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Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710
Correspondence: Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. Anthony R. Means, Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Box 3813, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710. E-mail: means001{at}mc.duke.edu
| Abstract |
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| I. Introduction |
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Tremendous progress has been made in the last few decades in understanding key pathways that regulate cell growth and division. The cell cycle consists of four primary phases: G1, the first gap phase; S phase, in which DNA synthesis occurs; G2, the second gap phase; and M phase, or mitosis, in which the chromosomes and cytoplasmic components are divided between two daughter cells (Fig. 1
). The transitions between these cell cycle phases are tightly regulated, and checkpoints during the cell cycle allow the cell to determine whether all is well before proceeding to the next cell cycle phase (5). For example, if DNA damage occurs during G2, the cell will pause and repair its DNA before entry into mitosis (6, 7). Understanding the pathways that regulate these cell cycle transitions has been facilitated by studies in unicellular eukaryotes, such as yeast. Importantly, homologous pathways have been identified in multicellular eukaryotes that also serve to control cell cycle progression.
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Mammalian cells contain multiple cdks and cyclins, which act at different phases of the cell cycle (Fig. 1
) (8, 9, 10). As cells progress through G1, cyclin D/cdk4 complexes are first activated and phosphorylate the tumor suppressor protein, retinoblastoma (pRb) (12, 13, 14). Next, cyclin E/cdk2 complexes phosphorylate pRb in a sequential manner after cyclin D/cdk4 phosphorylation (15). The hyperphosphorylation of pRb enables the activation of the family of E2F transcription factors, which, in turn, regulate the expression of numerous genes required for S phase progression (16, 17, 18). As cells enter S phase, cyclin A/cdk2 becomes activated and remains activated into G2 phase (19, 20). In late G2, cyclin B/cdc2 is activated, allowing entry into mitosis (21).
The activity of cdks is tightly regulated throughout the cell cycle. Four major types of regulation are common to the cdk family (8, 9, 10, 12). First, the activation of cdks is strictly dependent on the binding of its partner cyclin. Second, cdk activity is regulated by phosphorylation, both positively as with activation loop phosphorylation and negatively as with tyrosine phosphorylation. Third, some cdks are regulated by the binding of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors (CKIs), which associate with the cdk or cyclin/cdk complex, preventing activation. The two classes of CKIs are the p21/p27 family, whose members associate with both cdk2 and cdk4, and the p15/p16 family, whose members associate only with cdk4/cdk6. Fourth, many of the cyclin/cdk complexes are regulated by their subcellular localization with nuclear localization, allowing them access to their targets.
Although all cdks are regulated by these general mechanisms, we will specifically discuss the regulatory mechanisms of cyclin D/cdk4 complexes after growth factor stimulation (Fig. 2
) (12, 14, 22). Cyclin D1 expression is strictly dependent on the presence of growth factors and its accumulation after mitogenic stimulation is regulated at the levels of transcription, translation, and protein stability. However, before cyclin D accumulation, cdk4 exists in two major complexes. Because cdk4 is unstable in its monomeric form, cdk4 associates with heat shock protein 90 (hsp90) and cdc37 in a large chaperone complex. cdk4 Also exists in an inactive, dimeric complex with p15/p16 proteins. Cyclin D1 accumulation ultimately leads to assembly with cdk4. Although the family of p21/p27 proteins bind cdk2 complexes inhibiting kinase activity, low concentrations of p21/p27 bound to cyclin D/cdk4 do not significantly inhibit kinase activity. Indeed, p21/p27 proteins actually appear to promote the activation of cyclin D/cdk4 by three mechanisms: complex assembly, nuclear import, and cyclin D stabilization. In mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) null for both p21 and p27, the amount of assembled cyclin D/cdk4 complexes is at least 10-fold lower than their wild-type counterparts. Neither cyclin D nor cdk4 possess a canonical nuclear localization signal (NLS), and a second role for p21/p27 proteins is to provide an NLS to mediate nuclear entry of the complex. When cyclin D is overexpressed in p21/p27 double-null MEFs, it remains cytoplasmic. Finally, cyclin D is stabilized via its association into a complex with cdk4 and p21/p27. Importantly, ectopic expression of either p21 or p27 into the double-null p21/p27 MEFs restores these defects in cyclin D/cdk4 assembly and nuclear import. After nuclear accumulation of cyclin D/cdk4 complexes, cdk4 is phosphorylated on Thr172 by the nuclear enzyme cdk-activating kinase to promote full kinase activation. This multileveled regulation of cdk4 allows exquisite control over the activation of cyclin D/cdk4 in G1. Therefore, in addition to phosphorylating pRb during G1, cyclin D/cdk4 complexes also act to sequester p21/p27 proteins in late G1, promoting the activation of cdk2 complexes.
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Regulation of cell proliferation is common to a wide variety of hormones, growth factors, and cytokines. For a comprehensive description of the hormonal regulation of cell cycle-regulatory proteins, we refer readers to a recent review by Pestell et al.(24). Both steroid hormones and peptide hormones alter the expression and/or activity of proteins that are components of the cyclin/cdk complexes. Common to all the regulatory transitions of the cell cycle is the ubiquitous second messenger, Ca2+, and the universally important Ca2+ intracellular receptor, calmodulin (CaM). In the past several years, progress has been made in understanding how Ca2+/CaM regulates cell cycle transitions and affects the activation state of cdk complexes. In this review, we will discuss the requirements for Ca2+ and CaM during cell proliferation. Then, we will focus on two classes of Ca2+/CaM-dependent enzymes that have been implicated in cell cycle regulation in eukaryotes.
| II. Role of Calcium (Ca2+) in Cell Proliferation |
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This requirement for extracellular Ca2+ in growth and proliferation is modulated by the degree of cellular transformation. Indeed, neoplastic or transformed cells continued to proliferate in Ca2+-deficient media (31, 32). In contrast to their normal counterparts, human fibroblasts transformed with the simian virus 40 proliferated normally in very low extracellular Ca2+ concentrations (29, 33). Examination of primary cells, preneoplastic cells, and neoplastic cells revealed a gradient for extracellular Ca2+ levels required for proliferation (34). Primary C3H mouse skin cells have reduced rates of DNA synthesis when extracellular Ca2+ is lowered to 0.050.1 mM, whereas preneoplastic C3H/10T1/2 and MCA-C3H/10T1/2 type I mouse fibroblasts required a reduction to 0.01 mM extracellular Ca2+ to inhibit DNA synthesis. Finally, the neoplastic MCA-C3H/1-T1/2 type III fibroblasts continued to proliferate with very low extracellular Ca2+ levels. Additionally, the proliferative responses of liver tumor cell lines in low Ca2+ reflected their tumorigenic potential (35). Therefore, the strict requirement for extracellular Ca2+ is lost during neoplastic transformation, but how this change in extracellular Ca2+ dependence affects intracellular Ca2+-dependent pathways is unknown.
