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Department of Medicine, the University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
Received January 4, 2008; accepted February 19, 2008
| Abstract |
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subunits of heterotrimeric G proteins and accelerates their GTPase activity. A member of this family, RGS3 regulates the signaling mediated by Gq and Gi proteins by binding the corresponding G
subunits. Here we show that RGS3 interacts with the novel partners Smad2, Smad3, and Smad4—the transcription factors that are activated through a transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) receptor signaling. This interaction is mediated by the region of RGS3 outside of the RGS domain and by Smad's Mad homology 2 domain. Overexpression of RGS3 results in inhibition of Smad-mediated gene transcription. RGS3 does not affect TGF-β-induced Smad phosphorylation, but it prevents heteromerization of Smad3 with Smad4, which is required for transcriptional activity of Smads. This translates to functional inhibition of TGF-β-induced myofibroblast differentiation by RGS3. In conclusion, this study identifies a novel, noncanonical role of RGS3 in regulation of TGF-β signaling through its interaction with Smads and interfering with Smad heteromerization.
subunits of heterotrimeric G proteins, which regulates the signaling of Gq- and Gi-coupled receptors for interleukin-8 (Druey et al., 1996
Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) is a multifunctional cytokine that controls growth, survival, and the phenotype of many cells. The TGF-β signaling is largely mediated by activation of Smads (Moustakas et al., 2001
; Feng and Derynck, 2005
). This includes phosphorylation of the "receptor-activated" R-Smads (Smad2/3/5/8) by TGF-β receptor family, heteromerization of R-Smads with "common-mediator" CoSmad (Smad4), their accumulation in the nucleus, and activation of specific gene transcription in cooperation with a variety of other coactivators. A high-throughput screening of the components of TGF-β signaling for the interacting partners has identified novel links of the TGF-β pathway to the p21-activated protein kinase, to the polarity complex, and to occludin, a component of tight junctions (Barrios-Rodiles et al., 2005
). It is interesting that this screening also predicted the interaction between RGS3 and Smads. Therefore, we sought to examine whether RGS3 interacts with Smads and, if so, the molecular nature and functional significance of this interaction.
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| Materials and Methods |
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1-mm3 pieces, washed several times with DMEM, and placed onto 10-cm plates in DMEM with 10% FBS and antibiotics. Expanded populations of fibroblasts were subsequently subcultured after 4 to 5 days, resulting in the development of a homogenous fibroblast population. Transient DNA transfections were performed using LipofectAMINE Plus reagent (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA) following the manufacturer's standard protocol. Adenovirus-mediated gene transduction was performed by incubating cells with desired adenoviruses (100 plaque-forming units per cell) in the medium containing 0.1% bovine serum albumin.
DNA and Reagents. The original cDNA for human RGS3 was provided by Dr. John Kehrl (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, MD) (Druey et al., 1996
) and was subcloned into either Myc-tag vector (pCMV-tag3B; Stratagene, La Jolla, CA) or Flag-tag vector (pCMV-tag2B; Stratagene) as described previously (Dulin et al., 2000
). The cDNAs for Smad proteins were provided by Dr. Liliana Attisano (University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada). The cDNA for type A endothelin receptor was provided by Dr. Masashi Yanagisawa (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX). The plasmid for luciferase reporter driven by four copies of Smad binding elements (SBE4-Luc) was provided by Dr. Bert Vogelstein (The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD). Recombination-deficient adenovirus encoding green fluorescent protein (AdGFP) was from Vector Biolabs (Philadelphia, PA). Adenovirus encoding RGS3 cDNA was constructed as described previously (Taurin et al., 2007
). TGF-β and endothelin-1 (ET1) were from EMD Biosciences (San Diego, CA). Antibodies against Smad4 were from Santa Cruz Biotechnology. Antibodies against Flag or Myc were from Sigma. Antibodies against phosphorylated Smad2 (Ser465/467) and against Smad3 were from Cell Signaling Technology (Danvers, MA). Antibodies against RGS3 were described previously (Dulin et al., 1999
).
