SKY1 is involved in cisplatin-induced cell kill in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and inactivation of its human homologue, SRPK1, induces cisplatin resistance in a human ovarian carcinoma cell line.
The therapeutic potential of cisplatin, one of the most active and widely used anticancer drugs, is severely limited by the occurrence of cellular resistance. In this study, using budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model organism to identify novel drug resistance genes, we found that disruption of the yeast gene SKY1 (serine/arginine-rich protein-specific kinase from budding yeast) by either transposon insertion or one-step gene replacement conferred cellular resistance to cisplatin. Heterologous expression of the human SKY1 homologue SRPK1 (serine/arginine-rich protein-specific kinase) in SKY1 deletion mutant yeast cells restored cisplatin sensitivity, suggesting that SRPK1 is a cisplatin sensitivity gene, the inactivation of which could lead to cisplatin resistance. Subsequently, we investigated the role of SRPK1 in cisplatin sensitivity and resistance in human ovarian carcinoma A2780 cells using antisense oligodeoxynucleotides. Treatment of A2780 cells with antisense oligodeoxynucleotides directed against the translation initiation site of SRPK1 led to down-regulation of SRPK1 protein and conferred a 4-fold resistance to cisplatin. The human SRPK1 gene has not been associated with drug resistance before. Our new findings strongly suggest that SRPK1 is involved in cisplatin-induced cell kill and indicate that SRPK1 might potentially be of importance for studying clinical drug resistance.
Schenk
P W
PW
Department of Medical Oncology, University Hospital Rotterdam-Daniel den Hoed Cancer Center, Josephine Nefkens Institute, 3000 DR Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Boersma
A W
AW
Brandsma
J A
JA
den Dulk
H
H
Burger
H
H
Stoter
G
G
Brouwer
J
J
Nooter
K
K
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015536:Down-Regulation; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D020868:Gene Silencing; D006801:Humans; D016376:Oligonucleotides, Antisense / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D016376:Oligonucleotides, Antisense; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; C490216:SKY1 protein, S cerevisiae; C087728:SRPK1 protein, human; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D002945:Cisplatin