Ras/ERK and PI3K/AKT signaling differentially regulate oncogenic ERG mediated transcription in prostate cells

Autor: Travis J. Jerde, Peter C. Hollenhorst, Brady G. Strittmatter
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Male
0301 basic medicine
MAPK/ERK pathway
Cancer Research
genetic structures
Carcinogenesis
Gene Expression
QH426-470
Biochemistry
Mice
Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases
0302 clinical medicine
Cell Movement
Genes
Regulator

Medicine and Health Sciences
Post-Translational Modification
Phosphorylation
Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases
Genetics (clinical)
Regulation of gene expression
Chromosome Biology
Prostate Cancer
EZH2
Prostate Diseases
Prostate
Chromatin
Cell biology
Gene Expression Regulation
Neoplastic

Cell Transformation
Neoplastic

Oncology
030220 oncology & carcinogenesis
Heterografts
Epigenetics
Anatomy
Erg
Research Article
Signal Transduction
Transcriptional Activation
Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition
MAP Kinase Signaling System
Urology
Mice
Nude

Biology
03 medical and health sciences
Exocrine Glands
Transcriptional Regulator ERG
Cell Line
Tumor

Genetics
Animals
Humans
Gene Regulation
Epithelial–mesenchymal transition
Molecular Biology
Protein kinase B
Transcription factor
Ecology
Evolution
Behavior and Systematics

PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway
Cancers and Neoplasms
Biology and Life Sciences
Proteins
Prostatic Neoplasms
Cell Biology
eye diseases
Genitourinary Tract Tumors
030104 developmental biology
ras Proteins
Prostate Gland
sense organs
Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt
Transcription Factors
Zdroj: PLoS Genetics
PLoS Genetics, Vol 17, Iss 7, p e1009708 (2021)
ISSN: 1553-7404
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1009708
Popis: The TMPRSS2/ERG gene rearrangement occurs in 50% of prostate tumors and results in expression of the transcription factor ERG, which is normally silent in prostate cells. ERG expression promotes prostate tumor formation and luminal epithelial cell fates when combined with PI3K/AKT pathway activation, however the mechanism of synergy is not known. In contrast to luminal fates, expression of ERG alone in immortalized normal prostate epithelial cells promotes cell migration and epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT). Migration requires ERG serine 96 phosphorylation via endogenous Ras/ERK signaling. We found that a phosphomimetic mutant, S96E ERG, drove tumor formation and clonogenic survival without activated AKT. S96 was only phosphorylated on nuclear ERG, and differential recruitment of ERK to a subset of ERG-bound chromatin associated with ERG-activated, but not ERG-repressed genes. S96E did not alter ERG genomic binding, but caused a loss of ERG-mediated repression, EZH2 binding and H3K27 methylation. In contrast, AKT activation altered the ERG cistrome and promoted expression of luminal cell fate genes. These data suggest that, depending on AKT status, ERG can promote either luminal or EMT transcription programs, but ERG can promote tumorigenesis independent of these cell fates and tumorigenesis requires only the transcriptional activation function.
Author summary ERG is the most common oncogene in prostate cancer. The ERG protein can bind DNA and can activate some genes and repress others. Previous studies indicated that ERG cannot promote cancer by itself, but that ERG works together with mutations that activate the protein AKT. In this study we found that activation of AKT changes the genes that ERG regulates, leading to luminal epithelial differentiation, which is a hallmark of most prostate tumors. However, we also found that a mutant version of ERG that can activate, but cannot repress genes, can drive prostate tumorigenesis without activation of AKT, but this mutant ERG cannot promote luminal differentiation. Our findings suggest that ERG mediated tumorigenesis only requires ERG’s activation function and can occur independent of luminal cell differentiation.
Databáze: OpenAIRE