The cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, p27(Kip1), which regulates cell cycle progression, is controlled by its subcellular localization and subsequent degradation. p27(Kip1) is phosphorylated on serine 10 (S10) and threonine 187 (T187). Although the role of T187 and its phosphorylation by Cdks is well-known, the kinase that phosphorylates S10 and its effect on cell proliferation has not been defined. Here, we identify the kinase responsible for S10 phosphorylation as human kinase interacting stathmin (hKIS) and show that it regulates cell cycle progression. hKIS is a nuclear protein that binds the C-terminal domain of p27(Kip1) and phosphorylates it on S10 in vitro and in vivo, promoting its nuclear export to the cytoplasm. hKIS is activated by mitogens during G(0)/G(1), and expression of hKIS overcomes growth arrest induced by p27(Kip1). Depletion of KIS using small interfering RNA (siRNA) inhibits S10 phosphorylation and enhances growth arrest. p27(-/-) cells treated with KIS siRNA grow and progress to S/G(2 )similar to control treated cells, implicating p27(Kip1) as the critical target for KIS. Through phosphorylation of p27(Kip1) on S10, hKIS regulates cell cycle progression in response to mitogens.

Hypoxia, or low oxygen tension, is a unique environmental stress that induces global changes in a complex regulatory network of transcription factors and signaling proteins in order to coordinate cellular adaptations in metabolism, proliferation, DNA repair, and apoptosis. Several lines of evidence now establish microRNAs (miRNAs), which are short non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression through post-transcriptional mechanisms, as key elements in this response to hypoxia. Oxygen deprivation induces a distinct shift in a specific group of miRNAs, termed hypoxamirs, and emerging evidence indicates that hypoxia regulates several facets of hypoxamir transcription, maturation, and function. Transcription factors such as hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) are upregulated under conditions of low oxygen availability and directly activate the transcription of a subset of hypoxamirs. Conversely, hypoxia selectively represses other hypoxamirs through less well characterized mechanisms. In addition, oxygen deprivation has been directly implicated in epigenetic modifications such as DNA demethylation that control specific miRNA transcription. Finally, hypoxia also modulates the activity of key proteins that control posttranscriptional events in the maturation and activity of miRNAs. Collectively, these findings establish hypoxia as an important proximal regulator of miRNA biogenesis and function. It will be important for future studies to address the relative contributions of transcriptional and posttranscriptional events in the regulation of specific hypoxamirs and how such miRNAs are coordinated order to integrate into the complex hierarchical regulatory network induced by hypoxia.