT) reaction with the use of the SuperScript first-strand synthesis system (Invitrogen). After the RT reaction, RNase H was added to remove the RNA template from the reaction mixture. Subsequently, PCR was performed in a total volume of 50 µl with 1 µl of the RT product or 1 µl of 10-fold-diluted product in the case of cells with Cdc25A overexpression. To confirm that the amounts of target mRNAs were within the semiquantitative linear range of the reaction, increasing amounts of RNA samples were examined in pilot experiments. The primers used for human Cdc25A mRNA were 5'-GGCAGACCGAGATGAATCCTCA-3' and 5'-CCGGTAGCTAGGGGGCTCACA-3' for amplification of a 570-bp product (7). The primers used for coamplification (143 kb) of the control RPS14 ribosomal mRNA were 5'-GGCAGACCGAGATGAATCCTCA-3' and 5'-CAGGTCCAGGGGTCTTGGTCC-3'. The reaction was performed in the PTC-200 Peltier thermal cycler (MJ Research), at 94°C for 2 min, followed by 23 cycles of 94°C for 1 min, 60°C for 1 min, and 72°C for 1 min. Amplified DNAs were analyzed by agarose gel electrophoresis, and signals in ethidium bromide-stained gels were quantified using the EDAS-290 imaging system (Kodak).
Antibodies, immunoblotting, and immunoprecipitation. Monoclonal anti-Cdc25A antibodies, Ab-3 and F6, were obtained from Neomarkers and Santa Cruz Biotechnology, respectively. Anti-phospho-S82/S88 polyclonal antibody was generated and described previously (6). Antiubiquitin monoclonal antibody (P4D1) and anti-ß-TrCP (N-15) goat polyclonal antibody were from Santa Cruz Biotechnology, and anti-Cdh1 (monoclonal, CC43) was from Calbiochem. Antihemagglutinin (12CA5) antibody was from Roche Applied Science, and anti-V5 and anti-Myc monoclonal antibodies were from Invitrogen. Anti-Flag (M2) and anti-ß-actin (AC-15) monoclonal antibodies were purchased from Sigma. Anti-Smad3 polyclonal antibody (LPC3) was from Zymed. Horseradish peroxidase-conjugated anti-mouse and rabbit immunoglobulin secondary antibodies, as well as recombinant protein A-agarose beads and the Supersignal West Pico chemiluminescence reagent, were obtained from Pierce. To prepare cell lysates, cells were scraped off and lysed by sonication in a buffer including 50 mM HEPES-KOH (pH 7.5), 150 mM NaCl, 1 mM EDTA, 2.5 mM EGTA, 1 mM dithiothreitol, 10 mM ß-glycerophosphate, 1 mM NaF, 0.1 mM sodium orthovanadate, x100-diluted protease inhibitor cocktail (P8340; Sigma), 10% glycerol, and 0.1% NP-40. All the chemicals were purchased from Sigma. Immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry were performed as described previously (57, 58). The signals on films were quantified by densitometric scanning with the GS-700 imaging system and Molecular Analyst software (Bio-Rad Laboratories).
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FIG. 1. TGF-ß1 promotes Cdc25A ubiquitination and degradation. (A) Exponentially proliferating MCF-10A and U2OS cells and HDF were either left untreated () or treated (+) with either TGF-ß1 (10 ng/ml or 400 pM for 24 h) or anti-TGF-ß1,2,3 neutralizing antibody (N-Ab; 20 µg/ml for 48 h). Cdc25A steady-state levels were determined by immunoblotting. (B) The decrease in Cdc25A protein levels upon TGF-ß1 (10 ng/ml) treatment was significantly abolished by cotreatment with MG132 (1 µM for 15 h). (C) TGF-ß1 treatment (10 ng/ml for 24 h) modestly down-regulated Cdc25A mRNA in MCF-10Acells, but not in U2OS cells, while N-Ab minimally affected Cdc25A mRNA. mRNA levels were determined by RT-PCR. RPS14, rRNA for internal control. (D) Ubiquitination of Cdc25A was induced by TGF-ß1 treatment (10 ng/ml). U2OS cells were treated either with 1 µM MG132 for 15 h or with TGF-ß1 (for 24 h) plus 1 µM MG132 (for 15 h prior to lysis). Lysates were subjected to anti-Cdc25A immunoprecipitation followed by immunoblotting with anti-Ub antibody. Polyubiquitinated species of Cdc25A are indicated as CDC25A-(Ub)n. (E) Cotransfection of dominant-negative TßRII-KR-HA significantly increased the steady-state level of exogenously expressed Cdc25A. U2OS cells were transfected with the indicated expression vectors. Cell lysates were prepared 24 h posttransfection, and Cdc25A level was detected by immunoblotting.
