Division of Molecular Cell Signaling, Cancer Research Institute, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan.
Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Institute of General and Experimental Biology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2018 Jun 27;501(3):724-730. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2018.05.055.
Oxidative stress, which can be caused by an overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS), often leads to cell death. In recent years, c-Jun NH-terminal kinase (JNK)-associated leucine zipper protein (JLP, also known as SPAG9 or JIP4), a scaffold protein for JNK mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways, was found to serve as a novel biomarker for cancer. However, although JNK MAPK pathways are reported to be activated in response to various stimuli, including oxidative stress, whether JLP is involved in ROS signaling remains unknown. In this study, we examined the role of JLP in hydrogen peroxide (HO)-induced cancer cell death, and found that JLP knockdown (KD) cells exhibit a substantially enhanced cell death response, along with increased intracellular ROS levels. This is the first demonstration of a protective role for JLP in response to cell-death stimulation. We also found that the HO-induced JNK activation was attenuated in JLP KD cancer cells. The decreases in cell viability and JNK activation in the JLP KD cells were almost completely reversed by expressing wild-type JLP, but not a mutant JLP lacking the JNK-binding domain. These data collectively suggest that the JLP-JNK signaling pathway counteracts ROS-induced cancer cell death.
氧化应激是由活性氧(ROS)过度产生引起的,通常会导致细胞死亡。近年来,c-Jun NH-末端激酶(JNK)相关亮氨酸拉链蛋白(JLP,也称为 SPAG9 或 JIP4),一种 JNK 丝裂原活化蛋白激酶(MAPK)信号通路的支架蛋白,被发现是癌症的一种新型生物标志物。然而,尽管 JNK MAPK 途径被报道可被各种刺激(包括氧化应激)激活,但 JLP 是否参与 ROS 信号仍不清楚。在这项研究中,我们研究了 JLP 在过氧化氢(HO)诱导的癌细胞死亡中的作用,发现 JLP 敲低(KD)细胞表现出明显增强的细胞死亡反应,同时细胞内 ROS 水平升高。这是首次证明 JLP 在应对细胞死亡刺激时具有保护作用。我们还发现,JLP KD 癌细胞中的 HO 诱导的 JNK 激活减弱。表达野生型 JLP 但不是缺乏 JNK 结合域的突变型 JLP 几乎完全逆转了 JLP KD 细胞中细胞活力和 JNK 激活的降低。这些数据表明 JLP-JNK 信号通路可拮抗 ROS 诱导的癌细胞死亡。