Activation of an actin signaling pathway in pre-malignant mammary epithelial cells by P-cadherin is essential for transformation.

Alterations in the expression or function of cell adhesion molecules have been implicated in all steps of tumor progression. Among those, P-cadherin is highly enriched in basal-like breast carcinomas, playing a central role in cancer cell self-renewal, collective cell migration and invasion. To establish a clinically relevant platform for functional exploration of P-cadherin effectors in vivo, we generated a humanized P-cadherin Drosophila model. We report that actin nucleators, Mrtf and Srf, are main P-cadherin effectors in fly. We validated these findings in a human mammary epithelial cell line with conditional activation of the SRC oncogene. We show that, prior to promoting malignant phenotypes, SRC induces a transient increase in P-cadherin expression, which correlates with MRTF-A accumulation, its nuclear translocation and the upregulation of SRF target genes. Moreover, knocking down P-cadherin, or preventing F-actin polymerization, impairs SRF transcriptional activity. Furthermore, blocking MRTF-A nuclear translocation hampers proliferation, self-renewal and invasion. Thus, in addition to sustaining malignant phenotypes, P-cadherin can also play a major role in the early stages of breast carcinogenesis by promoting a transient boost of MRTF-A-SRF signaling through actin regulation.

Hybrid Epithelial-Mesenchymal Phenotypes Are Controlled by Microenvironmental Factors.

Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been associated with cancer cell heterogeneity, plasticity, and metastasis. However, the extrinsic signals supervising these phenotypic transitions remain elusive. To assess how selected microenvironmental signals control cancer-associated phenotypes along the EMT continuum, we defined a logical model of the EMT cellular network that yields qualitative degrees of cell adhesions by adherens junctions and focal adhesions, two features affected during EMT. The model attractors recovered epithelial, mesenchymal, and hybrid phenotypes. Simulations showed that hybrid phenotypes may arise through independent molecular paths involving stringent extrinsic signals. Of particular interest, model predictions and their experimental validations indicated that: (i) stiffening of the extracellular matrix was a prerequisite for cells overactivating FAK_SRC to upregulate SNAIL and acquire a mesenchymal phenotype and (ii) FAK_SRC inhibition of cell-cell contacts through the receptor-type tyrosine-protein phosphatases kappa led to acquisition of a full mesenchymal, rather than a hybrid, phenotype. Altogether, these computational and experimental approaches allow assessment of critical microenvironmental signals controlling hybrid EMT phenotypes and indicate that EMT involves multiple molecular programs. SIGNIFICANCE: A multidisciplinary study sheds light on microenvironmental signals controlling cancer cell plasticity along EMT and suggests that hybrid and mesenchymal phenotypes arise through independent molecular paths.

The spectraplakin Dystonin antagonizes YAP activity and suppresses tumourigenesis.

Aberrant expression of the Spectraplakin Dystonin (DST) has been observed in various cancers, including those of the breast. However, little is known about its role in carcinogenesis. In this report, we demonstrate that Dystonin is a candidate tumour suppressor in breast cancer and provide an underlying molecular mechanism. We show that in MCF10A cells, Dystonin is necessary to restrain cell growth, anchorage-independent growth, self-renewal properties and resistance to doxorubicin. Strikingly, while Dystonin maintains focal adhesion integrity, promotes cell spreading and cell-substratum adhesion, it prevents Zyxin accumulation, stabilizes LATS and restricts YAP activation. Moreover, treating DST-depleted MCF10A cells with the YAP inhibitor Verteporfin prevents their growth. In vivo, the Drosophila Dystonin Short stop also restricts tissue growth by limiting Yorkie activity. As the two Dystonin isoforms BPAG1eA and BPAG1e are necessary to inhibit the acquisition of transformed features and are both downregulated in breast tumour samples and in MCF10A cells with conditional induction of the Src proto-oncogene, they could function as the predominant Dystonin tumour suppressor variants in breast epithelial cells. Thus, their loss could deem as promising prognostic biomarkers for breast cancer.

Folding Status Is Determinant over Traffic-Competence in Defining CFTR Interactors in the Endoplasmic Reticulum.

