Impact of the N-terminal domain of STAT3 in STAT3-dependent transcriptional activity (original) (raw)
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013
Activation of STAT3 in cancers leads to gene expression promoting cell proliferation and resistance to apoptosis, as well as tumor angiogenesis, invasion, and migration. In the characterization of effects of ST3-H2A2, a selective inhibitor of the STAT3 N-terminal domain (ND), we observed that the compound induced apoptotic death in cancer cells associated with robust activation of proapoptotic genes. Using ChIP and tiling human promoter arrays, we found that activation of gene expression in response to ST3-H2A2 is accompanied by altered STAT3 chromatin binding. Using inhibitors of STAT3 phosphorylation and a dominant-negative STAT3 mutant, we found that the unphosphorylated form of STAT3 binds to regulatory regions of proapoptotic genes and prevents their expression in tumor cells but not normal cells. siRNA knockdown confirmed the effects of ST3-HA2A on gene expression and chromatin binding to be STAT3 dependent. The STAT3-binding region of the C/EBP-homologous protein (CHOP) promo...
Molecular disruption of oncogenic signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) protein
… and Cell Biology, 2009
Signal transducer and activator of transcription protein 3 (STAT3) is a latent cytosolic transcription factor that is widely recognized as being a master regulator of the cellular functions that lead to the cancer phenotype. Constitutively activated STAT3 protein activity is routinely observed in human cancers, promoting uncontrolled cell proliferation and suppressing apoptosis. Until relatively recently, inhibition of STAT3 transcriptional activity was achieved indirectly via suppression of upstream kinase activators and extracellular cytokine and (or) growth factor stimuli. However, activated STAT3 forms transcriptionally functional STAT3-STAT3 dimers, providing a valid juncture for targeted downstream molecular inhibition. STAT3's prominent role in cancer has seen a decade of innovative and novel approaches to targeting constitutively active STAT3 protein-protein complexes. This mini-review outlines the progress made towards identifying molecular agents capable of silencing aberrant STAT3 signalling through the disruption of STAT3 complexation events.
Mechanisms of unphosphorylated STAT3 transcription factor binding to DNA
The Journal of biological chemistry, 2012
Phosphorylation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) on a single tyrosine residue in response to growth factors, cytokines, interferons, and oncogenes activates its dimerization, translocation to the nucleus, binding to the interferon γ (gamma)-activated sequence (GAS) DNA-binding site and activation of transcription of target genes. STAT3 is constitutively phosphorylated in various cancers and drives gene expression from GAS-containing promoters to promote tumorigenesis. Recently, roles for unphosphorylated STAT3 (U-STAT3) have been described in response to cytokine stimulation, in cancers, and in maintenance of heterochromatin stability. However, the mechanisms underlying U-STAT3 binding to DNA has not been fully investigated. Here, we explore STAT3-DNA interactions by atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging. We observed that U-STAT3 molecules bind to the GAS DNA-binding site as dimers and monomers. In addition, we observed that U-STAT3 binds to AT-rich DNA ...
Oncogene, 2014
The signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) can be activated by the tyrosine kinase domain of the chimeric protein nucleophosmin/anaplastic lymphoma kinase (NPM/ALK), and has a pivotal role in mediating NPM/ALK-related malignant cell transformation. Although the role of STAT3 and wild-type NPM in oncogenesis has been extensively investigated, the relationship between both molecules in cancer remains poorly understood. In the present study, we first demonstrate that STAT3 phosphorylation at tyrosine 705 is accompanied by a concomitant increase in the expression level of NPM. Nuclear co-translocation of phosphorylated STAT3 with NPM can be triggered by interferon-alpha (IFN-α) stimulation of Jurkat cells and phosphorylated STAT3 co-localizes with NPM in cancer cells showing constitutive STAT3 activation. We further demonstrate that STAT3 phosphorylation can transcriptionally mediate NPM upregulation in IFN-α-stimulated Jurkat cells and is responsible for maintaining its expression in cancer cells showing constitutive STAT3 activation. Inhibition of STAT3 phosphorylation or knockdown of NPM expression abrogates their simultaneous transnuclear movements. Finally, we found evidence for a physical interaction between NPM and STAT3 in conditions of STAT3 activation. In conclusion, NPM is a downstream effector of the STAT3 signaling, and can facilitate the nuclear entry of phosphorylated STAT3. These observations might open novel opportunities for targeting the STAT3 pathway in cancer.
Prediction and Experimental Validation of Novel STAT3 Target Genes in Human Cancer Cells
PLoS ONE, 2009
The comprehensive identification of functional transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs) is an important step in understanding complex transcriptional regulatory networks. This study presents a motif-based comparative approach, STAT-Finder, for identifying functional DNA binding sites of STAT3 transcription factor. STAT-Finder combines STAT-Scanner, which was designed to predict functional STAT TFBSs with improved sensitivity, and a motif-based alignment to minimize false positive prediction rates. Using two reference sets containing promoter sequences of known STAT3 target genes, STAT-Finder identified functional STAT3 TFBSs with enhanced prediction efficiency and sensitivity relative to other conventional TFBS prediction tools. In addition, STAT-Finder identified novel STAT3 target genes among a group of genes that are over-expressed in human cancer cells. The binding of STAT3 to the predicted TFBSs was also experimentally confirmed through chromatin immunoprecipitation. Our proposed method provides a systematic approach to the prediction of functional TFBSs that can be applied to other TFs.
Genome-wide analysis of STAT target genes: Elucidating the mechanism of STAT-mediated oncogenesis
Cancer Biology & Therapy, 2004
Inappropriate activation of transcription factors is a common event in cancer. These transcription factors contribute to a malignant phenotype by regulating genes involved in cellular proliferation, survival, differentiation, angiogenesis, and invasion. An important goal remains identifying the targets of oncogenic transcription factors that execute these changes. STAT proteins are among the best-studied of these transcription factors, and are involved in oncogenesis both in vivo and in vitro. They thus represent an ideal model for understanding how transcription factors cause cancer through coordinated changes in gene expression. Recent studies have employed microarray-based expression analysis to comprehensively identify STAT target genes. Analysis of these targets can provide insight into mechanisms of neoplastic transformation, and may shed light on new strategies for targeted therapy.