FASEB J.
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
 QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     


This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by MATSUO, K.
Right arrow Articles by WONG, D. T. W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by MATSUO, K.
Right arrow Articles by WONG, D. T. W.
(The FASEB Journal. 2000;14:1318-1324.)
© 2000 FASEB

p12DOC-1, a growth suppressor, associates with DNA polymerase {alpha}/primase

KOU MATSUO*,1, SATORU SHINTANI*,1, TAKANORI TSUJI*, EMI NAGATA*, MICHAEL LERMAN{ddagger}, JIM MCBRIDE*, YUUJI NAKAHARA*, HIROE OHYAMA*, RANDY TODD{dagger} and DAVID T. W. WONG*2

* Laboratory of Molecular Pathology, Division of Oral Pathology, and
{dagger} Laboratory of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Harvard University, School of Dental Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA; and
{ddagger} Laboratory of Immunobiology, DBS, National Cancer Institute-Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center, Frederick, Maryland 21702, USA

2Correspondence: Harvard University, School of Dental Medicine, 188 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA 02115, USA. E-mail: David_Wong{at}hms.harvard.edu


   ABSTRACT
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES
 
p12DOC-1 is a growth suppressor identified and isolated from normal keratinocytes. Ectopic expression of p12DOC-1 in squamous carcinoma cells led to the reversion of in vitro transformation phenotypes including anchorage independence, doubling time, and morphology. Here we report that p12DOC-1 associates with DNA polymerase {alpha}/primase (pol-{alpha}:primase) in vitro and in cells. The pol-{alpha}:primase binding domain in p12DOC-1 is mapped to the amino-terminal six amino acid (MSYKPN). The biological effect of p12DOC-1 on pol-{alpha}:primase was examined using in vitro DNA replication assays. Using the SV40 DNA replication assay, p12DOC-1 suppresses DNA replication, leveling at ~50%. Similar results were obtained using the M13 single-stranded DNA synthesis assay. Analysis of the DNA replication products revealed that p12DOC-1 affects the initiation step, not the elongation phase. The p12DOC-1 suppression of DNA replication is likely to be mediated either by a direct inhibitory effect on pol-{alpha}:primase or by its effect on cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2), a recently identified p12DOC-1-associated protein known to stimulate DNA replication by phosphorylating pol-{alpha}:primase. p12DOC-1 suppresses CDK2-mediated phosphorylation of pol-{alpha}:primase. These data support a role of p12DOC-1 as a regulator of DNA replication by direct inhibition of pol-{alpha}:primase or by negatively regulating the CDK2-mediated phosphorylation of pol-{alpha}:primase.—Matsuo, K., Shintani, S., Tsuji, T., Nagata, E., Lerman, M., McBride, J., Nakahara, Y., Ohyama, H., Todd, R., Wong, D. T. W. p12DOC-1, a growth suppressor, associates with DNA polymerase {alpha}/primase.


Key Words: pol-{alpha}:primase complex • cell cycle regulator • DNA replication


   INTRODUCTION
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES
 
P12DOC-1 is a growth suppressor identified and isolated from normal keratinocytes (1) . It is a highly conserved cellular gene. We (1 , 2) and others (3 , 4) have cloned p12DOC-1 cDNA from human, mouse, and hamster. The full-length human and mouse p12DOC-1 cDNAs are 1.6 kb and 1.2 kb, respectively. Human p12DOC-1 has one additional codon at residue 19, which encodes for an alanine, and differs from the mouse and hamster p12DOC-1 at only two other amino acid residues (Ala->Thr at residue 8 and Gly->Ser at residue 100). The identity of human and rodent p12DOC-1 polypeptides is 97% whereas the mouse and hamster p12DOC-1 protein sequences are identical. Human p12DOC-1 is a 115 amino acid peptide with a molecular mass of 12.4 kDa (pI of 9.62). Transfection of p12DOC-1 into malignant oral keratinocytes led to the reversion of transformation phenotypes (anchorage independence, doubling time, and morphology). The genetic sequence of p12DOC-1 matched to a murine tumor necrosis factor {alpha} (TNF-{alpha}) early-response murine transcript, TU-166, inducible by TNF-{alpha} (3) , suggesting p12DOC-1 is a downstream event in the TNF-{alpha} signaling pathway.

This paper presents data that provide insights into the mechanisms whereby p12DOC-1 exerts its growth suppressor function. We have previously shown that p12DOC-1 associates with a phosphorylated 180 kDa cellular protein (2) . This p12DOC-1-associated protein was determined to be the large catalytic subunit, p180, of pol-{alpha}:primase. Using a newly raised polyclonal antibody raised against the entire pol-{alpha}:primase complex (p180, p70, p55, and p49), p12DOC-1 was shown to associate with all four subunits of pol-{alpha}:primase, in vitro as well as under cellular conditions. The binding of pol-{alpha}:primase was shown to be mediated by the amino-terminal six amino acids of p12DOC-1. The effect of p12DOC-1 on pol-{alpha}:primase was examined using the SV40 and M13 single-stranded DNA replication assays. Input p12DOC-1 protein significantly inhibits DNA replication. p12DOC-1 affected primarily the initiation step of DNA replication, not elongation. CDK2 is a recently identified p12DOC-1-associated protein (S. Shintani et al., unpublished results). CDK2 is known to phosphorylate pol-{alpha}:primase, stimulating DNA replication. In vitro kinase experiments revealed that p12DOC-1 suppresses the CDK2-mediated phosphorylation of pol-{alpha}:primase. These results jointly suggest that p12DOC-1 is a negative regulator of DNA replication either by direct inhibition of pol-{alpha}:primase or by suppressing the CDK2-mediated phosphorylation of pol-{alpha}:primase.


