Promyelocytic leukemia (PML) protein plays important roles in regulating cell adhesion, morphology, proliferation and migration

PLoS One. 2013;8(3):e59477. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0059477. Epub 2013 Mar 21.

Abstract

PML protein plays important roles in regulating cellular homeostasis. It forms PML nuclear bodies (PML-NBs) that act like nuclear relay stations and participate in many cellular functions. In this study, we have examined the proteome of mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) derived from normal (PML(+/+)) and PML knockout (PML(-/-)) mice. The aim was to identify proteins that were differentially expressed when MEFs were incapable of producing PML. Using comparative proteomics, total protein were extracted from PML(-/-) and PML(+/+) MEFs, resolved by two dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) gels and the differentially expressed proteins identified by LC-ESI-MS/MS. Nine proteins (PML, NDRG1, CACYBP, CFL1, RSU1, TRIO, CTRO, ANXA4 and UBE2M) were determined to be down-regulated in PML(-/-) MEFs. In contrast, ten proteins (CIAPIN1, FAM50A, SUMO2 HSPB1 NSFL1C, PCBP2, YWHAG, STMN1, TPD52L2 and PDAP1) were found up-regulated. Many of these differentially expressed proteins play crucial roles in cell adhesion, migration, morphology and cytokinesis. The protein profiles explain why PML(-/-) and PML(+/+) MEFs were morphologically different. In addition, we demonstrated PML(-/-) MEFs were less adhesive, proliferated more extensively and migrated significantly slower than PML(+/+) MEFs. NDRG1, a protein that was down-regulated in PML(-/-) MEFs, was selected for further investigation. We determined that silencing NDRG1expression in PML(+/+) MEFs increased cell proliferation and inhibited PML expression. Since NDRG expression was suppressed in PML(-/-) MEFs, this may explain why these cells proliferate more extensively than PML(+/+) MEFs. Furthermore, silencing NDRG1expression also impaired TGF-β1 signaling by inhibiting SMAD3 phosphorylation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Adhesion
  • Cell Cycle Proteins / deficiency
  • Cell Cycle Proteins / genetics
  • Cell Cycle Proteins / metabolism
  • Cell Movement*
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Chemotaxis
  • Fibroblasts / cytology
  • Fibroblasts / metabolism
  • Gene Deletion
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Gene Silencing
  • Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / deficiency
  • Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / genetics
  • Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / metabolism
  • Mice
  • Nuclear Proteins / deficiency
  • Nuclear Proteins / genetics
  • Nuclear Proteins / metabolism*
  • Promyelocytic Leukemia Protein
  • Proteome
  • Signal Transduction
  • Transcription Factors / deficiency
  • Transcription Factors / genetics
  • Transcription Factors / metabolism*
  • Transforming Growth Factor beta1 / metabolism
  • Tumor Suppressor Proteins / deficiency
  • Tumor Suppressor Proteins / genetics
  • Tumor Suppressor Proteins / metabolism*

Substances

  • Cell Cycle Proteins
  • Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
  • N-myc downstream-regulated gene 1 protein
  • Nuclear Proteins
  • Pml protein, mouse
  • Promyelocytic Leukemia Protein
  • Proteome
  • Transcription Factors
  • Transforming Growth Factor beta1
  • Tumor Suppressor Proteins

Grants and funding

This project was supported by the Hong Kong Cancer Fund, project no.: 6903321. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.