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FIG. 2. Smad3 regulates Cdc25A degradation in a ubiquitination-dependent manner. (A) TGF-ß1 treatment enhances physical interaction of Cdc25A and Smad3. U2OS cells without transfection were treated for 15 h with either 1 µM MG132 or 10 ng of TGF-ß1/ml for 24 h plus 1 µM MG132 for the last 15 h (left panels). U2OS cells were also cotransfected with Cdc25A and Smad3 and then treated with MG132 between 9 and 24 h posttransfection (right panels). Cell lysates were subjected to immunoprecipitation by Smad3 antibody or normal control immunoglobulin G (NC), followed by immunoblotting with Cdc25A antibody. Asterisk, immunoglobulin heavy chain. (B) Smad3 can trigger proteasomal degradation of Cdc25A in a dose-dependent manner. U2OS cells were transfected with a constant amount of a Cdc25A plasmid with the CMV promoter and increasing amounts of a Smad3 plasmid with the CMV promoter. The amounts of each plasmid are shown as micrograms. Cells were treated with or without 1 µMMG132 between 9 and 24 h posttransfection, and cell lysates were prepared and immunoblotted for Cdc25A. (C) Smad3 overexpression does not affect Cdc25A mRNA levels. Cells at 24 h posttransfection were analyzed by RT-PCR. cDNA samples from cells with Cdc25A transfection (lanes 4 and 5) were diluted 1:10 for PCR amplification, to ensure semiquantitative analyses. RPS14, rRNA for internal control. (D) Overexpression of Smad3 increases ubiquitination of Cdc25A. U2OS cells were transfected as indicated and were treated with 1 µM MG132 between 9 and 24 h posttransfection. Cdc25A was immunoprecipitated and then immunoblotted with anti-His or anti-Ub antibody to detect ubiquitinated forms [Cdc25A-(Ub)n]. The expression level of transfected Cdc25A was examined by immunoblotting (bottom panel). (E) The MH2 domain of Smad3 is sufficient to trigger Cdc25A degradation. U2OS cells were either transfected with Cdc25A alone or cotransfected with either wt (wild type), SA (SSVS->AAVA mutant), or MH1- or MH2-domain-only Smad3 mutants. Levels of transfected proteins were determined by immunoblotting.
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FIG. 3. Smad3 expression levels determine Cdc25A stability in TGF-ß treated cells. (A) Smad3 knockdown by siRNA increases the stability of Cdc25A in TGF-ß-treated cells. U2OS cells were transfected twice with Smad3 siRNA, with a 24-h interval. At 24 h after second transfection, cells were treated with 10 ng of TGF-ß1/ml for 22 h, followed by incubation with 50 µg of cycloheximide/ml for the times indicated. The levels of the listed proteins were examined by immunoblotting. (B) Cdc25A is stabilized in Smad3-null MEFs. MEFs from wild-type (WT) and Smad3/ mice were treated with 10 ng of TGF-ß1/ml for 22 h, followed by incubation with 50 µg of cycloheximide/ml for the times indicated in minutes, and analyzed by immunoblotting for the proteins indicated.
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FIG. 4. Phosphorylation around the DSG motif is involved in TGF-ß-Smad3-mediated Cdc25A degradation. (A) Cdc25A mutants defective in phosphorylation around the DSG motif are refractory to TGF-ß-mediated degradation. U2OS cells were transfected with wild type (WT) or the mutants of Cdc25A indicated in the panel and then treated with 10 ng of TGF-ß1/ml between 9 and 24 h posttransfection. K2m, a K141A/E142A/N143A mutant defective in APC recognition. Cell lysates were analyzed by immunoblotting for the proteins indicated. (B) The DSG phosphorylation mutants of Cdc25A are refractory to Smad3-mediated degradation. U2OS cells were cotransfected with Smad3 and either wild type or the mutants of Cdc25A. Cell lysates at 24 h posttransfection were analyzed by immunoblotting. (C) Smad3 overexpression decreases stability of wild-type (wt) Cdc25A, whereas it affects the half-life of Cdc25A (S76A) only modestly. At 22 h posttransfection, cycloheximide (50 µg/ml) was added to the culture medium, and cells were further incubated for indicated times, followed by immunoblotting. (D) Phosphorylation around the DSG motif is critical for TGF-ß1-mediated ubiquitination. U2OS cells were cotransfected with the indicated expression vectors and treated with or without TGF-ß1 for 24 h in the presence of 1 µM MG132 between 9 and 24 h. Ubiquitinated Cdc25A [Cdc25A-(ub)n] was detected by immunoprecipitation (IP) followed by immunoblotting (WB).