In addition to the requirement for extracellular Ca2+, intracellular Ca2+ stores are also required for cellular proliferation in mammalian cells. Depletion of intracellular inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate-sensitive Ca2+ stores with pharmacological agents, such as thapsigargin or 2,5-di-tert-butyl-hydroquinone, resulted in a cessation of cell division (36). These agents block the Ca2+ pumping ATPase present in the endoplasmic reticulum and result in a depletion of Ca2+ stores in the endoplasmic reticulum. The consequences of intracellular Ca2+ pool depletion included inhibition of DNA synthesis, protein synthesis, and nuclear transport (36, 37, 38). Depletion of intracellular Ca2+ stores resulted in the accumulation of cells in a quiescent state, and upon removal of thapsigargin or 2,5-di-tert-butyl-hydroquinone, cells reentered S phase with the same kinetics as cells released from quiescence (36). Furthermore, depletion of intracellular Ca2+ stores at any point during G1 to S resulted in an accumulation of cells in a G0-like state even when cells have partially replicated DNA (F. Riberio-Neto and A. R. Means, unpublished data). Therefore, normal cells require both extracellular and intracellular Ca2+ for proliferation, with cells being the most sensitive to Ca2+ depletion during G1.
B. Ca2+ signals and the cell cycle
In cells, cytoplasmic Ca2+ transients are generated by release of Ca2+ from intracellular pools or by entry of Ca2+ from the extracellular environment via Ca2+ channels in the plasma membrane. Ca2+ transients come in a variety of categories including elemental "blips/quarks," slightly larger "puffs/sparks," which are restricted to small areas, or "waves," which involve the whole cell (1, 2, 3, 4, 39). In addition to spatial difference in Ca2+ transients, both the amplitude and frequency of Ca2+ transients can be modulated. Even though Ca2+ is a ubiquitous second messenger, the temporal and spatial complexity of Ca2+ transients enables a cell to use Ca2+ signaling for a wide variety of physiological responses. Although many hormones and growth factors cause intracellular Ca2+ transients, the nature of the Ca2+ signal allows a cell to decode stimuli from a wide variety of hormones. Although these Ca2+ signals act to regulate innumerable cellular pathways, we will focus the discussion on the role of Ca2+ transients during the cell cycle.
During the cell cycle, Ca2+ transients have been characterized during G1 and mitosis (40, 41). In rat liver epithelial cells (T51B), epidermal growth factor stimulation resulted in a rise in intracellular Ca2+, and this rise required Ca2+ in the extracellular environment (42). When mouse C127 cells, which are a nontransformed cell line derived from a mammary tumor, were synchronized in mitosis, multiple Ca2+ transients were observed as they entered early G1. Whereas in mid-G1 there were no detectable transients, Ca2+ transients resumed near the G1/S boundary (Christenson, M., M. Poenie, and A. R. Means, unpublished observations). Therefore, Ca2+ transients within a cell correspond to the same cell cycle points in which extracellular Ca2+ is required, namely early G1 and at the G1/S boundary.
Ca2+ transients are also evident during several stages of mitotic progression, particularly at the metaphase/anaphase transition and during cytokinesis (43, 44). In sea urchin eggs, Ca2+ transients occurred at pronuclear migration, nuclear envelope breakdown, the metaphase to anaphase transition, and during cleavage (45). These transients at the metaphase to anaphase transition have also been demonstrated in mammalian Ptk1 cells (46). Regardless of the size and duration of a Ca2+ transient, the Ca2+ signal is transduced into cellular consequences by direct binding of Ca2+ to targets or by Ca2+ binding to intracellular receptors, such as CaM, which relay the signal to Ca2+/CaM-dependent targets.
C. Calmodulin (CaM), an intracellular Ca2+ receptor
In mammalian cells, CaM is a 148-amino acid, highly conserved Ca2+ binding protein that contains four EF-hand Ca2+ binding motifs (47). Based on nuclear magnetic resonance and crystal structures of CaM in the apo and Ca2+-bound state, we know that Ca2+-bound CaM has a dumbbell shape with two EF-hand motifs on either end connected by a central helix (47, 48). Ca2+ binding exposes hydrophobic patches, promoting interaction with target enzymes. A number of crystal structures of Ca2+/CaM bound to target peptides demonstrate that CaM wraps around the target peptide, engulfing it (48, 49, 50, 51, 52). For targets of Ca2+/CaM, this binding has enormous consequences. As in the cases of calcineurin and Ca2+/CaM-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII), one general mechanism by which Ca2+/CaM-binding activates its target enzymes is through the relief of autoinhibition.
CaM regulates numerous intracellular enzymes that include phosphodiesterases, adenylyl cyclases, ion channels, protein kinases, and protein phosphatases (47). Ca2+/CaM-dependent pathways are involved in the regulation of a wide variety of cellular processes including secretion, cell motility, ion homeostasis, gene transcription, neurotransmission, and metabolism. Hormone and neurotransmitter stimulation of cells leads to a variety of Ca2+/CaM-mediated responses (53). Initially, hormone receptors are activated, leading to an intracellular Ca2+ rise. Ca2+ regulates some targets directly and other targets indirectly through Ca2+ binding proteins, such as CaM. Persistent stimulation can cause changes in the subcellular distribution of CaM, which leads to changes in Ca2+/CaM responsiveness in a given area of the cell. Long-term stimulation can also lead to changes in the total amount of CaM making a cell more or less sensitive to Ca2+ signals (53).
| III. Regulation of Cell Proliferation by CaM |
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Indeed, manipulation of CaM expression affects the proliferative capacity of cells. In mammalian cells, overexpression of CaM by 2- to 4-fold using a bovine-papilloma-virus-based expression vector caused an acceleration of cell proliferation (60). In A. nidulans, overexpression of CaM accelerated cell cycle reentry from sporulation and shortened cell cycle length (61). In mammalian cells, the acceleration of cell proliferation was due to a shortening of G1. Examination of six independent cell lines that overexpressed CaM demonstrated a linear relationship between CaM concentration and rate of G1 progression (60, 62). Because a relationship between the amount of CaM and cell cycle timing exists in both A. nidulans and murine C127 cells, it suggests that this correlation was not merely secondary to a transformed phenotype. In contrast, reduction of CaM levels using antisense CaM resulted in a transient inhibition of cell proliferation (62). Deletion of one of two functional CaM genes, CaMII, from chicken DT40 lymphoma B cells reduced CaM expression by 60%, and these cells exhibited slower growth (63). Therefore, the amount of CaM in a cell regulates proliferative rates, primarily due to effects on G1.
