The ARE-binding protein Tristetraprolin (TTP) is a novel target and mediator of calcineurin tumor suppressing function in the skin

PLoS Genet. 2018 May 3;14(5):e1007366. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1007366. eCollection 2018 May.

Abstract

An increased incidence of skin inflammatory diseases is frequently observed in organtransplanted patients being treated with calcineurin inhibitor-based immunosuppressive agents. The mechanism of increased skin inflammation in this context has however not yet been clarified. Here we report an increased inflammation following inhibition of calcineurin signaling seen in both chemically induced mouse skin tumors and in tumors grafted from H-rasV12 expressing primary human keratinocytes (HKCs). Following UVB or TPA treatment, we specifically found that deletion of the calcineurin gene in mouse keratinocytes (MKCs) resulted in increased inflammation, and this was accompanied by the enhanced production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as TNFα, IL-8 and CXCL1. Furthermore, expression of the RNA-binding protein, tristetraprolin (TTP) was down-regulated in response to calcineurin inhibition, wherein TTP was shown to negatively regulate the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines in keratinocytes. The induction of TTP following TPA or UVB treatment was attenuated by calcineurin inhibition in keratinocytes, and correspondingly, disruption of calcineurin signaling down-regulated the amounts of TTP in both clinical and H-rasV12-transformed keratinocyte tumor models. Our results further demonstrated that calcineurin positively controls the stabilization of TTP in keratinocytes through a proteasome-dependent mechanism. Reducing the expression of TTP functionally promoted tumor growth of H-rasV12 expressing HKCs, while stabilizing TTP expression counteracted the tumor-promoting effects of calcineurin inhibition. Collectively these results suggest that calcineurin signaling, acting through TTP protein level stabilization, suppresses keratinocyte tumors by downregulating skin inflammation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Animals, Newborn
  • Calcineurin / genetics
  • Calcineurin / metabolism*
  • Calcineurin Inhibitors / pharmacology
  • Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / genetics
  • Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / metabolism
  • Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / pathology
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Cytokines / genetics
  • Cytokines / metabolism
  • Female
  • Gene Expression / drug effects
  • Gene Expression / radiation effects
  • Humans
  • Inflammation Mediators / metabolism
  • Keratinocytes / drug effects
  • Keratinocytes / metabolism*
  • Keratinocytes / radiation effects
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Skin / metabolism*
  • Skin Neoplasms / genetics
  • Skin Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Skin Neoplasms / pathology
  • Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate / pharmacology
  • Tristetraprolin / genetics
  • Tristetraprolin / metabolism*
  • Ultraviolet Rays

Substances

  • Calcineurin Inhibitors
  • Cytokines
  • Inflammation Mediators
  • Tristetraprolin
  • Calcineurin
  • Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate

Grants and funding

There are two following funders (funding number) with URLs to support the study: 1.The National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFA0104604) to XW: http://www.most.gov.cn/index.htm 2. National Natural Science Foundation of China(81572681, 81772093) to XW: http://www.nsfc.gov.cn. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.