State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, PR China.
Department of Musculoskeletal Oncology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China.
Cell Signal. 2024 Aug;120:111234. doi: 10.1016/j.cellsig.2024.111234. Epub 2024 May 23.
Tumor dormancy is the underpinning for cancer relapse and chemoresistance, leading to massive cancer-related death in colorectal cancer (CRC). However, our comprehension of the mechanisms dictating tumor dormancy and strategies for eliminating dormant tumor cells remains restricted. In this study, we identified that collagen XVII (COL17A1), a hemidesmosomal transmembrane protein, can promote the dormancy of CRC cells. The upregulation of COL17A1 was observed to prolong quiescence periods and diminish drug susceptibility of CRC cells. Mechanistically, COL17A1 acts as a scaffold, enhancing the crosstalk between mTORC2 and Akt, thereby instigating the mTORC2-mediated dormant signaling. Notably, the activation of mTORC2 is contingent upon the intracellular domain of COL17A1, regardless of its ectodomain shedding. Our findings underscore a pivotal role of the COL17A1-mTORC2 axis in CRC dormancy, suggesting that mTORC2-specific inhibitors may hold therapeutic prospects for the eradication of dormant tumor cells.
肿瘤休眠是癌症复发和化疗耐药的基础,导致结直肠癌(CRC)大量与癌症相关的死亡。然而,我们对决定肿瘤休眠的机制以及消除休眠肿瘤细胞的策略的理解仍然有限。在这项研究中,我们发现胶原 XVII(COL17A1),一种半桥粒跨膜蛋白,可以促进 CRC 细胞的休眠。COL17A1 的上调被观察到延长静止期并降低 CRC 细胞对药物的敏感性。从机制上讲,COL17A1 作为支架,增强了 mTORC2 和 Akt 之间的串扰,从而引发 mTORC2 介导的休眠信号。值得注意的是,mTORC2 的激活取决于 COL17A1 的细胞内域,而不依赖其细胞外结构域的脱落。我们的研究结果强调了 COL17A1-mTORC2 轴在 CRC 休眠中的关键作用,表明 mTORC2 特异性抑制剂可能为根除休眠肿瘤细胞提供治疗前景。
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