The association between CaM levels and proliferation is reflected in the relationships between CaM levels and cellular transformation. Transformation of Swiss 3T3 cells with simian virus 40 or normal rat kidney (NRK) cells with Rous sarcoma virus resulted in increased CaM levels (64). Additionally, in normal chicken embryo fibroblasts, transformation with Rous sarcoma virus resulted in increased CaM levels due to increased protein synthesis (65). NRK cells infected with a temperature-sensitive, transformation defective mutant avian sarcoma virus (tsLA23) possessed more CaM than uninfected controls (66). However, upon shift to 40 C, the temperature at which they behaved more like nontransformed cells, CaM levels dropped to levels similar to nontransformed cells. Rat fibroblasts transformed with a variety of oncogenes in combination with protein kinase C have increased CaM levels even in the presence of an overall reduction in CaM mRNA transcripts (67). These studies raise the question: do increases in CaM contribute to the transformed phenotype or do increases in CaM merely reflect the growth advantages of transformed cells? Furthermore, how relevant are studies of Ca2+/CaM-dependent signaling cascades in transformed cells to their function in normal cells?
Studies involving transformed cells and in A. nidulans indicate a reciprocal regulation between CaM levels and Ca2+. In transformed rat fibroblasts, a reduction in extracellular Ca2+ resulted in an increase in CaM expression, whereas an increase in extracellular Ca2+ resulted in a decrease in CaM expression (68). In chicken DT40 lymphoma cells, deletion of CaMII caused an increase in resting Ca2+ levels (63). In A. nidulans, induction of CaM expression using the alcA (alcohol dehydrogenase A) gene promoter led to a 10-fold reduction in the level of extracellular Ca2+ required for growth (61). Although CaM and Ca2+ appear to be reciprocally regulated, how these changes regulate downstream Ca2+/CaM pathways remains unknown.
B. Genetic analysis of CaM function
Organisms that facilitate genetic analysis, such as S. cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, A. nidulans, and Drosophila melanogaster, all contain a unique CaM gene, which is essential (59, 69, 70, 71). The requirement for CaM has been characterized in both budding and fission yeast. In yeast, CaM was localized to sites of cell growth and the SPB (spindle pole body) (72, 73). Based on this localization of CaM, it is not surprising that studies involving the disruption of CaM function have revealed a role for CaM in nuclear division and the maintenance of cell polarity in yeast (74).
In S. cerevisiae, CaM is required for mitotic progression. When the expression of the CaM gene, CMD1, was regulated using the GAL1 promoter, repression of CaM resulted in nuclear division defects with cells having short mitotic spindles and increased chromosomal loss (75). Additionally, some cells also demonstrated bud growth inhibition. Using a temperature-sensitive allele of CaM, Davis (76) synchronized cells in G1 and followed their progression through the cell cycle. These yeast cells were viable until mitosis and demonstrated defects in both chromosomal segregation and cytokinesis. In studying multiple temperature-sensitive CaM mutants, Ohya and Botstein (77) found that they sorted into four complementation groups, each of which exhibited a defect in actin organization, CaM localization, nuclear division, or bud formation. Similar to budding yeast, CaM is required for mitotic progression in fission yeast. When cells with a temperature-sensitive allele of CaM were synchronized in S phase and released, they progressed through DNA synthesis and then lost viability in mitosis, with defects in chromosomal segregation (72).
In the filamentous fungi A. nidulans, CaM is also critical for the progression through the G2/M transition. Repression of CaM expression using the alcA promoter arrested the majority of cells in G2 (61). When cells were released from a temperature-sensitive block in late G2, cells with low levels of CaM failed to activate NIMXcdc2 and progress through mitosis (78).
The results from yeast and A. nidulans demonstrate a critical role for CaM for entry into and progression through mitosis. However, in mammalian cells, the requirement for Ca2+ is clearly linked to G1 progression as well as mitosis. Therefore, why do unicellular eukaryotes, such as yeast and fungi, not demonstrate G1 defects when CaM function is disrupted? One possibility is that mammalian cells have evolved complex mechanisms to regulate G1 progression that are dependent on Ca2+, and those pathways may not exist in yeast and fungi. Another possibility is that it may be more difficult to study defects in Ca2+/CaM-dependent pathways during G1 in unicellular eukaryotes.
C. Requirement of CaM for cell growth in culture
The importance of CaM for mammalian cell survival is reflected by both the number of CaM genes in higher eukaryotes and its degree of evolutionary conservation (79). Rodents and humans have three CaM genes on three separate chromosomes (80, 81, 82). Strikingly, the encoded amino acid sequences are not merely conserved among these separate genes and species, they are identical. Because mammals have three CaM genes that encode identical proteins and CaM is essential in genetic model systems, deletion of CaM in mice would be not only labor intensive but also could be uninformative as it is predicted to result in very early embryonic lethality. Therefore, studies to examine the role of CaM in the cell cycle in mammalian cells have focused on the use of antagonists of CaM function. Microinjection of monoclonal antibodies against CaM inhibited DNA replication in a dose-dependent manner (83). A series of pharmacological inhibitors of CaM have been developed to probe its functions in cells. W-7 and its derivatives (W-13) bind CaM and subsequently, prevent activation of Ca2+/CaM-dependent target enzymes. These compounds are cell permeable and distribute through the cell (84). Treatment of a wide variety of cells with W-7 or its derivatives inhibited proliferation (30, 55, 83, 84, 85, 86). Both W-7 and W-13 also prevented proliferation and colony formation of breast cancer cell lines (87). When Chinese hamster ovary-K1 cells were released from plateau phase, W-13 prevented cell cycle reentry. CaM appeared to be required at two points, early after mitogenic stimulation and late in G1 near the G1/S boundary (55). In human fibroblasts, addition of W-7 up to 8 h after mitogenic stimulation completely inhibited DNA synthesis, but if W-7 was added later in G1 after pRb hyperphosphorylation, there was no inhibition of DNA synthesis (30, 33). It is intriguing that both Ca2+ and CaM appear to be required at two points during reentry, early after mitogenic stimulation and in late G1. Based on the work of Takuwa et al.(33), the point in late G1 when Ca2+/CaM is required is before the restriction point and pRb phosphorylation.