   MATERIALS AND METHODS
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES
 
Cell culture
293 cells were maintained at 37°C, 5% CO2 in Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (Hazleton, St. Lenexa, Kans.) and antibiotics (penicillin [100 units/ml], streptomycin [100 µg/ml], and amphotericin B [0.25 µg/ml] (Whittaker, MA Bioproducts, Walkersville, Md.).

Preparation of GST-p12DOC-1 fusion protein
The human p12DOC-1 cDNA was cloned into the glutathione S-transferase (GST) fusion protein vector pGEX-4T-1 (Pharmacia Biotech, Piscataway, N.J.) at the SalI (5') and NotI (3') sites containing the entire open reading frame to be expressed in-frame with the GST protein (GST-p12DOC-1). GST-p12DOC-1 fusion protein was produced by growing pGST-p12DOC-1 transformed DH5-{alpha} cells to OD600 between 1.0 and 2.0, and induced with 0.1 mM isopropyl-ß-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG; Stratagene, La Jolla, Calif.). GST-p12DOC-1 fusion proteins were purified with use of glutathione Sepharose 4B beads (Pharmacia Biotech). The production of the GST-p12DOC-1 fusion protein was confirmed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and Western blot with p12DOC-1/Ab3, an anti-human p12DOC-1 rabbit polyclonal antibody. For use in experiments, the GST-p12DOC-1 fusion protein bound to glutathione Sepharose 4B beads was either eluted with the elution buffer (10 mM reduced glutathione in 50 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0) or cleaved by thrombin (Sigma Chemicals, St. Louis, Mo.) to separate from GST moiety. GST protein (28 kDa) produced by the parental pGEX-4T-1 vector was also purified in the same fashion and used as controls.

GST-p12DOC-1 and cellular lysate binding assay
Total cell lysate from 293 cells was prepared using a mild lysis buffer (1% Nonidet P-40, 150 mM NaCl, 10 mM sodium phosphate [pH 7.4], 2 mM EDTA, 50 mM sodium fluoride, 200 µM sodium orthovanadate, 2 µg/ml aprotinin, and 100 µg/ml phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride) containing 1 µM of clast-lactacystin ß-lactone (Calbiochem, San Diego, Calif.). Five hundred micrograms of total cell lysate was diluted 1:1 in EL buffer (250 mM NaCl, 50 mM HEPES pH 7.0, 0.1% Nonidet P-40, 200 µM sodium orthovanadate, 2 µg/ml aprotinin, 100 µg/ml phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, and 1 µM clast-lactacystin ß-lactone) and mixed with purified GST-p12DOC-1 fusion protein bound to glutathione Sepharose 4B beads. GST alone was used as negative control. After incubation on ice for 2 h, the protein complexes were centrifuged at 500 g for 5 min at 4°C. The pellet was resuspended with cold EL buffer. This washing procedure was repeated four times. The resulting complexes were subjected to kinase assay, SDS-PAGE, and/or immunoblot analysis.

Preparation and purification of pol-{alpha}:primase
The recombinant baculoviruses expressing pol-{alpha}:primase subunits were gifts from Teresa Wang (Stanford University) (p180) and Ellen Fanning (Vanderbilt University) (p68, p55, and p49). High-Five insect cells (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.) in suspension were coinfected with recombinant baculoviruses expressing each of the four subunits of human pol-{alpha}:primase at a multiplicity of infection of 10. Pol-{alpha}:primase was purified by immunoaffinity column chromatography with the monoclonal antibody SJK-237–37 (Teresa Wang, Stanford University) specific for the p180 subunit (5) .

Immunoprecipitations and immunoblottings
Immunoprecipitations and Western blottings were performed using standard protocol (6) . For p12DOC-1 immunoprecipitation, the p12DOC-1/Ab3 rabbit polyclonal antibody was used. This rabbit polyclonal antibody was generated using a GST-p12DOC-1 fusion protein. For Western blotting to detect the p180/pol-{alpha}:primase, a chicken IgY polyclonal antibody (ID{alpha}) directed against the p180 subunit of human pol-{alpha}:primase was used (gift from T. Wang). To detect all four subunits of pol-{alpha}:primase, the newly raised pol-{alpha}:primase/Ab3 polyclonal antibody was used. For signal detection, the Amersham ECL System was used in conjunction with BioMax MR film.

p12DOC-1 deletion mutants
A series of p12DOC-1 carboxyl-terminal deletion mutants were created by mutagenizing specific amino acids to a stop codon at the following positions: 6, 16, 36, 56, 76, 96. The Stratagene ‘QuickChange Site-Directed Mutagenesis Kit’ was used (Stratagene). Each mutation was accomplished by two synthetic oligonucleotide primers containing the desired mutation.

