Identity between rat htf and human xbp-1 genes: determination of gene structure, target sequence, and transcription promotion function for HTF

Unconventional splicing of XBP-1 mRNA in the unfolded protein response

Cytoplasmic splicing is one of the major regulatory mechanisms of the unfolded protein response (UPR). The molecular mechanism of cytoplasmic splicing is unique and completely different from that of conventional nuclear splicing. The mammalian substrate of cytoplasmic splicing is XBP1 pre-mRNA, which is converted to spliced mRNA in response to UPR, leading to the production of an active transcription factor [pXBP1(S)] responsible for UPR. Interestingly, XBP1 pre-mRNA is also translated into a functional protein [pXBP1(U)] that negatively regulates the UPR. Thus, mammalian cells can quickly adapt to a change in conditions in the endoplasmic reticulum by switching proteins encoded in the mRNA from a negative regulator to an activator. This elaborate system contributes to various cellular functions, including plasma cell differentiation, viral infections, and carcinogenesis. In this short review, I briefly summarize research on cytoplasmic splicing and focus on current hot topics.

XBP-1, a key regulator of unfolded protein response, activates transcription of IGF1 and Akt phosphorylation in zebrafish embryonic cell line

The unfolded protein response (UPR) is a conserved and adaptive cellular response to increase cell survival during ER stress. XBP-1 spliced form (XBP-1S) generated by IRE1 endoribonuclease is a key transcriptional regulator in UPR to activate genes involved in protein folding and degradation to restore ER function. Although Akt activation was suggested to be a pro-survival pathway activated during ER stress, the signal to trigger Akt is still not clear. In this study, we report IGF1 transcription and Akt phosphorylation are enhanced in XBP-1S stably overexpressed clone of zebrafish embryonic cell line (ZF4). In addition, zebrafish IGF1 intron1 with predicted UPRE (XBP-1S binding sites) and ERSE (ATF6/XBP-1S binding site) linked with basal promoter could be activated by XBP-1S, not by XBP-1 unspliced form (XBP-1U). Furthermore, we demonstrate that expression of endogenous IGF1 is transiently induced as XBP-1 splicing during ER stress in parallel to ER chaperone GRP78/Hspa5 and ER resided E3 ubiquitin ligase Synoviolin in ZF4 cells by quantitative PCR. Our results suggest zebrafish XBP-1S not only activates genes responsible for protein folding, transporting, glycosylation and ER associated degradation but also activates anti-apoptosis signal via IGF1/Akt pathway in unfolded protein response to cope with ER stress.

Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells Express Neural Genes, Suggesting a Neural Predisposition

Because of their unique attributes of plasticity and accessibility, bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) may find use for therapy of neurodegenerative disorders. Our previous studies of adult human MSCs demonstrated that these cells express an extensive assortment of neural genes at a low but clearly detectable level. Here, we report expression of 12 neural genes, 8 genes related to the neuro-dopaminergic system, and 11 transcription factors with neural significance by human MSCs. Our results suggest that, as opposed to cells that do not express neural genes, human MSCs are predisposed to differentiate to neuronal and glial lineages, given the proper conditions. Our findings add a new dimension in which to view adult stem cell plasticity, and may explain the relative ease with which MSCs, transplanted into the central nervous system (CNS) differentiate to a variety of functional neural cell types. Our results further promote the possibility that adult human MSCs are promising candidates for cell-based therapy of neurodegenerative diseases.

A transcriptional regulatory element screening system reveals a novel E2F1/pRb transcription regulation pathway

We developed a transcriptional regulatory element library which contains 160 independent known transcriptional regulatory elements linked to luciferase reporter vectors. That library proved valuable in the identification of p53 response elements and of E-box sequence preferences of several E-box binding proteins, and we used it to explore E2F1 target regulatory elements. Among those 160 elements, we found 3 E2F1 response elements, an E2F1 consensus sequence, an insulin response element which contained the E2F consensus sequence, and a basal level enhancer (BLE1) which had a nonconsensus E2F binding sequence. BLE1 functioned as multiple copy, with E2F1 in a dose-dependent manner, and had a sequence specificity for E2F1. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay revealed that BLE1 specifically interacts with E2F1 comparable to the E2F element. Interestingly, transactivation via five copies of BLE1 was not repressed but rather was stimulated by E2F1 in combination with the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein (pRb). The retinoblastoma control element (RCE) contains a direct repeated BLE1 in the c-fos gene promoter which also functioned like the multiple BLE1. Our data show that E2F1 has potential binding activity to the RCE and a different transcriptional regulation pathway which cooperates with pRb. Our transcriptional regulatory element screening system is useful for identifying novel transcriptional pathways.

