Published online before print May 22, 2003
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* National Research Laboratory of DNA Medicine, Division of Molecular and Life Sciences, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Korea;
Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and
Research Institute, National Cancer Center, Ilsan-gu, Goyang, Korea
Correspondence: Chang-Woo Lee, Research Institute, National Cancer Center, Ilsan-gu, Goyang, Gyeonggi-do 411-764, Korea. E-mail: cwlee{at}ncc.re.kr
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Key Words: cell cycle proliferation apoptosis aneuploid lymphoma
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To date, several extensive studies have been performed on cell-cycle regulation and checkpoint controls in T cells. However, the majority of these studies have focused on the molecular mechanisms implicated in early cell-cycle regulation, such as activation-induced cell death (AICD) or the G1/S and G2 checkpoints. AICD plays a critical role in the maintenance of the homeostasis of the T cell population after the establishment of an immune response against foreign antigens and the development of T cells in the thymus [8 ]. In addition, the G1/S and G2 checkpoints are important in terms of ensuring the genomic integrity of T cells affected by environmental stresses, such as UV irradiation or oxidative damage [9 , 10 ]. Although these cell-cycle and checkpoint regulations during the early cell cycle are important in the prevention of disorders caused by uncontrolled T cell proliferation after antigenic stimulation or the transmission of altered genomic information into daughter cells, they cannot be the whole story in terms of T cell-related diseases. Thus, more studies on cell-cycle regulators other than AICD and checkpoint controls during the early phase of T cell proliferation are required to fully elucidate regulatory mechanisms of T cell cell-cycle control and to understand the pathogenesis of T cell disorders.
During mitosis, the duplicated chromosome pairs are accurately split and subsequently segregated into daughter cells. The mitotic checkpoint ensures this faithful chromosomal segregation by delaying the onset of anaphase until both kinetochores on each duplicated chromosome pair have properly attached to the spindle microtubule and are under tension [11 12 13 14 15 16 ]. For the successful execution of this checkpoint function, several molecular components of mitotic checkpoint machinery are known to be necessary; these include Mps1, Mad13, Bub1, Bub3, BubR1 (a homologue of Mad3 and Bub1), and CENP-E (a microtubule-dependent motor protein). These checkpoint proteins are preferentially localized to the kinetochores of unaligned chromosomes and contribute to the production of a diffusible "wait anaphase" signal. This signal delays anaphase by inhibiting the anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C), a multisubunit E3 ubiquitin ligase required for the degradation of securin and the subsequent activation of separase for sister chromatid separation [17 , 18 ]. Defects in the mitotic checkpoint lead to the premature separation of sister chromatids, resulting in the loss or gain of chromosomes in daughter cells and subsequent chromosomal instability, which is implicated in the pathogenesis of human cancers [19 20 21 ]. Therefore, an impaired mitotic checkpoint, particularly in rapidly proliferating cells such as activated T cells, seems to exert a more deleterious effect on cellular and normal tissue homeostasis than errors in other checkpoints, such as the DNA damage-dependent G1 checkpoint.
For interest, it was recently reported that the expression of the oncoprotein Tax [encoded by human T cell leukemia virus type-1 (HTLV-1), a causative agent of adult human T cell lymphoma/leukemia (ATLL)] abrogates the mitotic checkpoint by binding with the human homologue of the yeast mitotic checkpoint Mad1 protein in human cervical cancer cells [21 ]. This observation raises the possibility that failures of mitotic checkpoint regulation are implicated not only in the tumorigenesis of T cells by viral infection but also in the pathogenesis of nonviral lymphoproliferative disorders, such as lymphomas. In agreement with this hypothesis, malignant T cells from cutaneous T cell lymphoma (CTCL) patients frequently show an aneuploid phenotype [23 , 24 ]. In addition, mutations of mitotic checkpoint genes, such as hBUB1 and hBUBR1, have been detected at high frequencies in many ATLL cases [25 ]. However, in spite of the importance of the mitotic checkpoint in the maintenance of genomic integrity during cell division and the possible linkage between impaired mitotic checkpoint and lymphoproliferative diseases, few studies have been conducted on checkpoint regulation in proliferating T cells.