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FIG. 5. Cdc25A phosphorylation at the DSG motif is regulated by TGF-ß signals independently of Smad3 levels. (A) TGF-ß up-regulates phosphorylation at the DSG motif. U2OS cells were transfected with wild type (WT) and the mutants of Cdc25A and then treated with 10 ng of TGF-ß1/ml for 24 h and with 1 µM MG132 between 9 and 24 h posttransfection, followed by immunoblotting with a polyclonal antibody specifically for Cdc25A phosphorylated at Ser82/Ser88. (B) Smad3 knockdown does not affect TGF-ß-induced DSG phosphorylation. U2OS cells were transfected with Smad3 siRNA or NS dsRNA (NS), followed by transfection with Cdc25A and treatment with TGF-ß and MG132 at 9 to 24 h posttransfection. Cells were then analyzed by immunoblotting with the indicated antibodies. (C) TGF-ß receptor signaling is critical for DSG phosphorylation. (Upper panels) U2OS cells were transfected with indicated plasmids, followed by treatment with MG132 at 9 to 24 h posttransfection. TßRII(KR), a dominant-negative type II TGF-ß receptor mutant. (Lower panels) The above experiment was performed in the absence of MG132. (D) Chk1 kinase is not critical for Smad3-induced Cdc25A degradation. U2OS cells were transfected with Chk1 siRNA or NS dsRNA, followed by transfection of Cdc25A in the presence or absence of Smad3. After 24 h, cells were subjected to immunoblotting for the indicated proteins.
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FIG. 6. Association of ß-TrCP with Cdc25A and Smad3. (A) Cdc25A physically associates with the F-box proteins ß-TrCP1 and ß-TrCP2 in cotransfected U2OS cells. Cells were transfected with Cdc25A and Flag-tagged ß-TrCP1 or ß-TrCP2 and treated with 2 µM MG132 at 16 to 24 h posttransfection. Lysates were immunoprecipitated (IP) with an anti-Flag monoclonal antibody, followed by immunoblotting (WB) for Cdc25A. Asterisk, immunoglobulin heavy chain. The lower panel shows direct WB. (B) TGF-ß up-regulates Cdc25A association with ß-TrCP. Cells were transfected as described for panel A, followed by treatment with 10 ng of TGF-ß/ml1 for 24 h. MG132 (1 µM) was added for the last 15 h of incubation. Asterisk, immunoglobulin heavy chain. The lower panel shows direct WB. (C) Smad3 physically associates with ß-TrCP. Cells were transfected with the indicated plasmids, followed by treatment with 2 µM MG132 at 16 to 24 h posttransfection. Asterisks, immunoglobulin heavy chain. The lower three panels show direct WB. (D) Smad3 interacts with cullin-1 (Cul1). Cells were transfected with Cdc25A, Smad3, and Cul1-V5 as indicated, followed by the treatment with 2 µM MG132 at 16 to 24 h posttransfection. Lysates were immunoprecipitated with anti-Smad3 antibody followed by immunoblotting with V5 antibody for cullin-1. Asterisk, immunoglobulin heavy chain.
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FIG. 7. ß-TrCP mediates Smad3-induced Cdc25A ubiquitination. (A) Smad3 knockdown diminishes Cdc25A interaction with ß-TrCP. U2OS cells were transfected with Smad3 siRNA or NS dsRNA, followed by transfection with Flag-tagged ß-TrCP2 and/or Cdc25A. Cells were treated with 2 µM MG132 at 16 to 24 h posttransfection and subjected to immunoprecipitation (IP) followed by immunoblotting (WB), as indicated. Direct WB data are shown in lower panels. Asterisks, immunoglobulin heavy chain. (B) siRNA-mediated down-regulation of ß-TrCP protects Cdc25A from Smad3-mediated degradation. U2OS cells were transfected twice with NS, Smad3, ß-TrCP2, or Cdh1 siRNA. At 24 h posttransfection, cells were further transfected with either Cdc25A alone or Cdc25A and Smad3, and 24 h later, protein levels were determined by immunoblotting.
