RESUMO
Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation is one of the hallmarks of cancer progression and resistance to anticancer therapies, particularly non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLCs). In contrast to the canonical EGFR activation in which tyrosine residues are engaged, we have demonstrated that the non-canonical pathway is triggered by phosphorylation of serine and threonine residues through p38 and ERK MAPKs, respectively. The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of non-canonical EGFR pathway in resistance mechanism against cisplatin treatment. Wild type and mutated (exon 19 deletion) EGFR-expressing cells responded similarly to cisplatin by showing MAPK-mediated EGFR phosphorylation. It is interesting that internalization mechanism of EGFR was switched from tyrosine kinase-dependent to p38-dependent fashions, which is involved in a survival pathway that counteracts cisplatin treatment. We therefore introduce a potential combinatorial therapy composed of p38 inhibition and cisplatin to block the activation of EGFR, therefore inducing cancer cell death and apoptosis.
Assuntos
Antineoplásicos/farmacologia , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células não Pequenas/tratamento farmacológico , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células não Pequenas/genética , Cisplatino/farmacologia , Receptores ErbB/genética , Neoplasias Pulmonares/tratamento farmacológico , Neoplasias Pulmonares/genética , Apoptose/efeitos dos fármacos , Carcinoma Pulmonar de Células não Pequenas/patologia , Linhagem Celular Tumoral , Resistencia a Medicamentos Antineoplásicos , Receptores ErbB/metabolismo , Humanos , Pulmão/efeitos dos fármacos , Pulmão/metabolismo , Pulmão/patologia , Neoplasias Pulmonares/patologia , Sistema de Sinalização das MAP Quinases/efeitos dos fármacos , Mutação , Fosforilação/efeitos dos fármacosRESUMO
Tyrosine kinase activity of the asymmetric EGFR homodimer is negatively regulated via ERK-mediated phosphorylation of Thr-669 in the juxtamembrane domain. In the present study, we investigated in human breast cancer cells whether a similar mechanism plays a role in the feedback regulation of the ErbB2/ErbB3 heterodimer, the most potent ErbB receptor dimer. Constitutive tyrosine phosphorylation of ErbB2 and ErbB3 was significantly decreased in phorbol ester- and growth factor-treated BT-474 and MDA-MB-453 cells. In contrast to the decreased tyrosine phosphorylation, Phos-tag Western blot analysis revealed that TPA induced phosphorylation of ErbB2 in an ERK-dependent manner. The target threonine residue corresponding to EGFR Thr-669 and the surrounding residues are highly conserved in ErbB2, but not in ErbB3. Therefore, we demonstrated ERK-mediated phosphorylation of ErbB2 at Thr-677 by generating phospho-specific monoclonal antibodies. Moreover, treatment with trametinib and SCH772984, inhibitors of the MEK-ERK pathway, and substitution of Thr-677 to alanine impaired the feedback inhibition of ErbB2 and ErbB3. These results demonstrated that ERK-mediated phosphorylation of the conserved threonine is a common mechanism for the negative feedback control of active ErbB receptor dimers.