Recently, the effects of W-13 on proteins that control pRb phosphorylation in G1, such as cyclin D/cdk4, have been investigated in NRK cells. Although W-13 did not affect the accumulation of cyclin D after mitogenic stimulation, it prevented the entry of cyclin D/cdk4 complexes into the nucleus (85). Taules et al.isolated cyclin D/cdk4 complexes from NRK cells using CaM Sepharose and suggested that the interaction between CaM and cyclin D/cdk4 was mediated by hsp90 and/or p21 (85, 88). However, how and if the association between CaM and cyclin D-cdk4 regulates the nuclear import of cyclin D/cdk4 remains unknown. In any case, it is clear that Ca2+/CaM regulates pRb hyperphosphorylation in late G1, most likely via effects on cyclin D/cdk4 (Fig. 1
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Interestingly, there are some striking similarities between the studies of CaM function and cyclin D1 function in mammalian cells. Overexpression of both CaM and cyclin D1 specifically accelerated the G1 phase of the cell cycle (60, 62, 89, 90). Inhibition of CaM or cyclin D1 function by antibody microinjection arrested cells in G1 (83, 91). One logical explanation is that cyclin D1 and its cdk complexes are the ultimate target of Ca2+/CaM-dependent cascades during G1 progression. If the downstream target of Ca2+/CaM during G1 is the cyclin D/cdk4/pRb pathway, it may explain some of the changes in the Ca2+ requirement during transformation. One hypothesis is that a human cancer must subvert the cyclin D/cdk4/pRb pathway by one of several methods: overexpression of cyclin D1 or cdk4, loss or mutation of cdk4 inhibitors (p15/p16 family), or loss of pRb function (13). Indeed, more than 80% of human cancers have a defect in the cyclin D/cdk4/pRb/E2F pathway (22). Importantly, a cancer that has an alteration in one component of this pathway does not have defects in the other components. Therefore, in one scenario, a cancer cell, containing a disruption in the cyclin D/cdk4/pRb regulatory pathway, may no longer require Ca2+/CaM to regulate the activation of this pathway because it is already activated or unnecessary for G1 progression in the tumor cell.
D. In vivo studies of CaM function during cell growth and proliferation
Because most of the studies examining CaM in the cell cycle have relied on manipulation of cultured cells, one would like to know whether some of the same findings are true in a whole animal. One model system in which requirement of Ca2+/CaM in vivo has been tested is cardiomyocytes. Cardiomyocytes possess several distinct stages of cell proliferation. Normal cell division is limited to embryogenesis in myocytes (92). In the perinatal period, myocytes continue to undergo DNA synthesis in the absence of cytokinesis, resulting in polynucleate cells. After this process of polynucleation, myocytes no longer synthesize DNA but often undergo hypertrophy in response to certain signals as those that occur in heart failure. As with most cells, the proliferation of primary or secondary rat ventricular myocytes required extracellular Ca2+, and chelation of extracellular Ca2+ resulted in a G1 arrest (93).
To test the effects of CaM on myocyte proliferation, our laboratory generated transgenic mice that overexpress CaM in the heart using the atrial naturetic factor promoter. The ventricles of these mice were both hypertrophic and hyperplasic (94). At birth, there was a 40% increase in the number of ventricular myocytes over control animals (Colomer, J., and A. R. Means, unpublished data). After birth, these mice demonstrated increased DNA synthesis without cell division or polynucleation, resulting in increased polyploidy of the nuclei. Finally, the myocytes overexpressing CaM became hypertrophic, and this hypertrophy receded as the CaM levels fell. Therefore, CaM overexpression affected all stages of myocyte proliferation and growth. However, the effect of CaM overexpression on myocyte proliferation is limited to, and does not extend beyond, the developmental period during which myocyte numbers are expanded.
E. Targets of CaM and cell proliferation
Ca2+/CaM bind and regulate numerous intracellular proteins involved in a myriad of pathways. Therefore, identification of conserved Ca2+/CaM binding proteins that regulate cell cycle progression remains difficult. Genetic systems, such as yeast and fungi, have proved essential in the isolation of key cell cycle regulators, in particular cyclins and cdks. Therefore, one could hypothesize that the Ca2+/CaM-dependent target proteins involved in cell cycle regulation should be essential or, at the very least, loss of function should result in growth defects in genetic model systems. However, whereas CaM is essential in yeast, fungi, and flies, only a handful of essential CaM binding proteins have been identified.
Although CaM function has been extensively characterized in S. cerevisiae, this organism is unique relative to its regulation of Ca2+ and function of CaM (95). Whereas CaM from vertebrate systems binds four Ca2+ ions with each EF-hand motif, CaM from S. cerevisiae binds only three Ca2+ ions, with the fourth EF-hand motif being nonfunctional for Ca2+ binding (96). Although CaM is essential, high-affinity Ca2+ binding to CaM is not essential because expression of a mutant CaM, which does not bind Ca2+ with high affinity, supported growth in budding yeast (97). Based on these findings, it is not surprising that no essential Ca2+/CaM-dependent target enzymes have been identified in S. cerevisiae (Table 1
). Budding yeast does possess essential Ca2+-independent CaM targets, such as the spindle pole body-associated protein Nuf1p/Spc110p and the unconventional (class II) myosin Myo2p (95). Previously, Nuf1p/Spc110p has been classified as a Ca2+-independent CaM target because it was shown to interact with the mutant CaM, which does not bind Ca2+ with high affinity in a yeast two-hybrid assay (98). However, the CaM binding region of Nuf1p/Spc110p possesses a Ca2+-dependent, not Ca2+-independent, consensus sequence and using an in vitro CaM overlay assay, CaM binding to Nuf1p/Spc110p was Ca2+-dependent (99, 100). For a comprehensive discussion of CaM targets in S. cerevisiae, we refer readers to a recent review by Cyert (95 . Therefore, studies in S. cerevisiae may be more useful in understanding the Ca2+-independent functions rather than the Ca2+-dependent functions of CaM.
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On the other hand, both Ca2+-dependent and Ca2+-independent targets have been identified and shown to be essential in A. nidulans. In terms of Ca2+-independent targets, both an unconventional myosin, myosin A, and a Nuf1/Spc110 homolog, An110, have been isolated from A. nidulans, but only the myosin A gene has been silenced and demonstrated to be essential (102, 103). In addition, A. nidulans contains at least three genes that encode essential Ca2+/CaM-dependent enzymes with homologs in mammalian cells. These genes produce two Ca2+/CaM-dependent protein kinases (CMKA and CMKB) and the Ca2+/CaM-dependent protein phosphatase 2B, calcineurin (104, 105, 106).