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It has been shown that Ser76 phosphorylation is a step requisite for Ser82 phosphorylation (6, 32). The exact mechanism of the hierarchical order of phosphorylation is unknown. It also remains elusive what kinases are responsible for Ser76 and Ser82 phosphorylation. Although a previous study showed that purified Chk1 can efficiently phosphorylate Ser76 in vitro (25, 32), some other kinases may phosphorylate the site in concert with TGF-ß signaling. In addition, Chk1 cannot phosphorylate Ser82 in vitro. The present study has shown that Chk1 siRNA does not affect Smad3-induced down-regulation of Cdc25A, suggesting that Chk1 does not play a major role in the TGF-ß-Smad3 regulation of Cdc25A. A previous study of Xenopus Cdc25A suggested that an unidentified kinase phosphorylates Ser73, the Xenopus counterpart of Ser76, at the midblastula transition during development (47). Xenopus Chk1 cannot phosphorylate Ser73 in this system. It is well known that TGF-ß and activin signals are important during embryogenesis, especially the midblastula transition stage. Mammalian non-Chk1 protein kinases responsible for TGF-ß-induced Ser76 and Ser82 phosphorylation remain to be identified.
Smad3 is obviously required for Cdc25A ubiquitination induced by TGF-ß signals. Cdc25A is stabilized in cells transfected with Smad3 siRNA or in cells from Smad3-knockout mice. It is noteworthy that Cdc25A is more stable in those cells with reduced Smad3 expression, even in culture medium without TGF-ß addition (data not shown). Also, Smad3 overexpression destabilizes Cdc25A quite effectively without exogenous TGF-ß. The dominant-negative type II TGF-ß receptor, neutralizing TGF-ß antibodies, or the type I receptor inhibitor SB431542 can eliminate Smad3-induced Cdc25A degradation, suggesting that Smad3 overexpression is not sufficient for execution of Cdc25A ubiquitination and that receptor signals are still required. In cells cultured without exogenous TGF-ß, basal signaling activities from TGF-ß receptors, probably induced by TGF-ß in fetal bovine serum, may cooperate with altered Smad3 levels to determine the rate of Cdc25A ubiquitination. The exact mechanism of the rate-limiting role for Smad3 remains to be determined. Association of ß-TrCP with Cdc25A is almost eliminated by siRNA-mediated knockdown of Smad3. However, neither Smad3 knockdown nor overexpression significantly alters Ser82-Ser88 phosphorylation. One of the possible explanations for these observations is that Smad3-dependent signals activate a kinase responsible for Cdc25A phosphorylation at another site(s) that is more critical for ß-TrCP association. Another possibility is that Smad3 may facilitate ß-TrCP association with Cdc25A more directly, forming a regulatory layer downstream of DS82G phosphorylation. We have demonstrated that Smad3 can bind to Cdc25A, ß-TrCP, and cullin-1. Fukuchi et al. previously showed that the C-terminal MH2 domain of Smad3 physically binds to ROC1 (also termed Rbx1 or Hrt1) in yeast two-hybrid assays and Smad3 associates with SCFß-TrCP complex in mammalian cells (19). ROC1 functions as a linker between cullin and an E2 enzyme. They showed that Smad2 does not bind to SCFß-TrCP, which is consistent with our observation that Smad2 expression does not down-regulate Cdc25A. Another report showed that ß-TrCP1 binds weakly to Smad3 and strongly to Smad4 in cotransfected mammalian cells (51), which may be relevant to our data showing that ß-TrCP2 binds to Smad3 more efficiently than ß-TrCP1. Thus, Smad3 might participate in SCFß-TrCP complexes, via interaction with ROC1, and help assembly with Cdc25A phosphorylated at the DS82G site. Interestingly, we also found that Cdc25A mutants defective in DS82G phosphorylation cannot bind to Smad3 in cotransfected U2OS cells (data not shown). Smad3 also has been shown to recruit the APCCdh1 complex to SnoN, a negative regulator of the TGF-ß signaling (48), and the human enhancer of filamentation 1 (HEF1), a Cas family cytoplasmic docking protein (37, 42). In both cases, Smad3 seems to facilitate ubiquitination by physical association with the substrate and APC components. However, Cdh1 siRNA does not protect Cdc25A from Smad3-induced down-regulation, indicating that the APCCdh1 complex is not involved in the Smad3-mediated ubiquitination of Cdc25A. Consistently, a dominant-negative mutant of cullin-1 effectively eliminates Smad3-induced Cdc25A degradation, while Emi1, a specific inhibitor of APC, has minimum effects (D. Ray and H. Kiyokawa, unpublished observations). Further studies are necessary to clarify how Smad3 controls ubiquitination of multiple substrates by SCFß-TrCP and APC.
