Hypermethylation of Ron proximal promoter associates with lack of full-length Ron and transcription of oncogenic short-Ron from an internal promoter.

The gene for tyrosine-kinase receptor Ron (MST1R) resides in the chromosome 3p21.3 region, frequently affected in common human malignancies. The gene generates two transcripts, 5 and 2 kb-long, full-length Ron (flRon) and short-form Ron (sfRon), respectively. Here, we show for the first time that the variegated Ron expression is associated with variations in the methylation patterns of two distinct CpG islands in Ron proximal promoter. Widespread hypermethylation associates with lack of flRon whereas hypermethylation of the distal island associates with transcription of sfRon, a constitutively active tyrosine-kinase that drives cell proliferation. sfRon inhibition with kinase-dead transgenes decreases cancer cell growth and induces cellular differentiation. sfRon could be a new drug target in cancer types in which it contributes to tumor progression.

Oncogenic mutants of RON and MET receptor tyrosine kinases cause activation of the beta-catenin pathway.

beta-Catenin is an oncogenic protein involved in regulation of cell-cell adhesion and gene expression. Accumulation of cellular beta-catenin occurs in many types of human cancers. Four mechanisms are known to cause increases in beta-catenin: mutations of beta-catenin, adenomatous polyposis coli, or axin genes and activation of Wnt signaling. We report a new cause of beta-catenin accumulation involving oncogenic mutants of RON and MET receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). Cells transfected with oncogenic RON or MET were characterized by beta-catenin tyrosine phosphorylation and accumulation; constitutive activation of a Tcf transcriptional factor; and increased levels of beta-catenin/Tcf target oncogene proteins c-myc and cyclin D1. Interference with the beta-catenin pathway reduced the transforming potential of mutated RON and MET. Activation of beta-catenin by oncogenic RON and MET constitutes a new pathway, which might lead to cell transformation by these and other mutant growth factor RTKs.

Phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase contributes to the transformation of hematopoietic cells by the D816V c-Kit mutant.

Stem cell factor (SCF) binds the receptor tyrosine kinase c-Kit and is critical for normal hematopoiesis. Substitution of valine for aspartic acid 816 (D816V) constitutively actives human c-Kit, and this mutation is found in patients with mastocytosis, leukemia, and germ cell tumors. Immortalized murine progenitor cells (MIHCs) transduced with wild-type c-Kit proliferate in response to SCF, whereas cells expressing D816V c-Kit (MIHC-D816V) are factor-independent and tumorigenic. However, the mechanisms mediating transformation by D816V c-Kit are unknown. The objective of this study was to identify signaling components that contribute to D816V c-Kit-mediated transformation. SCF stimulates association of p85PI3K with phosphorylated tyrosine 721 of wild-type c-Kit. Phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K) subsequently contributes to the activation of Akt and Jnks. In contrast, these studies demonstrated that the D816V c-Kit mutant was constitutively associated with phosphorylated p85PI3K, and, downstream of PI3K, Jnk 1 and Jnk 2 were activated but Akt was not. Interestingly, Erks 1 and 2 were not constitutively activated by D816V c-Kit. Thus, D816V c-Kit maintains the activity of PI3K but not of all signaling pathways activated by wild-type c-Kit. Further, all pathways downstream of PI3K are not constitutively active in MIHC-D816V cells. Studies with a PI3K inhibitor and D816V/Y721F c-Kit, a mutant incapable of recruiting PI3K, indicate that constitutive activation of PI3K through direct recruitment by D816V c-Kit plays a role in factor-independent growth of MIHC and is critical for tumorigenicity.

Anti-apoptotic action of macrophage stimulating protein (MSP).

MSP is a serum protein belonging to the plasminogen-related kringle domain protein family. In addition to macrophages, epithelial cells are also MSP targets. MSP is a multifunctional factor regulating cell adhesion and motility, growth and survival. MSP mediates its biological activities by activating a transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinase called RON in humans or SKT in mice. MSP can protect epithelial cells from apoptosis by activating two independent signals in the PI3-K/AKT or the MAPK pathway. The MAPK pathway mediates the MSP antiapoptotic effect only if additional signaling pathways are activated through adhesion. This indicates that MSP receptors and integrins, the receptors mediating cell-matrix-dependent adhesion, can collaborate in promotion of cell survival. This adhesion-dependent pathway, which is essential for the MAPK-mediated anti-apoptotic effect, remains to be identified. A hypothesis that Stat3 might represent a key component of the adhesion-induced anti-apoptotic pathway is presented in this review.

