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Sci. STKE, 10 April 2007
Vol. 2007, Issue 381, p. tw126
[DOI: 10.1126/stke.3812007tw126]

EDITORS' CHOICE

Apoptosis The Mechanism of Action of the Tumor Suppressor HRSL3

John F. Foley

Science’s STKE, AAAS, Washington, DC 20005, USA

Loss of tumor suppressor function is a critical step in the development of tumors. Two classes of tumor suppressors are known. Loss of function of class I suppressors, such as p53, is achieved through genetic alterations, whereas inhibition of class II suppressors is reversible and leaves their genomic structures unchanged. Nazarenko et al. investigated the mechanism of action of the class II suppressor HRSL3. HRSL3 protein is found in normal tissues but is undetectable in human tumors. The authors performed a yeast two-hybrid screen for binding partners for HRSL3 and detected PR65{alpha}, the regulatory subunit A{alpha} of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), a serine/threonine phosphatase. Using HRSL3 mutants, the authors determined that the N-terminal region of HRSL3 was necessary for binding to PR65{alpha}. Coimmunoprecipitation studies in a transfected human ovarian carcinoma cell line (OVCAR-3) demonstrated that HRSL3 did not bind to the catalytic subunit of PP2A, PR36{alpha}. The catalytic activity of PP2A isolated from cells that contained HRSL3 was much reduced compared with that of PP2A isolated from cells that contained a noninteracting mutant of HRSL3. Through flow cytometric analysis of nuclear DNA and Western blotting analysis, the authors demonstrated that either increased amounts of HRSL3 or knockdown of PP2A with a PR65-specific siRNA induced apoptosis of OVCAR-3 cells. The presence of HRSL3 in OVCAR-3 cells resulted in increased amounts of phosphorylated PKC{zeta}, a target of PP2A. Blocking PKC{zeta} activity with a pseudosubstrate peptide abrogated HRSL3-induced apoptosis of the OVCAR-3 cells, suggesting a role for PKC{zeta} in regulating cell death in ovarian cancer.

I. Nazarenko, R. Schäfer, C. Sers, Mechanisms of the HRSL3 tumor suppressor function in ovarian carcinoma cells. J. Cell. Sci. 120, 1393-1404 (2007). [Abstract] [Full Text]

Citation: J. F. Foley, The Mechanism of Action of the Tumor Suppressor HRSL3. Sci. STKE 2007, tw126 (2007).

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