Epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor (EGFR) signalling is implicated in tumour invasion and metastasis. However, whether there are EGFR signalling pathways specifically used for tumour invasion still remains elusive. Overexpression of Arf6 and its effector, AMAP1, correlates with and is crucial for the invasive phenotypes of different breast cancer cells. Here we identify the mechanism by which Arf6 is activated to induce tumour invasion. We found that GEP100/BRAG2, a guanine nucleotide exchanging factor (GEF) for Arf6, is responsible for the invasive activity of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells, whereas the other ArfGEFs are not. GEP100, through its pleckstrin homology domain, bound directly to Tyr1068/1086-phosphorylated EGFR to activate Arf6. Overexpression of GEP100, together with Arf6, caused non-invasive MCF7 cells to become invasive, which was dependent on EGF stimulation. Moreover, GEP100 knockdown blocked tumour metastasis. GEP100 was expressed in 70% of primary breast ductal carcinomas, and was preferentially co-expressed with EGFR in the malignant cases. Our results indicate that GEP100 links EGFR signalling to Arf6 activation to induce invasive activities of some breast cancer cells, and hence may contribute to their metastasis and malignancy.

Identification of the molecular machinery employed in cancer invasion, but not in normal adult cells, will greatly contribute to cancer therapeutics. Here we found that an ArfGAP, AMAP1/PAG2, is expressed at high levels in highly invasive breast cancer cells, but at very low levels in noninvasive breast cancer cells and normal mammary epithelial cells. siRNA-mediated silencing of AMAP1 effectively blocked the invasive activities. AMAP1 expression in human breast primary tumors also indicated its potential correlation with malignancy. Paxillin and cortactin have been shown to colocalize at invadopodia and play a pivotal role in breast cancer invasion. We found that AMAP1 is also localized at invadopodia, and acts to bridge paxillin and cortactin. This AMAP1-mediated trimeric protein complex was detected only in invasive cancer cells, and blocking this complex formation effectively inhibited their invasive activities in vitro and metastasis in mice. Our results indicate that AMAP1 is a component involved in invasive activities of different breast cancers, and provide new information regarding the possible therapeutic targets for prevention of breast cancer invasion and metastasis.

In most human breast cancer cell lines, there is a direct correlation between their in vivo invasive phenotypes and in vitro invasion activities. Here, we found that ADP-ribosylation factor 6 (Arf6) is localized at the invadopodia of the cultured breast cancer cells MDA-MB-231, and its suppression by a small-interfering RNA duplex effectively blocks the invasive activities of the cells, such as invadopodia formation, localized matrix degradation and Matrigel transmigration but not the cell-adhesion activity. We also found that the GTP hydrolysis-defective mutant Arf6(Q67L) and the GTP-binding defective mutant Arf6(T27N) both blocked these invasive activities but not cell adhesion, suggesting the necessity of continued activation and cycling of the Arf6 GTPase cycle in invasion. Among the different human breast cancer cell lines that we examined, cell lines with high invasive activities expressed higher amounts of Arf6 protein than those in weakly invasive and noninvasive cell lines, although no notable correlation was found between Arf6 mRNA expression levels and invasive activities. Moreover, Matrigel-transmigration activity of all of these invasive cells was blocked effectively by an Arf6 small-interfering RNA duplex. Hence, Arf6 appears to be an integral component of breast cancer invasive activities, and we propose that Arf6 and the intracellular machinery regulating Arf6 during invasion should be considered as therapeutic targets for the prevention of breast cancer invasion.

Paxillin acts as an adaptor molecule in integrin signaling. Paxillin is localized to focal contacts but seems to also exist in a relatively large cytoplasmic pool. Here, we report the identification of a new paxillin-binding protein, PAG3 (paxillin-associated protein with ADP-ribosylation factor [ARF] GTPase-activating protein [GAP] activity, number 3), which is involved in regulation of the subcellular localization of paxillin. PAG3 bound to all paxillin isoforms and was induced during monocyte maturation, at which time paxillin expression is also increased and integrins are activated. PAG3 was diffusely distributed in the cytoplasm in premature monocytes but became localized at cell periphery in mature monocytes, a fraction of which then colocalized with paxillin. PAG3, on the other hand, did not accumulate at focal adhesion plaques, suggesting that PAG3 is not an integrin assembly protein. PAG3 was identical to KIAA0400/Papalpha, which was previously identified as a Pyk2-binding protein bearing a GAP activity toward several ARFs in vitro. Mammalian ARFs fall into three classes, and we showed that all classes could affect subcellular localization of paxillin. We also examined possible interaction of PAG3 with ARFs and showed evidence that at least one of them, ARF6, seems to be an intracellular substrate for GAP activity of PAG3. Moreover, overexpression of PAG3, but not its GAP-inactive mutant, inhibited paxillin recruitment to focal contacts and hampered cell migratory activities, whereas cell adhesion activities were almost unaffected. Therefore, our results demonstrate that paxillin recruitment to focal adhesions is not mediated by simple cytoplasmic diffusion; rather, PAG3 appears to be involved in this process, possibly through its GAP activity toward ARF proteins. Our result thus delineates a new aspect of regulation of cell migratory activities.