Cross-talk between RON receptor tyrosine kinase and other transmembrane receptors.

RON is a transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinase that mediates biological activities of Macrophage Stimulating Protein (MSP). MSP is a multifunctional factor regulating cell adhesion, motility, growth and survival. MSP binding to RON causes receptor tyrosine phosphorylation leading to up-regulation of RON catalytic activity and subsequent activation of downstream signaling molecules. Recent studies show that RON is spatially and functionally associated with other transmembrane molecules including adhesion receptors integrins and cadherins, and cytokine and growth factor receptors IL-3 betac, EPOR and MET. For example, MSP-induced cell shape change is mediated via RON-activated IL-3 betac receptor. Activation of integrins causes MSP-independent RON phosphorylation, and the integrin/RON collaboration regulates cell survival. Thus, RON can be activated without MSP by ligand stimulation of RON-associated receptors, and MSP-activated RON can cause ligand-independent activation of RON-associated receptors. As a result of the receptor cross-activation RON-specific pathways become a part of a signal transduction network of other receptors, and conversely signaling pathways activated by other receptors can be used by RON. This receptor collaboration extends the spectrum of cellular responses generated by MSP and by putative ligands of RON-associated receptors. However signaling pathways involved in the receptor cross-talk and underlying activation mechanisms remain to be investigated. The purpose of this review is to summarize data and to discuss a role of cross-talk between RON and other transmembrane receptors.

Candidate tumor suppressor HYAL2 is a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored cell-surface receptor for jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus, the envelope protein of which mediates oncogenic transformation.

Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (JSRV) can induce rapid, multifocal lung cancer, but JSRV is a simple retrovirus having no known oncogenes. Here we show that the envelope (env) gene of JSRV has the unusual property that it can induce transformation in rat fibroblasts, and thus is likely to be responsible for oncogenesis in animals. Retrovirus entry into cells is mediated by Env interaction with particular cell-surface receptors, and we have used phenotypic screening of radiation hybrid cell lines to identify the candidate lung cancer tumor suppressor HYAL2/LUCA2 as the receptor for JSRV. HYAL2 was previously described as a lysosomal hyaluronidase, but we show that HYAL2 is actually a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored cell-surface protein. Furthermore, we could not detect hyaluronidase activity associated with or secreted by cells expressing HYAL2, whereas we could easily detect such activity from cells expressing the related serum hyaluronidase HYAL1. Although the function of HYAL2 is currently unknown, other GPI-anchored proteins are involved in signal transduction, and some mediate mitogenic responses, suggesting a potential role of HYAL2 in JSRV Env-mediated oncogenesis. Lung cancer induced by JSRV closely resembles human bronchiolo-alveolar carcinoma, a disease that is increasing in frequency and now accounts for approximately 25% of all lung cancer. The finding that JSRV env is oncogenic and the identification of HYAL2 as the JSRV receptor provide tools for further investigation of the mechanism of JSRV oncogenesis and its relationship to human bronchiolo-alveolar carcinoma.

Regulation of STRA13 by the von Hippel-Lindau tumor suppressor protein, hypoxia, and the UBC9/ubiquitin proteasome degradation pathway.

In this study, we focus on different modes of regulation of STRA13, a human ortholog of the mouse basic helix-loop-helix transcriptional factor, previously identified by us as a new von Hippel-Lindau tumor suppressor gene (VHL) target. The gene was overexpressed in VHL-deficient cell lines and tumors, specifically clear cell renal carcinomas and hemangioblastomas. Introduction of wild type VHL transgene into clear cell renal carcinoma restored low level expression of STRA13. Overexpression was also detected in many common malignancies with an intact VHL gene, suggesting the existence of another, VHL-independent pathway of STRA13 regulation. Similar to many other von Hippel-Lindau tumor-suppressor protein (pVHL) targets, the expression of STRA13 on the mRNA level was hypoxia-sensitive, indicating oxygen-dependent regulation of the gene, presumably through the pVHL/hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) pathway. The yeast two-hybrid screening revealed interaction of the STRA13 protein with the human ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme (UBC9) protein, the specificity of which was confirmed in mammalian cells. By adding the proteasome inhibitor acetyl-leucinyl-leucinyl-norleucinal, we demonstrated that the 26 S proteasome pathway regulates the stability of pSTRA13. Co-expression of STRA13 and UBC9 led to an increase of the pSTRA13 ubiquitination and subsequent degradation. These data established that UBC9/STRA13 association in cells is of physiological importance, presenting direct proof of UBC9 involvement in the ubiquitin-dependent degradation of pSTRA13. Hypoxia treatment of mammalian cells transiently expressing STRA13 protein showed that stability of pSTRA13 is not affected by hypoxia or VHL. Thus, STRA13, a new pVHL target, is regulated in cells on multiple levels. We propose that STRA13 may play a critical role in carcinogenesis, since it is a potent transcriptional regulator, abundant in a variety of common tumors.