The p12DOC-1 amino-terminal deletion mutant [p12DOC-1 (1–6)] was created by inserting EcoRI sites from the amino-terminal between amino acids 5 and 6, again using the Stratagene ‘QuickChange Site-Directed Mutagenesis Kit’. The unique EcoRI site in the multiple cloning site of pGEX4–1 vector was used with newly created EcoRI site to remove the first six amino acids, thus creating the p12DOC-1 (1–6) mutant.

SV-40 in vitro DNA replication assay
DNA replication assay was performed according to published procedures (7 8 9) . pSV010 was used as the plasmid template containing an SV40 origin of DNA replication. S100 lysate from human 293 cells and SV40 T antigen from baculovirus-expressing T antigen were prepared as described by Dutta and Winchester (9) . Titration curves were done to optimize the amounts of S100 lysate and T antigen for incorporation of 32P-dCTP: for a 25 µl reaction, 8 µl and 0.5 µg of S100 and T antigen, respectively. GST-p12DOC-1 and GST control proteins were produced as described and subjected to thrombin digestion. After removal of the parental GST domain conjugated with the Sepharose 4B beads by centrifugation, the thrombin-cleaved p12DOC-1 and GST control protein (28 kDa) were visualized by Coomassie blue-stained SDS-PAGE and the amount was quantified. Twenty to 100 ng of GST-p12DOC-1 or GST proteins resuspended in distilled water was added. Reaction mixtures without S100 extract or T antigen were also included as negative controls. Specific activity of [{alpha}-32P]dCTP in reaction (cpm/pmol) was calculated by the following formula: cpm/pmol = cpm of 1.3 µl master mix/125. The pmol of [{alpha}-32P]dCTP incorporated in each reaction was calculated as follows: pmol = (cpm of DE 81 paper x 10)/specific activity. Each sample was assayed in triplicate; the results were analyzed by Student’s t test.

M13 ssDNA replication assay
DNA synthesis on single-stranded M13 DNA (M13mp18 ssDNA) templates was carried out for 60 min at 37°C in the presence of 30 µM of M13mp18 ssDNA, 20 mM Tris acetate, pH 7.3, 5 mM magnesium acetate, 20 mM potassium acetate, 1 mM dithiothreitol, 0.1 mg/ml of BSA, 1 mM ATP, 0.1 mM each of CTP, GTP, UTP, dATP, dGTP, TTP, and [{alpha}-32P] dCTP (100 cpm/pmol). The polymerized products were analyzed by 1.8% alkaline agarose-gel electrophoresis for 16 h at 60V (10) . In parallel, total incorporation of [{alpha}-32P] dCTP was determined by scintillation counting after removal of unincorporated 32P-dCTP by G50 Sepharose columns.

In vitro phosphorylation assay
For kinase assay, cell lysates were prepared from 293 cells transfected for 48 h with FLAG or FLAG-p12DOC-1. Immunoprecipitations were performed with antibodies specific to CDK2 (M2; Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Santa Cruz, Calif.), cyclin A (BF683; Santa Cruz Biotechnology), cyclin E (M20; Santa Cruz Biotechnology), and protein A/G agarose beads. The immune complexes were washed four times with kinase buffer (50 mM Tris, pH 7.4, 0.1 mM EDTA, 1 mM DTT) and resuspended in a final volume of 10 µl of kinase buffer. The kinase reactions included 500 ng Hi-Five cell-expressed pol-{alpha}:primase, 5 µM ATP, 10 mM Mg2+, and 10 µCi of ({gamma}-32P) ATP and were incubated for 15 min at 37°C. At the end of the reaction, 10 µl of 2x SDS sample buffer was added and proteins were loaded on 10% SDS-polyacrylamide gels. The gels were stained with Coomassie blue prior to autoradiography.


   RESULTS
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES
 
p12DOC-1 associates with DNA polymerase-{alpha}/primase
The observation that keratinocytes stably transfected with p12DOC-1 exhibit S phase phenotypes (increased S phase cells and suppressed incorporation of [3H]-thymidine) prompted us to examine whether p12DOC-1 interacts with cellular proteins in the S phase of the cell division cycle. Human p12DOC-1 was expressed as a GST fusion protein immobilized onto Sepharose beads and used for in vitro binding experiments with 293 cell lysate, followed by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting. We have previously shown that p12DOC-1 associates with the p180 subunit of pol-{alpha}:primase (2) . Using ID{alpha}, a human pol-{alpha}:primase-specific chicken polyclonal antibody that detects the p180 subunit of pol-{alpha}:primase (11) , and a newly generated polyclonal antibody (pol-{alpha}:primase/Ab3) raised against all four subunits of human pol-{alpha}:primase, GST-p12DOC-1 was found to associate with pol-{alpha}:primase (Fig. 1A, B , lanes 2). GST alone did not complex with pol-{alpha}:primase (Fig. 1A, B , lane 1).