Previous reports demonstrated that TGF-ß down-regulates Cdc25A at the level of transcription (29, 30). TGF-ß signals result in recruitment of the E2F4-p130 repressor complex onto an E2F binding site of the Cdc25A promoter. Cdc25A down-regulation seems to collaborate with transactivation of the Cdk inhibitor p15INK4b and p21Cip1/Waf1 and repression of c-myc, in inducing G1 cell cycle arrest in response to TGF-ß (46). In addition, Cdc25A phosphatase activity is also a target of TGF-ß signals. TGF-ß activates p160ROCK in a RhoA-dependent manner, and p160ROCK diminishes Cdc25A phosphatase activity by phosphorylation (3). Thus, the TGF-ß signaling pathway controls Cdc25A at multiple levels, i.e., transcriptional repression, proteasomal degradation, and enzymatic inhibition, suggesting the importance of Cdc25A as a target of developmental and tumor-suppressive functions of the TGF-ß signaling pathway. Accumulating evidence suggests that Smad3 is a tumor suppressor gene. Most intriguingly, Smad3/ mice develop metastatic colorectal carcinoma (56). Furthermore, a recent study showed that Smad3 protein was undetectable in all of 10 T-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia samples examined, despite intact expression of Smad3 mRNA without mutations (52). Smad3+/ p27Kip1/ mice exhibit lymphocytic infiltration in multiple organs, and 10% of those animals develop T-cell leukemia (52). Loss of Smad3 protein expression is also observed in a fraction of gastric cancer tissues (24). Smad3 could play an important role in tumor suppression by controlling transcription of TGF-ß target genes. Another critical role for Smad3 is to regulate ubiquitination of various proteins, such as SnoN, HEF1, and Cdc25A. Our studies with Smad3 overexpression, Smad3 siRNA, and Smad3-null cells clearly indicate that the expression level of Smad3 is a determining factor for stability and steady-state levels of Cdc25A. Cdc25A protein is overexpressed in various types of malignancies, including colon, esophagus, breast, and ovarian cancers and lymphoma (5, 7, 12, 31, 41). Increased Cdc25A levels may lead to not only unrestricted proliferation by Cdk activation but also suppressed apoptosis (58), either of which can contribute to tumor initiation and progression. Recently it was shown that Cdc25A overexpression in several breast cancer cell lines results from impaired protein degradation (38). We observed that breast cancer cells without detectable Smad3 expression, e.g., MCF-7 cells, display stable Cdc25A protein, whereas cancer cells with high-level Smad3 expression, such as MDA-MB231 cells, exhibit active degradation of Cdc25A at the basal state (D. Ray and H. Kiyokawa, unpublished observations). Moreover, Cdc25A degradation is also enhanced when murine leukemia M1 cells undergo interleukin-6-induced differentiation (2). It is known that TGF-ß-Smad3 signaling plays a role in myeloid differentiation (28, 34). These observations are consistent with the reciprocal relationship between Smad3 and Cdc25A established in the present study. Smad3 deficiency or other defects in the pathway regulating SCFß-TrCP-mediated ubiquitination should lead to Cdc25A stabilization. As a consequence, Cdks will become hyperactivated and promote cell cycle progression, while Cdk4 and Cdk2 will in turn phosphorylate Smad3 and down-regulate its activity (39), creating a feedback loop of regulation. The significance of Smad3-dependent Cdc25A regulation in development and carcinogenesis awaits further investigations.
This work was supported in part by funds provided to H.K. by the National Institutes of Health (R01HD38085 and R01CA100204) and the Department of Defense (DAMD 17-02-1-0413).
Present address: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Osaka University Medical School, Osaka 565-0871, Japan. ![]()
Present address: Division of Rheumatology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611. ![]()
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