Herein, cyclin D1 promotes cellular migration and reduces cellular adhesion, independently of its pRb-binding function, but dependent upon an intact cdk-binding domain. Cyclin D1 reintroduction into
cyclin D1−/− MEFs restored cellular morphology and migratory velocity. Microarray analysis identified ROCKII and TSP-1 as targets of cyclin D1-dependent repression. Immunoneutralizing antibodies to TSP-1 or addition of ROCKII inhibitor reversed the defective migration of cyclin D1-deficient cells. Together, these studies identify a novel mechanism by which cyclin D1 promotes cellular migration through inhibiting expression and function of ROCKII and TSP-1. The extracellular matrix glycoprotein TSP-1 inhibits cellular metastases and tumor growth (
64). TSP-1 is a potent inhibitor of both tumorigenesis and in vivo neovascularization. Several oncogenes repress TSP-1, including oncogenic Ras, c-Myc, v-Src, and c-Jun (
41,
51,
61,
67), as well as Id1 (
72). Conversely, tumor suppressor proteins, including p53 and PTEN, induce TSP-1 abundance (
17,
78). Ras repression of TSP-1 involves a signaling pathway, which includes the small monomeric GTPases and the Rho effectors (
76). The current findings in which cyclin D1 reduced TSP-1 protein and mRNA abundance, repressing the TSP-1 promoter, are consistent with our previous findings that cyclin D1 is induced as a distal target of Ras, v-Src, and c-Jun (
2,
35) and that each of these oncogenes represses TSP-1.
The current studies are consistent with recent findings linking factors that regulate cellular spreading and cell cycle progression. AP-1 proteins are known to promote both DNA synthesis and cellular motility (
68,
71). Under several circumstances, cellular adhesion and migration promote G
1-phase progression. Increased Rho activity, as observed in the
cyclin D1−/− cells in the current studies, has been shown to natively regulate motility by increasing stress fiber-dependent adhesion (
16). Although cellular adhesion is frequently required for cell cycle progression to occur, high levels of cell adhesion with large focal contacts results in failed cellular migration. Rho may also promote migration, being required for actomyosin contraction (
4). Mutational analysis of the Rho/Rac chimera demonstrates distinct residues within the Rac effector domain regulate cellular morphology versus cyclin D1 expression and DNA synthesis (
31,
80). Further evidence for a dissociation between the regulation of cellular morphology through Rho activity and DNA synthesis through pRb includes findings that unlike Rac and Cdc42, activated RhoA, despite its ability to induce morphological changes, does not inactivate pRb in NIH 3T3 cells (
25). Together, these studies suggest the regulation of cell cycle progression and adhesion may be coupled or uncoupled, depending upon the cell type and signaling pathway involved.
Cyclin D1 promoted cell migration by inhibiting ROCKII expression and activity. ROCK kinase inhibitor reversed the defect in cellular motility in
cyclin D1−/− cells, generating the more polarized morphology of wild-type cells. These findings are consistent with studies that ROCKII small interfering RNA induces an elongated morphology and that ROCK inhibitor treatment of cells induces a more polarized morphology (
37) and increased cellular migration (
6). Cyclin D1-deficient cells demonstrated evidence of increased ROCK activity using the in vitro substrate of myelin basic protein (MBP) and with increased phosphorylation of MLC2 (Thr18/Ser19), LIMK1/2 (Thr508/505), and cofilin (Ser3). The relationship between the activity of ROCK and cellular migration is complex and cell type specific. Thus, the ROCK inhibitor Y-27632 may either promote or inhibit cell migration (
29,
46,
69,
81). The present findings are consistent with several recent findings.
B-raf−/− MEFs demonstrated reduced ROCKII, reduced phosphocofilin, and increased migration (
50), further confirming the correlation of increased ROCKII and reduced migration as seen in our studies. The possibility that the spread phenotype in
cyclin D1−/− MEFs was a function of early senescence was excluded by the finding that pH-sensitive β-galactosidase staining (
18) was similar between the
cyclin D1−/− and
cyclin D1+/+ MEFs used in the studies (data not shown).
