Faculty Bibliography

Mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases play an important role in mediation of the signal transduction pathway in cellular response to genotoxic stress. Cell growth arrest is considered as an early stage in response to the genotoxic stress. p53 is well-known as a tumor suppression gene involved in both cell growth arrest and apoptosis. The present study investigated the involvement of MAP kinases in vanadate-induced cell growth arrest and the relationship of p53. DNA content analysis showed that vanadate-induced S phase arrest is time- and dose-dependent in p53 wild-type C141 cells but not in p53-deficient C141 cells. Western blotting results indicated that vanadate caused an inactivation of p-cdk2 at Thr160, which is an important kinase for the progression of S phase, and an increase in expression of p21, which is a key for S phase arrest. In p53-deficient cells, vanadate did not induce any observable change in p21 or p-cdk2 level. In addition, vanadate up-regulated phospho-p38 and ERK, two members of MAP kinases. At the same time, vanadate increased the p53 activity as measured by luciferase assay. Addition of PD98059 and SB202190, inhibitors of ERK and p38, respectively, decreased vanadate-induced S phase arrest, reduced p21 levels, restored activation of p-cdk2, and decreased p53 activity. The study demonstrated that vanadate-induced S phase arrest is mediated by both ERK and p38 in a p53-dependent pathway.

Arsenite is a known human carcinogen that induces tumorigenesis through either a genotoxic or an epigenetic mechanism. In this study, the effect of arsenite on cell cycle regulation and the mechanisms that contribute to this effect were investigated. Treatment of the cells with arsenite suppressed cell proliferation and reduced cell viability in a dose- or time-dependent manner. Analysis of cell cycle profile and cell cycle regulatory proteins indicated that arsenite arrested the cell cycle at G(2)/M phase, partially through induction of cell division cycle 25 (Cdc25) isoform C (Cdc25C) degradation via ubiquitin-proteasome pathways. Mutation of the putative KEN box within the region 151 to 157 of human Cdc25C or treatment of the cells with a peptide competitor encompassing the KEN box partially inhibited arsenite-induced ubiquitination of Cdc25C. Thus, these results indicate that the regulated ubiquitination of Cdc25C may be involved in the arsenite-induced proteolytic down-regulation of Cdc25C activity in the G(2)/M phase of the cell cycle and suggest a link between cell cycle and the carcinogenic effects of arsenite.

Vanadium compounds exert potent toxic and carcinogenic effects on a wide variety of biological systems. The mechanisms involved in their toxicity and carcinogenesis require investigation. Cell growth arrest and its regulation are important mechanisms in maintaining genomic stability and integrity in response to environmental stress. The p53 tumor suppressor plays a central role in the regulation of the normal cell cycle. To investigate the role of p53 in vanadate-induced cell growth arrest and its regulation, two cell lines--normal mouse embryo fibroblasts [p53(+/+)] and p53-deficient mouse embryo fibroblasts [p53(-/-)],--were used in this study. Flow cytometry was used to analyze cell growth arrest at G0/G1, S, or G2/M phase. Western blotting analysis was performed to determine several cell growth regulatory proteins. The results showed that in p53(-/-) cells vanadate induced G2/M phase arrest in a dose- and time-dependent manner without alteration of S phase. In p53(+/+) cells, vanadate treatment increased the S phase with no significant change in the G2/M phase. Furthermore, Western blotting results showed that in p53(-/-) cells vanadate caused cdc25C degradation and activation of phospho-cdc2 without alteration of the p21 level. In p53(+/+) cells, vanadate increased the expression of p21 and degraded cdc25A instead of cdc25C without any effect on cdc2. These results demonstrate that vanadate induced G2/M phase arrest in p53-deficient mouse embryo fibroblasts, and promoted S phase entry in p53 wild-type mouse embryo fibroblasts.