Immunoprecipitation and Western Blotting. Cells were transfected with cDNAs for desired proteins tagged with either Flag or Myc epitopes. Transfected cells were lysed in an immunoprecipitation (IP) buffer containing 25 mM HEPES, pH 7.5, 150 mM NaCl, 0.5% Nonidet P-40, 1 mM dithiothreitol and protease inhibitors (1 µg/ml leupeptin, 1 µg/ml aprotinin, and 1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride). The lysates were cleared from insoluble material by centrifugation at 20,000g for 10 min and incubated with agarose-conjugated anti-Flag antibodies for 2 h at 4°C on rotator, followed by three washes with 1 ml of the same buffer. The immune complexes were boiled in Laemmli buffer for 5 min, subjected to electrophoresis, and analyzed by Western blotting with desired primary antibodies, followed by horseradish peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibodies (Calbiochem, San Diego, CA), and developed by enhanced chemiluminescence reaction.
SBE-Luciferase Reporter Assay. CHO cells grown in 24-well plates were cotransfected with 20 ng/well SBE luciferase reporter plasmid, 5 ng/well thymidine kinase promoter (TK)-driven Renilla reniformis luciferase plasmid (Promega) and 50 to 100 ng/well empty vector or cDNA for a desired protein. Cells were serum starved overnight after transfection, stimulated with 2 ng/ml TGF-β for 24 h, washed with phosphate-buffered saline, and lysed in protein extraction reagent. The lysates were assayed for firefly and R. reniformis luciferase activity using the Promega Dual luciferase assay kit (Promega, Madison, WI). To account for differences in transfection efficiency, firefly luciferase activity of each sample was normalized to R. reniformis luciferase activity.
Trans-Luciferase assay for Elk-1 Activation. Endothelin-1 (ET1)-induced activation of Elk-1 was assessed by "PathDetect" trans-reporter system (Stratagene). In brief, cells grown on 24-well plates were transfected with the following plasmids (per): 20 ng/well pFR-Luciferase (reporter plasmid), 1 ng/well pFA2-Elk-1 (fusion trans-activator plasmid), 5 ng/well TK-driven R. reniformis luciferase plasmid (transfection efficiency control), 20 ng/well endothelin receptor cDNA, and 50 to 100 ng/well empty vector or cDNA for a desired protein. Cells were serum-starved overnight after transfection and stimulated with ET-1 for 6 h. The dual luciferase assay was then performed as described above.
Statistical Analysis. All the data represent the results of at least three independent experiments. Quantitative data were analyzed by the Student's t test, and values of p < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.
| Results |
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RGS3 contains an RGS domain (interacting with G proteins) and a large N-terminal region with no homology to other proteins. To examine which region of RGS3 interacts with Smad proteins, we generated Flag-tagged truncation mutants of RGS3 and examined their ability to bind Myc-tagged Smad3. Figure 3 shows that the full-length RGS3 and the 240-519 deletion mutant of RGS3 bind Smad3 equally well. In contrast, the (379-519) mutant representing the RGS domain of RGS3, which is sufficient for binding G proteins (Dulin et al., 2000
), does not interact with Smad3. This suggests that 1) the Smad binding site of RGS3 is located within the 240-379 region but not within the RGS domain of RGS3, and 2) the RGS3-Smad interaction may be functionally unrelated to the regulation of G protein signaling by RGS3.
Regulation of Smad-Mediated Gene Transcription by RGS3. We then examined how the interaction between RGS3 and Smads affects the function of RGS3. Consistent with our previous results (Dulin et al., 2000
; Niu et al., 2002
), overexpression of RGS3 dose-dependently attenuated ET1-induced (G protein-mediated) activation of Elk1-driven luciferase reporter (Fig. 4A), but had little or no effect on the activity of constitutive TK promoter activity (data not shown) or of serum response factor (Taurin et al., 2007
). Cotransfection of Smad3 cDNA at concentrations of up to 100-fold higher than that of RGS3 had no significant effect on the ability of RGS3 to regulate the signaling of ET1 (Fig. 4A). This is consistent with our RGS3-Smad binding data (Fig. 3), which show that Smad3 does not interact with the RGS domain of RGS3 that is responsible for regulation of G protein signaling by RGS3 (Dulin et al., 2000
).