Although yeast contains homologs of both calcineurin and CaMK, neither calcineurin nor any CaMK is essential for growth under normal conditions. However, null strains for these genes either demonstrated mild growth defects or impaired growth under certain environmental conditions. Additionally, cultured mammalian cells show proliferative defects when calcineurin or CaMK function is pharmacologically inhibited. Therefore, we will focus on the possible roles of calcineurin and CaMKs as downstream Ca2+/CaM target enzymes that regulate proliferation in a variety of circumstances.
| IV. Role of Calcineurin in Cell Proliferation |
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In mammalian systems, calcineurin is well known for its role in T cell activation, and two clinically useful immunosuppressants, cyclosporin A and tacrolimus (FK506), prevent calcineurin function. Calcineurin dephosphorylates the transcription factor nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT), allowing it to enter the nucleus and promote gene transcription (111, 112, 113). However, calcineurin is not limited to T cells but is found in all cell types. More recently, the function of calcineurin in a wide variety of cells has been investigated.
B. Genetic analysis of calcineurin function
Although none of the three genes encoding calcineurin subunits (CNA1, CNA2/CMP2, and CNB1) in S. cerevisiae are essential, yeast calcineurin functions in the cellular response to stress (95). When yeast cells were grown in stressful environmental conditions, such as high ion concentrations or high temperature, the expression of calcineurin-activated genes was induced. Similar to the regulation of NFAT, calcineurin dephosphorylated the transcription factor Crz1p/Tcn1p, promoting its nuclear accumulation and activity (114, 115). DNA microarray analysis revealed that the induced genes are involved in signaling pathways, ion and small molecule transport, cell wall maintenance, and vesicular transport (116). Therefore, calcineurin-deleted strains were sensitive to both high pH and high osmolarity (95). Exposure to
-factor also activated calcineurin-dependent gene expression, and prolonged exposure to
-factor in the absence of calcineurin function led to cell death (117). Additional functions of calcineurin in S. cerevisiae include the regulation of Ca2+ homeostasis and Swe1p activity at the G2/M transition (95).
In S. pombe, the catalytic subunit of calcineurin, ppb1, is not essential, but null mutants displayed several defects (118, 119). First, the ppb1 null mutants showed impaired cytokinesis at low temperature as well as defects in maintaining cell shape and polarity. They also exhibited a mating defect and were sterile. Interestingly, calcineurin mRNA expression peaked during S phase and was induced under nitrogen-starvation conditions (120). Although calcineurin is not essential in yeast, the evidence suggests that it plays critical roles in the response to stressful environmental conditions and during mating.
The requirement for calcineurin for cell growth under stressful environmental conditions has been recently strengthened by studies in pathogenic fungi. Cryptococcus neoformans causes meningoencephalitis in humans, particularly in immunocompromised hosts such as those with AIDS. Although not essential for growth under normal conditions, both the calcineurin A and B genes were required for growth at 37 C and for virulence (121, 122, 123). Similar to yeast, calcineurin A was also required for mating in this fungi (124).
In contrast to yeast, in A. nidulans, the calcineurin A gene is essential (106). To study the function of calcineurin in this fungi, the endogenous calcineurin A gene was placed under control of the conditional alcA promoter (125). In repressing media, which reduced calcineurin expression, germlings underwent only one round of DNA replication and then arrested primarily in G1, with some cells arrested at G2 and mitosis. These results suggested that calcineurin was critical for G1 progression, but not for initial cell cycle reentry from sporulation. However, there may have been enough calcineurin present in the spores to allow passage through the first G1 but then, as expression fell due to protein turnover, cells were unable to transit through a second G1. Interestingly, endogenous calcineurin mRNA was maximally expressed at the G1/S boundary, suggesting that it may be regulated in a cell cycle-dependent manner. Therefore, calcineurin is crucial for G1 transition in this filamentous fungi.
C. Calcineurin function in mammalian systems
The importance of calcineurin in mammalian cells was illuminated by the investigations into the immunosuppressive actions of cyclosporin A. Cyclosporin A blocks the activation and proliferation of quiescent T cells after T cell receptor engagement (111, 112, 113). Calcineurin was identified as the target of cyclosporin A. Its enzymatic activity was not inhibited directly by cyclosporin A but rather by a complex of cyclosporin A and cyclophilin, an intracellular prolyl isomerase (126, 127, 128, 129). In T cells, Ca2+ transients lead to the activation of calcineurin, which dephosphorylates NFAT and leads to its nuclear import and subsequent transcriptional induction of IL-2 (111). Therefore, calcineurin activity is essential to T cell activation and reentry into the cell cycle after T cell receptor engagement.
Although the T cell represents a very specialized system of reentry from quiescence, cyclosporin A has antiproliferative effects in a wide variety of cells, including adenocarcinoma cell lines, lymphoma and leukemia cell lines, keratinocytes, fibroblasts, and smooth muscle cells (130, 131, 132, 133, 134). Where investigated, the cell cycle arrest induced by cyclosporin A has been in G1, although distinct mechanisms have been proposed (Table 2
). For example, studies in both lymphoid and nonlymphoid cells have demonstrated that cyclosporin A induced TGFß expression that, in turn, led to increased levels of p21. This increase in p21 levels induced a G1 arrest, and the effects of cyclosporin A were blocked with neutralizing antibodies to TGFß (135, 136). Interestingly, Tomono et al.(137) demonstrated that growth factor stimulated Swiss 3T3 cells arrested in G1 with cyclosporin A treatment and showed a reduction in cyclins A and E, but not cyclin D1. Both of these studies suggest that cyclosporin A inhibits G1 progression by preventing cdk2 activation.
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or NFATc2 had higher levels of cdk4 protein. Taken together, these results suggest that calcineurin function promotes cyclin D1 expression and inhibits cdk4 expression. Because both cyclin D and cdk4 are transcriptionally induced during G1, these results seem at odds. However, one possibility is that the regulation of cyclin D/cdk4 by calcineurin is cell type specific or is dependent on the proliferative state of the cell. In T lymphocyctes, Baksh et al.(140) demonstrated a more direct relationship between calcineurin and cdk4. They found that calcineurin could dephosphorylate and inactivate cdk4 directly, suggesting that it may play a role in the inactivation of cdk4 in mitosis (140). In our laboratory, we have examined the requirement for calcineurin in normal human fibroblasts (WI-38). We chose diploid fibroblasts, which are strictly dependent on Ca2+/CaM for proliferation, because they are unlikely to possess mutations or alterations in key cell cycle-regulatory pathways. Similar to Schneider et al.(138), we found that cyclosporin A induces a G1 arrest that is characterized by low levels of cyclin D1 protein (our unpublished data). In contrast to their results in pancreatic acinar cells, we found normal levels of cyclin D1 mRNA). In WI-38 cells, cyclosporin A dramatically reduced the amount of newly synthesized cyclin D1 protein, and expression of constitutively active calcineurin promoted cyclin D1 synthesis during mid-G1.