In this study, as an initial step to the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms involved in mitotic checkpoint regulation during T cell proliferation, we monitored the fates of activated primary T cells after spindle damage. Of interest, we found that after prolonged mitotic arrest, a significant portion of the activated T cell population escaped arrest without undergoing apoptosis and subsequently formed polyploid cells with DNA contents exceeding 4N. By expressing a dominant-negative mutant, we found that BubR1, a mitotic checkpoint kinase, is required to elicit the checkpoint response to spindle damage during T cell proliferation. In addition, we demonstrate that after prolonged spindle damage, p53 and not p73 plays an important role in monitoring chromosomal instability in primary T cells.
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Reagents and antibodies
General reagents used were purchased from Sigma Chemical Co. (St. Louis, MO) unless otherwise indicated. Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) anti-Thy-1.2, phycoerythrin (PE) anti-V
2 T cell receptor (TCR), FITC anti-CD4, FITC anti-CD11b, and FITC antiactive caspase-3 monoclonal antibodies (mAb) were obtained from BD PharMingen (San Diego, CA). Anti-p73, anti-c-Myc, anti-p53, anticyclin B, anticyclin A, anti-p27, and anti-p21 Ab were purchased from Santa Cruz Biotechnology (Santa Cruz, CA).
Cell culture
Primary T cells purified from mice were cultured in RPMI 1640 (Jeil Biotech, Korea), supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum (Hyclone Laboratories, Logan, UT), 2 mM L-glutamine, 50 µM ß-mercaptoethanol, and antibiotics. Jurkat-TetOn (Clontech, Palo Alto, CA) and JM36 cell lines were maintained in RPMI supplemented with tetracycline-free 10% fetal bovine serum (Hyclone Laboratories).
Preparation of murine primary T cells
Primary T cells of wild-type and p53-/- mice were purified from the spleen or lymph nodes as described previously [27
, 28
]. Briefly, cell suspensions were treated with J11d (anti-human serum albumin) and M5/114.15.2 [anti-major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-II] for 30 min on ice, centrifuged, and then depleted by treatment with rabbit complement for 40 min at 37°C. Remaining cells were then treated with anti-B220 and anti-MHC-II microbeads (Miltenyi Biotech, Auburn, CA) and were purified by negative selection using the magnetic cell sorter separator system. Purified cell populations were 9095% Thy-1.2+. OT-II cells were prepared as described previously [29
, 30
]. Briefly, lymph nodes were removed from OT-II mice, and single-cell suspensions were treated with 3.168 (anti-CD8) and J11d and then complement as above. Purified OT-II cell populations were 7075% CD4+V
2+. Remaining 2530% of cell populations were CD11b+, indicating that these populations were antigen-presenting cells such as dendritic cells and macrophages. Purity was assessed by flow cytometric analysis on a FACScan flow cytometer (BD Biosciences, Heidelberg, Germany) after staining with FITC anti-Thy-1.2, PE anti-V
2 TCR, FITC anti-CD4, or FITC anti-CD11b mAb.
Generation of inducible cell lines
To generate tetracycline-responsive Jurkat cell lines expressing a dominant-negative mutant of human BubR1 (hBubR1), the amplified Myc epitope-tagged N-terminal domain encoding amino acids 1344 was cloned into the pTRE2-hygro (Clontech) to create pTRE2-Myc-N-terminal hBubR1 (N-hBubR1). Thereafter, Jurkat-TetOn cells were transfected with this construct by electroporation. To isolate the individual colonies expressing N-hBubR1, transfected cells were serially diluted and added to each well of 96-well plates, selected in 200 µg/ml hygromycin B (Roche, Mannheim, Germany), expanded, and then screened by immunoblotting for expression of N-hBubR1 in the presence of 0.1 µg/ml doxycycline. Three independent cell lines, JM9, JM36, and JM106, were obtained and characterized for further studies. Data using the JM36 cell line were presented here.
