Stat1 stimulates cap-independent mRNA translation to inhibit cell proliferation and promote survival in response to antitumor drugs
Menée in vitro et in vivo, cette étude met en évidence des mécanismes par lesquels, en favorisant la traduction de certains ARNs messagers, la protéine Stat1 exerce une fonction de suppresseur de tumeurs et, à la fois, favorise la résistance des cellules cancéreuses à des inhibiteurs de PI3K ou mTOR
The signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (Stat1) functions as a tumor suppressor via immune regulatory and cell-autonomous pathways. Herein, we report a previously unidentified cell-autonomous Stat1 function, which is its ability to exhibit both antiproliferative and prosurvival properties by facilitating translation of mRNAs encoding for the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27Kip1 and antiapoptotic proteins X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis and B-cell lymphoma xl. Translation of the select mRNAs requires the transcriptional function of Stat1, resulting in the up-regulation of the p110γ subunit of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) class IB and increased expression of the translational repressor translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E)-binding protein 1 (4EBP1). Increased PI3Kγ signaling promotes the degradation of the eIF4A inhibitor programmed cell death protein 4, which favors the cap-independent translation of the select mRNAs under conditions of general inhibition of protein synthesis by up-regulated eIF4E-binding protein 1. As such, Stat1 inhibits cell proliferation but also renders cells increasingly resistant to antiproliferative effects of pharmacological inhibitors of PI3K and/or mammalian target of rapamycin. Stat1 also protects Ras-transformed cells from the genotoxic effects of doxorubicin in culture and immune-deficient mice. Our findings demonstrate an important role of mRNA translation in the cell-autonomous Stat1 functions, with implications in tumor growth and treatment with chemotherapeutic drugs.