Clearly, the regulation of cyclin D/cdk4 by calcineurin becomes a complicated issue with calcineurin potentially regulating the transcription and translation of cyclin D1 as well as the transcription and phosphorylation status of cdk4. Although cyclosporin A prevents G1 progression in several cell types, the mechanisms by which it induces a cell cycle arrest are diverse; therefore, one wonders whether these effects are related or merely distinct pathways in each cell type.
Although it is clear that cyclosporin A possesses antiproliferative effects in numerous cell types, what is not clear is whether these effects are specifically due to calcineurin inhibition. Both cyclosporin A and FK506 bind cyclophilins and FK506 binding proteins (FKBPs) respectively (collectively known as immunophilins), and the resulting drug-immunophilin complexes inhibit both the Ca2+ and Ca2+/CaM-stimulated activity of calcineurin (128). The antiproliferative effects of cyclosporin A require higher drug concentrations than does inhibition of T cell activation, and FK506 is less potent than cyclosporin A in its antiproliferative effects, although FK506 is a more potent immunosuppressive agent (141, 142). Therefore, the question arises whether calcineurin, immunophilins, or both are the targets of cyclosporin A and FK506 in cells other than T cells.
Although both immunosuppressive compounds inhibit the prolyl isomerase activity of immunophilins, in T cells, the concentration of immunophilins far exceeds that of calcineurin and, as a result, the low drug concentrations used for immunosuppression inhibit the majority of calcineurin while binding a relatively small fraction of the total pool of immunophilins. Other cells, such as neurons and cardiomyocytes, have approximately 40 times more calcineurin than T cells and, therefore, higher drug concentrations should be required to inhibit the majority of calcineurin and a greater fraction of the immunophilin pool is bound to drug and therefore inhibited (141, 142). Additionally, only some forms of cyclophilins and FKBPs are able to form active drug-immunophilin complexes capable of inhibiting calcineurin (143). In most cases, the cellular complement of cyclophilins and FKBPs is unknown and the active pool may be limited. Evidence suggests that immunophilins may limit the degree of calcineurin inhibition. At high concentrations, these drugs are unable to inhibit all calcineurin activity, and cyclosporin A inhibits a greater percentage of calcineurin than FK506. Addition of exogenous immunophilins increases the degree of calcineurin inhibition, suggesting that immunophilins may be limiting for calcineurin inhibition (144). This idea is supported by the fact that transfection of T cells with cyclophilins A or B as well as FKBP12 renders the cells more sensitive to cyclosporin A and FK506, respectively (143). In T cells, 100% calcineurin inhibition is not required to fully inhibit NFAT dephosphorylation, but 100% calcineurin inhibition may be necessary in other cellular contexts (144).
Importantly, examples exist for both cyclosporin A and FK506 having cellular effects that are independent of calcineurin inhibition (110, 142). One must realize that inhibition or disruption of immunophilins, or other unknown proteins, may contribute to effects seen with cyclosporin A and FK506. Although cyclosporin A and FK506 represent the best pharmacological inhibitors for probing calcineurin function in cells and animals, using these agents does not guarantee that any results are due solely to disruption of calcineurin function.
| V. Role of Ca2+/CaM-Dependent Kinases (CaMKs) in Cell Proliferation |
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and CaMKIIß, are expressed predominantly in neurological tissues, and two genes, CaMKII
and CaMKII
, are expressed predominantly in somatic tissues (145, 150). Additionally, these CaMKII gene products are processed into numerous splice variants that are differentially expressed in tissues. Although most splice variants of CaMKII are cytoplasmic enzymes, an alternatively spliced NLS enables at least one isoform encoded by each of the four genes to be a predominantly nuclear enzyme (145). Interestingly, tumor cells expressed different variants of CaMKII, although the functional relevance of changes in CaMKII variants during tumorigenesis is unknown (154, 155). In terms of protein structure and enzymatic activation, CaMKI and CaMKIV are fairly similar. However, these enzymes distinguish themselves by tissue distribution and subcellular localization as well as by substrate preference (147). CaMKI is ubiquitously expressed and localized to the cytoplasm. In contrast, CaMKIV expression is more limited, with the highest levels of protein found in brain, thymus, and testis. This enzyme is largely nuclear. Due to its limited distribution, CaMKIV is unlikely to be universally required for proliferation. However, CaMKIV expression is up-regulated in several types of tumors, including lung, endometrial, and ovarian cancers (156, 157, 158). Whereas CaMKI and CaMKIV have similar substrate preferences based on peptide studies with the consensus sequence Hyd-X-R-X-X-S/T, our laboratory has recently demonstrated that CaMKI and CaMKIV phosphorylate different sites within an amino-terminal fragment of p300 (159). CaMKI phosphorylated Ser89 [84LLRSGSSPNL (93)], which corresponds to the expected consensus sequence, whereas CaMKIV phosphorylated Ser24 [19SSPALSASAS (28)], which represents a novel site with little similarity to the proposed CaMKIV consensus site based on peptide phosphorylation studies.
In mammalian cells, the CaMKK enzymes, which phosphorylate CaMKI and CaMKIV, consist of two enzymes, CaMKK
and CaMKKß (147, 152). These enzymes share a similar structure to other CaMKs with an amino-terminal catalytic domain and a carboxy-terminal regulatory domain. Both kinases phosphorylate and activate CaMKI and CaMKIV equally well. At the current time, the major difference shown to exist between the two forms is the degree of Ca2+/CaM dependence. Although CaMKK
was dependent on Ca2+/CaM binding to relieve autoinhibition, CaMKKß possessed significant activity in the absence of Ca2+/CaM (160, 161, 162). CaMKK
and CaMKKß are highly expressed in neurological tissues with variable expression in other tissues. Interestingly, all cells that expressed CaMKIV also expressed CaMKKß, leading to speculation that CaMKI and CaMKIV might be regulated by different CaMKKs in the cell (160). However, both kinases were localized to the cytoplasm. Therefore, a major dilemma in the field arises: how does a cytoplasmic CaMKK phosphorylate the nuclear enzyme, CaMKIV, or could there be other nuclear kinases capable of phosphorylating CaMKIV?
B. Genetic analysis of CaMK function
In S. cerevisiae, two genes homologous to CaMKII, cmk1 and cmk2, have been identified (163, 164, 165). Neither gene is essential when deleted alone or in combination. However, deletion of cmk1 and cmk2 lowered the LD50 of pheromone, suggesting that both calcineurin and CaMK have a role in the response of yeast cells to pheromone (166). In S. pombe, two CaMK genes have also been identified. Unfortunately, the effects of deleting cmk1, a CaMKI homolog, has yet to be characterized in fission yeast. However, its mRNA expression was regulated in a cell cycle-dependent manner, peaking at G1/S (167). A second CaMK homologous gene, cmk2, was not essential, but its mRNA also peaked at G1/S (168). Therefore, examination of the effects of cmk1 deletion, either alone or in combination with cmk2, on S. pombe growth will be informative.
