Abstract
Protein methylesterase 1 (PME-1) promotes cancerous phenotypes through the demethylation and inactivation of protein phosphatase 2A. We previously demonstrated that PME-1 overexpression promotes Akt, ERK, and may promote Wnt signaling and increases tumor burden in a xenograft model of endometrial cancer. Here, we show that covalent PME-1 inhibitors decrease cell proliferation and invasive growth in vitro but have no effect in vivo at the concentrations tested; however, depletion of PME-1 with shRNA in an endometrial cancer xenograft model significantly reduced tumor growth. Thus, discovery of more potent PME-1 inhibitors may be beneficial for the treatment of endometrial cancer.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Siegel R, Naishadham D, Jemal A. Cancer statistics, 2013. CA Cancer J Clin. 2013;63:11–30.
Wandzioch E, Pusey M, Werda A, Bail S, Bhaskar A, Nestor M, Yang JJ, Rice LM: Pme-1 modulates protein phosphatase 2a activity to promote the malignant phenotype of endometrial cancer cells. Cancer Res 2014
Engelsen IB, Akslen LA, Salvesen HB. Biologic markers in endometrial cancer treatment. APMIS. 2009;117:693–707.
Pusey M, Bail S, Werda A, Rice LM: Protein phosphatase methylesterase 1: A potential therapeutic target and companion diagnostic marker for cancer. Cancer Cell Microenviron 2014;1
Jackson JB, Pallas DC. Circumventing cellular control of PP2a by methylation promotes transformation in an Akt-dependent manner. Neoplasia. 2012;14:585–99.
Puustinen P, Junttila MR, Vanhatupa S, Sablina AA, Hector ME, Teittinen K, et al. PME-1 protects extracellular signal-regulated kinase pathway activity from protein phosphatase 2A-mediated inactivation in human malignant glioma. Cancer Res. 2009;69:2870–7.
Lee J, Chen Y, Tolstykh T, Stock J. A specific protein carboxyl methylesterase that demethylates phosphoprotein phosphatase 2A in bovine brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1996;93:6043–7.
Ogris E, Du X, Nelson KC, Mak EK, Yu XX, Lane WS, et al. A protein phosphatase methylesterase (PME-1) is one of several novel proteins stably associating with two inactive mutants of protein phosphatase 2A. J Biol Chem. 1999;274:14382–91.
Sents W, Ivanova E, Lambrecht C, Haesen D, Janssens V. The biogenesis of active protein phosphatase 2A holoenzymes: a tightly regulated process creating phosphatase specificity. FEBS J. 2013;280:644–61.
Shi Y. Assembly and structure of protein phosphatase 2A. Sci China C Life Sci. 2009;52:135–46.
Virshup DM, Shenolikar S. From promiscuity to precision: protein phosphatases get a makeover. Mol Cell. 2009;33:537–45.
Sents W, Ivanova E, Lambrecht C, Haesen D, Janssens V: The biogenesis of active protein phosphatase 2A holoenzymes: a tightly regulated process creating phosphatase specificity. FEBS J 2012
Longin S, Zwaenepoel K, Louis JV, Dilworth S, Goris J, Janssens V. Selection of protein phosphatase 2A regulatory subunits is mediated by the C terminus of the catalytic subunit. J Biol Chem. 2007;282:26971–80.
Andrabi S, Gjoerup OV, Kean JA, Roberts TM, Schaffhausen B. Protein phosphatase 2A regulates life and death decisions via Akt in a context-dependent manner. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007;104:19011–6.
Arroyo JD, Hahn WC. Involvement of PP2A in viral and cellular transformation. Oncogene. 2005;24:7746–55.
Junttila MR, Li SP, Westermarck J. Phosphatase-mediated crosstalk between MAPK signaling pathways in the regulation of cell survival. FASEB J. 2008;22:954–65.
Arnold HK, Sears RC. A tumor suppressor role for PP2A-B56alpha through negative regulation of c-Myc and other key oncoproteins. Cancer Metastasis Rev. 2008;27:147–58.
Eichhorn PJ, Creyghton MP, Bernards R. Protein phosphatase 2A regulatory subunits and cancer. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2009;1795:1–15.
Mumby M. PP2A: unveiling a reluctant tumor suppressor. Cell. 2007;130:21–4.
Sablina AA, Hahn WC. The role of PP2A a subunits in tumor suppression. Cell Adhes Migr. 2007;1:140–1.
Junttila MR, Puustinen P, Niemela M, Ahola R, Arnold H, Bottzauw T, et al. CIP2A inhibits PP2A in human malignancies. Cell. 2007;130:51–62.
