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Intramitochondrial calcium regulation by the FHIT gene product sensitizes to apoptosis.

ABSTRACT: Despite the growing interest in the Fhit tumor suppressor protein, frequently deleted in human cancers, the mechanism of its powerful proapoptotic activity has remained elusive. We here demonstrate that Fhit sensitizes the low-affinity Ca(2+) transporters of mitochondria, enhancing Ca(2+) uptake into the organelle both in intact and in permabilized cells, and potentiating the effect of apoptotic agents. This effect can be attributed to the fraction of Fhit sorted to mitochondria, as a fully mitochondrial Fhit (a chimeric protein including a mitochondrial targeting sequence) retains the Ca(2+) signaling properties of Fhit and the proapoptotic activity of the native protein (whereas the effects on the cell cycle are lost). Thus, the partial sorting of Fhit to mitochondria allows to finely tune the sensitivity of the organelle to the highly pleiomorphic Ca(2+) signals, synergizing with apoptotic challenges. This concept, and the identification of the molecular machinery, may provide ways to act on apoptotic cell death and its derangement in cancer.

SUBMITTER: Rimessi A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2722368 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Intramitochondrial calcium regulation by the FHIT gene product sensitizes to apoptosis.

Rimessi Alessandro A Marchi Saverio S Fotino Carmen C Romagnoli Anna A Huebner Kay K Croce Carlo M CM Pinton Paolo P Rizzuto Rosario R

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20090721 31

Despite the growing interest in the Fhit tumor suppressor protein, frequently deleted in human cancers, the mechanism of its powerful proapoptotic activity has remained elusive. We here demonstrate that Fhit sensitizes the low-affinity Ca(2+) transporters of mitochondria, enhancing Ca(2+) uptake into the organelle both in intact and in permabilized cells, and potentiating the effect of apoptotic agents. This effect can be attributed to the fraction of Fhit sorted to mitochondria, as a fully mito ...[more]

PMID: 19622739

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Project description:We have isolated and characterized a 12-kb mouse genomic DNA fragment containing the entire calreticulin gene and 2.14 kb of the promoter region. The mouse calreticulin gene consists of nine exons and eight introns, and it spans 4.2 kb of genomic DNA. A 1.8-kb fragment of the calreticulin promoter was subcloned into a reporter gene plasmid containing chloramphenicol acetyltransferase. This construct was then used in transient and stable transfection of NIH/ 3T3 cells. Treatment of transfected cells either with the Ca2+ ionophore A23187, or with the ER Ca2+-ATPase inhibitor thapsigargin, resulted in a five- to sevenfold increase of the expression of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase protein. Transactivation of the calreticulin promoter was also increased by fourfold in NIH/3T3 cells treated with bradykinin, a hormone that induces Ca2+ release from the intracellular Ca2+ stores. Analysis of the promoter deletion constructs revealed that A23187- and thapsigargin-responsive regions are confined to two regions (-115 to -260 and -685 to -1,763) in the calreticulin promoter that contain the CCAAT nucleotide sequences. Northern blot analysis of cells treated with A23187, or with thapsigargin, revealed a fivefold increase in calreticulin mRNA levels. Thapsigargin also induced a fourfold increase in calreticulun protein levels. Importantly, we show by nuclear run-on transcription analysis that calreticulin gene transcription is increased in NIH/3T3 cells treated with A23187 and thapsigargin in vivo. This increase in gene expression required over 4 h of continuous incubation with the drugs and was also sensitive to treatment with cycloheximide, suggesting that it is dependent on protein synthesis. Changes in the concentration of extracellular and cytoplasmic Ca2+ did not affect the increased expression of the calreticulin gene. These studies suggest that stress response to the depletion of intracellular Ca2+ stores induces expression of the calreticulin gene in vitro and in vivo.

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Intramitochondrial calcium regulation by the FHIT gene product sensitizes to apoptosis.

Publications

Intramitochondrial calcium regulation by the FHIT gene product sensitizes to apoptosis.

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