Oncogenic B-RafV600E inhibits apoptosis and promotes ERK-dependent inactivation of Bad and Bim

Recent studies have revealed that B-Raf mutations are very common in malignant melanoma and are required for tumor growth and maintenance. The majority of melanoma-associated B-Raf mutations involve a single point mutation, V600E, which results in greatly elevated B-Raf kinase activity and constitutive activation of MAPK/ERK downstream. Here we show that B-Raf(V600E) increases resistance to apoptosis induced by chemotherapeutic drugs and promotes ERK-dependent phosphorylation of the BH3-only proteins Bim and Bad that are involved in setting thresholds for apoptosis. ERK-dependent phosphorylation of Bim resulted in degradation of this BH3-only protein, whereas phosphorylation of Bad has previously been shown to result in its sequestration by 14-3-3 proteins. Consistent with this, inhibition of ERK activity in a panel of melanoma cell lines resulted in stabilization of Bim and dephosphorylation of Bad. Furthermore, apoptosis induced through overexpression of Bad or Bim was efficiently blocked by coexpression of mutant B-Raf(V600E). However, small interfering RNA-mediated silencing of Bim and Bad expression conferred only modest protection against cytotoxic drugs, whereas oncogenic B-Raf strongly protected against the same stimuli. These observations suggest that B-Raf-initiated inactivation of Bad and Bim only partly contributes to the anti-apoptotic activities of this oncogene and that other points within the cell death machinery are also targeted by deregulated ERK signaling.