The levels of RAC3 expression are up regulated by TNF in the inflammatory response

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The inflammatory response increases the expression of RAC3 in vitro and in vivo.

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TNF induces the increase of RAC3 at transcriptional level through NF-κB activation.

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Glucocorticoids also induce the increase of RAC3 expression levels.

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RAC3 appears to be essential for NF-κB- and GR-mediated transcription.

RAC3 is a coactivator of glucocorticoid receptor and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) that is usually over-expressed in tumors and which also has important functions in the immune system. We investigated the role of the inflammatory response in the control of RAC3 expression levels in vivo and in vitro. We found that inflammation regulates RAC3 levels. In mice, sub-lethal doses of lipopolysaccharide induce the increase of RAC3 in spleen and the administration of the synthetic anti-inflammatory glucocorticoid dexamethasone has a similar effect. However, the simultaneous treatment with both stimuli is mutually antagonistic. In vitro stimulation of the HEK293 cell line with tumor necrosis factor (TNF), one of the cytokines induced by lipopolysaccharide, also increases the levels of RAC3 mRNA and protein, which correlates with an enhanced transcription dependent on the RAC3 gene promoter. We found that binding of the transcription factor NF-κB to the RAC3 gene promoter could be responsible for these effects. Our results suggest that increase of RAC3 during the inflammatory response could be a molecular mechanism involved in the control of sensitivity to both pro- and anti-inflammatory stimuli in order to maintain the normal healthy course of the immune response.

Nuclear receptor coactivator RAC3 inhibits autophagy

RAC3 is an oncogene naturally overexpressed in several tumors. Besides its role as coactivator, it can exert several protumoral cytoplasmic actions. Autophagy was found to act either as a tumor suppressor during the early stages of tumor development, or as a protector of the tumor cell in later stages under hypoxic conditions. We found that RAC3 overexpression inhibits autophagy when induced by starvation or rapamycin and involves RAC3 nuclear translocation-dependent and -independent mechanisms. Moreover, hypoxia inhibits the RAC3 gene expression leading to the autophagy process, allowing tumor cells to survive until angiogenesis occurs. The interplay between RAC3, hypoxia, and autophagy could be an important mechanism for tumor progression and a good target for a future anticancer therapy.

[Rapamycin effect on senescence and autophagy processes in human cell lines]

Autophagy and senescence are both processes that firstly avoid tumor development through the inhibition of proliferation of damaged cells. However, autophagy does not imply cell death, because it is also a mechanism of cell survival under stress conditions. Concerning senescence, although these cells do not proliferate, they produce growth factors that contribute to the proliferative response of other cells. Rapamycin is an immunosupressor used in transplanted patients that inhibits the mTOR transduction signal pathway. This pathway is involved in the control of the energetic and nutritional state of the cell allowing protein synthesis and inhibiting autophagy when it is active. In this paper, the action of rapamycin over these processes was investigated and we found that a low concentration of this drug induces the senescence of a normal cell line, while a higher concentration induces autophagy of a transformed cell line. We have also determined that the oncogen RAC3 inhibits autophagy and that its expression is diminished by rapamycin. Therefore, our results contribute to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which this drug is effective, given the relevance of rapamycin for potential tumor therapy.

[RAC3 overexpression is a transforming and proliferative signal that contributes to tumoral development]

RAC3 has been firstly characterized as a nuclear receptor coactivator that is found in limited amounts in normal cells, but is over-expressed in tumors and is also an NF-kB coactivator. Although the mechanisms involved in its over-expression are not clear, it is well known that it enhances resistance to apoptosis. In this work, we investigated if there are any additional mechanisms by which RAC3 may contribute to tumor development and if TNF-a, an inflammatory cytokine that is found at high levels in cancer could increase RAC3 levels. We found that enhancement of RAC3 levels by transfection of HEK293 cells with a RAC3 expression vector induces a significant increase of cell proliferation not only in the presence, but also in the absence of serum growth factors. Moreover, the cells were transformed showing an anchorage independent growth, similar to that observed in tumoral cells. The treatment of HEK293 cells with TNF-a induced an increase in the protein levels of RAC3 and this was blocked by an NF-kB specific inhibitor, suggesting that this transcription factor is involved in the cytokine effect. We conclude that RAC3, in addition to is anti-apoptotic action, is a transforming factor that promotes the proliferation and growth independent of anchorage, and that its levels could be elevated by the action of inflammatory cytokines that are involved in the anti-tumoral response.