Papers by Latricia Fitzgerald
Experimental Cell Research, May 1, 2007
Signaling pathways involved in regulating nuclear-cytoplasmic distribution of BRCA1 have not been... more Signaling pathways involved in regulating nuclear-cytoplasmic distribution of BRCA1 have not been previously reported. Here, we provide evidence that heregulin β1-induced activation of the Akt pathway increases the nuclear content of BRCA1. First, treatment of T47D breast cancer cells with heregulin β1 results in a two-fold increase in nuclear BRCA1 as assessed by FACS analysis, immunoblotting and immunofluorescence. This heregulin-induced increase in nuclear BRCA1 is blocked by siRNA-mediated down-regulation of Akt. Second, mutation of threonine 509 in BRCA1, the site of Akt phosphorylation, to an alanine, attenuates the ability of heregulin to induce BRCA1 nuclear accumulation. These data suggest that Akt-catalyzed phosphorylation of BRCA1 is required for the heregulin-regulated nuclear concentration of BRCA1. Because most functions ascribed to BRCA1 occur within the nucleus, we postulated that phosphorylation-dependent nuclear accumulation of BRCA1 would result in enhanced nuclear activity, specifically transcriptional activity, of BRCA1. This postulate is affirmed by our observation that the ability of BRCA1 to transactivate GADD45 promoter constructs was enhanced in T47D cells treated with heregulin β1. Furthermore, the heterologous expression of BRCA1 in HCC1937 human breast cancer cells, which have constitutively active Akt, also induces GADD45 promoter activity, whereas the expression of BRCA1 in which threonine 509 has been mutated to an alanine is able to only minimally induce promoter activity. These findings implicate Akt in upstream events leading to BRCA1 nuclear localization and function.
Journal of Virology, 2011
The switch between the latency and lytic cycles of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (K... more The switch between the latency and lytic cycles of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is accompanied by specific alterations of histone codes. Recently, comprehensive analysis of histone modifications of KSHV showed the deposition of H3K27me3 across the KSHV genome with two specific regions occupied by the heterochromatin marker H3K9me3. Here, we show that knockdown of JMJD2A, an H3K9me3 demethylase, attenuates viral titers, whereas its overexpression increases KSHV reactivation. JMJD2A is localized in regions of latent viral chromosomes that are deficient in the H3K9me3 mark, indicating that JMJD2A may be responsible for the low level of this mark on viral chromatin. The presence of JMJD2A on the latent genome maintains H3K9 in unmethylated form and signals the readiness of specific sets of viral genes to be reactivated. The demethylase activity of JMJD2A is important for KSHV reactivation, because a demethylase-deficient mutant cannot restore the JMJD2A knockdown p...
Experimental Cell Research, 2007
Signaling pathways involved in regulating nuclear-cytoplasmic distribution of BRCA1 have not been... more Signaling pathways involved in regulating nuclear-cytoplasmic distribution of BRCA1 have not been previously reported. Here, we provide evidence that heregulin β1-induced activation of the Akt pathway increases the nuclear content of BRCA1. First, treatment of T47D breast cancer cells with heregulin β1 results in a two-fold increase in nuclear BRCA1 as assessed by FACS analysis, immunoblotting and immunofluorescence. This heregulin-induced increase in nuclear BRCA1 is blocked by siRNA-mediated down-regulation of Akt. Second, mutation of threonine 509 in BRCA1, the site of Akt phosphorylation, to an alanine, attenuates the ability of heregulin to induce BRCA1 nuclear accumulation. These data suggest that Akt-catalyzed phosphorylation of BRCA1 is required for the heregulin-regulated nuclear concentration of BRCA1. Because most functions ascribed to BRCA1 occur within the nucleus, we postulated that phosphorylation-dependent nuclear accumulation of BRCA1 would result in enhanced nuclear activity, specifically transcriptional activity, of BRCA1. This postulate is affirmed by our observation that the ability of BRCA1 to transactivate GADD45 promoter constructs was enhanced in T47D cells treated with heregulin β1. Furthermore, the heterologous expression of BRCA1 in HCC1937 human breast cancer cells, which have constitutively active Akt, also induces GADD45 promoter activity, whereas the expression of BRCA1 in which threonine 509 has been mutated to an alanine is able to only minimally induce promoter activity. These findings implicate Akt in upstream events leading to BRCA1 nuclear localization and function.