The general transcription factor TFIIE recruits TFIIH at a late stage of transcription initiation complex formation and markedly stimulates TFIIH-dependent phosphorylation of the carboxy-terminal domain (CTD) of RNA polymerase II. To study this function of TFIIE in more detail, systematic deletion mutations were introduced into the large subunit of TFIIE (TFIIE-alpha) and were analyzed with regard to their effects on TFIIH-dependent CTD phosphorylation, TFIIE-dependent basal and enhancer-dependent transcription, and interactions of TFIIE-alpha with both TFIIE-beta and TFIIH. The amino (N)-terminal half of TFIIE-alpha, which possesses several putative structural motifs, was sufficient for the phosphorylation and transcription activities and for TFIIE-beta interactions, whereas a site effecting both strong interactions with TFIIH and large stimulatory effects on transcription and CTD phosphorylation was localized to an acidic region near the carboxy (C) terminus. The fact that these activities appear to be tightly linked supports the idea that TFIIE interacts physically and functionally with TFIIH and that CTD phosphorylation is essential for transcription under normal conditions. The present results suggest that TFIIE, via its effect on TFIIH, may act as a checkpoint for formation of a preinitiation complex.

Although KRAS and TP53 mutations are major drivers of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the incurable nature of this cancer still remains largely elusive. ARF6 and its effector AMAP1 are often overexpressed in different cancers and regulate the intracellular dynamics of integrins and E-cadherin, thus promoting tumor invasion and metastasis when ARF6 is activated. Here we show that the ARF6–AMAP1 pathway is a major target by which KRAS and TP53 cooperatively promote malignancy. KRAS was identified to promote eIF4A-dependent ARF6 mRNA translation, which contains a quadruplex structure at its 5′-untranslated region, by inducing TEAD3 and ETV4 to suppress PDCD4; and also eIF4E-dependent AMAP1 mRNA translation, which contains a 5′-terminal oligopyrimidine-like sequence, via up-regulating mTORC1. TP53 facilitated ARF6 activation by platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), via its known function to promote the expression of PDGF receptor β (PDGFRβ) and enzymes of the mevalonate pathway (MVP). The ARF6–AMAP1 pathway was moreover essential for PDGF-driven recycling of PD-L1, in which KRAS, TP53, eIF4A/4E-dependent translation, mTOR, and MVP were all integral. We moreover demonstrated that the mouse PDAC model KPC cells, bearing KRAS/TP53 mutations, express ARF6 and AMAP1 at high levels and that the ARF6-based pathway is closely associated with immune evasion of KPC cells. Expression of ARF6 pathway components statistically correlated with poor patient outcomes. Thus, the cooperation among eIF4A/4E-dependent mRNA translation and MVP has emerged as a link by which pancreatic driver mutations may promote tumor cell motility, PD-L1 dynamics, and immune evasion, via empowering the ARF6-based pathway and its activation by external ligands.

Tumors are tissue-specific diseases, and their mechanisms of invasion and metastasis are highly diverse. In breast cancer, biomarkers that specifically correlate with the invasive phenotypes have not been clearly identified. A small GTPase Arf6 primarily regulates recycling of plasma membrane components. We have shown that Arf6 and its effector AMAP1 (DDEF1, DEF1, ASAP1 and centaurin β4) are abnormally overexpressed in some breast cancers and used for their invasion and metastasis. Overexpression of these proteins is independent of the transcriptional upregulation of their genes, and occurs only in highly malignant breast cancer cells. We recently identified GEP100 (BRAG2) to be responsible for the Arf6 activation to induce invasion and metastasis, by directly binding to ligand-activated epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). A series of our studies revealed that for activation of the invasion pathway of EGFR, it is prerequisite that Arf6 and AMAP1 both are highly overexpressed, and that EGFR is activated by ligands. Pathological analyses indicate that a significant large population of human ductal cancers may utilize the EGFR-GEP100-Arf6-AMAP1 pathway for their malignancy. Microenvironments have been highly implicated in the malignancy of mammary tumors. Our results reveal an aspect of the precise molecular mechanisms of some breast cancers, in which full invasiveness is not acquired just by intracellular alterations of cancer cells, but extracellular factors from microenvironments may also be necessary. Possible translation of our knowledge to cancer therapeutics will also be discussed.

EPB41L5 belongs to the band 4.1 superfamily. We investigate here the involvement of EPB41L5 in epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) during mouse gastrulation. EPB41L5 expression is induced during TGFβ-stimulated EMT, whereas silencing of EPB41L5 by siRNA inhibits this transition. In EPB41L5 mutants, cell–cell adhesion is enhanced, and EMT is greatly impaired during gastrulation. Moreover, cell attachment, spreading, and mobility are greatly reduced by EPB41L5 deficiency. Gene transcription regulation during EMT occurs normally at the mRNA level; EPB41L5 siRNA does not affect either the decrease in E-cadherin or the increase in integrin expression. However, at the protein level, the decrease in E-cadherin and increase in integrin are inhibited in both EPB41L5 siRNA-treated NMuMG cells and mutant mesoderm. We find that EPB41L5 binds p120ctn through its N-terminal FERM domain, inhibiting p120ctn–E-cadherin binding. EPB41L5 overexpression causes E-cadherin relocalization into Rab5-positive vesicles in epithelial cells. At the same time, EPB41L5 binds to paxillin through its C terminus, enhancing integrin/paxillin association, thereby stimulating focal adhesion formation.