Cancer cells acquire resistance to DNA-damaging therapeutic agents, such as cisplatin, but the genetic mechanisms through which this occurs remain unclear. We show that the c-MYC oncoprotein increases cisplatin resistance by decreasing production of the c-MYC inhibitor BIN1 (bridging integrator 1). The sensitivity of cancer cells to cisplatin depended on BIN1 abundance, regardless of the p53 gene status. BIN1 bound to the automodification domain of and suppressed the catalytic activity of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1, EC 2.4.2.30), an enzyme essential for DNA repair, thereby reducing the stability of the genome. The inhibition of PARP1 activity was sufficient for BIN1 to suppress c-MYC-mediated transactivation, the G(2)-M transition, and cisplatin resistance. Conversely, overexpressed c-MYC repressed BIN1 expression by blocking its activation by the MYC-interacting zinc finger transcription factor 1 (MIZ1) and thereby released PARP1 activity. Thus, a c-MYC-mediated positive feedback loop may contribute to cancer cell resistance to cisplatin.

Prostate cancer (PCa) patients with regional lymph node involvement at radical prostatectomy often experience disease progression to other organs, with the bone as the predominant site. The transcription factor Runx2 plays an important role in bone formation and PCa cell migration, invasion and metastasis. Here we demonstrated that the forkhead protein FOXO1, a key downstream effector of the tumor suppressor PTEN, inhibits the transcriptional activity of Runx2 in PCa cells. This inhibition was enhanced by PTEN but diminished by active Akt. FOXO1 bound to Runx2 in vitro and in vivo and suppressed Runx2’s activity independent of its transcriptional function. FOXO1 inhibited Runx2-promoted migration of PCa cells while silencing of endogenous FOXO1 enhanced PCa cell migration in a Runx2-dependent manner. Forced expression of FOXO1 also inhibited Runx2-promoted PCa cell invasion. Finally, we found that expression of PTEN and the level of FOXO1 in the nucleus is inversely correlated with expression of Runx2 in a cohort of PCa specimens from patients with lymph node and bone metastasis. These data reveal FOXO1 as a critical negative regulator of Runx2 in PCa cells. Inactivation of FOXO1 due to frequent loss of PTEN in PCa cells may leave the oncogenic activities of Runx2 unchecked, thereby driving promiscuous expression of Runx2 target genes involved in cell migration and invasion and favoring PCa progression.