Cancer Research, 2009
Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) has been linked to the development of Kaposi&#... more Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) has been linked to the development of Kaposi's sarcoma, a major AIDS-associated malignancy, and to hematologic malignancies, including primary effusion lymphoma and multicentric Castleman's disease. Like other herpesviruses, KSHV is capable of both latent and lytic replication. Understanding the molecular details associated with this transition from latency to lytic replication is key to controlling virus spread and can affect the development of intervention strategies. Here, we report that Kruppel-associated box domain-associated protein-1 (KAP-1)/transcriptional intermediary factor 1β, a cellular transcriptional repressor that controls chromosomal remodeling, participates in the process of switching viral latency to lytic replication. Knockdown of KAP-1 by small interfering RNA leads to KSHV reactivation mediated by K-Rta, a key transcriptional regulator. In cells harboring latent KSHV, KAP-1 was associated with the majori...
DivisionofHematologyandOncology,DepartmentofInternalMedicine,and**CenterforComparativeMedicineand DepartmentofPathology,UniversityofCalifornia,Davis,California95616
Sumoylationhasemergedasamajorpost-translationalmod-ification of cellular proteins, affecting a va... more Sumoylationhasemergedasamajorpost-translationalmod-ification of cellular proteins, affecting a variety of cellular pro-cesses. Viruses have exploited the sumoylation pathway toadvance their own replication by evolving several ways to per-turb the host sumoylation apparatus. However, there has beenno report of virally encoded enzymes directly involved in cata-lyzing the sumoylation reaction. Here, we report that theK-bZIP protein encoded by Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated her-pesvirus (KSHV) is a SUMO E3 ligase with specificity towardSUMO2/3.K-bZIPisanuclearfactorthatfunctionstomodulateviralgeneexpressionandtoprolongtheG1phase,allowingviraltranscription and translation to proceed at the early stage ofinfection. In addition to functioning as a transcriptional factor,we show that K-bZIP carries a SIM (SUMO-interacting motif),whichspecificallybindstoSUMO-2/3butnotSUMO-1.K-bZIPcatalyzesitsownSUMOmodificationaswellasthatofitsinter-acting partners such as the cellular tumor suppressor proteins...
BRCA1 accumulates in the nucleus in response to hypoxia and TRAIL and enhances TRAIL-induced apoptosis in breast cancer cells
FEBS Journal, 2007
A major contributing factor to the development of breast cancer is decreased functional expressio... more A major contributing factor to the development of breast cancer is decreased functional expression of breast cancer susceptibility gene 1, BRCA1. Another key contributor to tumorigenesis is hypoxia. Here we show that hypoxia increased the nuclear localization of BRCA1 in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-468 human breast cancer cell lines without changing its steady-state expression level. Nuclear accumulation of BRCA1 was not evident in MCF-12A or HMEC (human mammary epithelial cell) nonmalignant mammary epithelial cells under the same conditions. Hypoxia also increased the cell surface expression of TRAIL on MDA-MB-468 cells. Neutralization of TRAIL precluded the hypoxia-induced accumulation of BRCA1 in the nucleus, whereas exogenously administered TRAIL mimicked the effect. Treatment of MDA-MB-468 cells with TRAIL resulted in a dose- and time-dependent increase in apoptosis. Furthermore, TRAIL-induced apoptosis in HCC1937 cells, which harbor a BRCA1 mutation, increased synergistically when wild-type BRCA1 was reconstituted in the cells, and downregulation of BRCA1 expression in MDA-MB-468 cells reduced the apoptotic response to TRAIL. These data provide a novel link between hypoxia, TRAIL and BRCA1, and suggest that this relationship may be especially relevant to the potential use of TRAIL as a chemotherapeutic agent.
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Papers by Latricia Fitzgerald