Cell cycle and cell death analysis
Approximately 106 primary T cells were plated in 12-well plates and stimulated with the combination of phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA; 0.5 µM) plus ionomycin (0.5 µg/ml) for 24 h. In the case of CD4+ T cells from OT-II mice, 106 cells of mixed populations of T cells and antigen-presenting cells were plated in 96-well plates and stimulated with 1 µM chicken ovalbumin (OVA) peptides (OVA323339) for 24 h. Stimulated T cells were then cultured in the absence or presence of 70 ng/ml nocodazole, 0.5 µM taxol, or 5 nM actinomycin D. At various time points, cells were harvested, fixed in 70% ethanol, washed in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), and stained with propidium iodide (PI; 40 µg/ml final concentration) in the presence of 50 µg/ml RNase A for 30 min at room temperature, followed by the analysis of a cell-cycle profile on FACScan (Becton Dickinson, San Jose, CA). To examine the effect of N-hBubR1 on the mitotic checkpoint, JM36 cells and parental cells (Jurkat-TetOn) were preincubated with 0.1 µg/ml doxycycline for 48 h and then treated with 0.1 µg/ml nocodazole. Then, cells were harvested, treated, and analyzed as described above. To verify the apoptotic cell death, 106 primary T cells were activated with the combination of PMA (0.5 µM) plus ionomycin (0.5 µg/ml) for 24 h and were then cultured in the presence of nocodazole (70 ng/ml). At various time points, cells were harvested, resuspended in Cytofix/CytopermTM solution (BD PharMingen), washed with Perm/WashTM buffer (BD PharMingen), stained with FITC antiactive caspase-3 mAb plus PI (10 µg/ml final concentration), and then subjected to flow cytometry analysis on FACscan according to the manufacturers instructions. Data were presented by using Cell Quest software (Becton Dickinson).
Immunoblotting assay
For immunoblot assay, primary T cells (2x107 cells/sample) were stimulated with the combination of PMA (0.5 µM) plus ionomycin (0.5 µg/ml) for 24 h and were then treated with 70 ng/ml nocodazole. Cells were harvested at various time points and used for the preparation of whole-cell lysates. To address the expression of N-hBubR1 in JM36 cell lines, 107 cells of each JM36 and Jurkat-TetOn cell line as a control were treated with 0.1 µg/ml doxycycline for 48 h and then harvested. Whole-cell lysates were prepared by the addition of 500 µl lysis buffer [50 mM HEPES (pH 7.2), 250 mM NaCl, 2 mM EDTA, 0.1% Nonidet P-40, 1 mM dithiothreitol, 1 µg/ml aprotinin, 1 µg/ml leupeptin, and 50 µg/ml phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride]. For immunoblot analysis, equal amounts of protein (quantitated by a Biorad assay) of each sample were loaded on a sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis gel and analyzed by anti-BubR1 [31
], anti-p73, anti-c-Myc, anti-p53, antiactin (Sigma Chemical Co.), anticyclin B, anticyclin A, anti-p27, or anti-p21 antibody.
Immunofluorescence
For immunofluorescence analysis, Jurkat-TetOn and JM36 cells were grown on 13 mm round-glass coverslips coated with 1 µg/ml collagen (Iwaki Glass, Tokyo, Japan). Thereafter, cells were fixed with PBS containing 5% formaldehyde for 10 min at room temperature or methanol for 10 min at -20°C and then were washed four times with 0.5 ml PBS. In some experiments, cells were extracted for 1 min at room temperature. Fixed cells were washed and permeabilized in PBS containing 0.1% Triton X-100 and were then incubated in primary antibody at room temperature for 2 h. Subsequently, cells were washed three times and further incubated in secondary antibody, goat anti-mouse immunoglobulin G-conjugated rhodamine (Santa Cruz Biotechnology) for 1 h. Cells were washed and exposed to Hoechst dye to visualize the DNA and were viewed under the fluorescence microscope (Zeiss photomicroscope, Carl Zeiss, Thornwood, NY).
