Vascular proliferative disorders, such as atherosclerosis and restenosis, are the most common causes of severe cardiovascular diseases, but a common molecular mechanism remains elusive. Here, we identify and characterize a novel hyperplasia suppressor gene, named HSG (later re-named rat mitofusin-2). HSG expression was markedly reduced in hyper-proliferative vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) from spontaneously hypertensive rat arteries, balloon-injured Wistar Kyoto rat arteries, or ApoE-knockout mouse atherosclerotic arteries. Overexpression of HSG overtly suppressed serum-evoked VSMC proliferation in culture, and blocked balloon injury induced neointimal VSMC proliferation and restenosis in rat carotid arteries. The HSG anti-proliferative effect was mediated by inhibition of ERK/MAPK signalling and subsequent cell-cycle arrest. Deletion of the p21(ras) signature motif, but not the mitochondrial targeting domain, abolished HSG-induced growth arrest, indicating that rHSG-induced anti-proliferation was independent of mitochondrial fusion. Thus, rHSG functions as a cell proliferation suppressor, whereas dysregulation of rHSG results in proliferative disorders.

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Chemotaxis plays an important role in cancer cell metastasis. In this study, we showed that epidermal growth factor (EGF) was a more potent chemoattractant than chemokine SDF-1a/ CXCL12 for human breast cancer cell MDA-MB-231. Different inhibitors were used to evaluate the involvement of 12 protein kinase C (PKC) isotypes in the chemotactic signaling pathway. Chelerythrine chloride, an inhibitor of all PKC isotypes, blocked chemotaxis, whereas inhibitors of classic and novel PKC, such as Gö6976, Gö6850, or calphostin C, only impaired EGF-induced chemotaxis to a minor extent by e32% inhibition. These data suggested that atypical PKC were involved. The ligand-induced actin polymerization and cell adhesion were also similarly dependent on atypical PKC. Immunofluorescent staining showed an EGF-induced, LY294002-sensitive translocation of PKCf from the cytosol to the plasma membrane, indicating that EGF was capable of activating PKCf, probably via phosphoinositide 3 kinases. A myristoylated PKCf pseudosubstrate blocked the chemotaxis with an IC 50 of 20 Amol/L. To expand our investigation, we further showed that in MCF-7 and T47D, two additional human breast cancer cell lines, EGF-activated PKCf and the PKCf pseudosubstrate, inhibited chemotaxis. Taken together, our data suggest that PKCf is an essential component of the EGFstimulated chemotactic signaling pathway in human breast cancer cells. (Cancer Res 2005; 65(4): 1433-41)

No abstract

PDCD10 (programmed cell death 10, TFAR15), a novel protein associated with cell apoptosis has been recently implicated in mutations associated with Cerebral Cavernous Malformations (CCM). Yeast two-hybrid screening revealed that PDCD10 interacts with MST4, a member of Ste20-related kinases. This interaction was confirmed by coimmunoprecipitation and colocalization assays in mammalian cells. Furthermore, the co-overexpression of PDCD10 and MST4 promoted cell proliferation and transformation via modulation of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway. Potent short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) against PDCD10 (siPDCD10) and MST4 (siMST4) were designed to specifically inhibit the expression of PDCD10 and MST4 mRNA, respectively. The induction of siPDCD10 or siMST4 resulted in decreased expression of endogenous PDCD10 or MST4, which was accompanied by reduced ERK activity and attenuated cell growth and anchorage-independent growth. On the other hand, siMST4 had similar effects in PDCD10-overexpressed cells. And more importantly, we confirmed that either overexpressing or endogenous PDCD10 can increase the MST4 kinase activity in vitro. Our results demonstrated that PDCD10 modulation of ERK signaling was mediated by MST4, and PDCD10 could be a regulatory adaptor necessary for MST4 function, suggesting a link between cerebral cavernous malformation pathogenesis and the ERK-MAPK cascade via PDCD10/MST4.