Graduation Year

2010

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Granting Department

Cancer Biology

Major Professor

Kenneth L. Wright, Ph.D.

Committee Member

W. Douglas Cress, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Amer A. Beg, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Sheng Wei, M.D.

Keywords

prdm1, gene regulation, b cell lymphoma, protease inhibitor, tandem affinity purification

Abstract

The human positive regulatory domain I binding factor 1 (PRDI-BF1/PRDM1) promotes differentiation of mature B cells into antibody secreting plasma cells. In contrast ectopic expression of PRDM1 in lymphoma cells can lead to inhibition of proliferation or apoptosis. However, little is currently known about the regulation of PRDM1. The first study presented demonstrates that in lymphoma cells stimulation through the B cell receptor rapidly induces endogenous PRDM1 at the level of transcription. This study provides evidence that the PRDM1 promoter is preloaded and poised for activation in the B cell lines. The transcription factor PU.1 is shown to be required for B cell receptor induced expression of PRDM1 in lymphoma cells and in PU.1 positive myeloma cells. Furthermore, activation is associated with loss of the co-repressor TLE4 from the PU.1 complex.

The second study establishes the requirement for PRDM1 in Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) response to Bortezomib. MCL, an aggressive form of B cell lymphoma, has poor disease- free survival rate. The proteasome inhibitor, Bortezomib, is approved for treatment of relapsed and refractory MCL. However, the precise mechanism of action of Bortezomib is not well understood. Bortezomib rapidly induces transcription of PRDM1 along with apoptosis in MCL cell lines and primary MCL tumor samples. Knockdown of PRDM1 inhibits Bortezomib-induced apoptosis, while ectopic expression of PRDM1 alone leads to apoptosis in MCL. MKI67 and PCNA, which are required for proliferation and survival, were identified as novel direct targets of PRDM1 in MCL. Chromatin immunoprecipitation and knockdown studies reveal specific repression of MKI67 and PCNA is mediated by PRDM1 in response to Bortezomib. Furthermore promoter studies demonstrate that PRDM1 functions through a specific site in the proximal promoter region of PCNA and through a distal upstream repression domain on the MKI67 promoter. Together these findings establish PRDM1 as a key mediator of Bortezomib activity in MCL through suppression of proliferation and survival genes.

The third study presented demonstrates use of Tandem affinity purification technique followed by mass spectrometry to identify PRDM1 and Reptin52 protein interactions. The observations in this study provide preliminary evidence of novel mechanism of regulation of PRDM1 protein function.

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