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Figure 1. Increased chromosomal instability of proliferating primary T cells following prolonged spindle damage. (A) Primary T cells were obtained from the spleen of BALB/c mice and stimulated with a combination of PMA (0.5 µM) plus ionomycin (0.5 µg/ml) for 24 h. The cells were then cultured in the absence or presence of nocodazole (70 ng/ml), taxol (0.5 µM), or actinomycin D (Act. D; 5 nM). At the time indicated on the right, the cells were harvested, fixed with EtOH, stained with PI, and analyzed by flow cytometry to determine their DNA contents. (B) Relative percentages of the cell populations undergoing apoptosis (Upper) and with a polyploid phenotype (>4N; Lower). (C) Primary T cells were treated as described in Panel A and then harvested at the time indicated. They were then fixed, permeabilized, stained with a combination of FITC-conjugated mAb against active caspase-3 and PI (10 µg/ml), as described in Materials and Methods, and analyzed by flow cytometry.
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25% of the whole cell population (data not shown).
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Figure 2. Increased chromosomal instability of OVA-specific T cells stimulated with specific antigen after prolonged spindle damage. (A) CD4+ T cells and autologous antigen-presenting cells were purified from the lymph nodes of OT-II mice by removing B cells and CD8+ T cells, as described in Materials and Methods. The resultant purified cells were stimulated with OVA peptide (OVA323339) for 24 h and then cultured in the absence or presence of nocodazole (70 ng/ml) or actinomycin D (Act. D; 5 nM). At the time indicated on the right, cells were harvested, fixed, stained with PI, and analyzed by flow cytometry to determine their DNA contents. (B) Relative percentages of the cell population undergoing apoptosis (Upper) and with the polyploid phenotype (>4N; Lower).
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The phosphorylation of BubR1 and the expression of p53 are significantly induced in primary T cells in response to prolonged spindle damage
Next, to identify the cellular components involved in the mitotic checkpoint in proliferating T cells, we monitored regulatory proteins, known to participate in cell-cycle control and the mitotic checkpoint, in T cells after nocodazole treatment. Primary T cells from BALB/c mice were treated as described in Figure 1 and then immunoblotted (Fig. 3
). It has been previously reported that the phosphorylation of some kinetochore proteins, such as BubR1, may be used as a marker of mitotic checkpoint activation and be of importance in terms of their checkpoint functionalities [37
38
39
]. Therefore, we investigated the involvement of BubR1 protein, a mitotic checkpoint kinase, in the regulation of the mitotic checkpoint in proliferating T cells. In control cultures, the expression of mBubR1 protein was not detected in resting T cells, but it increased significantly in proliferating T cells some 16 h after activation and then decreased as the cells were arrested in the G1 phase (Figs. 1A and 3)
. These results suggest that mBubR1 is required during the proliferation of activated T cells. In parallel with this finding, cells cultured in the presence of actinomycin D showed a slightly lower level of mBubR1 expression, presumably because the majority of cells were in G1 arrest. Of note, although mBubR1 was detected in control cells as a single band of
120 kDa, a new form of mBubR1 with a retarded mobility indicative of phosphorylation was detected in cells treated with nocodazole. These data further support the notion that in response to spindle damage, BubR1 is required for mitotic checkpoint activation in proliferating primary T cells.
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Figure 3. Induction of p53 and the phosphorylation of BubR1/Mad3 in response to prolonged spindle damage. Primary T cells were stimulated and treated as described in Figure 1A
. At the times indicated, cells were harvested and then subjected to immunoblot analysis with antimurine BubR1 (mBubR1), anti-p53, anti-p21, anti-p73, anti-p27, anti-Bcl2, and antiactin antibodies. The polypeptide corresponding to each antibody is indicated on the right.