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To understand the molecular mechanism by which RGS3 inhibits TGF-β-induced gene transcription, we examined the effect of RGS3 expression on TGF-β signaling. As shown in Fig. 5A, RGS3 expression has no effect on phosphorylation of R-Smads by TGF-β receptor, as assessed by Western blotting with phosphospecific Smad antibodies. In contrast, RGS3 expression nearly abolished the TGF-β-induced binding of Smad3 to Smad4 (Fig. 5B). Given that heteromerization between CoSmads and R-Smad is critical for forming a functional transcriptional complex, the inhibition of Smad3/Smad4 interaction by RGS3 may explain its regulatory effect on TGF-β-induced gene transcription.
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One established function of TGF-β in fibroblasts is the stimulation of myofibroblast differentiation through the expression of smooth muscle (SM)-specific cytoskeletal proteins, such as SM-
-actin (Gabbiani, 2003
). Therefore, we examined whether the regulation of Smad signaling by RGS3 translates to the modulation of SM-
-actin expression by TGF-β in human pulmonary fibroblasts. As shown in Fig. 6A, adenovirus-mediated transduction of RGS3 significantly attenuated TGF-β-induced SM-
-actin expression without affecting the levels Smad3 or Smad4. In contrast, pertussis toxin, which inhibits G protein signaling by ADP-ribosylating G
i subunits, was without effect. This suggests that RGS3 controls cellular responses to TGF-β by a mechanism unrelated to regulation of Gi signaling.
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| Discussion |
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z interaction (Ajit et al., 2007
Our study identifies a novel function of RGS3 in regulation of TGF-β-induced gene transcription through the interaction of RGS3 with Smad transcription factors. Within the RGS family, RGS3 seems to be unique in its ability to bind Smads, in that we failed to detect the binding of some other RGS proteins (RGS4, RGS10) to Smad3 (data not shown). In agreement with this notion, we mapped the Smad-binding site to the 240-to-379 region of RGS3 (outside of the RGS domain) that has no significant homology to other RGS proteins. Furthermore, our data suggest that this novel function of RGS3 in controlling TGF-β-induced gene transcription is probably unrelated to regulation of G protein signaling by RGS3, given that 1) the RGS domain of RGS3 (which mediates the interaction of RGS3 with G proteins) does not bind Smad3 (Fig. 3); 2) Smad3 does not affect the regulation of G protein signaling by RGS3 (Fig. 4A); 3) the RGS domain of RGS3 has no effect on Smad signaling (Fig. 4B), whereas it effectively blocks G protein signaling (Dulin et al., 2000
); and 4) the N460A mutant of RGS3 that does not bind G proteins (Fig. 4D) is as effective as the wild-type RGS3 in inhibition of Smad-mediated gene transcription (Fig. 4C).
We show here that MH2 domain of Smads mediates the interaction with RGS3. Given that MH2 domain is implicated in heteromerization of Smads that is required for their transcriptional activity, we propose the model wherein RGS3 inhibits Smad-mediated gene transcription through disruption of R-Smad/CoSmad heteromerization (Fig. 5B). It is noteworthy that MH2 domain also mediates the interaction of Smads with many other transcription factors, coactivators, or repressors (Feng and Derynck, 2005
). Therefore, it is conceivable that, by interfering with the binding of Smad to some of these proteins, RGS3 may also regulate the specificity of Smad-mediated gene transcription.
Finally, we show that RGS3-Smad interaction translates functionally to inhibition of TGF-β-induced myofibroblast differentiation (SM-
-actin expression) in pulmonary fibroblasts (Fig. 6A). Given the multiple, cell-specific roles of TGF-β in the control of cell growth, survival, and phenotype, the regulation of Smad signaling by RGS3 may have multiple functional outcomes in various cell types, which is the subject of our future studies.
| Acknowledgements |
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| Footnotes |
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ABBREVIATIONS: RGS, regulator of G protein signaling; TGF-β, transforming growth factor-β; CHO, Chinese hamster ovary; DMEM, Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium; SBE, Smad binding element; TK, thymidine kinase; ET1, endothelin-1; SM, smooth muscle; L, linker; MH, mad homology.
Address correspondence to: Dr. Nickolai Dulin, Section of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, the University of Chicago Department of Medicine, 5841 S. Maryland Ave, MC 6076, Chicago, IL 60637. E-mail: ndulin{at}medicine.bsd.uchicago.edu
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