Sablina AA, Hector M, Colpaert N, Hahn WC. Identification of PP2A complexes and pathways involved in cell transformation. Cancer Res. 2010;70:10474–84.
Sablina AA, Hahn WC. SV40 small t antigen and PP2A phosphatase in cell transformation. Cancer Metastasis Rev. 2008;27:137–46.
Baldacchino S, Saliba C, Petroni V, Fenech AG, Borg N, Grech G. Deregulation of the phosphatase, PP2A is a common event in breast cancer, predicting sensitivity to FTY720. EPMA J. 2014;5:3.
Junttila MR, Westermarck J. Mechanisms of MYC stabilization in human malignancies. Cell Cycle. 2008;7:592–6.
Khanna A, Okkeri J, Bilgen T, Tiirikka T, Vihinen M, Visakorpi T, et al. ETS1 mediates MEK1/2-dependent overexpression of cancerous inhibitor of protein phosphatase 2A (CIP2a) in human cancer cells. PLoS ONE. 2011;6, e17979.
Pallai R, Bhaskar A, Sodi V, Rice LM: ETS1 and ELK1 transcription factors regulate cancerous inhibitor of protein phosphatase 2A expression in cervical and endometrial carcinoma cells. Transcription 2012;3
Bachovchin DA, Mohr JT, Speers AE, Wang C, Berlin JM, Spicer TP, et al. Academic cross-fertilization by public screening yields a remarkable class of protein phosphatase methylesterase-1 inhibitors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011;108:6811–6.
Bachovchin DA, Zuhl AM, Speers AE, Wolfe MR, Weerapana E, Brown SJ, et al. Discovery and optimization of sulfonyl acrylonitriles as selective, covalent inhibitors of protein phosphatase methylesterase-1. J Med Chem. 2011;54:5229–36.
Lee KW, Im JY, Woo JM, Grosso H, Kim YS, Cristovao AC, et al. Neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory properties of a coffee component in the MPTP model of Parkinson’s disease. Neurotherapeutics. 2013;10:143–53.
Basurto-Islas G, Blanchard J, Tung YC, Fernandez JR, Voronkov M, Stock M, Zhang S, Stock JB, Iqbal K: Therapeutic benefits of a component of coffee in a rat model of Alzheimer’s disease. Neurobiol Aging 2014
Korch C, Spillman MA, Jackson TA, Jacobsen BM, Murphy SK, Lessey BA, et al. DNA profiling analysis of endometrial and ovarian cell lines reveals misidentification, redundancy and contamination. Gynecol Oncol. 2012;127:241–8.
Lo MC, Aulabaugh A, Jin G, Cowling R, Bard J, Malamas M, et al. Evaluation of fluorescence-based thermal shift assays for hit identification in drug discovery. Anal Biochem. 2004;332:153–9.
Ozsaran AA, Turker S, Dikmen Y, Erhan Y, Itil I, Terek C, et al. P53 staining as a prognostic indicator in endometrial carcinoma. Eur J Gynaecol Oncol. 1999;20:156–9.
Yang J, Phiel C. Functions of b56-containing PP2As in major developmental and cancer signaling pathways. Life Sci. 2010;87:659–66.
Zhang Q, Claret FX. Phosphatases: the new brakes for cancer development? Enzyme Res. 2012;2012:659649.
Kalev P, Sablina AA. Protein phosphatase 2A as a potential target for anticancer therapy. Anticancer Agents Med Chem. 2011;11:38–46.
Leung D, Hardouin C, Boger DL, Cravatt BF. Discovering potent and selective reversible inhibitors of enzymes in complex proteomes. Nat Biotechnol. 2003;21:687–91.
Guterman L. Covalent drugs form long-lived ties. Chem Eng News. 2011;89:19–26.
Xing Y, Li Z, Chen Y, Stock JB, Jeffrey PD, Shi Y. Structural mechanism of demethylation and inactivation of protein phosphatase 2A. Cell. 2008;133:154–63.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Dr. Eli Mordechai for the financial support and express gratitude to Yanfang Li for the compound synthesis. The authors also wish to thank Drs. Maria Webb, Philip Stein, Andrew Cole, Brian McGuiness, Igor Pechik, and Martin Adelson for their helpful discussions.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
All animal studies were conducted in compliance with Genesis Biotechnology Group, LLC IACUC-approved protocols.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pusey, M., Bail, S., Xu, Y. et al. Inhibition of protein methylesterase 1 decreased cancerous phenotypes in endometrial adenocarcinoma cell lines and xenograft tumor models. Tumor Biol. 37, 11835–11842 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-016-5036-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-016-5036-8