Expression of hypoxia-inducible cell-surface transmembrane carbonic anhydrases in human cancer.

An acidic extracellular pH is a fundamental property of the malignant phenotype. In von Hippel-Lindau (VHL)-defective tumors the cell surface transmembrane carbonic anhydrase (CA) CA9 and CA12 genes are overexpressed because of the absence of pVHL. We hypothesized that these enzymes might be involved in maintaining the extracellular acidic pH in tumors, thereby providing a conducive environment for tumor growth and spread. Using Northern blot analysis and immunostaining with specific antibodies we analyzed the expression of CA9 and CA12 genes and their products in a large sample of cancer cell lines, fresh and archival tumor specimens, and normal human tissues. Expression was also analyzed in cultured cells under hypoxic conditions. Expression of CA IX and CA XII in normal adult tissues was detected only in highly specialized cells and for most tissues their expression did not overlap. Analysis of RNA samples isolated from 87 cancer cell lines and 18 tumors revealed high-to-moderate levels of expression of CA9 and CA12 in multiple cancers. Immunohistochemistry revealed high-to-moderate expression of these enzymes in various normal tissues and multiple common epithelial tumor types. The immunostaining was seen predominantly on the cell surface membrane. The expression of both genes was markedly induced under hypoxic conditions in tumors and cultured tumor cells. We conclude that the cell surface trans-membrane carbonic anhydrases CA IX and CA XII are overexpressed in many tumors suggesting that this is a common feature of cancer cells that may be required for tumor progression. These enzymes may contribute to the tumor microenvironment by maintaining extracellular acidic pH and helping cancer cells grow and metastasize. Our studies show an important causal link between hypoxia, extracellular acidification, and induction or enhanced expression of these enzymes in human tumors.

Gene structure of the human receptor tyrosine kinase RON and mutation analysis in lung cancer samples.

The human RON gene (MST1R) maps to 3p21.3, a region frequently altered in lung cancer and other malignancies. It encodes a receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) closely related to MET, whose mutations are associated with neoplasia. We investigated whether RON might be involved in the development or progression of lung cancer. We first determined the exon-intron structure of the gene by direct sequencing of RON cosmid DNA and PCR products containing intronic sequences, and then developed primers suitable for mutation analysis by the single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) method. Twenty coding exons were characterized, all but the first one small (average size: 170 bp), a feature shared with other RTK genes. We performed SSCP analysis of RON in small and non-small cell lung cancer samples, upon detection of its expression in a sample of lung cancer cell lines. A mutation (T915C: L296P) was found in an adenocarcinoma specimen. Several single nucleotide polymorphisms were also found. The panel of intron-anchored primers developed in this work will be useful for mutation analysis of the RON gene in different types of human tumors.

Integrin-mediated RON growth factor receptor phosphorylation requires tyrosine kinase activity of both the receptor and c-Src.

Cooperation between integrins and growth factor receptors plays an important role in the regulation of cell growth, differentiation, and survival. The function of growth factor receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) can be regulated by cell adhesion to extracellular matrix (ECM) even in the absence of ligand. We investigated the pathway involved in integrin-mediated RTK activation, using RON, the receptor for macrophage-stimulating protein. Adhesion of RON-expressing epithelial cells to ECM caused phosphorylation of RON, which depended on the kinase activity of both RON itself and c-Src. This conclusion is based on these observations: 1) ECM-induced RON phosphorylation was inhibited in cells expressing kinase-inactive c-Src; 2) active c-Src could phosphorylate immunoprecipitated RON from ECM-stimulated cells but not from unstimulated cells; and 3) ECM did not cause RON phosphorylation in cells expressing kinase-dead RON, nor could active c-Src phosphorylate RON immunoprecipitated from these cells. The data fit a pathway in which ECM-induced integrin aggregation causes both c-Src activation and RON oligomerization followed by RON kinase-dependent autophosphorylation; this results in RON becoming a target for activated c-Src, which phosphorylates additional tyrosines on RON. Integrin-induced epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) phosphorylation also depended on both EGFR and c-Src kinase activities. This sequence appears to be a general pathway for integrin-dependent growth factor RTK activation.