View larger version (38K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Figure 1. p12DOC-1 associates with pol-{alpha}:primase. Human p12DOC-1 was expressed in vitro as a GST fusion protein and used in binding experiments with cellular lysate from human 293 cells. GST alone was used as control. Purified bacterially expressed GST-p12DOC-1fusion protein was mixed with 293 cell lysates. After incubation, proteins were recovered on glutathione-Sepharose beads. A) Western blotting of GST-p12DOC-1/293 lysate binding complex using the ID{alpha} antibody, which is specific for the human p180 subunit of pol-{alpha}:primase. Lanes, 1: GST/293 lysate control; 2: GST-p12DOC-1/293 lysate; 3: input 293 lysate at one-tenth amount. B) Western blotting of an identical blot to panel A using the pol-{alpha}:primase/Ab3 antibody, which detects all four subunits of pol-{alpha}:primase. C) Western blot to detect pol-{alpha}:primase in sf9 cells coexpressing p12DOC-1 and pol-{alpha}:primase immunoprecipitated with the following antibodies: normal rabbit serum (NRS, lane 1); p12DOC-1/Ab3 (lane 2). Lane 3 is input lysate protein (25 µg, 0.1x).

p12DOC-1 interacts with pol-{alpha}:primase in cells
To ascertain that p12DOC-1 binds to human pol-{alpha}:primase under cellular conditions, sf9 insect cells were coinfected with recombinant baculovirus containing p12DOC-1 and each of the four subunits of pol-{alpha}:primase. Insect cells are necessary to be host for these experiments because they will permit optimal protein aggregation and folding of each of the four subunits of pol-{alpha}:primase. Dornreiter et al. (12) used this system to demonstrate the in vivo interaction of SV40 large T antigen with pol-{alpha}:primase. Coprecipitation experiments were performed to demonstrate association of p12DOC-1 with pol-{alpha}:primase in cells (Fig. 1C ). Cells coinfected with p12DOC-1 and four subunits of pol-{alpha}:primase produced all four subunits of pol-{alpha}:primase (Fig. 1C , lane 3). Immunoprecipitation with the anti-human p12DOC-1 polyclonal antibody (p12DOC-1/Ab3) coprecipitated all four subunits of pol-{alpha}:primase (Fig. 1C , lane 2), whereas the normal rabbit serum (NRS) control did not (Fig. 1C , lane 1). These experiments demonstrated that p12DOC-1 interacts with pol-{alpha}:primase under both in vitro and cellular conditions.

p12DOC-1 binds to pol-{alpha}:primase via the amino-terminal six amino acids
A panel of carboxyl-terminal deletion mutants was created by site-specific mutagenesis of the parental p12DOC-1 protein. The truncated proteins deleted 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 amino acid residues, respectively, from the carboxyl-terminal. The resultant p12DOC-1 mutants were 95, 75, 55, 35, 15 amino acids in length. In vitro binding experiments were performed using each of the five truncated p12DOC-1 proteins with 100 ng of input pol-{alpha}:primase. The resultant bound complexes were analyzed by SDS-PAGE followed by immunoblotting for pol-{alpha}:primase using the pol-{alpha}:primase/Ab3 polyclonal antibody. Pol-{alpha}:primase bound to all of the truncated p12DOC-1 peptides (Fig. 2 , lanes 3–7). These results indicate that the pol-{alpha}:primase binding domain resides in the amino-terminal fragment (20 amino acids) of p12DOC-1. To further map the pol-{alpha}:primase binding domain, two amino-terminal mutants were created, p12DOC-1 (1–6) and p12DOC-1 (7–115), consisting only of the first six amino acids or deleting the first six amino acids, respectively. The first six amino acids were targeted because the first five amino acids between p12DOC-1 and a closely related protein DOC-1R are identical (13) . Using these two NH2-terminal mutants in pol-{alpha}:primase binding experiments revealed that the p12DOC-1 (7–115) mutant failed to bind pol-{alpha}:primase (Fig. 2 , lane 10), whereas the p12DOC-1 (1–6) mutant retained binding to pol-{alpha}:primase (Fig. 2 , lane 9), suggesting the first six amino acid (MSYKPN) is sufficient for pol-{alpha}:primase association. GST alone did not bind to pol-{alpha}:primase (Fig. 2 , lane 2).



View larger version (62K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Figure 2. Pol-{alpha}:primase interacts with the amino-terminal six amino acids of p12DOC-1. Carboxyl-terminal and amino-terminal deletion p12DOC-1 mutants were created and used to bind insect cell-expressed pol-{alpha}:primase in vitro. The resultant bound complexes were separated on SDS-PAGE and immunoblotted for pol-{alpha}:primase using pol-{alpha}:primase/Ab3.

p12DOC-1 inhibits DNA replication in cell-free DNA replication assays
Pol-{alpha}:primase is the principal polymerase in eukaryotic DNA replication. Its function is to incorporate dNTPs into leading and lagging strands of the replicative fork. We proceeded to examine whether the association of p12DOC-1 with pol-{alpha}:primase in the DNA replicative enzyme complex affects DNA replication. Two methods were used to examine the effect of p12DOC-1 on DNA replication. Using a cell-free SV40 DNA replication system (7) , addition of purified p12DOC-1 caused a dose-dependent suppression of DNA replication (Fig. 3A ). The maximum level of suppression was ~49%. The effect is pol-{alpha}:primase specific. Use of aphidicolin (30 µg/ml) or the omission of pol-{alpha}:primase completely abolished DNA replication (data not shown). In addition, the SV40 replication products were digested with restriction endonucleases to distinguish replication products from repair products (data not shown).