Targeting Positive Regulatory Domain I-Binding Factor 1 and X Box-Binding Protein 1 Transcription Factors by Multiple Myeloma-Reactive CTL

Growing evidence indicates that multiple myeloma (MM) and other malignancies are susceptible to CTL-based immune interventions. We studied whether transcription factors inherently involved in the terminal differentiation of mature B lymphocytes into malignant and nonmalignant plasma cells provide MM-associated CTL epitopes. HLA-A*0201 (A2.1) transgenic mice were used to identify A2.1-presented peptide Ag derived from the plasma cell-associated transcriptional regulators, positive regulatory domain I-binding factor 1 (PRDI-BF1) and X box-binding protein 1 (XBP-1). A2.1-restricted CTL specific for PRDI-BF1 and XBP-1 epitopes efficiently killed a variety of MM targets. PRDI-BF1- and XBP-1-reactive CTL were able to recognize primary MM cells from A2.1(+) patients. Consistent with the expression pattern of both transcription factors beyond malignant and nonmalignant plasma cells, PRDI-BF1- and XBP-1-specific CTL activity was not entirely limited to MM targets, but was also associated with lysis of certain other malignancies and, in defined instances, with low-to-intermediate level recognition of a few types of normal cells. Our results also indicate that the A2.1-restricted, PRDI-BF1- and XBP-1-specific human CD8(+) T cell repertoire is affected by partial self tolerance and may thus require the transfer of high-affinity TCR to break tolerance. We conclude that transcription factors governing terminal cellular differentiation may provide MM- and tumor-associated CTL epitopes.

Identifying tissue-selective transcription factor binding sites in vertebrate promoters

We present a computational method aimed at systematically identifying tissue-selective transcription factor binding sites. Our method focuses on the differences between sets of promoters that are associated with differentially expressed genes, and it is effective at identifying the highly degenerate motifs that characterize vertebrate transcription factor binding sites. Results on simulated data indicate that our method detects motifs with greater accuracy than the leading methods, and its detection of strongly overrepresented motifs is nearly perfect. We present motifs identified by our method as the most overrepresented in promoters of liver- and muscle-selective genes, demonstrating that our method accurately identifies known transcription factor binding sites and previously uncharacterized motifs.

Upregulation and overexpression of human X-box binding protein 1 (hXBP-1) gene in primary breast cancers

BACKGROUND

Human X-box binding protein 1 (hXBP-1) is a transcription factor essential for hepatocyte growth as well as for plasma cell differentiation. hXBP-1 also binds to cis-elements of human T cell leukemia virus and human major histocompatibility complex genes. In order to clarify the role of XBP-1 in breast cancer, here we investigated the expression of XBP-1 in 11 primary breast cancers and 5 breast cancer cell lines.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study population consisted of eleven patients who were underwent surgery for breast cancer from 2000 to 2002. Five breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-453, CRL1500, YMB-1-E, MCF7 and HBL100) were analyzed for XBP-1 expression. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was performed on 6 primary breast cancers. Then we investigated XBP-1 expression by immunohistochemically on archived paraffin-embedded sections.

RESULTS

hXBP-1 mRNA expression was increased in all 11 primary breast cancers we examined, as well as 5 breast cancer cell lines, but hardly detectable in non-cancerous breast tissue. Immunohistochemical staining demonstrated that hXBP-1 protein stained strongly in the cytoplasm of cancer cells but was unreactive in the normal breast ductal epithelial and myoepithelial cells.

CONCLUSIONS

These data indicate that increased expression of the hXBP-1 gene may play some role in human breast carcinogenesis through impairment of cell differentiation regulation.

Down-regulation of human X-box binding protein 1 (hXBP-1) expression correlates with tumor progression in human prostate cancers

BACKGROUND

In our previous study, the gene encoding the human X-box binding protein 1 (hXBP-1) was isolated as a down-regulated gene in advanced prostate cancers using cDNA-representational difference analysis (RDA). In the present investigation, we characterized alterations of hXBP-1 in prostate cancer specimens.

METHODS

Expression patterns of hXBP-1 in a series of human prostate cancers were examined by Northern blotting, mRNA in situ hybridization or immunohistochemistry. Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) analysis using microsatellite markers and gene mutation analysis in the hXBP-1 region were also performed.

RESULTS

Expression of hXBP-1 was localized in epithelial and adenocarcinoma cells of the prostate. An inverse correlation between hXBP-1 expression and histological differentiation was found in a series of prostate cancers without hormonal therapy. Majority of refractory cancer cases exhibited weak hXBP-1 expression. No allelic loss or gene mutations were found in the hXBP-1 region and its open reading frame, respectively, in the prostate cancer examined.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that reduction of hXBP-1 expression may be a useful marker for prostate adenocarcinoma differentiation and progression.