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Dominant-negative mutant of BubR1 compromises mitotic arrest and increases the chromosome instability of T cells
We observed that the phosphorylation of BubR1 is significantly induced in response to spindle damage (Fig. 3)
. Thus, to further address the function of BubR1 in the T cell mitotic checkpoint, we generated a mutant hBubR1 with a dominant-negative phenotype. hBubR1, a Bub1-related protein kinase, has three functional domains: an N-terminal homology domain, a Bub3-binding domain, and a C-terminal domain corresponding to the catalytic domain of protein kinase [37
]. As the N-terminal homology domain is highly conserved in all Bub1- and Mad3-related proteins and is functionally essential, the N-terminal domain seems to mediate interactions with other components of the mitotic checkpoint [45
, 46
]. Thus, we hypothesized that if BubR1 is required for mitotic checkpoint function in proliferating T cells, a mutant BubR1 containing only an N-terminal homology domain might behave as a dominant-negative mutant in proliferating T cells. To confirm this hypothesis, we established a Jurkat T cell line, JM36, expressing a Myc epitope-tagged N-hBubR1 (amino acids 1344) under the control of a tetracycline-responsive promoter (Fig. 4A
and 4B
). However, it has also been reported that a mutant hBubR1, lacking the Bub3-binding domain, fails to localize at kinetochores in rodent cells, although the ectopic expression of hBub3 is required for the kinetochore localization of wild-type hBubR1 in these cells [37
]. In addition, the kinetochore localization of a mutant mitotic checkpoint protein seemed to be important for the expression of a dominant-negative phenotype [45
]. Thus, we next investigated the kinetochore localization of our deletion mutant by comparing the subcellular distribution of N-hBubR1 with the wild type in asynchronous parental Jurkat T and JM36 cells (Fig. 4C
and 4D)
. In Jurkat T cells, 18 h after nocodazole treatment, wild-type hBubR1 was exclusively localized in the cytoplasm of interphase cells and concentrated at the kinetochores of mitotic cells (Fig. 4C)
. Of interest, in JM36 cells grown in the presence of doxycycline, N-hBubR1 was also detected at kinetochores, but no expression of this mutant was observed in the absence of doxycycline (Fig. 4D)
. These observations suggest that in human cells, a deletion mutant of hBubR1 containing only the N-terminal homology domain is also able to localize to the kinetochore by binding to kinetochore proteins other than hBub3 and that it might have a dominant-negative phenotype. Thus, to further confirm this notion and to investigate the effect of N-hBubR1 expression on mitotic checkpoint regulation in T cells, JM36 and the parental cell line were treated with doxycycline for 48 h and then further cultured in the absence or presence of nocodazole. Thereafter, resultants were harvested and analyzed by flow cytometry to determine their DNA contents (Fig. 4E)
. In both cell lines cultured in medium only, no apparent differences were observed in their DNA contents. Of note, in cells treated with nocodazole, most cells of both cell lines were arrested in the mitotic phase (4N) at 16 h. However, after 32 h, the apoptotic cell population (<2N) of JM36 increased more slowly than that of the parental cell line (Fig. 4F
, Left). Moreover, the polyploid cell population (>4N) of JM36 dramatically increased after 48 h, whereas those of the parental cell line remained constant (Fig. 4F
, Right), implying that the expression of N-hBubR1 compromises mitotic arrest and subsequent apoptotic cell death and increases the chromosomal instability of T cells after prolonged spindle damage. These results demonstrate that N-hBubR1 acts as a dominant-negative mutant and provide a first description of a dominant-negative form of hBubR1. In addition, these results suggest that BubR1 is required for proper mitotic checkpoint function during T cell proliferation and that a defect in its function leads to chromosomal instability.
