CHFR

Abstract: Chemicals that target microtubules induce mitotic stress by affecting several processes that occur during mitosis. These processes include separation of the centrosomes in prophase, alignment of the chromosomes on the spindle in metaphase and sister-chromatid separation in anaphase1,2. Many human cancers are sensitive to mitotic stress. This sensitivity is being exploited for therapy and implies checkpoint defects2,3,4,5,6,7,8. The known mitotic checkpoint genes, which prevent entry into anaphase when the chromosomes are not properly aligned on the mitotic spindle, are, however, rarely inactivated in human cancer9,10,11,12,13. Here we describe the chfr gene, which is inactivated owing to lack of expression or by mutation in four out of eight human cancer cell lines examined. Normal primary cells and tumour cell lines that express wild-type chfr exhibited delayed entry into metaphase when centrosome separation was inhibited by mitotic stress. In contrast, the tumour cell lines that had lost chfr function entered metaphase without delay. Ectopic expression of wild-type chfr restored the cell cycle delay and increased the ability of the cells to survive mitotic stress. Thus, chfr defines a checkpoint that delays entry into metaphase in response to mitotic stress.

Abstract: Worldwide oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) accounts for more than 100,000 deaths each year. Chronic inflammation constitutes one of the key risk factors for OSCC. Accumulating evidence suggests that aberrant DNA methylation may contribute to OSCC tumorigenesis. This study investigated whether chronic inflammation alters DNA methylation and expression of cancer-associated genes in OSCC. We established an in vitro model of interleukin (IL)-6 mediating chronic inflammation in OSCC cell lines. Thereafter, we measured the ability of IL-6 to induce global hypomethylation of long interspersed nuclear element-1 (LINE-1) sequences, as well as CpG methylation changes using multiple methodologies including quantitative pyrosequencing, methylation-specific multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification and sensitive melting analysis after real-time-methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Gene expression was investigated by quantitative reverse transcriptase-PCR. IL-6 induced significant global LINE-1 hypomethylation (p=0.016) in our in vitro model of inflammatory stress in OSCC cell lines. Simultaneously, IL-6 induced CpG promoter methylation changes in several important putative tumor suppressor genes including CHFR, GATA5 and PAX6. Methylation changes correlated inversely with the changes in the expression of corresponding genes. Our results indicate that IL-6-induced inflammation promotes tumorigenesis in the oral cavity by altering global LINE-1 hypomethylation. In addition, concurrent hypermethylation of multiple tumor suppressor genes by IL-6 suggests that epigenetic gene silencing may be an important consequence of chronic inflammation in the oral cavity. These findings have clinical relevance, as both methylation and inflammation are suitable targets for developing novel preventive and therapeutic measures.

Abstract: The CHFR gene, which was recently cloned by Scolnick and Halazonetis in search for a novel mitotic checkpoint gene with fork-head association motifs, has been suggested to play a key role in the mitotic prophase checkpoint. In this study, we demonstrated tumor-specific aberrant hypermethylation of the promoter region of the CHFR gene in a significant fraction of lung cancers in association with loss of detectable levels of CHFR transcripts. Aberrant hypermethylation was observed in seven of 37 primary lung cancer cases. Treatment with the demethylating agent 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine restored expression of the CHFR gene in lung cancer cell lines exhibiting aberrant hypermethylation and loss of its expression. In contrast, genetic alterations were found to be infrequent in lung cancers. This is the first description of aberrant hypermethylation of the CHFR gene in any type of human cancer, and provides further evidence of the involvement of multiple checkpoint alterations in lung cancer.

Abstract: RNF8 is an E3 ligase that functions in the DNA damage response by promoting the ubiquitination of histone proteins at double-strand breaks. Now, analysis of mice with a double knockout of RNF8 and related E3 ligase Chfr reveals that these two proteins collaborate to activate ATM via ubiquitination of H2B and consequent recruitment of MRG15, a component of HAT complexes, resulting in histone H4 Lys16 acetylation and chromatin relaxation.