Hanson Ryan L, Brown Roger B, Steele Maria M, Grandgenett Paul M, Grunkemeyer James A, Hollingsworth Michael A
Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USA.
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.
Oncotarget. 2016 Jun 28;7(26):39996-40011. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.9557.
The MUC1 glycoprotein is overexpressed and aberrantly glycosylated in >90% of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cases and impacts tumor progression by initiating downstream signaling through phosphorylation of its cytoplasmic tail. Previous studies have demonstrated that MUC1 alters expression of known targets of activator protein 1 (AP-1); however, no studies have evaluated the precise impact of MUC1 signaling on the activity and formation of AP-1. Given the known role of these proteins in modulating migration, invasion, and tumor progression, we explored the effects of MUC1 on AP-1 dimer formation and function. We determined that MUC1 increased the protein levels of c-Jun, the major component of AP-1, and promoted dimerization of c-Jun with the Fos-protein FRA-1. We demonstrate that FRA-1 acts as a potent mediator of migration and invasion in a manner that is modulated by signals through MUC1, which acts as a dominant regulator of specific AP-1 and FRA-1 target genes. Our results provide the first in vivo evidence of a FRA-1 mediated expression profile that impacts pancreatic tumor growth properties. In summary, we show that MUC1 enhancement of ERK activation influences FRA-1 activity to modulate tumor migration, invasion and metastasis in a subset of pancreatic cancer cases.
在超过90%的胰腺导管腺癌病例中,MUC1糖蛋白过度表达且发生异常糖基化,并通过其细胞质尾部的磷酸化启动下游信号传导来影响肿瘤进展。先前的研究表明,MUC1会改变激活蛋白1(AP-1)已知靶标的表达;然而,尚无研究评估MUC1信号传导对AP-1活性和形成的精确影响。鉴于这些蛋白在调节迁移、侵袭和肿瘤进展中的已知作用,我们探究了MUC1对AP-1二聚体形成和功能的影响。我们确定MUC1增加了AP-1主要成分c-Jun的蛋白水平,并促进了c-Jun与Fos蛋白FRA-1的二聚化。我们证明FRA-1以一种受MUC1信号调节的方式,作为迁移和侵袭的有效介质,而MUC1作为特定AP-1和FRA-1靶基因的主要调节因子。我们的结果提供了首个体内证据,证明FRA-1介导的表达谱会影响胰腺肿瘤生长特性。总之,我们表明MUC1增强ERK激活会影响FRA-1活性,从而在一部分胰腺癌病例中调节肿瘤迁移侵袭和转移。