Non-classical secretory vesicles, collectively referred to as extracellular vesicles (EVs), have been implicated in different aspects of cancer cell survival and metastasis. Here, we describe how a specific class of EVs, called microvesicles (MVs), activates VEGF receptors and tumour angiogenesis through a unique 90 kDa form of VEGF (VEGF90K). We show that VEGF90K is generated by the crosslinking of VEGF165, catalysed by the enzyme tissue transglutaminase, and associates with MVs through its interaction with the chaperone Hsp90. We further demonstrate that MV-associated VEGF90K has a weakened affinity for Bevacizumab, causing Bevacizumab to be ineffective in blocking MV-dependent VEGF receptor activation. However, treatment with an Hsp90 inhibitor releases VEGF90K from MVs, restoring the sensitivity of VEGF90K to Bevacizumab. These findings reveal a novel mechanism by which cancer cell-derived MVs influence the tumour microenvironment and highlight the importance of recognizing their unique properties when considering drug treatment strategies.
Cool-1 (cloned-out of library 1) has a key role in regulating epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) degradation. Here, we show that Cool-1 performs this function by functioning as both an upstream activator and downstream target for Cdc42. EGF-dependent phosphorylation of Cool-1 enables it to act as a nucleotide exchange factor for Cdc42 and to form a complex with the E3 ligase Cbl, thus regulating Cbl-catalysed EGFR degradation. The EGF-dependent phosphorylation is normally transient; however, Cool-1 phosphorylation is sustained in cells expressing v-Src and is essential for cellular transformation, as well as for v-Src-induced tumour formation in mice. These findings demonstrate that the regulated phosphorylation of Cool-1 is necessary to maintain the balance between normal signalling by EGFR and Src versus aberrant growth and transformation.
We provide evidence for novel mechanisms of allosteric regulation of the Rac-GEF activity of the Cool-2 dimer, involving stimulatory effects by Cdc42 and feedback inhibition by Rac. These findings demonstrate that by serving as a target for GTP bound Cdc42 and a GEF for Rac, Cool-2 mediates a GTPase cascade where the activation of Cdc42 is translated into the activation of Rac.
Epidermal growth factor (EGF) exerts pleiotropic effects during oncogenesis, including the stimulation of cell migration and invasiveness. Although a number of traditional signaling proteins (e.g. Ras and Rho GTPases) have been implicated in EGFstimulated cancer cell migration, less is known about the identity of those proteins functioning further downstream in this growth factor pathway. Here we have used HeLa carcinoma cells as a model system for investigating the role of tissue transglutaminase (TGase), a protein that has been linked to oncogenesis, in EGF-stimulated cancer cell migration and invasion. Treatment of HeLa cells with EGF resulted in TGase activation and its accumulation at their leading edges, whereas knocking down TGase expression, or treating cells with a TGase inhibitor, blocked EGF-stimulated cell migration and invasion. We show that EGF signaling through Ras and c-Jun N-terminal kinase is responsible for targeting TGase to the leading edges of cells and activating it. The requirement for EGF to properly localize and activate TGase can be circumvented by the expression of oncogenic Ras (G12V), whose ability to stimulate migration is also dependent on TGase. We further show that, in the highly aggressive breast cancer cell line MDAMB231, where EGF stimulation is unnecessary for migration and invasive activity, TGase is already at the leading edge and activated. These findings demonstrate that TGase plays a key role in cancer cell motility and invasiveness and represents a previously unappreciated participant in the EGF pathway that stimulates these processes in cancer cells.The EGF 2 receptor is a cell surface receptor tyrosine kinase that is expressed in a variety of normal cell lineages. Upon binding ligand, the EGF receptor becomes activated and initiates a highly regulated series of signaling events, which direct changes in gene transcription and various cellular responses that are vital for proper development and tissue homeostasis (1-3). In addition to its physiological functions, the EGF receptor has also been intimately associated with oncogenesis. Enhanced EGF receptor signaling, as a result of receptor overexpression and/or an autocrine stimulation of the receptor, is a hallmark of a variety of human tumors (2, 4, 5). Moreover, high levels of EGF receptor expression detected in brain, breast, pancreatic, and lung tumors are well correlated with poor prognosis, and therapeutic strategies targeting the EGF receptor itself or signaling events initiated by the receptor are currently being used as cancer treatments (4, 6, 7). These findings, coupled with the fact that ectopically expressing the EGF receptor in normal cell types is sufficient to induce ligand-dependent cellular transformation (8), strongly implicate EGF receptor signaling in cancer development. Thus, it is not surprising that a good deal of effort continues to be devoted toward understanding how EGF receptor activation gives rise to malignant transformation.Exposing cancer cells to EGF can elicit or potentiate a host of p...
Although the small GTPase Ran is best known for its roles in nucleocytoplasmic transport, mitotic spindle assembly, and nuclear envelope formation, recent studies have demonstrated the overexpression of Ran in multiple tumor types and that its expression is correlated with a poor patient prognosis, providing evidence for the importance of this GTPase in cell growth regulation. Here we show that Ran is subject to growth factor regulation by demonstrating that it is activated in a serum-dependent manner in human breast cancer cells and, in particular, in response to heregulin, a growth factor that activates the Neu/ ErbB2 tyrosine kinase. The heregulin-dependent activation of Ran requires mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) and stimulates the capped RNA binding capability of the cap-binding complex in the nucleus, thus influencing gene expression at the level of mRNA processing. We further demonstrate that the excessive activation of Ran has important consequences for cell growth by showing that a novel, activated Ran mutant is sufficient to transform NIH-3T3 cells in an mTOR-and epidermal growth factor receptor-dependent manner and that Ran-transformed cells form tumors in mice.Ran is a unique member of the Ras superfamily of GTPases that utilizes a guanine nucleotide exchange factor (the chromatin-associated RCC1 protein), a GTPase-accelerating protein complex (RanGAP/RanBP1), and a single major class of effectors (the importins or karyopherins) to regulate the nucleocytoplasmic transport of various cargo as well as other nuclear functions (for review, see Ref. 1). In interphase cells, a Ran-GTP gradient is formed in response to the nuclear localization of RCC1 together with the cytoplasmic localization of RanGAP. As a result, Ran exists predominantly in an active, GTP-bound state in the nucleus where it is capable of engaging its primary biological effectors, the importins/karyopherins. GTP hydrolysis, catalyzed by RanGAP in the cytoplasm, then results in the dissociation of Ran-GDP from its effector proteins. The nucleocytoplasmic transport of a number of proteins is dependent upon the proper establishment of the Ran-GTP gradient, as best exemplified in the case of classical nuclear import (2). Protein cargo destined for the nucleus is identified by the presence of a nuclear localization sequence. The nuclear localization sequence is recognized by an adapter protein, importin-␣, in the cytosol, and upon binding the cargo, importin-␣ engages importin- to form a complete import complex that translocates to the nucleus. Within the nucleus, Ran-GTP binds to importin-, causing it to dissociate from the import complex, which results in the subsequent release of cargo. Thus, the fact that Ran-GTP is predominantly a nuclear species is pivotal in the directional release of import cargo into the nucleus.Similarly, it has been suggested that Ran plays an essential role in the directional release of capped RNAs in the cytoplasm by regulating the interactions that occur between the nuclear cap-binding complex (CBC) 2 ...
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