Several lines of evidence suggest the reduced migration of cyclin D1 deficiency is not a direct consequence of reduced DNA synthesis. First, all
cyclin D1−/− cells exhibited the migratory defect, whereas only 7% of the cells were in the DNA synthetic phase. Second, all
cyclin D1−/− cells transduced by cyclin D1 demonstrated the change in cellular morphology, alterations in focal contact distribution and cellular migration, yet only a fraction of the cells were undergoing DNA synthesis. Third, the reintroduction of cyclin E through a knockin of the human cyclin E cDNA rescued the DNA synthetic defect of
cyclin D1−/− cells but did not rescue either the migration defect nor the ROCKII abnormality. Collectively these studies suggest the effect of cyclin D1 on cell cycle progression and cellular migration may be dissociable functions. The effect of Rho, and its signaling components, including mDia, on cellular morphology can be uncoupled from effects on DNA synthesis. ROCK inhibition stimulates passage through G
1 phase in the absence of cell spreading (
37), and ROCK activity is not required for cell-shape-dependent G
1 progression in microvascular endothelial cells. mDia, which promotes actin polymerization and regulates the alignment of stress fibers by targeting microtubules to focal adhesions, fails to promote G
1-phase progression (
37). Thus, interaction between ROCK and its regulation of cellular adhesion and DNA synthesis is dissociable and cell type dependent.
Cyclin D1 deficiency increased adhesion in both macrophages and MEFs, changes correlating with the induction of circumferential cortical F-actin stress fibers in MEFs and in macrophages (
45). As with cyclin D1, genetic deletion of several other proteins known to regulate migration including RhoB, cyclin B, and p27
kip1, do not appear to affect embryonic development (
6,
10,
38,
40,
44,
49). The stable adhesive structures in cyclin D1-deficient cells are thought to contribute to the increased adhesion and reduced migration of these cells. It has been proposed that an increase in either Rac (
40) or Rho (
6) activity and/or their effectors can contribute to reduced cellular migration. Cyclin D1 transcription is induced by the Rho GTPases (
12,
31,
79). Cyclin D1 induction in response to growth factors as a delayed early response at 6 h requires Rho-dependent sustained ERK activation and results in the induction of DNA synthesis. Rho also inhibits an alternative Rac/Cdc42-dependent induction of cyclin D1, thus preventing its premature induction (
77). The inhibition of Rac-dependent expression of cyclin D1 involves LIM kinase through an effect that is independent of cofilin phosphorylation and actin polymerization. Herein, cyclin D1 also functions as an upstream inhibitor of Rho/ROCK/LIMK. As the effect of nuclear LIM kinase on cyclin D1 abundance regulates the duration of G
1 phase (
56), together these studies suggest cyclin D1 may function as a fine-tuning feedback-regulating LIM kinase.
Cyclin D1 physically interacts with pRb, p160 (AIB1), cdks, and the cell cycle inhibitor proteins p21
CIP1 and p27
KIP1. p21
CIP1 promotes cell motility in Ras-transformed cells, through forming a complex with ROCK and thereby blocking Rho kinase action (
36). p27
KIP1 regulates actin dynamics, promoting cell migration (
40,
43) independently of cyclin-cdk binding, suggesting that the mechanisms by which p27
KIP1 and cyclin D1 regulate motility are distinct (
40). p27
KIP1 can function upstream of RhoA, inhibiting its activation (
6). p21
CIP1 and p27
KIP1 can either reduce cdk activity or promote assembly and nuclear transport of D-type cyclins (
59). Thus, new possible interactions between cyclin D1 and p27
KIP1 in regulating cellular migration may require further analysis. The association of cyclin D1 overexpression with poor prognosis and tumor metastasis (
19,
30) raised the intriguing possibility that cyclin D1 may play a distinct role in promoting cellular migration and invasion. The present studies demonstrate cyclin D1 promotes cellular migration through TSP-1 and ROCKII. The identification of compounds that selectively block the ATP pocket of cdk to selectively inhibit cellular kinase activity has proven challenging. The current findings that the cyclin D1 protein, through K112, promotes cellular migration may provide an important new avenue for therapy of metastatic disease in which cyclin D1 is overexpressed.