View larger version (19K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Figure 3. p12DOC-1 suppresses DNA replication. A) SV40 DNA replication assay; baculovirus-expressed p12DOC-1 ({blacksquare}) or an equivalent amount of thrombin-digested GST protein (pale circles) was used as an input protein. DNA replication is measured as pmol of 32P-dCMP incorporated into a 25 µl reaction in 1 h. Triplicates were determined at each data point. B) M13 ssDNA replication assays. p12DOC-1 significantly suppresses DNA replication at all concentrations tested (P<0.05). C) Analysis of DNA replication products by alkaline agarose-gel electrophoresis. PC: positive control (lane 1). Lanes 2 and 3 are positive controls in the presence of the pol-{alpha}:primase inhibitor aphidicolin (30 µg/ml) and absence of pol-{alpha}:primase, respectively.

To examine whether p12DOC-1 affects DNA replication at the initiation or elongation step, a M13mp18 single-stranded DNA replication assay was used (14) . Similar to the results obtained with the SV40 DNA replication assay, increasing input p12DOC-1 suppressed DNA replication in a dose-dependent manner (Fig. 3B ). The maximum level of suppression was ~47%. Newly synthesized 32P-labeled DNA replication products were analyzed by alkaline agarose-gel electrophoresis (Fig. 3C ). Comparison of the DNA polymerization products in the presence of increasing input p12DOC-1 protein showed that whereas the size distribution was similar, with a range of distribution of ~100 to 2500 nucleotides (Fig. 3C , compare lane 4 with lanes 5–7), the intensity of the DNA replication products is reduced (Fig. 3C , lanes 5–7). These results were confirmed by using poly(dT) as templates in order to eliminate possible snap back structure from nicked M13 circles (data not shown). Jointly, these results suggest that the p12DOC-1-mediated suppression of DNA replication affects primarily the initiation step, not the elongation process.

p12DOC-1 suppresses CDK2-mediated phosphorylation of pol-{alpha}:primase
Phosphorylation of pol-{alpha}:primase is known to stimulate DNA replication (15 , 16) . CDK2, complexed with cyclins E and A, is the principal kinase known to phosphorylate the p180 and p70 subunits of pol-{alpha}:primase (17) . We have recently shown that CDK2 is a p12DOC-1-associated protein that suppresses CDK2-associated pRB and histone H1 kinase activities (S. Shintani et al., unpublished results). These results prompted us to examine whether p12DOC-1 can similarly suppress CDK2-mediated phosphorylation of pol-{alpha}:primase, which may be partly responsible for the observed p12DOC-1-mediated suppression of DNA replication.

Cellular CDK2 kinase activity at any moment inside a cell is largely a reflection of intracellular levels of activated cyclin A-associated CDK2 (S phase) and cyclin E-associated CDK2 (G1/S). We evaluated the effect of ectopic p12DOC-1 expression on cellular CDK2 kinase activity by transfecting p12DOC-1 into 293 cells, followed by immunoprecipitation of total CDK2, cyclin A-associated kinases (CDK2 and CDC2), and cyclin E-associated CDK2. The immunoprecipitated complexes were used to phosphorylate pol-{alpha}:primase (Fig. 4 ). Figure 4 shows that ectopic expression of p12DOC-1 reduces phosphorylation of the p180 subunit of pol-{alpha}:primase by CDK2 ~threefold (lane 2). A similar reduction was observed for cyclin A-associated kinases (~fourfold, lane 4) and cyclin E-associated CDK2 (~fourfold, lane 6). Cyclin E-associated CDK2 also phosphorylates the p70 subunit (Fig. 4 , lane 5). Ectopic expression of p12DOC-1 abolished the cyclin E/CDK2-mediated phosphorylation of p70. The inhibitory effect of p12DOC-1 for CDK2-associated pol-{alpha}:primase kinase activities is specific. In a similar experiment immunoprecipitating CDK4 and CDK6, ectopic expression of p12DOC-1 did not alter the phosphorylation pattern of pol-{alpha}:primase (data not shown).



View larger version (19K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
 
Figure 4. Ectopic expression of p12DOC-1 and CDK2-associated pol-{alpha}:primase kinase activity in 293 cells. In vitro phosphorylation using baculovirus-expressed pol-{alpha}:primase as substrate. Lanes, 1 and 2: immunoprecipitation of cellular CDK2 (M2, Santa Cruz Biotechnology); 3 and 4: immunoprecipitation of cyclin A (BF683, Santa Cruz Biotechnology); 5 and 6: immunoprecipitation of cyclin E (M20, Santa Cruz Biotechnology). Lanes 1, 3, 5: control FLAG-vector transfections (-); lanes 2, 4, 6: FLAG-p12DOC-1 transfections (+).