The most common cystic fibrosis-causing mutation (F508del, present in ~85% of CF patients) leads to CFTR misfolding, which is recognized by the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) quality control (ERQC), resulting in ER retention and early degradation. It is known that CFTR exit from the ER is mediated by specific retention/sorting signals that include four arginine-framed tripeptide (AFT) retention motifs and a diacidic (DAD) exit code that controls the interaction with the COPII machinery. Here, we aim at obtaining a global view of the protein interactors that regulate CFTR exit from the ER. We used mass spectrometry-based interaction proteomics and bioinformatics analyses to identify and characterize proteins interacting with selected CFTR peptide motifs or full-length CFTR variants retained or bypassing these ERQC checkpoints. We conclude that these ERQC trafficking checkpoints rely on fundamental players in the secretory pathway, detecting key components of the protein folding machinery associated with the AFT recognition and of the trafficking machinery recognizing the diacidic code. Furthermore, a greater similarity in terms of interacting proteins is observed for variants sharing the same folding defect over those reaching the same cellular location, evidencing that folding status is dominant over ER escape in shaping the CFTR interactome.

Proteomic interaction profiling reveals KIFC1 as a factor involved in early targeting of F508del-CFTR to degradation.

Misfolded F508del-CFTR, the main molecular cause of the recessive disorder cystic fibrosis, is recognized by the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) quality control (ERQC) resulting in its retention and early degradation. The ERQC mechanisms rely mainly on molecular chaperones and on sorting motifs, whose presence and exposure determine CFTR retention or exit through the secretory pathway. Arginine-framed tripeptides (AFTs) are ER retention motifs shown to modulate CFTR retention. However, the interactions and regulatory pathways involved in this process are still largely unknown. Here, we used proteomic interaction profiling and global bioinformatic analysis to identify factors that interact differentially with F508del-CFTR and F508del-CFTR without AFTs (F508del-4RK-CFTR) as putative regulators of this specific ERQC checkpoint. Using LC-MS/MS, we identified kinesin family member C1 (KIFC1) as a stronger interactor with F508del-CFTR versus F508del-4RK-CFTR. We further validated this interaction showing that decreasing KIFC1 levels or activity stabilizes the immature form of F508del-CFTR by reducing its degradation. We conclude that the current approach is able to identify novel putative therapeutic targets that can be ultimately used to the benefit of CF patients.

From the endoplasmic reticulum to the plasma membrane: mechanisms of CFTR folding and trafficking.

CFTR biogenesis starts with its co-translational insertion into the membrane of endoplasmic reticulum and folding of the cytosolic domains, towards the acquisition of a fully folded compact native structure. Efficiency of this process is assessed by the ER quality control system that allows the exit of folded proteins but targets unfolded/misfolded CFTR to degradation. If allowed to leave the ER, CFTR is modified at the Golgi and reaches the post-Golgi compartments to be delivered to the plasma membrane where it functions as a cAMP- and phosphorylation-regulated chloride/bicarbonate channel. CFTR residence at the membrane is a balance of membrane delivery, endocytosis, and recycling. Several adaptors, motor, and scaffold proteins contribute to the regulation of CFTR stability and are involved in continuously assessing its structure through peripheral quality control systems. Regulation of CFTR biogenesis and traffic (and its dysregulation by mutations, such as the most common F508del) determine its overall activity and thus contribute to the fine modulation of chloride secretion and hydration of epithelial surfaces. This review covers old and recent knowledge on CFTR folding and trafficking from its synthesis to the regulation of its stability at the plasma membrane and highlights how several of these steps can be modulated to promote the rescue of mutant CFTR.

Increased efficacy of VX-809 in different cellular systems results from an early stabilization effect of F508del-CFTR.

Cystic fibrosis (CF), the most common recessive autosomal disease among Caucasians, is caused by mutations in the gene encoding the CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein. The most common mutation, F508del, leads to CFTR impaired plasma membrane trafficking. Therapies modulating CFTR basic defect are emerging, such as VX-809, a corrector of F508del-CFTR traffic which just succeeded in a Phase III clinical trial. We recently showed that VX-809 is additive to two other correctors (VRT-325 and compound 4a). Here, we aimed to determine whether the differential rescuing by these compounds results from cell-specific factors or rather from distinct effects at the early biogenesis and/or processing. The rescuing efficiencies of the above three correctors were first compared in different cellular models (primary respiratory cells, cystic fibrosis bronchial epithelial and baby hamster kidney [BHK] cell lines) by functional approaches: micro-Ussing chamber and iodide efflux. Next, biochemical methods (metabolic labeling, pulse-chase and immunoprecipitation) were used to determine their impact on CFTR biogenesis / processing. Functional analyses revealed that VX-809 has the greatest rescuing efficacy and that the relative efficiencies of the three compounds are essentially maintained in all three cellular models tested. Nevertheless, biochemical data show that VX-809 significantly stabilizes F508del-CFTR immature form, an effect that is not observed for C3 nor C4. VX-809 and C3 also significantly increase accumulation of immature CFTR. Our data suggest that VX-809 increases the stability of F508del-CFTR immature form at an early phase of its biogenesis, thus explaining its increased efficacy when inducing its rescue.