Center for Integrative Genomics, University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Molecular Medicine - Pediatric Institute of Rare Diseases, Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain.
Mol Oncol. 2023 Jan;17(1):98-118. doi: 10.1002/1878-0261.13346. Epub 2022 Dec 7.
Uterine serous carcinoma (USC) is an aggressive form of endometrial cancer (EC), characterized by its high propensity for metastases. In fact, while endometrioid endometrial carcinoma (EEC), which accounts for 85% of EC, presents a good prognosis, USC is the most frequently fatal. Herein, we used for the first time a peptide-based tyrosine-kinase-activity profiling approach to quantify the changes in tyrosine kinase activation between USC and EEC. Among the tyrosine kinases highly activated in USC, we identified focal adhesion kinase (FAK). We conducted mechanistic studies using cellular models. In a USC cell line, targeting FAK either by inhibitors PF-573228 and defactinib (VS-6063) or by gene silencing limits 3D cell growth and reduces cell migration. Moreover, results from our studies suggest that oxidative stress is increased in USC tumors compared to EEC ones. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) induce tyrosine phosphorylation of FAK and a concomitant tyrosine phosphorylation of paxillin, a mediator of FAK signal transduction. Mechanistically, by tracking hundreds of individual cells per condition, we show that ROS increased cell distance and migration velocity, highlighting the role of ROS-FAK-PAX signaling in cell migration. Both defactinib and ROS scavenger N-acetylcysteine (NAC) revert this effect, pointing toward ROS as potential culprits for the increase in USC cell motility. A proof of concept of the role of FAK in controlling cell growth was obtained in in vivo experiments using cancer-tissue-originated spheroids (CTOS) and a patient-derived orthotopic xenograft model (orthoxenograft/PDOX). Defactinib reduces cell proliferation and protein oxidation, supporting a pro-tumoral antioxidant role of FAK, whereas antioxidant NAC reverts FAK inhibitor effects. Overall, our data points to ROS-mediated FAK activation in USC as being responsible for the poor prognosis of this tumor type and emphasize the potential of FAK inhibition for USC treatment.
子宫浆液性癌(USC)是一种侵袭性子宫内膜癌(EC),其转移倾向很高。事实上,虽然占 85%的子宫内膜样腺癌(EEC)预后良好,但 USC 是最常致命的。在此,我们首次使用基于肽的酪氨酸激酶活性分析方法来量化 USC 和 EEC 之间酪氨酸激酶激活的变化。在 USC 中高度激活的酪氨酸激酶中,我们鉴定了粘着斑激酶(FAK)。我们使用细胞模型进行了机制研究。在 USC 细胞系中,通过抑制剂 PF-573228 和 defactinib(VS-6063)或基因沉默靶向 FAK 会限制 3D 细胞生长并减少细胞迁移。此外,我们的研究结果表明,与 EEC 相比,USC 肿瘤中的氧化应激增加。活性氧(ROS)诱导 FAK 的酪氨酸磷酸化以及 FAK 信号转导的中介物粘着斑蛋白(paxillin)的酪氨酸磷酸化。从机制上讲,通过跟踪每个条件下的数百个单个细胞,我们表明 ROS 增加了细胞距离和迁移速度,突出了 ROS-FAK-PAX 信号在细胞迁移中的作用。defactinib 和 ROS 清除剂 N-乙酰半胱氨酸(NAC)均逆转了这种作用,表明 ROS 可能是 USC 细胞运动增加的罪魁祸首。使用源自癌症组织的球体(CTOS)和患者来源的原位异种移植模型(orthoxenograft/PDOX)进行的体内实验获得了 FAK 控制细胞生长作用的概念验证。defactinib 可减少细胞增殖和蛋白质氧化,支持 FAK 的促肿瘤抗氧化作用,而抗氧化剂 NAC 则逆转了 FAK 抑制剂的作用。总体而言,我们的数据表明 ROS 介导的 USC 中的 FAK 激活是导致这种肿瘤类型预后不良的原因,并强调了 FAK 抑制对 USC 治疗的潜力。