Abstract 1101: Reexpression of hSNF5 regulates the transcriptional activity of the p21 promoter through p53 dependent or independent mechanisms in malignant rhabdoid tumors

Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC Malignant rhabdoid tumor (MRT), a highly aggressive cancer of young children, displays inactivation of the hSNF5 gene in primary tumors and cell lines. We have previously reported that reexpression of hSNF5 in MRT cell lines causes a G1 arrest via p21WAF1/CIP1 (p21) mRNA induction. However, the mechanisms of p21 promoter activation by hSNF5 remain unclear. Because p21 is a transcriptional target of the p53 tumor suppressor gene, we determined the role of p53 in hSNF5-induced p21 activation. We reexpressed hSNF5 in the A204 and TTC642 MRT cell lines, with or without stable knockdown of p53 expression, using adenoviral vectors expressing either hSNF5 and GFP or GFP. While loss of p53 expression significantly inhibited p21 transcriptional activity induced by hSNF5 in A204 cells at 24 hours, it did not alter its activity by hSNF5 after 24 hours in the TTC642 cells. These results suggested that the up-regulation p21 transcription by hSNF5 operated through p53-dependent and -independent mechanisms in the A204 and TTC642 cell lines, respectively. Next, we used chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analysis of the p21 promoter to determine where hSNF5 appeared at the p21 promoter and whether its recruitment altered binding of other transcription factors or the chromatin landscape. Our results indicated that reexpressed hSNF5 binds within 1 kb of transcript start site (TSS), with maximal enrichment at the TSS in both cell lines. Furthermore, histone acetyltransferases (HATs), RNA polymerase II (RNAPII), and BRG-1 are assembled with p53 and CDK8 (co-activator of p53 transcriptional program) by reexpression of hSNF5 in A204 cells. In contrast, while p53 and CDK8 occupancy did not change after hSNF5 reexpression in the TTC642 cells, HATs, RNAPII, and BRG-1 levels increased at the p21 promoter. These findings correlated with the results of p53 knock-down experiments. Furthermore, histone H3K36 tri-methylation increased downstream of the TSS in both cell lines. These results suggested hSNF5 regulates the initiation activity of the p21 promoter by either itself or p53 recruitment, resulting in the mRNA elongation. Our findings demonstrate that while induction of p21 transcription by hSNF5 in A204 cells depends on p53, it occurs independently of p53 in TTC642 cells. The lack of dependence upon p53 appears to extend to other MRT cell lines tested in our laboratory. Furthermore, our results suggest that hSNF5 may alter p21 transcriptional initiation by itself or through the recruitment of other uncharacterized transcription factors. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1101.