   DISCUSSION
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES
 
This paper presents data to demonstrate the association of p12DOC-1, a growth suppressor, with pol-{alpha}:primase. p12DOC-1 complexes with pol-{alpha}:primase in vitro and under physiological conditions in cells. We have mapped the p12DOC-1’s pol-{alpha}:primase binding domain to a region at the six amino-terminal amino acids. p12DOC-1 suppresses DNA replication in the SV40-based and M13mp18 ssDNA assays. The mechanism is likely to be through a direct suppression effect on pol-{alpha}:primase and/or by the p12DOC-1-mediated suppression of pol-{alpha}:primase phosphorylation by CDK2. These data demonstrate a novel association of p12DOC-1 with pol-{alpha}:primase and provide a potential mechanism whereby a growth suppressor can regulate the activity of the key DNA replication enzyme.

Pol-{alpha}:primase, the principal enzyme for DNA replication, is composed of a 180 kDa catalytic subunit (p180), a 70 kDa subunit, and two polypeptides of 49 and 55 kDa associated with DNA primase activity (18) . Although our data show that p12DOC-1 associates with the entire pol-{alpha}:primase complex, it is likely that the actual association is through one of the four subunits. Note that the same six amino acids responsible for pol-{alpha}:primase binding to p12DOC-1 are conserved in a p12DOC-1-related protein, DOC-1R (13) , suggesting the DOC-1R may similarly associate with pol-{alpha}:primase.

Pol-{alpha}:primase gene expression is induced during activation of quiescent cells to proliferate, elevated in tumor cells and down-regulated in terminated differentiated cells (19) . In actively proliferating cells, pol-{alpha}:primase is expressed constitutively at both the transcriptional and translational levels throughout the cell cycle (20) . Phosphorylation has been shown to play a role in the regulation of pol-{alpha}:primase. Wong et al. (21) have shown that both catalytic subunits of human pol-{alpha}:primase (p180 and p70) are phosphorylated at serine and threonine residues. Donaldson and Gerner (16) demonstrated that pol-{alpha}:primase is phosphorylated in culture cells by a serine kinase, and suggest that phosphorylation/dephosphorylation reactions modulate the activity of the enzyme. Cripps-Wolfman et al. (15) showed that there is a correlation of pol-{alpha}:primase phosphorylation and activity in human diploid fibroblasts in replicative DNA synthesis. These data also suggest that fluctuations in pol-{alpha}:primase activity are not due to transcriptional or translational modifications but to posttranslational phosphorylation, stimulating its catalytic activity.

Data from these laboratories provide insight into our current findings. Our data showed that p12DOC-1 suppresses the CDK2-mediated phosphorylation of the p180 and p70 subunits of pol-{alpha}:primase. In particular, ectopic expression abolished the cyclin E/CDK2-mediated phosphorylation of p70 subunit. Although the role of p70 in DNA replication is not yet defined, it is likely that the p12DOC-1-mediated suppression of CDK2 phosphorylation of pol-{alpha}:primase is in part responsible for the observed suppression of DNA replication. We propose that p12DOC-1’s association with pol-{alpha}:primase suppresses its activity whereas p12DOC-1’s association with CDK2 suppresses the CDK2-mediated phosphorylation of pol-{alpha}:primase. Consistent with this model is that ectopic expression of p12DOC-1 is associated with significant reduction of [3H]-thymidine uptake by 239 cells (data not shown).

We have not yet been able to obtain evidence of endogenous interaction of p12DOC-1 and DNA polymerase-{alpha}/primase. A reason for this is that most of the cell models we have examined do not express an appreciable amount of p12DOC-1. Efforts are currently under way to identify cellular models that express sufficient levels of p12DOC-1 so as to permit the function role of this growth suppressor to be examined under endogenous physiological conditions. These cellular models can also allow us to further examine the detailed role of p12DOC-1 in DNA replication. Our data indicate that the maximal suppression of DNA replication by p12DOC-1 is at ~50%. It is unclear why there is no further suppression beyond 50%. In view of our recent finding that p12DOC-1 associates with CDK2 and can negatively regulate the CDK2-mediated phosphorylation of p180 and p70 (Fig. 4) , perhaps we can speculate that whereas ectopic expression of p12DOC-1 completely shut off the CDK2-mediate phosphorylation of p70, the phosphorylation of the p180 subunit is only partially inhibited and thus may allow partial initiation of the DNA replication process.

Pol-{alpha}:primase is the only eukaryotic enzyme that can initiate DNA replication de novo. While p21WAF1/CIP1/CAP20 has been shown to associate with proliferating cell nuclear antigen and inhibits DNA replication (22) , our data demonstrate a proximal control mechanism whereby the first step of DNA replication, initiation, can be regulated on interaction with p12DOC-1. We propose that p12DOC-1 is a regulator of DNA replication, negatively regulating the activity of pol-{alpha}:primase.


   ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
 
Support for this research was provided by grants PO1 DE 12467 and RO1 DE08680 from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) and grants 97A024 from the American Institute for Cancer Research to D.T.W.W. and R29 DE 11983 from NIDCR to R.T. H.O. is a research fellow of the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science. We thank Dr. T. Wang (Stanford University) for providing the polyclonal antibody to human pol-{alpha}:primase (ID{alpha}) and the baculovirus containing the p180 cDNA. We thank Dr. Ellen Fanning (Vanderbilt University) for providing the baculovirus containing the p68, p55, and p49 subunits to human pol-{alpha}:primase. We also thank Dr. Heinz-Peter Nasheuer for providing us with the CL-22 and Pol SIGMA anti-pol-{alpha}:primase antibodies (Inst. F. Molekulare Biotechnologie E.V, Jena Germany). In addition, we are grateful to Dr. Yi-Ling Lin her input into this project. We are grateful for the conceptual and technical assistance from the members’ head and neck/oral cancer research group at Harvard Medical School. This include Drs. Karl Münger and Philip Hinds (Harvard Medical School), Dr. James G. Rheinwald (Brigham & Women’s Hospital), Dr. Anil Rustgi (Massachusetts General Hospital), Drs. Marshall Posner and Arthur Pardee (Dana Farber Cancer Institute), and Dr. Ralph Kent (Forsyth Institute).


   FOOTNOTES
 
1 These authors contributed equally to this work.

Received for publication August 31, 1999. Revision received December 21, 1999.
   REFERENCES
TOP
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES
 

  1. Todd, R., McBride, J., Tsuji, T., Donoff, R. B., Nagai, M., Chou, M. Y., Chiang, T., Wong, D. T. (1995) Deleted in oral cancer-1 (doc-1), a novel oral tumor suppressor gene. FASEB J 9,1362-1370[Abstract]
  2. Tsuji, T., Duh, F. M., Latif, F., Popescu, N. C., Zimonjic, D.B., McBride, J., Matsuo, K., Ohyama, H., Todd, R., Nagata, E., Terakado, N., Sasaki, A., Matsumura, T., Lerman, M. I., Wong, D. T. W. (1998) Cloning, mapping, expression, function, and mutation analyses of the human ortholog of the hamster putative tumor suppressor gene doc-1. J. Biol. Chem. 273,6704-6709[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  3. Gordon, H. M., Kucera, G., Salvo, R., Boss, J. M. (1992) Tumor necrosis factor induces genes involved in inflammation, cellular and tissue repair, and metabolism in murine fibroblasts. J. Immunol. 148,4021-4027[Abstract]
  4. Daigo, Y., Suzuki, K., Maruyama, O., Miyoshi, Y., Yasuda, T., Kabuto, T., Imaoka, S., Fujiwara, T., Takahashi, E., Fujino, M. A., Nakamura, Y. (1997) Isolation, mapping and mutation analysis of a human cDNA homologous to the doc-1 gene of the Chinese hamster, a candidate tumor suppressor for oral cancer. Genes Chrom. Can. 20,204-207
  5. Copeland, W. C., Wang, T. S. (1991) Catalytic subunit of human DNA polymerase alpha overproduced from baculovirus-infected insect cells. Structural and enzymological characterization. J. Biol. Chem. 266,22739-22748[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  6. Harlow, E., Lane, D. (1999) Using Antibodies Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cold Spring Harbor, New York.
  7. Li, J. J., Kelly, T. J. (1984) Simian virus 40 DNA replication in vitro. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 81,6973-6977[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  8. Stillman, B. W., Gluzman, Y. (1985) Replication and supercoiling of simian virus 40 DNA in cell extracts from human cells. Mol. Cell. Biol. 5,2051-2060[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  9. Dutta, A., Winchester, E. (1996) Pagano, M. eds. Cell Cycle: Materials and Methods ,175-185 Springer, Verlag New York.
  10. Sambrook, J., Fritsch, E. F., Maniatis, T. (1989) Sambrook, J. Fritsch, E. F. Maniatis, T. eds. Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual Vol. 2 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press Cold Spring Harbor, New York.
  11. Miller, M. A., Korn, D., Wang, T. S. (1988) The evolutionary conservation of DNA polymerase alpha. Nucleic Acids Res 16,7961-7973[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  12. Dornreiter, I., Copeland, W. C., Wang, T. S. (1993) Initiation of simian virus 40 DNA replication requires the interaction of a specific domain of human DNA polymerase alpha with large T antigen. Mol. Cell. Biol. 13,809-820[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  13. Zhang, X., Tsao, H., Tsuji, T., Minoshima, S., McBride, J., Majewski, P., Todd, R., Shimizu, N., Wong, D. T., Housman, D. E., Haluska, F. G. (1999) Identification and mutation analysis of DOC-1R, a DOC-1 growth suppressor-related gene. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 255,59-63[Medline]
  14. Stadlbauer, F., Brueckner, A., Rehfuess, C., Eckerskorn, C., Lottspeich, F., Forster, V., Tseng, B. Y., Nasheuer, H. P. (1994) DNA replication in vitro by recombinant DNA-polymerase-alpha-primase. Eur. J. Biochem. 222,781-793[Medline]
  15. Cripps-Wolfman, J., Henshaw, E. C., Bambara, R. A. (1989) Alterations in the phosphorylation and activity of DNA polymerase alpha correlate with the change in replicative DNA synthesis as quiescent cells re-enter the cell cycle. J. Biol. Chem. 264,19478-19486[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  16. Donaldson, R. W., Gerner, E. W. (1987) Phosphorylation of a high molecular weight DNA polymerase alpha. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84,759-763[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  17. Voitenleitner, C., Fanning, E., Nasheuer, H. P. (1997) Phosphorylation of DNA polymerase alpha-primase by cyclin A-dependent kinases regulates initiation of DNA replication in vitro. Oncogene 14,1611-1615[Medline]
  18. Lehman, I. R., Kaguni, L. S. (1989) DNA polymerase alpha. J. Biol. Chem. 264,4265-4268[Free Full Text]
  19. Nasheuer, H. P., Moore, A., Wahl, A. F., Wang, T. S. (1991) Cell cycle-dependent phosphorylation of human DNA polymerase alpha. J. Biol. Chem. 266,7893-7903[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  20. Wahl, A. F., Geis, A. M., Spain, B. H., Wong, S. W., Korn, D., Wang, T. S. (1988) Gene expression of human DNA polymerase alpha during cell proliferation and the cell cycle. Mol. Cell. Biol. 8,5016-5025[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  21. Wong, S. W., Paborsky, L. R., Fisher, P. A., Wang, T. S., Korn, D. (1986) Structural and enzymological characterization of immunoaffinity-purified DNA polymerase alpha/DNA primase complex from KB cells. J. Biol. Chem. 261,7958-7968[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  22. Waga, S., Hannon, G. J., Beach, D., Stillman, B. (1994) The p21 inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases controls DNA replication by interaction with PCNA. Nature (London) 369,574-578[Medline]



