Roberts, J. Z. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2019

FLIP(L) determines p53 induced life or death

How p53 differentially activates cell cycle arrest versus cell death remains poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that upregulation of canonical pro-apoptotic p53 target genes in colon cancer cells imposes a critical dependence on the long splice form of the caspase-8 regulator FLIP (FLIP(L)), which we identify as a direct p53 transcriptional target. Inhibiting FLIP(L) expression with siRNA or Class-I HDAC inhibitors promotes apoptosis in response to p53 activation by the MDM2 inhibitor Nutlin-3A, which otherwise predominantly induces cell-cycle arrest. When FLIP(L) upregulation is inhibited, apoptosis is induced in response to p53 activation via a novel ligand-independent TRAIL-R2/caspase-8 complex, which, by activating BID, induces mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis. Notably, FLIP(L) depletion inhibits p53-induced expression of the cell cycle regulator p21 and enhances p53-mediated upregulation of PUMA, with the latter activating mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis in FLIP(L)-depleted, Nutlin-3A-treated cells lacking TRAIL-R2/caspase-8. Thus, we report two previously undescribed, novel FLIP(L)-dependent mechanisms that determine cell fate following p53 activation.

cancer biology↗

bioRxiv2019

Regulation of FLIP(L) and TRAIL-R2 signalling by the SCFSkp2 Ubiquitin Ligase Complex

Depending on its expression levels, the long splice form of the pseudo-caspase FLIP (FLIP(L)) can act as an inhibitor (high expression) or activator (low expression) of apoptosis induction by the TRAIL-R2 death-inducing signalling complex (DISC); its expression levels are therefore tightly regulated. Here, we demonstrate that the Skp1-Cullin-1-F-box (SCF) Cullin-Ring E3 Ubiquitin Ligase complex containing Skp2 (SCFSkp2) regulates the stability of FLIP(L) (but not the short splice form FLIP(S)), and, unusually, this is mediated by direct binding of FLIP(L) to Cullin-1 rather than via Skp2. By fine mapping the interaction of FLIP(L) with Cullin-1 to the large subunit of its pseudo-caspase domain, we found that the interaction is significantly stronger with FLIP(L)s DISC-processed p43-form. Importantly, this interaction disrupts the ability of p43-FLIP to interact with FADD, caspase-8 and another DISC component, TRAF2. Moreover, we find that SCFSkp2 associates with TRAIL-R2 constitutively and does so independently of FLIP(L) and other canonical DISC components. Inhibition of Cullin-1 expression (using siRNA) or activity (using a NEDDylation inhibitor, MLN4924) enhanced FLIP(L) and TRAF2 levels at the TRAIL-R2 DISC and enhanced caspase-8 processing. This suggests that processing of FLIP(L) to p43-FLIP at the TRAIL-R2 DISC enhances its interaction with co-localised SCFSkp2, leading to disruption of p43-FLIPs association with the DISC thereby altering caspase-8 processing. These findings provide important new insights into how FLIP(L) expression and TRAIL-R2 signaling is controlled.

molecular biology↗