Prohibitin Facilitates Cellular Senescence by Recruiting Specific Corepressors To Inhibit E2F Target Genes

Abstract

Prohibitin is a growth regulatory gene that has pleiotropic functions in the nucleus, mitochondria, and cytoplasmic compartments. Earlier studies had proposed a role for prohibitin in modulating cellular senescence, but the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. Here we show that senescence induced by DNA-damaging agents causes the localization of prohibitin to specific heterochromatic foci. Prohibitin could bind to heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1) family proteins and colocalized with HP1γ in senescence-associated heterochromatic foci. Further, HP1γ could synergize with prohibitin to repress E2F1-mediated transcriptional activity. The depletion of prohibitin by small interfering RNA or antisense techniques led to a reduction in the senescent phenotype, correlating with a reduced expression of senescence-associated β-galactosidase and fewer numbers of senescence-associated heterochromatic foci. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays showed that prohibitin is needed for the recruitment of HP1γ to E2F1-regulated proliferative promoters, leading to their repression. The ablation of prohibitin prevented the recruitment of HPIγ, but not Suv39H, to the promoters upon senescence. Prohibitin-mediated recruitment of HP1γ occurred in only senescent cells, not in quiescent cells; thus, there is a dichotomy in the recruitment of different corepressors by prohibitin, depending on the type of growth arrest. These studies show that prohibitin plays a vital role in inducing cellular senescence.

Thanks go to Scott Lowe and Gideon Grafi for the generous gift of HP1 constructs. The help and suggestions of Sophie Bolick and Jian Wu regarding real-time PCR are appreciated. Support of the Analytical Microscopy Core at Moffitt is gratefully acknowledged.

S.R. is a recipient of the AHA postdoctoral fellowship. This study was funded by a grant from the NCI to S.C. (CA77301).