Expression and function of the leucine zipper protein par-4 in apoptosis

Stephen F. Sells, Seong Su Han, Sumathi Muthukkumar, Neeraj Maddiwar, Ricky Johnstone, Erwin Boghaert, David Gillis, Guohui Liu, Prakash Nair, Stephen Monnig, Patrick Collini, Mark P. Mattson, Vikas P. Sukhatme, Stephen G. Zimmer, David P. Wood, J. William McRoberts, Yang Shi, Vivek M. Rangnekar

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

178 Scopus citations

Abstract

The prostate apoptosis response-4 (par-4) gene was identified by differential screening for genes that are upregulated when prostate cancer cells are induced to undergo apoptosis. The par-4 gene is induced by apoptotic signals but not by growth-arresting, necrotic, or growth- stimulatory signals. The deduced amino acid sequence of par-4 predicts a protein with a leucine zipper domain at its carboxy terminus. We have recently shown that the Par-4 protein binds, via its leucine zipper domain, to the zinc finger domain of Wilms' tumor protein WT1 (R. W. Johnstone et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 16:6945-6956, 1996). In experiments aimed at determining the functional role of par-4 in apoptosis, an antisense par-4 oligomer abrogated par-4 expression and activator-driven apoptosis in rat prostate cancer cell line AT-3, suggesting that par-4 is required for apoptosis in these cells. Consistent with a functional role for par-4 in apoptosis, ectopic overexpression of par-4 in prostate cancer cell line PC-3 and melanoma cell line A375-C6 conferred supersensitivity to apoptotic stimuli. Transfection studies with deletion mutants of Par-4 revealed that full-length Par-4, but not mutants that lacked the leucine zipper domain of Par-4, conferred enhanced sensitivity to apoptotic stimuli. Most importantly, ectopic coexpression of the leucine zipper domain of Par-4 inhibited the ability of Par-4 to enhance apoptosis. Finally, ectopic expression of WT1 attenuated apoptosis, and coexpression of Par-4 but not a leucine zipperless mutant of Par-4 rescued the cells from the antiapoptotic effect of WT1. These findings suggest that the leucine zipper domain is required for the Par-4 protein to function in apoptosis.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)3823-3832
Number of pages10
JournalMolecular and Cellular Biology
Volume17
Issue number7
StatePublished - Jul 1997
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Molecular Biology
  • Genetics
  • Cell Biology

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