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Figure 4. The dominant-negative mutant of hBubR1 compromises mitotic arrest and subsequent apoptotic cell death. (A) A schematic diagram of wild-type hBubR1 and Myc epitope-tagged N-hBubR1, which had a dominant-negative phenotype. (B) Parental Jurkat T cells and T cells expressing a dominant-negative BubR1 (JM36) were incubated with doxycycline for 24 h. Cell lysates were then prepared and analyzed by immunoblot using anti-Myc antibody. (C). Subcellular distribution of wild-type hBubR1 in interphase and mitotic cells. Jurkat T cells were cultured in the presence of 0.1 µg/ml nocodazole for 18 h. Thereafter, cells were fixed and stained with a mAb against hBubR1 (Left) and Hoechst dye to visualize the DNA (Right). * and , Interphase and mitotic cells, respectively. (D) Subcellular localization of Myc-tagged N-BubR1 in mitotic cells. JM36 cells were cultured for 48 h in the absence (Tet-) or presence (Tet+) of doxycycline, and this followed by treatment with 0.1 µg/ml nocodazole for 18 h. The cells were then fixed and stained with anti-Myc antibody (Left) and Hoechst dye for DNA visualization (Right). N-BubR1 expression is only detectable in the presence of doxycycline (Tet+). All pictures were taken at the same magnification. (E) JM36 and parental Jurkat T cells were incubated with doxycycline for 48 h before treatment with 70 ng/ml nocodazole. At the time indicated, the cells were harvested, fixed, stained with PI, and analyzed by flow cytometry to determine their DNA contents. (F) Relative percentages of apoptotic (Left) or polyploid (Right) cells.
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Figure 5. Effects of N-hBubR1 expression on the phosphorylation of endogenous hBubR1 and the expression of mitotic cyclins after prolonged spindle damage. JM36 and parental Jurkat T cells were synchronized and then treated as described in Figure 4E
. The cells were then harvested and subjected to immunoblot analysis with anti-hBubR1, anticyclin B, anticyclin A, and antiactin antibodies.
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Figure 6. p53 prevents chromosomal instability in primary T cells by blocking DNA endoreplication after aberrant exit from mitosis. Primary p53-deficient and wild-type T cells were prepared from p53-/- and syngenic wild-type mice, respectively, as described in Materials and Methods. Thereafter, the resultants were treated as described in Figure 1A
. (A) At the times indicated, the cells were harvested and analyzed by immunoblot using anti-p53 antibodies. Noco, Nocodazole; Act D, actinomycin D; WT, wild type; KO, knockout. (B) At the same times, cells were fixed with EtOH, stained with PI, and analyzed by flow cytometry to determine their DNA contents. (C) Relative percentages of apoptotic (Upper) or polyploid (Lower) cells. (D) To compare the mitotic progress of p53-deficient and wild-type T cells, the cells were treated as described above and then harvested for immunoblot analysis using anti-mBubR1, anticyclin B1, anticyclin A1, and antiactin Ab as a control. (E) The gel density of each protein was quantitated by densitometry, and the values obtained were normalized against the gel density of actin; results are presented as relative gel densities.
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As was observed for cyclin B, cyclin A expression in p53-deficient T cells was sustained for up to 32 h and then decreased after 48 h, and cyclin A expression in wild-type cells peaked at 16 h and then decreased rapidly. However, the degradation of cyclin A occurred more slowly than that of cyclin B in the wild-type T cells. According to previously published results, in cells other than T cells, the degradation of cyclin A occurs before that of cyclin B, and the disruption of the mitotic spindle does not alter the relative stability of this cyclin [50 , 51 ]. Thus, our results raise the possibility that the regulation of the cyclin A degradation pathway in T cells might be achieved through pathways that are somewhat different from those in other cells.
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Here, we document that the mitotic checkpoint plays an important role in the fidelity of chromosome segregation during the proliferation of primary T cells. Moreover, our unpublished observations show that following prolonged mitotic arrest, primary T cells stimulated with TCR mimetics or specific antigens are more prone to polyploidy than other cell types. One possible explanation for this higher tendency toward polyploidy is their rapid turnover rate on antigenic stimulation [1 2 3 4 5 ]. A rapid clonal expansion of T cells, especially memory T cells, in response to specific antigens is necessary for the immediate establishment of protective immunity against invading foreign pathogens. Thus, it is possible that to proliferate rapidly upon antigenic stimulation, T cells have evolved to decrease the cell-cycle period by adopting cell-cycle regulatory pathways different from those in other cell types. This discrepancy might enable T cells to overcome apoptotic cell death after prolonged mitotic arrest and allow them to enter the next round of the cell cycle without cell division, termed endoreplication. Alternatively, as previously suggested [45 ], the strength of the mitotic checkpoint signal at the starting point of mitosis may act as a determinant of cell fate after aberrant exit from mitosis with a damaged spindle. Thus, it is also possible that the strength of the mitotic checkpoint signals in T cells might be weaker than those of non-T cells such as fibroblasts and epithelial cells and that this results in the increased susceptibility of T cells to chromosomal instability and their decreased apoptotic cell death after prolonged spindle damage. Furthermore, the different sensitivities of T cells and nonlymphoid cells to spindle inhibitors might be another possible explanation for our observations. The different cell fates of primary T cells and other types of cells in response to spindle damage should be further examined to elucidate a proper explanation.