In A. nidulans, three CaMK homologs have been identified: CMKA, a CaMKII homolog; CMKB, a CaMKI or CaMKIV homolog; and, CMKC, a CaMKK homolog (104, 105, 169). In contrast to yeast, two of these genes are essential in A. nidulans. CmkA was essential and required for the G2/M transition (105). When constitutively active CMKA was overexpressed, spores failed to enter the first S phase and prematurely activated NIMXcdc2. CmkBwas also essential but appeared to be required sometime between sporulation and initial S phase entry. Strains with delayed and reduced CMKB expression demonstrated a delay in reentry from sporulation as well as in NIMXcdc2 activation as demonstrated by histone H1 phosphorylation assays (104). Although not essential, cmkC null strains also showed a delay in NIMXcdc2 activation after sporulation. These results suggested that the CaMKI homolog, CMKB (and perhaps its upstream activating kinase, CMKC), regulated NIMXcdc2 activation in late G1 before DNA replication, and that the CaMKII homolog, CMKA, regulated the G2/M transition.
C. CaMK function in mammalian systems
Similar to the findings in A. nidulans, studies in mammalian cells suggest that one or more CaMK functions in G1 as well as at the G2/M transition. One drawback to these studies is that the majority of them relied on the use of the selective CaMK inhibitors, KN-62 or KN-93. Although often suggested to be CaMKII specific, KN-62 actually inhibits all three multifunctional CaMKs with similar efficacy (Table 3
). KN-62 or KN-93 demonstrated antiproliferative effects in a variety of cells. In HeLa cells, KN-93 caused a G1 arrest (170). At the arrest point, p13-precipitable histone H1 kinase activity was elevated 4-fold, suggesting the arrest was downstream of cdk2 activation. However, the activities of neither cyclin E/cdk2 nor cyclin A/cdk2 were evaluated individually. In NIH 3T3 cells, KN-93 arrested both asynchronous cells and mitogen-stimulated cells in G1 (171). With asynchronous cells, the arrest was reversible after 2 d of drug treatment, but by 3 d of treatment, the cells began to undergo apoptosis. In subsequent experiments, KN-93 treatment was found to prevent cdk4 and cdk2 activation as well as pRb phosphorylation (172). The authors concluded that cdk4 was inactive due to reduced levels of cyclin D, although cyclins E and A were expressed normally. The reduction of cdk2 activity was associated with elevated levels of p27, but the amount of p27 associated with cdk complexes was not evaluated. These results in NIH 3T3 cells differ dramatically from the results in HeLa cells in which cdk activity was elevated. One way to rationalize these results is to speculate that KN-93 may arrest these cells at different points in G1 with NIH 3T3 cells arresting at the first CaM-dependent step in G1 early after mitogenic stimulation and HeLa cells arresting later in G1 at the second CaM-dependent step near the G1/S boundary. Another possibility is that HeLa, a transformed cell line, has lost a CaM-dependent step in G1 which is still present in NIH 3T3 cells, which are immortalized but not transformed.
To learn more about the function of CaMKs in G1 and to identify which CaMK may be required for G1 progression, we examined the requirements for CaMK function in G1 progression in normal fibroblasts (WI-38). In these cells, KN-93 treatment arrested cells in G1 with low levels of cdk4 activity and hypophosphorylated pRb (our unpublished results). Unlike results of Morris et al.(172) in which cyclin D levels were reduced by KN-93 treatment, cyclin D was expressed at normal levels in WI-38 cells treated with KN-93. Indeed, cyclin D/cdk4 kinase complexes were assembled, phosphorylated, and localized to the nucleus in KN-93-treated cells (Fig. 2
). Therefore, CaMK inhibition appeared to block a very late, uncharacterized step in cdk4 activation, suggesting that a CaMK may be the late G1 target of Ca2+/CaM. To evaluate the relevant CaMK, we expressed mutant forms of the two multifunctional CaMKs expressed in WI-38 cells (CaMKI and CaMKII). These kinase-deficient enzymes have the lysine in the ATP-binding loop mutated to prevent ATP binding. We asked whether overexpression of either protein could act as a "dominant negative" by mimicking the KN-93 arrest. Expression of kinase-deficient CaMKI, but not CaMKII, during G1 prevented cdk4 activation similar to KN-93. As with the studies in A. nidulans, these results suggest that CaMKI, rather than CaMKII, regulates G1 progression.
One potential role for CaMKII during G1/S is centrosome duplication. In 1990, CaMKII was localized to the centrosome in mammalian cells (173). Recently, Matsumoto and Maller (174) implicated CaMKII function in centrosome duplication in Xenopus egg extracts. Both Ca2+ chelation and CaMKII inhibition blocked centrosome duplication in egg extracts. Importantly, readdition of CaMKII and CaM to the extracts restored centrosome duplication in this system. To date, the function of CaMKII in regulating centrosome duplication in mammalian cells is unknown, but it will be critical to further investigate this pathway because many tumors show excess numbers of centrosomes due to aberrant duplication.
Whether or not CaMKII is essential for G1 progression, this enzyme probably acts to regulate the G2/M transition and mitotic progression in mammalian systems. When HeLa cells were synchronized in S phase and released into KN-93, they arrested at G2/M without detectable cdc25C hyperphosphorylation (175). At the G2/M transition, cdc25C, a dual-specificity phosphatase, is activated by phosphorylation. Once activated, it removes the inhibitory tyrosine phosphorylation on cdc2, leading to its activation (176, 177). In vitro, CaMKII phosphorylated inactive cdc25C and marginally increased its activity, suggesting that CaMKII may be one relevant cdc25C kinase in cells (175). Again, these results differ dramatically from earlier results in which HeLa cells arrested in G1, not in G2, upon KN-93 treatment. Another group found that KN-93 treatment delayed mitotic progression in HeLa cells, but those cells did progress through mitosis (178). Although all these groups used HeLa cells, the major difference between the studies was the proliferative state of cells when KN-93 was added, one being asynchronously growing cells and the other being cells synchronized in S phase. One explanation could be that cells in mid-G1 contain about 50% less CaM than in S phase and, therefore, the cells are more sensitive to KN-93 in G1 (55, 56). By using an S phase synchronization, the G1 arrest point was avoided, which enabled evaluation of the G2/M transition. However, a role for CaMKII in G2/M progression is supported by the work in A. nidulans, in which the CaMKII homolog was required for this transition, and expression of constitutively active CaMKII prematurely activated NIMXcdc2 (105, 179).
