Increased levels of EZH2, a critical regulator of cellular memory, are associated with negative estrogen receptor (ER) expression and disease progression in breast cancer. High levels of EZH2 signal the presence of metastasis and poor outcome in breast cancer patients. To test the hypothesis that deregulation of EZH2 contributes to ER negative breast cancer progression, EZH2 expression was inhibited in ER negative breast cancer cells MDA-MB-231 and CAL51 using a lentivirus system. EZH2 knockdown decreased proliferation and delayed the G2/M cell cycle transition, while not affecting apoptosis. In vivo, EZH2 down-regulation significantly decreased breast xenograft growth and improved survival. EZH2 knockdown up regulated BRCA1 protein. Of note, BRCA1 knockdown was sufficient to rescue the effects of EZH2 down-regulation in proliferation, G2/M arrest, and on the levels of hyperphosphorlated mitotic Cdc25C and Cyclin B1 proteins, crucial for entry into mitosis. Invasive ER negative breast carcinomas show significant overexpression of EZH2 and down-regulation of BRCA1 proteins. Taken together, we show that EZH2 plays a role in ER negative breast cancer progression in vivo and in vitro, and that BRCA1 is required for the proliferative effects of EZH2. Blockade of EZH2 may provide a prime target to prevent and/or halt ER negative breast cancer progression.

Cycles involving covalent modification of proteins are key components of the intracellular signaling machinery. Each cycle is comprised of two interconvertable forms of a particular protein. A classic signaling pathway is structured by a chain or cascade of basic cycle units in such a way that the activated protein in one cycle promotes the activation of the next protein in the chain, and so on. Starting from a mechanistic kinetic description and using a careful perturbation analysis, we have derived, to our knowledge for the first time, a consistent approximation of the chain with one variable per cycle. The model we derive is distinct from the one that has been in use in the literature for several years, which is a phenomenological extension of the Goldbeter-Koshland biochemical switch. Even though much has been done regarding the mathematical modeling of these systems, our contribution fills a gap between existing models and, in doing so, we have unveiled critical new properties of this type of signaling cascades. A key feature of our new model is that a negative feedback emerges naturally, exerted between each cycle and its predecessor. Due to this negative feedback, the system displays damped temporal oscillations under constant stimulation and, most important, propagates perturbations both forwards and backwards. This last attribute challenges the widespread notion of unidirectionality in signaling cascades. Concrete examples of applications to MAPK cascades are discussed. All these properties are shared by the complete mechanistic description and our simplified model, but not by previously derived phenomenological models of signaling cascades.

We used a model system of purified components to explore the effects of a downstream target on the signaling properties of a covalent modification cycle, an example of retroactivity. In the experimental system used, a bifunctional enzyme catalyzed the modification and demodification of its substrate protein, with both activities regulated by a small molecule stimulus. Here we examined how a downstream target for one or both forms of the substrate of the covalent modification cycle affected the steady-state output of the system, the sensitivity of the response to the stimulus, and the concentration of the stimulus required to provide the half-maximal response (S 50 ). When both the modified and unmodified forms of the substrate protein were sequestered by the downstream target, the sensitivity of the response was dramatically decreased, but the S 50 was only modestly affected. Conversely, when the downstream target only sequestered the unmodified form of the substrate protein, significant effects were observed on both system sensitivity and S 50 . Behaviors of the experimental systems were well approximated both by simple models allowing analytical solutions and by a detailed model based on the known interactions and enzymatic activities. Modeling and experimentation indicated that retroactivity may result in subsensitive responses, even if the covalent modification cycle displays significant ultrasensitivity in the absence of retroactivity. Thus, we provide examples of how a downstream target can alter the signaling properties of an upstream signal transduction covalent modification cycle.regulatory networks | retroactivity | sensitivity | signal transduction N umerous cellular signal transduction systems consist of covalent modification cycles, in which signaling proteins are regulated by their reversible modification and demodification. In some cases, multiple covalent modification cycles are linked to form signaling cascades (Fig. 1A). Many cascade systems have a branched circuit, with different "downstream" targets under the control of a protein that is part of a covalent modification cycle (e.g., Fig. 1B). Signaling may also involve amplification of the concentration of a downstream target, so that the relative abundance of downstream targets changes upon signaling. To understand the function of these signal transduction systems based on cycles of reversible covalent modification, it will be important to learn how the downstream targets affect the functions of the upstream systems that pass signals to them. Signaling is typically considered to flow from the upstream stimuli that control the cycle to the downstream targets; that is, the layers of a signaling cascade are commonly considered to behave as independent modules. But recent modeling studies, and experiments with intact cells and embryos, suggest that sequestration of the substrate protein of a signaling cascade by downstream components may significantly alter the signaling properties of a covalent modification cycle (1-9), a form of "reverse signal...