title: Promyelocytic leukemia protein sensitizes tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced apoptosis by inhibiting the NF-kappaB survival pathway.
abstract: The promyelocytic leukemia protein (PML) is a growth/tumor suppressor essential for induction of apoptosis by diverse apoptotic stimuli. The mechanism by which PML regulates cell death remains unclear. In this study we found that ectopic expression of PML potentiates cell death by apoptosis in the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha)-resistant cell line U2OS and other cell lines. Treatment with TNFalpha significantly sensitized these cells to apoptosis in a p53-independent manner. PML/TNFalpha-induced cell death is associated with DNA fragmentation, activation of caspase-3, -7, and -8, and degradation of DNA fragmentation factor/inhibitor of CAD. PML/TNFalpha-induced cell death could be blocked by the caspase-8 inhibitors CrmA and c-FLIP but not by Bcl-2. These findings indicate that this cell death event is initiated through the death receptor-dependent apoptosis pathway. PML is a transcriptional repressor of NF-kappaB by interacting with RelA/p65 and prevents its binding to the cognate enhancer through the C terminus. Coimmunoprecipitation and double-color immunofluorescence staining demonstrated that PML physically interacts with RelA/p65 in vivo and the two proteins colocalized at the endogenous levels. Overexpression of NF-kappaB rescued cell death induced by PML/TNFalpha. Furthermore, PML(-/-) mouse embryo fibroblasts are more resistant to TNFalpha-induced apoptosis. Together this study defines a novel mechanism by which PML induces apoptosis through repression of the NF-kappaB survival pathway.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Pathology, the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Wen-Shu
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Zhi-Xiang
authors.initials: ZX
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Walter N
authors.initials: WN
authors.lastname: Hittelman
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Salomoni
authors.forename: Pier Paolo
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Pandolfi
authors.forename: Kun-Sang
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology*; D020169:Caspases / Q000378:metabolism; D003851:Deoxyribonucleases / Q000378:metabolism; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D012516:Osteosarcoma; D000071156:Promyelocytic Leukemia Protein; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D051996:Transcription Factor RelA; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000494:pharmacology; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D016328:NF-kappa B; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; C513293:Pml protein, mouse; D000071156:Promyelocytic Leukemia Protein; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor; D051996:Transcription Factor RelA; D014157:Transcription Factors; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; C070576:PML protein, human; D003851:Deoxyribonucleases; C109663:caspase-activated deoxyribonuclease; D020169:Caspases