MST1 interactomes profiling across cell death in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

OBJECTIVES

Resistance to apoptosis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) constitutes a significant impediment to treatment efficacy. Exploring alternative cell death pathways and their regulatory factors beyond apoptosis is crucial for overcoming drug resistance and enhancing therapeutic outcomes in ESCC.

METHODS

Mammalian Ste 20-like kinase 1 (MST1) is implicated in regulating various cell deaths, including apoptosis, autophagy, and pyroptosis. Employing enhanced ascorbate peroxidase 2 (APEX2) proximity labeling coupled with immunoprecipitation-mass spectrometry (IP-MS), we elucidated the interactomes of MST1 across these three cell death paradigms.

RESULTS

Proteomic profiling unveiled the functional roles and subcellular localization of MST1 and its interacting proteins during normal proliferation and various cell death processes. Notably, MST1 exhibited an expanded interactome during cell death compared to normal proliferation and chromosome remodeling functions consistently. In apoptosis, there was a notable increase of mitosis-associated proteins such as INCENP, ANLN, KIF23, SHCBP1 and SUPT16H, which interacted with MST1, alongside decreased expression of the pre-apoptotic protein STK3. During autophagy, the bindings of DNA repair-related proteins CBX8 and mA reader YTHDC1 to MST1 were enhanced. In pyroptosis, LRRFIP2 and FLII which can inhibit pyroptosis increasingly binding to MST1.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings delineate potential mechanisms through which MST1 and its interactomes regulate cell death, paving the way for further investigation to validate and consolidate these observations.