CaMKII is clearly the target of the Ca2+ signal required for the metaphase to anaphase transition. Unfertilized marine eggs are arrested at metaphase of meiosis II by cytostatic factor, the product of the c-mos protooncogene. Upon fertilization, intracellular Ca2+ increases result in the inactivation of cytostatic factor and M phase-promoting factor, the cyclin/cdc2 complex (180, 181, 182). First, it was demonstrated that CaM was required for cyclin degradation, followed by the demonstration that CaMKII was the target of CaM at this point. Although inhibitors of CaMKII blocked cyclin degradation and cdc2 inactivation after a Ca2+ signal, constitutively active CaMKII promoted cyclin degradation and cdc2 inactivation in the absence of a Ca2+ signal. Therefore, CaMKII is a critical regulator of the metaphase to anaphase transition in egg extracts, but this pathway still needs to be investigated during a mitotic, rather than meiotic, cell cycle.
| VI. Conclusions and Perspectives |
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Both Ca2+ and CaM are required at least two points in G1, and both points are prior to the activation of cyclin D/cdk4 and pRb hyperphosphorylation (Fig. 4
). Available evidence strongly suggests that these Ca2+/CaM-dependent pathways directly or indirectly regulate cyclin D1/cdk4 activity. Cyclosporin A, an inhibitor of calcineurin function, regulates the expression of both cyclin D1 and cdk4. Intriguingly, cyclosporin A appears to inhibit cyclin D1 accumulation, whereas it appears to promote cdk4 expression. At first, these results seem incompatible, but the studies were carried out by different groups in different cell types. Additional experiments will be necessary to determine whether calcineurin plays a more general role in regulating cyclin D1/cdk4 expression in multiple tissues and cell types. At this point, we favor a function of calcineurin in promoting cyclin D1 accumulation in early G1, which would be consistent with the early G1 requirement for Ca2+/CaM.
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Some reports implicate both calcineurin and CaMK in the progression through late G1 and S phase. Cyclosporin A results in p21 accumulation secondary to TGFß induction, and KN-93 causes a rise in p27 levels. An increase in either p21 or p27 is sufficient to inhibit cdk2 complexes in late G1 or S phase.
One problem that arises from these studies is the fact that it becomes unclear whether the accumulation of p21/p27 proteins represents a "direct" target or is merely the cellular response to a prolonged arrest earlier in G1.
Currently, all the experimental evidence in mammalian cells, A. nidulans, and Xenopus extracts points to CaMKII and its homologs as the target of Ca2+/CaM-dependent pathways at the G2/M and metaphase to anaphase transitions (Fig. 4
). In HeLa cells, KN-93 blocked G2 progression with low cdc2 activity. In vitro, CaMKII directly phosphorylated and increased the activity of cdc25C, the phosphatase responsible for cdc2 activation at the G2/M transition. In A. nidulans, CMKA, the CaMKII homolog, is essential and required for G2/M progression. Overexpression of a constitutively active CMKA prematurely activated NIMXcdc2, suggesting that CMKA may also phosphorylate and activate NIMTcdc25 in this organism. Therefore, at the G2/M transition, Ca2+/CaM regulates CaMKII, which may promote cdc2 activation.
Finally, CaMKII is the target of Ca2+/CaM at the metaphase to anaphase transition during a meiotic cell cycle. In Xenopus egg extracts, CaMKII clearly regulates the metaphase to anaphase transition, and its activity led to the degradation of cyclin and inactivation of cdc2. Unfortunately, this pathway has yet to be characterized in cultured mammalian cells. The fact that KN-93 delayed the metaphase to anaphase transition in HeLa cells suggests that CaMKII may play a role in the regulation of this transition in a mitotic cell cycle, but is not absolutely required.
Hormones, growth factors, and cytokines act as critical regulators of cell cycle progression. Both steroid and peptide hormones are known to regulate the activity of cyclin/cdk complexes. Hormones function at multiple levels of cdk regulation including the expression of cyclins and CKIs, the subcellular localization of cyclin/cdk complexes, and the subunit composition of cdk complexes. Hormones and growth factors elicit cellular responses by inducing intracellular Ca2+ transients. Ca2+ and its intracellular receptor, CaM, are universally required for cell cycle progression. Based on our current understanding, Ca2+/CaM-dependent pathways are also involved at multiple levels of cdk regulation, similar to hormone action. Future experimental studies designed for understanding how hormones affect the Ca2+/CaM-dependent pathways involved in cell cycle progression are greatly needed as well as an understanding of how these pathways differ in various tissues and cell types within those tissues. Additionally, both hormonal regulation and Ca2+/CaM-dependent regulation of cell proliferation are often disrupted in human tumors. By investigating how hormones and Ca2+/CaM regulate normal cell proliferation in different tissues, we ultimately may gain insight into how these pathways are disrupted in human cancer.
| Acknowledgments |
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| Footnotes |
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Abbreviations: Ca2+, Calcium; CaM, calmodulin; CaMK, Ca2+/CaM-dependent kinase; CAMKK, Ca2+/CaM-dependent protein kinase kinase; cdk, cyclin-dependent kinase; CKI, cdk inhibitor; FKBP, FK506-binding protein; hsp, heat shock protein; MEF, mouse embryonic fibroblast; NFAT, nuclear factor of activated T cells; NLS, nuclear localization sequence; NRK, normal rat kidney.
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activity during proliferative activation of NRK cells. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 184:15171523[CrossRef][Medline]
CaM kinase II in human tumor cells. Biochim Biophys Acta 1452:111[Medline]
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O. G. Rodriguez-Mora, M. M. LaHair, J. A. McCubrey, and R. A. Franklin Calcium/Calmodulin-Dependent Kinase I and Calcium/Calmodulin-Dependent Kinase Kinase Participate in the Control of Cell Cycle Progression in MCF-7 Human Breast Cancer Cells Cancer Res., June 15, 2005; 65(12): 5408 - 5416. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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M. Germann, E. Swain, L. Bergman, and J. T. Nickels Jr. Characterizing the Sphingolipid Signaling Pathway That Remediates Defects Associated with Loss of the Yeast Amphiphysin-like Orthologs, Rvs161p and Rvs167p J. Biol. Chem., February 11, 2005; 280(6): 4270 - 4278. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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C. R. Kahl and A. R. Means Regulation of Cyclin D1/Cdk4 Complexes by Calcium/Calmodulin-dependent Protein Kinase I J. Biol. Chem., April 9, 2004; 279(15): 15411 - 15419. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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J. M. Colomer, M. Terasawa, and A. R. Means Targeted Expression of Calmodulin Increases Ventricular Cardiomyocyte Proliferation and Deoxyribonucleic Acid Synthesis during Mouse Development Endocrinology, March 1, 2004; 145(3): 1356 - 1366. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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