This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
Cancer Res.Home page
T. Tsuji, S. Ibaragi, K. Shima, M. G. Hu, M. Katsurano, A. Sasaki, and G.-f. Hu
Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition Induced by Growth Suppressor p12CDK2-AP1 Promotes Tumor Cell Local Invasion but Suppresses Distant Colony Growth
Cancer Res., December 15, 2008; 68(24): 10377 - 10386.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Biol. Chem.Home page
Y. Kim, H. Ohyama, V. Patel, M. Figueiredo, and D. T. Wong
Mutation of Cys105 Inhibits Dimerization of p12CDK2-AP1 and Its Growth Suppressor Effect
J. Biol. Chem., June 17, 2005; 280(24): 23273 - 23279.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Clin. Cancer Res.Home page
M. L. Figueiredo, Y. Kim, M. A.R. St. John, and D. T.W. Wong
p12CDK2-AP1 Gene Therapy Strategy Inhibits Tumor Growth in an In vivo Mouse Model of Head and Neck Cancer
Clin. Cancer Res., May 15, 2005; 11(10): 3939 - 3948.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Ann. Surg. Oncol.Home page
T. S. Kent, Z. Yuan, A. Miller, and T. K. Weber
Deleted in Oral Cancer-1 Expression Upregulates Proapoptosis Elements in Microsatellite-Unstable Human Colorectal Cancer
Ann. Surg. Oncol., February 1, 2004; 11(2): 192 - 196.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Cancer Res.Home page
M. G. Hu, G.-F. Hu, Y. Kim, T. Tsuji, J. McBride, P. Hinds, and D. T. W. Wong
Role of p12CDK2-AP1 in Transforming Growth Factor-{beta}1-Mediated Growth Suppression
Cancer Res., January 15, 2004; 64(2): 490 - 499.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
CarcinogenesisHome page
M. Shibutani, N. Takahashi, T. Kobayashi, C. Uneyama, N. Masutomi, A. Nishikawa, and M. Hirose
Molecular profiling of genes up-regulated during promotion by phenobarbital treatment in a medium-term rat liver bioassay
Carcinogenesis, June 1, 2002; 23(6): 1047 - 1055.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
CROBMHome page
R. Todd, P.W. Hinds, K. Munger, A.K. Rustgi, O.G. Opitz, Y. Suliman, and D.T. Wong
CELL CYCLE DYSREGULATION IN ORAL CANCER
Critical Reviews in Oral Biology & Medicine, January 1, 2002; 13(1): 51 - 61.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Clin. Cancer Res.Home page
S. Shintani, M. Mihara, N. Terakado, Y. Nakahara, T. Matsumura, Y. Kohno, H. Ohyama, J. McBride, R. Kent, R. Todd, et al.
Reduction of p12DOC-1 Expression Is a Negative Prognostic Indicator in Patients with Surgically Resected Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Clin. Cancer Res., September 1, 2001; 7(9): 2776 - 2782.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Cancer Res.Home page
M. T. Hartsough, S. E. Clare, M. Mair, A. G. Elkahloun, D. Sgroi, C. K. Osborne, G. Clark, and P. S. Steeg
Elevation of Breast Carcinoma Nm23-H1 Metastasis Suppressor Gene Expression and Reduced Motility by DNA Methylation Inhibition
Cancer Res., March 1, 2001; 61(5): 2320 - 2327.
[Abstract] [Full Text]


This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by MATSUO, K.
Right arrow Articles by WONG, D. T. W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by MATSUO, K.
Right arrow Articles by WONG, D. T. W.


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS