PubMed Journal Database | The Journal of clinical investigation

ATP11B mediates platinum resistance in ovarian cancer.

Platinum compounds display clinical activity against a wide variety of solid tumors; however, resistance to these agents is a major limitation in cancer therapy. Reduced platinum uptake and increased platinum export are examples of resistance mechanisms that limit the extent of DNA damage. Here, we report the discovery and characterization of the role of ATP11B, a P-type ATPase membrane protein, in cisplatin resistance. We found that ATP11B expression was correlated with higher tumor grade in human ovarian...

Defective telomere elongation and hematopoiesis from telomerase-mutant aplastic anemia iPSCs.

Critically short telomeres activate p53-mediated apoptosis, resulting in organ failure and leading to malignant transformation. Mutations in genes responsible for telomere maintenance are linked to a number of human diseases. We derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from 4 patients with aplastic anemia or hypocellular bone marrow carrying heterozygous mutations in the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) or the telomerase RNA component (TERC) telomerase genes. Both mutant and control iPSCs upreg...

Opposing chemokine gradients control human thymocyte migration in situ.

The ordered migration of thymocytes from the cortex to the medulla is critical for the appropriate selection of the mature T cell repertoire. Most studies of thymocyte migration rely on mouse models, but we know relatively little about how human thymocytes find their appropriate anatomical niches within the thymus. Moreover, the signals that retain CD4+CD8+ double-positive (DP) thymocytes in the cortex and prevent them from entering the medulla prior to positive selection have not been identified in mice or...

GM-CSF contributes to aortic aneurysms resulting from SMAD3 deficiency.

Heterozygous loss-of-function SMAD3 (Mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 3) mutations lead to aneurysm-osteoarthritis syndrome (AOS). In the present study, we found that mice lacking Smad3 had a vascular phenotype similar to AOS, marked by the progressive development of aneurisms. These aneurysms were associated with various pathological changes in transmural inflammatory cell infiltration. Bone marrow transplants from Smad3-/- mice induced aortitis and aortic root dilation in irradiated WT recipient mi...

WNT signaling underlies the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain in rodents.

Treating neuropathic pain is a major clinical challenge, and the underlying mechanisms of neuropathic pain remain elusive. We hypothesized that neuropathic pain-inducing nerve injury may elicit neuronal alterations that recapitulate events that occur during development. Here, we report that WNT signaling, which is important in developmental processes of the nervous system, plays a critical role in neuropathic pain after sciatic nerve injury and bone cancer in rodents. Nerve injury and bone cancer caused a r...

MERTK receptor tyrosine kinase is a therapeutic target in melanoma.

Metastatic melanoma is one of the most aggressive forms of cutaneous cancers. Although recent therapeutic advances have prolonged patient survival, the prognosis remains dismal. C-MER proto-oncogene tyrosine kinase (MERTK) is a receptor tyrosine kinase with oncogenic properties that is often overexpressed or activated in various malignancies. Using both protein immunohistochemistry and microarray analyses, we demonstrate that MERTK expression correlates with disease progression. MERTK expression was highest...

Giant axonal neuropathy-associated gigaxonin mutations impair intermediate filament protein degradation.

Giant axonal neuropathy (GAN) is an early-onset neurological disorder caused by mutations in the GAN gene (encoding for gigaxonin), which is predicted to be an E3 ligase adaptor. In GAN, aggregates of intermediate filaments (IFs) represent the main pathological feature detected in neurons and other cell types, including patients' dermal fibroblasts. The molecular mechanism by which these mutations cause IFs to aggregate is unknown. Using fibroblasts from patients and normal individuals, as well as Gan-/- mi...

RNA-binding protein PCBP2 modulates glioma growth by regulating FHL3.

PCBP2 is a member of the poly(C)-binding protein (PCBP) family, which plays an important role in posttranscriptional and translational regulation by interacting with single-stranded poly(C) motifs in target mRNAs. Several PCBP family members have been reported to be involved in human malignancies. Here, we show that PCBP2 is upregulated in human glioma tissues and cell lines. Knockdown of PCBP2 inhibited glioma growth in vitro and in vivo through inhibition of cell-cycle progression and induction of caspase...

IL-33-dependent induction of allergic lung inflammation by FcγRIII signaling.

Atopic asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the lungs generally marked by excessive Th2 inflammation. The role of allergen-specific IgG in asthma is still controversial; however, a receptor of IgG-immune complexes (IgG-ICs), FcγRIII, has been shown to promote Th2 responses through an unknown mechanism. Herein, we demonstrate that allergen-specific IgG-ICs, formed upon reexposure to allergen, promoted Th2 responses in two different models of IC-mediated inflammation that were independent of a preform...

Endothelial SRF/MRTF ablation causes vascular disease phenotypes in murine retinae.

Retinal vessel homeostasis ensures normal ocular functions. Consequently, retinal hypovascularization and neovascularization, causing a lack and an excess of vessels, respectively, are hallmarks of human retinal pathology. We provide evidence that EC-specific genetic ablation of either the transcription factor SRF or its cofactors MRTF-A and MRTF-B, but not the SRF cofactors ELK1 or ELK4, cause retinal hypovascularization in the postnatal mouse eye. Inducible, EC-specific deficiency of SRF or MRTF-A/MRTF-B...

Atrx deficiency induces telomere dysfunction, endocrine defects, and reduced life span.

Human ATRX mutations are associated with cognitive deficits, developmental abnormalities, and cancer. We show that the Atrx-null embryonic mouse brain accumulates replicative damage at telomeres and pericentromeric heterochromatin, which is exacerbated by loss of p53 and linked to ATM activation. ATRX-deficient neuroprogenitors exhibited higher incidence of telomere fusions and increased sensitivity to replication stress-inducing drugs. Treatment of Atrx-null neuroprogenitors with the G-quadruplex (G4) liga...

Eosinophil pathogenicity mechanisms and therapeutics in neuromyelitis optica.

Eosinophils are abundant in inflammatory demyelinating lesions in neuromyelitis optica (NMO). We used cell culture, ex vivo spinal cord slices, and in vivo mouse models of NMO to investigate the role of eosinophils in NMO pathogenesis and the therapeutic potential of eosinophil inhibitors. Eosinophils cultured from mouse bone marrow produced antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) in cell cultures expressing aquaporin-4 in the presence of NMO autoantibody (NMO-IgG). In the presence of complemen...

Smoothened is a master regulator of adult liver repair.

When regenerative processes cannot keep pace with cell death, functional epithelia are replaced by scar. Scarring is characterized by both excessive accumulation of fibrous matrix and persistent outgrowth of cell types that accumulate transiently during successful wound healing, including myofibroblasts (MFs) and progenitors. This suggests that signaling that normally directs these cells to repair injured epithelia is deregulated. To evaluate this possibility, we examined liver repair during different types...

HIF1α and HIF2α independently activate SRC to promote melanoma metastases.

Malignant melanoma is characterized by a propensity for early lymphatic and hematogenous spread. The hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) family of transcription factors is upregulated in melanoma by key oncogenic drivers. HIFs promote the activation of genes involved in cancer initiation, progression, and metastases. Hypoxia has been shown to enhance the invasiveness and metastatic potential of tumor cells by regulating the genes involved in the breakdown of the ECM as well as genes that control motility and adh...

CCDC22 deficiency in humans blunts activation of proinflammatory NF-κB signaling.

NF-κB is a master regulator of inflammation and has been implicated in the pathogenesis of immune disorders and cancer. Its regulation involves a variety of steps, including the controlled degradation of inhibitory IκB proteins. In addition, the inactivation of DNA-bound NF-κB is essential for its regulation. This step requires a factor known as copper metabolism Murr1 domain-containing 1 (COMMD1), the prototype member of a conserved gene family. While COMMD proteins have been linked to the ubiquitinatio...

Loss of acinar cell IKKα triggers spontaneous pancreatitis in mice.

Chronic pancreatitis is an inflammatory disease that causes progressive destruction of pancreatic acinar cells and, ultimately, loss of pancreatic function. We investigated the role of IκB kinase α (IKKα) in pancreatic homeostasis. Pancreas-specific ablation of IKKα (IkkαΔpan) caused spontaneous and progressive acinar cell vacuolization and death, interstitial fibrosis, inflammation, and circulatory release of pancreatic enzymes, clinical signs resembling those of human chronic pancreatitis. Loss of p...

Natural variation in Fc glycosylation of HIV-specific antibodies impacts antiviral activity.

While the induction of a neutralizing antibody response against HIV remains a daunting goal, data from both natural infection and vaccine-induced immune responses suggest that it may be possible to induce antibodies with enhanced Fc effector activity and improved antiviral control via vaccination. However, the specific features of naturally induced HIV-specific antibodies that allow for the potent recruitment of antiviral activity and the means by which these functions are regulated are poorly defined. Beca...

Recurrent hypoglycemia: boosting the brain's metabolic flexibility.

For people with diabetes, recurrent episodes of hypoglycemia limit the brain's ability to sense dangerously low blood sugar levels. In this issue of the JCI, the mechanisms behind this clinical problem of hypoglycemia unawareness are addressed by Herzog et al. The authors provide compelling evidence that recurrent hypoglycemia enhances transport of lactate into the brain and, although not itself a major alternative fuel source, lactate may preserve neuronal function during hypoglycemia by maintaining neuron...

The phosphatase CD148 promotes airway hyperresponsiveness through SRC family kinases.

Increased airway smooth muscle (ASM) contractility and the development of airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) are cardinal features of asthma, but the signaling pathways that promote these changes are poorly understood. Tyrosine phosphorylation is tightly regulated by the opposing actions of protein tyrosine kinases and phosphatases, but little is known about whether tyrosine phosphatases influence AHR. Here, we demonstrate that genetic inactivation of receptor-like protein tyrosine phosphatase J (Ptprj), whic...

SLITRK6 mutations cause myopia and deafness in humans and mice.

Myopia is by far the most common human eye disorder that is known to have a clear, albeit poorly defined, heritable component. In this study, we describe an autosomal-recessive syndrome characterized by high myopia and sensorineural deafness. Our molecular investigation in 3 families led to the identification of 3 homozygous nonsense mutations (p.R181X, p.S297X, and p.Q414X) in SLIT and NTRK-like family, member 6 (SLITRK6), a leucine-rich repeat domain transmembrane protein. All 3 mutant SLITRK6 proteins di...

Melanoma adapts to RAF/MEK inhibitors through FOXD3-mediated upregulation of ERBB3.

The mechanisms underlying adaptive resistance of melanoma to targeted therapies remain unclear. By combining ChIP sequencing with microarray-based gene profiling, we determined that ERBB3 is upregulated by FOXD3, a transcription factor that promotes resistance to RAF inhibitors in melanoma. Enhanced ERBB3 signaling promoted resistance to RAF pathway inhibitors in cultured melanoma cell lines and in mouse xenograft models. ERBB3 signaling was dependent on ERBB2; targeting ERBB2 with lapatinib in combination...

Lactate preserves neuronal metabolism and function following antecedent recurrent hypoglycemia.

Hypoglycemia occurs frequently during intensive insulin therapy in patients with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes and remains the single most important obstacle in achieving tight glycemic control. Using a rodent model of hypoglycemia, we demonstrated that exposure to antecedent recurrent hypoglycemia leads to adaptations of brain metabolism so that modest increments in circulating lactate allow the brain to function normally under acute hypoglycemic conditions. We characterized 3 major factors underlying th...

Cooperativity of imprinted genes inactivated by acquired chromosome 20q deletions.

Large regions of recurrent genomic loss are common in cancers; however, with a few well-characterized exceptions, how they contribute to tumor pathogenesis remains largely obscure. Here we identified primate-restricted imprinting of a gene cluster on chromosome 20 in the region commonly deleted in chronic myeloid malignancies. We showed that a single heterozygous 20q deletion consistently resulted in the complete loss of expression of the imprinted genes L3MBTL1 and SGK2, indicative of a pathogenetic role f...

Improved regenerative myogenesis and muscular dystrophy in mice lacking Mkp5.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a degenerative skeletal muscle disease caused by mutations in dystrophin. The degree of functional deterioration in muscle stem cells determines the severity of DMD. The mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), which are inactivated by MAPK phosphatases (MKPs), represent a central signaling node in the regulation of muscle stem cell function. Here we show that the dual-specificity protein phosphatase DUSP10/MKP-5 negatively regulates muscle stem cell function in mice....

Discovering naturally processed antigenic determinants that confer protective T cell immunity.

CD8+ T cells (TCD8) confer protective immunity against many infectious diseases, suggesting that microbial TCD8 determinants are promising vaccine targets. Nevertheless, current T cell antigen identification approaches do not discern which epitopes drive protective immunity during active infection - information that is critical for the rational design of TCD8-targeted vaccines. We employed a proteomics-based approach for large-scale discovery of naturally processed determinants derived from a complex pathog...