54556

ING3

Eaf4|ING2|MEAF4|p47ING3;inhibitor of growth family, member 3;ING3;inhibitor of growth family, member 3

inhibitor of growth protein 3

7q31

protein-coding

Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) has been frequently detected at chromosome 7q31 region in human head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) and many other cancers, suggesting the existence of tumor suppressor genes (TSG). We analysed LOH at 7q31 region in 49 HNSCC by using six polymorphic microsatellite markers and found allelic deletion in 48% (22/46) of the informative cases. We detected two preferentially deleted regions, one is around D7S643 and the other around D7S486. When we redefined the map of 7q31 region according to the contiguous sequences, a recently identified gene, ING3, was found in the proximity of D7S643. ING3 protein harbors the PHD domain highly homologous among ING family proteins, in which we previously found mutations in a related gene, ING1. As only one missense mutation of the ING3 gene was found in HNSCC, we examined the expression level. Reverse-transcription-PCR analysis demonstrated decreased or no expression of ING3 mRNA in 50% of primary tumors as compared with that of matched normal samples. Especially, about 63% of tongue and larynx tumors showed the decrease and a tendency of higher mortality was observed in cases with decreased ING3 expression. All these findings suggest a possibility that the ING3 gene functions as a TSG in a subset of HNSCC.

Members of the ING family of tumor suppressors regulate cell cycle progression, apoptosis, and DNA repair as important cofactors of p53. ING1 and ING3 are stable components of the mSin3A HDAC and Tip60/NuA4 HAT complexes, respectively. We now report the purification of the three remaining human ING proteins. While ING2 is in an HDAC complex similar to ING1, ING4 associates with the HBO1 HAT required for normal progression through S phase and the majority of histone H4 acetylation in vivo. ING5 fractionates with two distinct complexes containing HBO1 or nucleosomal H3-specific MOZ/MORF HATs. These ING5 HAT complexes interact with the MCM helicase and are essential for DNA replication to occur during S phase. Our data also indicate that ING subunits are crucial for acetylation of chromatin substrates. Since INGs, HBO1, and MOZ/MORF contribute to oncogenic transformation, the multisubunit assemblies characterized here underscore the critical role of epigenetic regulation in cancer development.

Although many clinical and pathological prognostic factors such as tumor stage and lymph-node involvement have been described, to date no reliable or clinically applicable marker or tumor aggressiveness has been identified for head and neck cancer. In an attempt to identify such a molecular prognostic marker, we analyzed the mRNA expression status of ING3 by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. We also examined p53 mutation status and investigated its relationship with ING3, as well its clinicopathological characteristics. About half of the 71 tumor samples demonstrated downregulation of ING3 compared to their matched normal counterparts. Although most clinicopathological variables were not significantly related to ING3 downregulation or p53 mutation status, a significant relationship was detected in terms of overall survival between the cases with low and normal to high ING3 expression. At 5 years follow up, approximately 60% of the patients with normal to high ING3 expression survived, whereas this was 35% in the patients with low ING3 expression. Multivariate analysis also showed downregulation of ING3 as an independent prognostic factor for poor overall survival. These results reveal that ING3 would function as a potential tumor suppressor molecule and that low levels of ING3 may indicate an aggressive nature of head and neck cancer.

The inhibitor of growth family member 3 (ING3) has been shown to modulate transcription, cell cycle control and apoptosis. We previously reported that nuclear ING3 expression was remarkably reduced in melanomas, which correlated with a poorer patient survival, suggesting that decreased ING3 expression may be associated with melanoma progression. However, the mechanism of diminished ING3 expression in melanoma is not clear. Here we show that ING3 level was decreased in metastatic melanoma cells because of a rapid degradation. Furthermore, we showed that ING3 undergoes degradation through the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. ING3 physically interacts with subunits of E3 ligase Skp1-Cullin-F-box protein complex (SCF complex). Knockdown of F-box protein S-phase kinase-associated protein 2 (Skp2) reduces the ubiquitination of ING3 and significantly stabilizes ING3 in melanoma cells. In addition, lysine 96 residue is essential for ING3 ubiquitination as its mutation to arginine dramatically abrogated ING3 degradation. Disruption of ING3 degradation stimulated ING3-induced G1 cell-cycle arrest and enhanced ultraviolet-induced apoptosis. Taken together, our data show that ING3 is degraded by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway through the SCF(Skp2) complex and interruption of ING3 degradation enhances the tumor-suppressive function of ING3, which provides a potential cancer therapeutic approach by interfering ING3 degradation.