TY - JOUR
T1 - Phosphorylation and stabilization of topoisomerase IIα protein by p38γ mitogen-activated protein kinase sensitize breast cancer cells to its poisons
AU - Qi, Xiaomei
AU - Hou, Songwang
AU - Lepp, Adrienne
AU - Li, Rongshan
AU - Basir, Zainab
AU - Lou, Zhenkun
AU - Chen, Guan
PY - 2011/10/14
Y1 - 2011/10/14
N2 - Cancer drugs suppress tumor cell growth by inhibiting specific cellular targets. However, most drugs also activate several cellular nonspecific stress pathways, and the implications of these off-target effects are mostly unknown. Here, we report that p38γ, but not p38α, MAPK is specifically activated by treatment of breast cancer cells with topoisomerase II (Topo II) drugs, whereas paclitaxel (Taxol) does not have this effect. The activated p38γ in turn phosphorylates and stabilizes Topo IIαprotein, and this enhances the growth inhibition by Topo II drugs. Moreover, p38γ activity was shown to be necessary and sufficient for Topo IIα expression, the drug-p38γ-Topo IIα axis is only detected in intrinsically sensitive but not resistant cells, and p38γ is co-overexpressed with Topo IIα protein in primary breast cancers. These results reveal a new paradigm in which p38γ actively regulates the drug-Topo IIα signal transduction, and this may be exploited to increase the therapeutic activity of Topo II drugs.
AB - Cancer drugs suppress tumor cell growth by inhibiting specific cellular targets. However, most drugs also activate several cellular nonspecific stress pathways, and the implications of these off-target effects are mostly unknown. Here, we report that p38γ, but not p38α, MAPK is specifically activated by treatment of breast cancer cells with topoisomerase II (Topo II) drugs, whereas paclitaxel (Taxol) does not have this effect. The activated p38γ in turn phosphorylates and stabilizes Topo IIαprotein, and this enhances the growth inhibition by Topo II drugs. Moreover, p38γ activity was shown to be necessary and sufficient for Topo IIα expression, the drug-p38γ-Topo IIα axis is only detected in intrinsically sensitive but not resistant cells, and p38γ is co-overexpressed with Topo IIα protein in primary breast cancers. These results reveal a new paradigm in which p38γ actively regulates the drug-Topo IIα signal transduction, and this may be exploited to increase the therapeutic activity of Topo II drugs.
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U2 - 10.1074/jbc.M111.229260
DO - 10.1074/jbc.M111.229260
M3 - Article
C2 - 21878638
AN - SCOPUS:80053896975
SN - 0021-9258
VL - 286
SP - 35883
EP - 35890
JO - Journal of Biological Chemistry
JF - Journal of Biological Chemistry
IS - 41
ER -