Inappropriate control of apoptosis causes health problems such as cancer and degenerative diseases. Therefore, understanding the mechanism of apoptosis is necessary to develop technologies for treating these diseases. Bax is a key mediator of apoptosis. Upon receipt of stress signals, Bax translocates from the cytosol to mitochondria where it promotes the release of apoptogenic factors from this organelle. However, the molecular mechanism controlling Bax activation is not yet understood. We found that Ku70, a 70 kDa protein, binds and inhibits Bax in the cytosol of non-apoptotic cells. Furthermore, we found that apoptotic stresses dissociate Bax from Ku70 by enhancing Ku70 ubiquitinylation. Importantly, Ku70 suppresses a conformational change of Bax, which is an early step of Bax activation in the cytosol.
Aim1 : We hypothesize that formation of the Ku70-Bax complex prevents Bax activation by shielding the protein from activating factors such as BH3 (Bcl-2 homology domain 3)-only proteins.
Aim1 will investigate the molecular mechanisms of how Ku70 inhibits Bax activation.
Aim2 : Ku70 has long been known as a DNA repair factor in the nucleus. Therefore, our finding suggests the existence of a novel pathway for cross talk between signals involved in genomic maintenance (Ku70) and those controlling cellular life (Bax). We propose that genotoxic stress stimulates ubiquitin-dependent degradation of Ku70, thereby increasing the chance of Bax activation and apoptosis;
Aim2 will investigate this hypothesis.
Aim3 : Ku70 null mice show disease phenotypes such as (1) increased incidence of T-cell lymphoma, and (2) premature aging. We hypothesize that increased Bax activity due to the absence of Ku70 contributes to the pathogenesis of these diseases. To test our hypothesis, ku70-/-bax-/- mice will be generated and we will examine whether Bax deletion corrects the disease phenotypes of ku70-/- mice. Importantly, we have already succeeded in obtaining the first generation of ku70-/-bax-/- mice, supporting the feasibility of the proposed experiments. The proposed study will advance our understanding of how cells choose their fate of whether to survive or die. The outcome of this study will contribute to the development of new technologies to eliminate cancer cells as well as to protect cells from apoptosis- related degenerative diseases.

Public Health Relevance

The proposed research plan studies how the cell decides to survive or die when the cell has potentially oncogenic gene mutation. The outcome of this study will contribute the technology development to treat cancer and degenerative diseases.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01AG031903-05
Application #
8308450
Study Section
Cancer Molecular Pathobiology Study Section (CAMP)
Program Officer
Finkelstein, David B
Project Start
2008-09-01
Project End
2013-07-31
Budget Start
2012-08-01
Budget End
2013-07-31
Support Year
5
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$274,110
Indirect Cost
$88,533
Name
Case Western Reserve University
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
077758407
City
Cleveland
State
OH
Country
United States
Zip Code
44106
Matsuyama, Shigemi; Palmer, James; Bates, Adam et al. (2016) Bax-induced apoptosis shortens the life span of DNA repair defect Ku70-knockout mice by inducing emphysema. Exp Biol Med (Maywood) 241:1265-71
Ngo, J; Matsuyama, M; Kim, C et al. (2015) Bax deficiency extends the survival of Ku70 knockout mice that develop lung and heart diseases. Cell Death Dis 6:e1706
Sawada, Osamu; Perusek, Lindsay; Kohno, Hideo et al. (2014) All-trans-retinal induces Bax activation via DNA damage to mediate retinal cell apoptosis. Exp Eye Res 123:27-36
Mahler, Bryon; Chen, Yingwei; Ford, Jason et al. (2013) Structure and dynamics of the fish eye lens protein, ?M7-crystallin. Biochemistry 52:3579-87
Singh, Kamini; Matsuyama, Shigemi; Drazba, Judith A et al. (2012) Autophagy-dependent senescence in response to DNA damage and chronic apoptotic stress. Autophagy 8:236-51
Kudo, W; Lee, H-P; Smith, M A et al. (2012) Inhibition of Bax protects neuronal cells from oligomeric Aýý neurotoxicity. Cell Death Dis 3:e309
Gomez, Jose; Matsuyama, Shigemi (2011) Cell-penetrating penta-peptides and Bax-inhibiting peptides: protocol for their application. Methods Mol Biol 683:465-71
Molitoris, Jason K; McColl, Karen S; Swerdlow, Sarah et al. (2011) Glucocorticoid elevation of dexamethasone-induced gene 2 (Dig2/RTP801/REDD1) protein mediates autophagy in lymphocytes. J Biol Chem 286:30181-9
Wahdan-Alaswad, Reema S; Song, Kyung; Krebs, Tracy L et al. (2010) Insulin-like growth factor I suppresses bone morphogenetic protein signaling in prostate cancer cells by activating mTOR signaling. Cancer Res 70:9106-17
Gomez, Jose A; Chen, Joseph; Ngo, Justine et al. (2010) Cell-Penetrating Penta-Peptides (CPP5s): Measurement of Cell Entry and Protein-Transduction Activity. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 3:3594-3613

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