Jinling Wang

Mutation of the p53 tumor suppressor gene is the most common genetic alteration in human cancer, and tumors that express mutant p53 may be more aggressive and have a worse prognosis than p53-null cancers. Mutant p53 enhances tumorigenicity in the absence of a transdominant negative mechanism, and this tumor-promoting activity correlates with its ability to transactivate reporter genes in transient transfection assays. However, the mechanism by which mutant p53 functions in transactivation and its endogenous cellular targets that promote tumorigenicity are unknown. Here we report that (i) mutant p53 can regulate the expression of the endogenous c-myc gene and is a potent activator of the c-myc promoter; (ii) the region of mutant p53 responsiveness in the c-myc gene has been mapped to the 3' end of exon 1; (iii) the mutant p53 response region is position and orientation dependent and therefore does not function as an enhancer; and (iv) transactivation by mutant p53 requires the C terminus, which is not essential for wild-type p53 transactivation. These data suggest that it may be possible to selectively inhibit mutant p53 gain of function and consequently reduce the tumorigenic potential of cancer cells. A possible mechanism for transactivation of the c-myc gene by mutant p53 is proposed.

SARS-Cov-2 infected cells fused with the ACE2-positive neighboring cells forming syncytia. However, the effect of syncytia in disease development is largely unknown. We established an in vitro cell-cell fusion system and used it to mimic the fusion of SARS-CoV-2 infected cells with ACE2-expressing cells to form syncytia. We found that Caspase-9 was activated after syncytia formation, and Caspase-3/7 was activated downstream of Caspase-9, but it triggered GSDME-dependent pyroptosis rather than apoptosis. What is more, single cell RNA-sequencing data showed that both ACE2 and GSDME were expression in alveolar type 2 cells in human lung. We propose that pyroptosis is the fate of syncytia formed by SARS-CoV-2 infected host cells and ACE2-positive cells, which indicated that lytic death of syncytia may contribute to the excessive inflammatory responses in severe COVID-19 patients.

The effects of activation of cAMP- and protein kinase C-dependent signal transduction pathways were investigated on intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i), cAMP content and insulin secretion from beta-cells purified by fluorescence-activated cell sorting from normal rat islets. The secretion of insulin from suspensions of purified beta-cells was dependent on glucose concentration and hormonal signals, including cAMP and activators of protein kinase C. Microfluorimetric measurement of [Ca2+]i with the fluorescent Ca2+ indicator fura-2 indicated that beta-cells differed immensely in their individual responsiveness to glucose stimulation. An increase in [Ca2+]i occurred in approximately 70% of beta-cells, whereas approximately 30% of beta-cells were nonresponsive to a glucose stimulus. Elevation of cAMP levels by theophylline or glucagon transformed nonresponsive beta-cells into cells which displayed marked increases in [Ca2+]i, and beta-cells which exhibited glucose-induced changes in [Ca2+]i showed further increases in [Ca2+]i and in the amplitude of Ca2+ oscillations. Carbachol and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate, activators of protein kinase C, did not induce any alterations in intracellular cAMP levels; nonetheless, these agents increased both the number of beta-cells which exhibited glucose-induced changes in [Ca2+]i and the amplitude of oscillations. The ability of cAMP or activators of protein kinase C to increase [Ca2+]i in single beta-cells was directly correlated with the ability of beta-cell suspensions to secrete insulin in response to a glucose stimulus. These results suggest that both cAMP- and protein kinase C-dependent pathways may regulate Ca2+ entry into beta-cells, possibly via voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels. Thus, this may represent a common mechanism whereby these different signal transduction pathways potentiate glucose-induced insulin secretion from beta-cells.