Statistical significance was determined by log-rank test

Statistical significance was determined by log-rank test. of the E3 ligase complex and prevented the degradation of integrin 1, which stabilized integrin 1 and activated downstream focal adhesion kinase/SRC (FAK/SRC) signaling and eventually drove SCLC metastasis. Low expression levels of CUL5 and SOCS3 were significantly associated with high integrin 1 levels and poor prognosis in a large cohort of 128 clinical patients with SCLC. Moreover, the CUL5-deficient SCLCs were vulnerable to the treatment of the FDA-approved SRC inhibitor dasatinib. Collectively, this work identifies the essential role of CUL5- and SOCS3-mediated integrin 1 turnover in controlling SCLC metastasis, which might have therapeutic implications. and alleles in mouse lung epithelia leads to the formation of SCLC, which pathologically recapitulates the malignant progression of human SCLC (6). This (referred to herein as SCLCs display strong intratumoral heterogeneity, with Rabbit Polyclonal to PEX10 different subpopulations containing low metastatic potential, and the cooperation of these tumors is necessary for promoting SCLC metastasis (7). Other studies have also uncovered the important role of epigenetic regulators such as nuclear factor I B (NFIB) and enhancer of zeste 2 polycomb repressive complex 2 subunit (EZH2) in SCLC propagation and metastasis (8, 9). Like human SCLC, mouse SCLC features the expression of neuroendocrine markers such as neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) (6). Moreover, the genetic or molecular alterations frequently observed in human SCLC, such as activation of MYC, SRY-box 2 (SOX2), and other signaling pathways including Notch, Hedgehog, and WNT, are also detectable in mouse SCLC (10C16). Previous studies have indicated the potential involvement of integrins in SCLC malignant progression (17, 18). Integrins, importantly, mediate cell-cell adhesion, cell-matrix interactions, as well as cancer cell migration and metastasis (19, 20). Integrins are composed of noncovalently associated and subunits, which form heterodimeric receptor complexes for extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules, with each subunit having a large extracellular domain, a single-membraneCspanning domain, and a short, noncatalytic cytoplasmic tail (19). By directly binding to the ECM components and providing the Moxalactam Sodium traction necessary for cell motility and invasion, integrins play the major role in regulating cell proliferation and motility and, as a consequence, metastatic capability. Upon ligation to the ECM, integrins cluster Moxalactam Sodium in the plane of the membrane and recruit various proteins to form structures known as focal adhesions (21). Despite the lack of kinase activities, integrins can form a cluster and allow the intracellular domain of their subunit to recruit and activate kinases, such as focal adhesion kinases (FAKs), SRC family kinases (SFKs), and other signaling proteins, which then elicit specific intracellular signaling events in response to various environmental stimuli (22). In SCLC, integrin 1 is the predominant integrin subunit and known as a potential marker of poor prognosis (17, 18, 23C25). Functionally, integrin 1 may facilitate SCLC development via promotion of cell migration and invasion through the formation of various 21, 31, 61, and v1 integrins (26, 27). Therefore, integrin 1 is considered a potential oncoprotein in the promotion of SCLC malignant progression. However, little is known about how integrin 1 is pathologically deregulated in SCLC. The ubiquitin-proteasome system Moxalactam Sodium is important for homeostasis of many key proteins including various oncoproteins and tumor suppressors (28, 29). Ubiquitin molecules are conjugated to protein substrates as signals for proteasome degradation. The specificity of to-be-degraded substrates is determined by ubiquitin E3 Moxalactam Sodium ligases, which simultaneously associate with specific Moxalactam Sodium substrates and position the E2 for ubiquitin conjugation to the substrate (30). Cullin-RING ubiquitin-protein ligases (CRLs) are the largest class of ubiquitin E3 ligases, and Cullin proteins serve as the scaffold and central component of the whole E3 ligase complex by recruiting substrate recognition subunits at the N-terminus and RING proteins (RBX1.