p53, a tumor suppressor, is known to be required for G1 cell-cycle arrest. However, G1 arrest after TCR-mediated T cell activation requires p73 rather than p53 [43 ]. In the present study, we also showed that in activated T cells cultured in medium only, the expression of p73 and not p53 is dramatically induced by treatment with TCR mimetics and that this occurs in parallel with a shift in the T cell population toward the G1 phase. However, it was of interest to find that the expression of p53 and not of p73 is significantly induced in T cells treated with nocodazole after the phosphorylation of BubR1, a mitotic checkpoint kinase. Furthermore, chromosomal instability was dramatically higher in p53-deficient T cells than in wild type. Therefore, these results suggest that in response to spindle damage, p53 and not p73 is implicated in the cell-cycle regulation of primary T cells at the mitotic phase. In partial agreement with our suggestion, mice that lack both copies of p53 (p53-/- mice) spontaneously develop lymphoid malignancies in the thymus and spleen at high frequency. Mice with only one copy of the wild-type allele (p53+/- mice) also spontaneously develop lymphoid malignancies but at a much lower frequency than p53-/- mice [52 ]. Thus, the function of p53 in T cells following mitotic checkpoint activation may be connected to the pathogenesis of lymphoma, and further examination of the role of p53 during mitosis would help our understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms of T cell tumorigenesis.
In eukaryotic cells, cyclin A and cyclin B are required for entry into mitosis, and their degradation through APC/C-mediated ubiquitination is also critical for exit from mitosis [49 50 51 ]. Recently, it was reported that the mitotic checkpoint protein complex inhibits the activity of APC/C, leading to the delay of the onset of anaphase until all chromosomes have aligned properly at the metaphase plate [17 , 18 ]. Here, we observed that cyclin B accumulates transiently in wild-type T cells after spindle damage but that its expression is sustained in p53-deficient T cells. This discrepancy might be a result of the resynthesis of cyclin B in p53-deficient T cells during progression into a new round of the cell cycle after aberrant exit from mitosis, rather than being the result of APC/C inactivation as a result of a delayed mitotic checkpoint signal or of the up-regulation of this protein as a result of the lack of p53 [53 , 54 ]. As observed for cyclin B, cyclin A was also observed to accumulate transiently in wild-type T cells and to be sustained in p53-deficient T cells throughout the process of spindle disruption. However, it was of interest to find that the degradation of cyclin A seems to occur more slowly than that of cyclin B in wild-type T cells, indicating that the control of cyclin A levels in proliferating T cells may be regulated in a different manner than that in other cell types [50 , 51 , 55 , 56 ]. This discrepancy in the regulation of cyclin A expression may be one of the possible explanations for the rapid turnover rate of T cells upon antigenic stimulation and the increased susceptibility of T cells to chromosomal instability after prolonged spindle damage. This possibility needs further investigation to allow us to understand T cell cell-cycle regulation.
In conclusion, our results imply that following prolonged spindle damage, a p53 deficiency and a defective mitotic checkpoint in proliferating T cells compromise mitotic arrest and allow cells to progress into new rounds of DNA endoreplication without undergoing apoptotic cell death, thus leading to the form of chromosomal instability implicated in the tumorigenesis of T cell lymphomas. However, the sensitivity of T cells to mitotic spindle inhibitors also has significant implications for anticancer treatment strategies, as these inhibitors are potential anticancer drugs.
Received December 16, 2002; revised February 12, 2003; accepted February 13, 2003.
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